The latest released from this super limited winery.

Light, more pinot in flavour. You can taste that this is made their own unique way

 Ochota Barrels The Green Room Grenache Rating: B Price: $40

More about this beautiful wine in an upcoming review

 Happy International Pinot Noir Day …simple… More about this

Completely opposite to this photo, this is a light, plump and juicy Grenache that is utterly delicious to drink…simple…

 Geyer Wine Co 2020 Sands Grenache Rating: B Price: $33

Interview with Ernst "Erni" Loosen proprietor of Dr. Loosen. We discussed four wines: two dry and two fruity. The first pair was a comparison of Blue Slate (Kabinett) and Red Slate (Dry) soil types. The second pair were from the same single vineyard Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Spätlese, and GG. We discussed ungrafted vines, 🍇 hang time, lees aging, and neutral oak aging the wines.

 Interview with Ernst "Erni" Loosen proprietor of Dr

2012 Radford Dale - Renaissance Chenin Blanc (90 pts)

_dale Deep lemon color. Medium+ intensity on the nose. Aromas of lemon sorbet, lemon zest, steely, smoke, chamomile, and something salty almost like ocean breeze (I know that sounds lame). The wine is dry, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol (super balanced), and medium body. This wine has a great texture almost creamy (lees aging) and while the nose is good the palate is really well put together. The palate shows flavors of lemon curd, pie crust, mineral, steely, seashell, and light floral aromas. The steely notesresonate throughout, but there is subtle smokiness that is really intriguing on the medium+ length finish. Easily the most compelling South African Chenin Blanc that I have tasted in some time. 👏👏👏 Well done! 🇿🇦

 2012 Radford Dale - Renaissance Chenin Blanc (90 pts)

2014 Terroir al Limit - Torroja Priorat (89 pts)

- Deep ruby color with a purple tint. Medium+ intensity nose featuring a lot of black fruit (blackberries, stewed plums, bramble), violets, liquorice, smoked meat, and an inky note. Medium acidity, medium alcohol, medium+ chalky tannins, and medium body. The palate really takes you in a different direction than the nose. The wine leans on the sour side of the fruit, almost underripe (just picked is probably more accurate) and tart flavors. Blueberry, black plum, and blackberry. There is an obvious minerality to the wine shown by a salinity in the mouth, then everything is taken over by the tannins that end in a medium+ length sandy finish. The wine has an interesting texture it's almost gritty in the end, but in a good way. The flavors are deep but light on the palate. This wine is really restrained and a good look at the more elegant side of Priorat. This needs air to come out, it was very tight on day 1.

 2014 Terroir al Limit - Torroja Priorat (89 pts)

Domaine Font du Vent Instagram Live Interview and Virtual Tasting

🎙 On Thursday, May 21st, at 12:00 pm  PST, Guillaume Gonnet, owner and winemaker at Domaine du Vent

_famille_gonnet , will be discussing their organically farmed wines of Châteaunuef-du-Pape. The Gonnets are stewards of very old vine Grenache in the climat of La Crau. These vines were some of the first vines planted on American rootstock after the phylloxera epidemic ravished the own-rooted vines of France. We will also discuss the merits co-planting and co-fermenting grapes varieties to add complexity to a blend·

🍷 We will be tasting three Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge wines: 2017 Traditional, 2015 Cuvée Etienne Gonnet, and 2016 Cuvée Elegance de Jeanne·

 Domaine Font du Vent Instagram Live Interview and Virtual

Interview with Bruwer Raats of Raats Family Wine. He is the owner and winemaker. We discussed his love of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. We talked about the Original Chenin Blanc made from grapes coming from two unique soils to reach a pure expression of the grape. We then discussed the Jasper Red Blend, which is an homage to his father. He talks about how Malbec is the true blending partner for the Cabernet Franc dominated blend.

