Good morning

Vintage 2010 has officially arrived in the Yarra, and it’s all looking pretty promising. Last week’s rain backed the progress of veraison off a touch, arguably be a good thing, conditions this week have been great and the immediate forecast looks to be encouraging as well. Stay tuned for a strong release of wines towards the end of the year and beyond…..touch wood!

As you are probably already aware, Alberto Antonini will be in store this evening from about 5.30pm for a couple of hours. We’re pretty excited and grateful to have such a highly regarded, international winemaker in our digs, talking our loyal customers through his range of Australian, Italian and Argentinian wares. An extensive range of Greenstone (Heathcote), Poggiotondo (Tuscany) and Altos Los Hormigas (Argentina – just the one malbec) will be open for you to taste and purchase at special pricing. This afternoon, from 5.30pm until 7 or so. Free. Be here!!

This coming Tuesday, Feb 23, is also shaping up as a pretty unique night for us. Eric Kientzler (Domaine Kientzler), Jerome Mader (Jean Luc Mader) and Bert Salomon (Salomon Estates) will be in store from 7pm (until about 9pm) to pour a wide range of their exciting 2007 and 2008 release wines (maybe the odd wine from the 90s too!). These guys are at the cutting edge of winegrowing in Alsace and Austria and it is a privilege to have them in the place! Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot blanc, Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, single vineyard and grand cru sourced wines – it’ll be a ripping showcase of 3 leading producers wares. This is also a no cost event, but to help with the preparations, an RSVP by email to let us know of your intentions, would be greatly appreciated. The format of the night will be similar to our international tastings over the past few years – pretty informal, easy to get around, definitely not intimidating, guaranteed very social!
This coming Tuesday, Feb 23, 7pm. Be here!!!!

All Burgundy orders from our recent offers are now ready for collection. The heat in Melbourne last week made freight difficult, so the mild conditions this week have been a relief. There are a few very tasty bits and pieces remaining (some ‘05 Magnien premier and grand crus included), so please get in touch if you would like to know more.

Eureka Dozen!!
When was the last time that you tried 4 quality pinots for less than 20 bucks a bottle??? It has been a good week on the sample front (plenty more of which will be revealed over the next week or 2) but 4 affordable and very enjoyable pinots are  definitely newsworthy!!

-       Little Black Stone Pinot Noir 2008 – almost an even split of Central Otago and Marlborough fruit, from self owned and managed vineyards – there is no other way that a Kiwi wine like this can hit the shelves for less than $20 in Australia. Moderate on the alcohol front (yippee!), fleshy fruit forward Otago driven palate backed by a savoury, more restrained Marlborough quota. Knockout value.
-       Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir 2008 – this Yarra stalwart continues to impress. It’s not really ‘new’, and we’ve come to take Franco’s work a bit for granted, but estate grown, upper Yarra fruit handled sensitively in the winery, for this price, is rare. Spicy red fruits, still just a touch of funk for interest, good acidity and measured tannin influence. This looked pretty good 6 months ago, but it has short term pedigree in the cellar and is now really hitting its straps.
-       Mount Moriac Pinot Noir 2008 – another wine that we have dabbled with in the past, because we’ve thought that for a fleshy, fruit driven, clean as a whistle style of pinot, it’s hard to beat. Similarly to the Hoddles Creek, that extra 6 months in bottle has done this Geelong grown wine wonders. Having tried another sample bottle on Monday, it’s now revealing a deeper fruit profile that sits very well with the more mature acid and tannin structure.
-       Permutations Pinot Noir 2008 – multi vineyard sourced, if ever there was a wine that benefited from time in bottle, this is it. 12 months ago, we thought that this looked a bit raw. 8 months ago, we ran with it ‘cos it was softening. Now it’s humming!! Made by Bill Downie (aka William!), it’s floral, savoury, alluring, fresh berried palate is so enjoyable right now. Lesson #1 in buying wine: have faith in winemakers who know what they are doing!!!!

So here’s the deal. 4 wines. 3 bottles of each wine. Rec. retail price on the dozen is normally $240.

Order this special Eureka Dozen for $200 (that’s an average of less than $17 a bottle for good pinot!!!!!)

To order this special dozen, please reply to this email or call the store on 5962 6699.
Free freight to Melb metro. Subsidised freight elsewhere in Australia.

Tasting tonight: Alberto Antonini from 5.30pm

Enjoy the weekend

Cheers!!