At time of writing, the 2024 is still available on the Gundog website, so this classifies as a 'sneak peek.' An evolution here, with Shiraz from the Hilltops Freeman vineyard being the sole fruit source (no longer any Cabernet Sauvignon from Gundog's Wallaroo vineyard). 12 hours skin contact for colour and texture. Note, bottle image is of 2024, but nought else has changed save for the vintage year.

Formerly labelled the 'Gundaroo Riesling' and presented as off-dry, this retains a little sugar, but doesn't move into the realms of medium-sweet. Winemaker Matt Burton has done just enough to round the edges off the acidity. Gundog Estate, Riesling, Canberra District, 2025 Very pale hue. White flowers and lime, crushed talc, pear skin, hints of fennel frond, cold tea, a touch of honeycomb and a steely mineral water like cleanliness.

Gundog Estate now introduce the Hilltops wine alongside their usual Canberra  Riesling. A fabulous pigeon pair. Gundog Estate, Riesling, Hilltops, 2025 Very pale hue. More depth and richness than its Canberra sibling. Finger lime, star fruit, sourdough, quinine, ozone, Chantilly cream, steel, musk and brown pear. Austere palate, with an almost savoury mineral edge. The musk and pear run the baseline, musk and lime flesh over the top.

Winner of the Sunbury Region Trophy at the 2025 James Halliday Cabernet & Chardonnay Challenge.. Marnong Estate, Single Vineyard, Chardonnay, Sunbury, 2024 Pale hue. Savoury and flinty. Plenty of sulphide struck match head over oak and balsa, lilies, pear, barley water, cashew meal and cashew cream, roast chicken skin and white stone fruit. Briny and savoury, this sits calmly in the middle of rich and austere.

From Marnong Estate, just on the outer suburban fringes of Melbourne. Winemaker is Alex Beckett. Marnong Estate, Chardonnay, Sunbury, 2024 Very pale hue. Flinty with soft honeyed tones, nutmeg spice, pear flesh, lemon rind, white bread crust, and Christmas lily. Approachable with a roundness and ripe fruit profile. Good spice and a crisp, if a little firm, finish with a neat creamy mid palate (maybe from some barrel and lees work?).

Fiano recently had its own special day, unfortunately I didn't get to this wine in time for it, but would be happy enough to open on any other day. Marnong Estate, Single Vineyard, Fiano, Sunbury, 2024 Pale in colour. Sweaty, dough, pear juice, little soaps, creamed honey and warm ghee. The body has the waxy/oily expectation, with a neat clean and bright tail.

Only made in exceptional years. Base wines matured in stainless-steel and oak vessels, with a small proportion of new French oak used. Tiraged in October of 2022 for secondary fermentation in the bottle, left on fine lees in bottle for almost 3 years prior to disgorgement. Marnong Estate, Reserve, Blanc de Blancs, Chardonnay, Sunbury, 2022 Very pale hue, tight bead with medium fast bubbles.

The Rewild range are from Duxton Vineyards located in the Murray Darling region of NW Victoria (around Mildura and Sunraysia). This affordable range of sustainably made, easy drinking wines are also vegan friendly.  Duxton state their environmental credentials as Australia’s current largest certified vineyard holder and a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. The attractively packaged range are available exclusively across Australia in Dan Murphy’s stores.

The Rewild range are from Duxton Vineyards located in the Murray Darling region of NW Victoria (around Mildura and Sunraysia). This affordable range of sustainably made, easy drinking wines are also vegan friendly.  Duxton state their environmental credentials as Australia’s current largest certified vineyard holder and a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. The attractively packaged range are available exclusively across Australia in Dan Murphy’s stores.

The Rewild range are from Duxton Vineyards located in the Murray Darling region of NW Victoria (around Mildura and Sunraysia). This affordable range of sustainably made, easy drinking wines are also vegan friendly.  Duxton state their environmental credentials as Australia’s current largest certified vineyard holder and a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. The attractively packaged range are available exclusively across Australia in Dan Murphy’s stores.

The Rewild range are from Duxton Vineyards located in the Murray Darling region of NW Victoria (around Mildura and Sunraysia). This affordable range of sustainably made, easy drinking wines are also vegan friendly. Duxton state their environmental credentials as Australia’s current largest certified vineyard holder and a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. The attractively packaged range are available exclusively across Australia in Dan Murphy’s stores.

The Taylor's Masterstroke range with their tactile labels are a serious inclusion into the line-up, while the back label features a striking image by award winning landscape photographer Benjamin Goode. Maturation in French and American oak (20% new). Taylors Estate, Masterstroke, Shiraz, McLaren Vale, 2020 The American oak gives vanilla bean paste over black olive tapenade, graphite, plum jam, cassis, licorice, earthy moss, coffee, salted chocolate and a touch of char.

The straight Cab Sauv in the Masterstroke range. Taylors head across the state of South Australia here, away from their home base in the Clare to renowned red soil of Coonawarra. 6 weeks extended skin contact. French oak treatment for 18 months (40% new and the rest 2 and 3 year old). The back label photography by award winning Benjamin Goode…

The back label is a photo by the award winning landscape photographer Benjamin Goode. 100% Clare Valley, Taylor's home dirt. The quintessential Australian blend. Maturation in new and older French oak hogsheads. Taylors Wines, Masterstroke, Cabernet Shiraz, Clare Valley, 2022 Crisp, yet full and floral. Violets, turned earth, choc-mint wafer, cassis, plum jam, cinnamon toast, pouch tobacco, raspberry coulis, leafy bramble and young rosemary.