 Interview with Bruwer Raats of Raats Family Wine. He is the

2015 Domaine Font du Vent - Cuvée Etienne Gonnet Châteauneuf-du-Pape (94 pts)

ℹ️ This wine is from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation in the Southern Rhône of France. The wine is a blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre. The Grenache vines are 100 to 120 years old, while the Syrah and Mourvèdre are 90 years old. The vines are from the famous lieu-dit of La Crau, which has soils made of clay and galets. All of the farming is certified organic, and grapes are hand-harvested. 50% to 100% of the stems are removed, depending on the vintage. The fermentation takes place with native yeasts, and the wine has 30 days of skin maceration. The Grenache is aged in concrete and wooden vats, with the Syrah and Mourvèdre demi-muids (600 L) barrels. This Cuvée is only made in exceptional vintages.

👃 Medium+ intensity on the nose. Aromas of ripe raspberry, stewed cherries, strawberry preserves, rhubarb, prosciutto, dried leaves, white pepper, cinnamon, rosemary, elderflower, and violets.

👄 The wine is dry, medium acidity, medium spicy tannins, high alcohol (14.5%), and medium+ body. A long length finish of ripe and stewed red fruit with layers of florals, herbs, and spices.

🔔 This cuvée is stunning. While it is incredibly young, it can be enjoyed now with a good decant. La Crau is famous for a reason, and Guillaume Gonnet has a deft hand keeping this is extraordinarily fresh and elegant in a reasonably hot vintage. This wine will continue to improve in the bottle and should be outstanding in another five years. I am amazed that I didn't know about this Producer earlier, and I look forward to trying more of in the coming vintages.

 2015 Domaine Font du Vent - Cuvée Etienne Gonnet

Thibault Liger-Belair Tasting and Interview·

🎙 Join my Instagram Live interview with Thibault Liger-Belair from

 in Burgundy and Beaujolais, ‪on Friday, June 5th, at Noon PST. We will be discussing the value of old vines with respect to Pinot Noir and Gamay. Thibault Liger-Belair has some fantastic old vines on great terroirs that highlight these treasures·

🍷 We will be tasting 2015 and 2016 Moulin à Vent Les Vieilles Vignes from Beaujolais. Also, we will be tasting the 2014 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges. Please join our Instagram Live and participate in the conversation. Don't forget to click the reminder in the stories·

 Thibault Liger-Belair Tasting and Interview· 🎙 Join my

This is a blend. Not in the usual sense but a blend of two Grenache vineyards.

70% is made of 1947 planted Grenache old bush vines, while the remaining 30% is crafted from Grenache planted in 1990 on the western side of Mclaren township.

Interesting blend* and very easy to drink. A combination of chocolate and a little Chinese five spice towards the end. You won’t stop at one glass…simple…

 NX GEN Grenache By Shingleback Wines Rating: B Price: $25

Barossa “Old Hands” Cabernet Sauvignon

I don’t know what the Welland wines team are doing to create these beautiful wines, but don’t stop.  Their motto is ‘a group of friends, an old vineyard and its resurrection.’ That summarises this wine perfectly.

Soft and rich Barossa Cab Sav, that takes you on taste journey through black forests and ends in the rolling hills of happiness.

This winery is in the hunt for my winery of the year.

 Welland Wines Barossa “Old Hands” Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

I’ll admit it, I bought this wine solely for the label. A snowboarder doing a massive cutback carve into snow I can only dream about at the moment.

I was pleasantly surprised that the wine is from Dodgy Brothers (yes, I literally bought it without even checking who made it)

 wines before which has included Jaws and Mr T on their labels. After drinking this one, I thought to myself, they must have the best time ever making wine.

Just put yourself in the middle of that conversation for a second.

“We are making a wine and we are putting ‘Mr T’ on the label”.

And then we going to put that scene from Jaws, you know, “were gonna need a bigger boat”

Its genius but at the same time hilarious.

I don’t know if it is just marketing brilliance or they are just a team having the best time ever. Either way I don’t really care as the wines are great.

I am happy to pick that snowboarder wine or the Mr T anytime.

To Dodgy Brothers: Can I come to the next meeting where you are discussing your next wine label?

