Stargazer 2025 Tupelo

This is one of the stars of the recent Stargazer new vintage release, although they are all stellar from Sam Connew's boutique Coal River Valley operation. While Connew concentrates largely on chardonnay, riesling and pinot noir, this is an outlier in that it is an Alsace-accented wild-fermented blend of pinot gris, pinot blanc, gewurztraminer and riesling. This was tasted after a trade event so I didn't match it with food, but I suspect it would pair magically with a nasi goreng or Thai Veggie curry - anything with a touch of spice. It's a lovely young wine with honeyed fruit with balancing acidity, and an impressive lightness of being. $40. www.stargazerwine.com.au.

Leo Buring 2024 Leopold Tasmania Riesling

Leo Buring is a wine brand usually associated with fine and potentially long-lived rieslings from the Clare and Eden valleys in South Australia. But winemaker Marie Clay also has access to some top-notch riesling fruit grown at White Hills in northern Tasmania. A very good growing season saw the fruit allowed to reach maximum flavour intensity before being full-bunch pressed. The juice was matured for six months on lees in stainless steel; and a small portion in a ceramic tulip. The end result is a generously favoured riesling with impressive texture. Floral, spicy, long. soft and clean with just a smidgen of residual sugar. Very food friendly. $40.      

Holm Oak 2025 Riesling

Tasmania gets a lot of attention for its stellar sparkling wines, as well as world-class chardonnays and pinots noir. What is often overlooked is that riesling can also thrive in the cool climes, much as it does in the Canberra region. This is a stellar cool-climate offering from a family-owned and -operated vineyard in the Tamar Valley in the north of the state. It is impressively floral with tangy citrus characters playing the lead role. There is plenty of lively acid on hand and this finishes dry with lots of length. We paired it with a hearty Toad in the Hole with braised leek, but it would also work well with seafood and poultry dishes. Very well priced at $32. www.holmoakvineyards.com.au.      

Holm Oak 2021 Hotshot Pinot Noir

 

A rather bland label disguises the flagship pinot noir from family-owned Tamar Valley winery Holm Oak. At four years of age, this has developed in to a lovely wine that combines power and poise in the style of Central Otago. Made from small batches of estate fruit and produced only in outstanding vintages, this has impressive structure thanks to the use of whole bunch material. The fruit was basket pressed and matured in French oak (50% new) for 14 months. The end result: complexity and style and a balance between dark red fruits, deli and undergrowth notes, allied to that intense concentration. $130. https://www.holmoakvineyards.com.au/ 

Sailor Seeks Horse 2023 Pinot Noir

 

Those in the know when it comes to cool-climate pinot noir have the name Sailor Seeks Horse in their notebooks. Paul and Gilli Lipscombe have built a formidable reputation for the quality of their estate wines grown at Cradoc in the Huon Valley. This is a pinot with impressive tension; there's a panoply of flavours on the palate, but aligned to a sense of calmness and cohesion. This a classic style with immediate appeal, along with medium-term cellaring potential. The balance between fruit and savoury characters and some grippy tannins make this beguilingly rustic. $70. https://www.sailorseekshorse.com.au/