Festooned with plenty of little gold stickers. 18 months maturation French oak, with 33% new, the rest 2 to 3 years old. Taylors, St Andrews, Cabernet Sauvignon, Clare Valley, 2019 Deep garnet in colour. Fragrant, complex and layered. Cigar box, cedar oak spice, black currant pastille, bramble, roasted tomato, spearmint, roasting pan juice gravy and old eucalyptus forest. Full, dark and potent, yet still carries a lightness and floral tone to enhance the experience.

Taylors have this and the 2021 available on their site (at time of writing). Fruit soaked in skins for four weeks before 18 months maturation in new and one year old American oak. Taylors, St Andrews, Shiraz, Clare Valley, 2020 Deep ruby with edges just starting to mature. Concentrated and powerful nose: Sweet American oak vanilla and vanilla bean underneath pastille, plum jam, savoury/briny olive tapenade, licorice, crushed violets and with an inherent, lingering dustiness.

While Riesling is the undisputed white king in the Clare, the region does have very good Chardonnay credentials. 100% French oak fermented and matured in Burgundian French oak (50–60% new, 1/3rd 1-year old, and the rest in 3–5-year-old barrels). The bottle covered in gold stickers from wine shows here and abroad. Taylors, St Andrews, Chardonnay, Clare Valley, 2023 Pale straw with a hint of green.

Taylors, just ticking over the 4 year mark release one of their flagship wines. The bottle label is festooned with little gold stickers from overseas wine shows. Taylors, St Andrews, Riesling, Clare Valley, 2021 Very pale straw hue. Lemon and lime flesh and juice still prominent on the developing nose. Richness of honeysuckle, orange blossom, sandalwood, fly spray/ozone with a nuance of white pepper and talc.

From the heart of the Coal River Valley in Tasmania, the Charles Reuben Estate vineyard was planted in 1989. There's only a handful of proper Cab Sauv vineyards in Tassie, but climate change will fix that in the next generation. Now owned by the Volkmann family, the wines are made by the highly awarded Nick Glaetzer.. Charles Reuben Estate, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tasmania, 2022…

From the heart of the Coal River Valley in Tasmania, the Charles Reuben Estate vineyard was planted in 1989. Now owned by the Volkmann family, the wines are made by the highly awarded Nick Glaetzer. Charles Reuben Estate, Pinot Noir, Tasmania, 2023 Medium garnet hue. Varietal nose with dried strawberry, ripe dark cherries, herbal thyme and some sweetness/charyness of oak and orange zest.

Part of the Distinguished Sites range. Sourced from two old blocks of 1949 and 1929 vines in the Yalumba Tri-Centenary block on the valley floor. 30% Whole bunches in the ferment. Winemaker is (was) Kevin Glastonbury. Yalumba, Vine Vale, Grenache, Barossa Valley, 2024 Deep garnet hue. Fragrant malt biscuit, raspberry, blueberry, red currant, sultana, dried herb herbaceous notes with white pepper tones, seared meats, anise lilt, some carbonic confection that doesn't take away from the experience.

The 3rd release of this wine. Only 1 hectare of Grenache Blanc among the many Grenache Noir vines of Yalumba's Tri-Centenary vineyard. Winemaker is Sam Wigan. Yalumba, Vine Vale, Grenache Blanc, Barossa Valley, 2025 Very pale lemon with a soft green highlight. White florals dominate, hints of honeysuckle, waxy crayon, nectarine flesh, lemon shortbread, just opened lychee can and a little bit of fleshy butter.

The icon that started all of Australia's Chardonnay craze. Awarded with a stupid amount of medals, and deservedly so. Tyrrell's, Vat 47, Chardonnay , Hunter Valley, 2023 Pale with green highlights, pure lemon, grapefruit rind,  beurre bosc pear, hint of sesame oil, polished white quartz, stainless steel, gun flint and hint of malt. Oak appears as nuance and accent. Richness and class.

What an embarrassment of riches, for this vintage, the Chardonnay (55%) came from the famed HVD Vineyard and Semillon (45%) from the Stevens Vineyard. Tyrrell's, Vat 63, Chardonnay Semillon, Hunter Valley, 2023 Pale with green highlights, balances wafer biscuit and crumpet dough with lemon zest, lime flesh, green gage and lantana and lemon verbena. soft wax. Delicious balance of richness and purity.

An icon release for a reason. Tyrrell's, Vat 1, Semillon, Hunter Valley, 2019 Soft lemon clear hue with green highlights. .lemon verbena, lemon zest,, lantana, some early honeysuckle and wax, smoked honey, struck flint, lemon curd, and a little toasty maturity. Intensity and texture through a small amount of development. Long long, length. Coiled tight, with undeniable juicy-ness, there's a developing richness firmly followed electricity. RRP: $115 Alc: 10.5% Rating 96/100 Wine sample courtesy of Tyrrell's