 Juxtaposed 2017 Old Vine Shiraz Rating: B+ Price: $30

Planta Circa Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 by Purple Hands

Recommendation: Must buy for a special occasion. 🍷

Christmas 🎄 calls for a special wine and without a doubt this was special. The top of the range by

 using grapes 🍇 from vines planted around ‘circa’ 1880. That’s 137 years ago. This wine is history in a bottle and although way too young and should have stayed in the cellar for at least 10 years, but after Sir Halliday gave it a 98 and Christmas Day approaching, I just had to try it. Bottled under cork and dipped in wax, even opening it was special.

No if’s or buts, the wine is brilliant.

Now if your Christmas Day is anything like my family’s, poppy always has a story that’s older and times decades ago was always better, always with the “back in my day” start.

So it was so good to start a story with back in 1880...simple...

Cheers and I hope everyone had a great Christmas. 🍷

 Planta Circa Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 by Purple Hands

Voluptuous and indulgent. Silky smooth with an old charm. 15% alcohol but it’s a treat.

This is up there with some great Barossa wines. Definitely a Wine of the Year contender...simple...

The Welland story began with the arrival of the Krieg family, from Germany in 1847.

Welland vineyard was planted in 1923. Situated on sand over red clay soils, this vineyard for many years supplied premium fruit to well-known Barossa wineries such as

in 2017, the last few hectares of this old vineyard were listed for sale as a ‘development site’. The vines were within a whisker of meeting the bulldozers when a group of friends led by Ben and Madeleine Chapman purchased the block. Together they are now in the process of resurrecting this historic old vineyard.

Brilliant stuff. Have a look at the last photo to explain how close this vineyard came to being lost.

 Welland Wines Old Hands Shiraz 2018 Rating: A- Price: $70

A couple of my favourite Grenache wines at the moment...simple...

The Cirillo 1850 Grenache uses grapes from The Light Pass area of the Barossa Valley. This single vineyard is believed to be the oldest Grenache vineyard in the world.

2018 Yangarra Old Vine Grenache from McLaren Vale

 for the beautiful photo of their old vines.

 Happy International Grenache Day A couple of my favourite

This wine combines the two things that we can legally do at the moment, run and watch movies.

Beautiful and the label is pretty good as well. 🍷

 Juxtaposed by Dodgy Brothers Old Vine Grenache 2018 Rating:

Purple Hands 2018 Old Vine Barossa Valley Grenache

I must admit until this year I hadn’t really heard of Purple Hands Wines, but thankful I have now. These guys are making some great wines. Killing it in fact. I have reviewed their wines previously and loved them all, so it was time to taste the Old Vine Grenache from the Barossa.

This is hand picked from old gnarly vines, basket pressed and fermented the old school way. So far ticking all my favourite things in wine making. The taste does not disappoint. Soft but still has a great flavour. Can I taste the age of the vines? Yes, this wine is not trying to punch you in the throat or be loud and trying to prove a point. It’s elegant and softly spoken, just like your grandfather. You take it all in and listen to every word...simple...

 Purple Hands 2018 Old Vine Barossa Valley Grenache Rating:

Recommendation: Ridiculous value for money

 Cirillo 2018 The Vincent Grenache Barossa Valley Rating: A-

Coriole have some of the oldest Sangiovese vines in Australia and it shows. The flavour is Cherry 🍒Coke without all the sugar 🤔 Actually that’s a bad description as I don’t like Cherry Coke and I did like this wine. So, Coca Cola this is what it should have tasted like...simple... 🍷

 Coriole Sangiovese 2018 Rating: B Price: $26 Buy Again: Yes

Elderton Western Ridge Grenache Carignan 2018

Short and sharp. Tight and dry. Little spice at the end. Quality and completely different.

So at this point I start to think, “what the **** is Carignan?” 🤔

So a bit of research and Carignan (“care-in-yen”) is a medium-bodied red wine that grows mostly in Southern France where it's a major blending grape but it has been grown in South Australia since the early 1900’s.

This is what gives this wine an edge, a difference, especially when comparing to other Grenache blends. Definitely worth a try...simple...

