Guests taste their way through the wines on show. The Real Review

What better way to eradicate some of that mid-winter lethargy than diving into a fabulous array of 36 outstanding New Zealand and Australian wines?

On a somewhat bleak, grey and monochrome Sydney evening, 60 guests gathered at the rather genteel Centennial Hotel in Sydney’s leafy Woollahra to work their way through this fabulous line-up of wines.

It was an open-format tasting—the attendees could taste at their own pace and didn’t have to work their way through all 36 wines, they could pick and choose their targets. Then again, a majority of the battle-hardened guests were up for the challenge and through sheer grit, guts and determination, toiled their way through the full line-up.

There were a couple of brackets of whites to start proceedings, with the first one consisting of some alternative varieties and a smart little pinot noir chardonnay rosé. The Jasper Hill Lo Stesso Fiano 2024 was a firm favourite with the throng of tasters—lashings of citrus pith, white stone fruit and plenty of saline acidity to cut through the fruit weight.

Te Whare Re Single Vineyard 5182 Toru 2023 also impressed. This ‘field blend’ of gewürztraminer, riesling and pinot gris out of Marlborough delivered fabulously exotic aromatics and fragrantly opulent flavours, but with plenty of perky acidity cutting through the lick of sweetness and keeping all in check.

The next bracket was a powerhouse chardonnay line-up covering off Margaret River, Macedon, Tasmania, Orange, Gippsland and the Hunter Valley.

Bindi Quartz Chardonnay 2023 was ethereal, with aromas of nougat, grapefruit pith and nutty lees all at play. The palate had a seamlessness to it, with fabulous concentration, flow and length. This is top level chardonnay on a world standard. The Pooley Cooinda Vale Chardonnay 2023 from Tasmania was also performing in the zone, with a drive of lemon and grapefruit aromatics and a palate displaying tension, focus and length. A youthful and delicious chardonnay at the start of its journey.

Next up, a posse of pinot noirs as well as a pinot noir blend. Yarra Valley, Waipara, Central Otago and Marlborough were all represented.

The Marlborough offering, Giesen Single Vineyard Clayvin Pinot Noir 2021, delivered pinot noir of power, fragrance and poise, with purity and absolute balance. This fabled vineyard continues to produce amplified pinot noir, with fabulous texture and presence. In contrast, the Giant Steps Primavera Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 out of the Yarra Valley was lighter on its feet and more delicate, with dried-herb aromas galore, a trace of meatiness and light and punchy acidity all at play.

Next to come were some reds with a bit more weight, where we encountered a brace of grenache, alongside a sagrantino, a couple of shiraz testing the biodynamic principles and a fabled Aussie shiraz-viognier.

Pouring some white winter warmers. The Real Review

Toby and Emanuelle Bekkers are among the top exponents of grenache in Australia and their Bekkers McLaren Vale Grenache 2023 is benchmark gear. It displayed lovely perfume, earth, spice and peppery blue fruits along with a palate that was opulent, dark fruited and with a ferrous, earthy edge. And as for that shiraz viognier, it could only be the fabled Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2023. Wonderfully fragrant, with heady aromas of pot-pourri, dried herbs, blueberry and dark cherry and a palate that flows effortlessly with great purity, poise and precision.

Shiraz was the next port of call, with Bourke and Travers Tuckey Syrah 2023 from the Clare Valley and Turner’s Crossing The Frederick 2021 providing some nice compare-and-contrast. The Bourke and Travers was deep, dark and brooding, delivering lashings of plum, mulberry, opulent oak and lovely fragrance. Iron-fist-in-velvet-glove stuff. The Turners Crossing was more around spice, blue fruits and lively acidity, all snappy, minty and crunchy and a lovely example of what a lick of cabernet can bring to shiraz in this very Aussie blend.

The final bracket of the evening showcased a very smart array of Australian cabernet and cabernet blends.

Coonawarra was represented by Brand & Sons Sanctuary Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, and what a stunner this is. Still youthful and all cassis, bramble and cedar, with real power and concentration, but impeccable structure, cut and drive: benchmark Coonawarra gear with years ahead of it.

Margaret River was also superbly represented by three wines, with the Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 delivering the archetypal Margaret River cabernet experience. There’s plenty of brambly, dark fruited drive here, along with structured and grippy tannins and plenty of youthful acidity keeping all in check. A wine that’s built for the long haul.

And just to finish things off, there was a sole fortified to fortify the soul and take you off into the night. Morris Old Premium Rare Liqueur Muscat is an exercise in opulence, decadence and deliciousness. Rutherglen muscats are unique to Australia, the incredible concentration and viscosity balanced out by a touch of rancio character as well as acidity to keep all in check.

And with that, the indulgent evening had come to an end with a rather decisive bang, and all wandered off into the evening, satiated and with the knowledge that what had been before them that night was a truly enchanting array of some of Australia’s and New Zealand’s finest.