 Elderton Western Ridge Grenache Carignan 2018 Rating: B+

🍇Ciliegiolo / Bonamico / Sangiovese / Ottonese / Malvasia Puntinata / Moscato Bianco

Sete is an agricultural, social and cultural project born in 2013 from an idea of Emiliano and Arcangelo, two young friends, with the aim of saving the few vineyards left in the Amaseno River Valley-area, after being abandoned or neglected due to the financial crisis back in 2008.  They try to recover the old vines and seperately vinify the grapes of each vineyard, which are all cultivated in harmony with nature, and like all their wines, produced as close to naturally and biodynamically as possible.  All wines are neither clarified nor filtered.

Hot dang! What an insanely weird, bright cherry pink/pomegranate candy color… With a lovely soft structure and a medium but clear tannic level.

The aroma is full on powerhouse funkiness! Cherry wine gum, wild strawberry, farmhouse, wet stone and thyme (I think…). It’s light with a pleasant freshness on the tongue showing candied cranberry and cherry, pomegranate, sweet apple juice, basil, light raisin and grape fruit. It looks extremely sweet because of the deep rose petal color and the high viscosity, but it’s fresh, dry, summery, quite complex with a beautiful fruit/herb potpourri and has a very fine level of noticeable volatile acid (without getting vinegar-like). Aaaand the only 10% alcohol makes it even more juicy..😋🤪 Yes please!

The second picture is from the SETE-profile:

 SETE Freaky, 2018 - Priverno, Lazio, Italy🇮🇹 Tasted:

𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬-𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐲𝐭 𝑷𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒏̃𝒐 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒛𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒐, 2020

📍Maule Valley, South Region, Chile🇨🇱

🍇Torontel / Corinta (Chasselas) / Cristalina (Semillon) / Muscat d’Alexandria

He may be a native Burgundian, but Louis-Antoine Luyt has quickly become a respected voice when talking independent, sustainable and terroir driven winemaking in Chile.

Besides his own vines, Luyt has established great partnerships with a few independent vine-farmers, all having the same philosophy in common: A sustainable and natural farming- and winemaking approach.

Hand-harvested grapes from +200 years old (naturally and dry farmed) pre-phylloxera vines in Itata Valley (just south from Maule Valley).

The grapes are manually destemmed before a spontaneous co-fermentation with indigenous yeasts in open concrete and wooden casks with 12 days maceration. Only a few months elevage in wood and concrete.

No filtration and fining, and only a tiny dash (2 grams) of added sulfur when bottling.

Super expressive and powerful on the nose, offering a tropical feeling with pineapple, mango puré, passionfruit, lychee, lemon zest, perfumed flowers, lanolin, fennel, rosemary and elderflower juice.

The palate is medium-bodied with a refreshing but soft acidity and only very mild tannins. Lemonade, canned peaches, elderflower juice and slightly vegetal notes of what-ever-different-greens...

Not overly complex, but super high soif-factor!

 ⭐️89/100⭐️ 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬-𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐲𝐭 𝑷𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒏̃𝒐 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒛𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒐, 2020 📍Maule

Coteaux du Layon Rablay “Sel. Fosse aux Loups”, 1990

Coteaux du Layon, one of the best appelations for sweet wine i the Loire Valley. It’s situated in the Anjou-district along the river Layon, which is a tributary of the Loire River.

The wines from Coteaux du Layon are all made from Chenin Blanc and often harvested when affected by noble rot (botrytis cinerea). C.d.L.-wines are never dry, but the level of sweetness varies a bit - some of the simpler ones can be described as semi-sweet, while the sweetest ones with intense botrytis-character are more similar to the german Trockenbeerenauslese (the minimum sugar level has to be 221 g/liter). They often have a very well integrated acidity too, which together with the sugar content makes this type og wine very long-lived. Even up to a century for the best vintages.

Deep golden/amber appearance with an intense and complex nose of acacia honey, apricot, lemongrass, quince and roasted almonds.

The palate is full and rounded, almost syrup-like, but with a balanced crisp, refreshing vibrance.

First it was served cold, but it opened up the aromas and flavours when it reached 10-14 degrees.

It drank perfectly with the cheeses - I was only missing some foie gras...