Good Soul Wines

The big daddies from Heathcote have arrived.

Leading the way is the uber-powerful and mouth-filling Reserve Shiraz from 2022 and the slightly more 'moderate' Springflat Shiraz from 2023. These are larger-than-life room filling wines (as expected) and of course they won't be for everyone.

But, if you like 'em big these are hard to go post.

At the other end of the spectrum the Rose is very contemporary with dry savoury cuts and good length. We are pouring for the next week or two at The Grape & Hop in Montmorency. Rouding out the gang-of-4 is the Cab Sav Cab Franc blend 'Ducks & Drakes' from 2023. Manages to pack in a lot of palate presence for a cool vintage but the hook is the cool savoury herbally fruit. Almost bordering on sensible!

Wilimee first caught my eye with a string of strong ratings from Jeni Port @ The Halliday Wine Companion. Some further digging revealed that Ben Ranken and Sally Richardson had acquired the Portree Vineyard in 2013. This site, with plantings as early of 1982, is bona fide 'old vine' material in the Macedon Ranges.

I worked through a range of the wines with Ben last month and, as expected, the local hereo varieties Chardonnay and Pinot Noir led the way. There are 2 tiers in the range - the Estate grown wines and a 'lower' tier that sources fruit from Macedon and Heathcote. For the wine nerds out there you will love the fact that the Estate wines are made/bottled according to soil types in the vineyard (Cambrian & Granite). Awesome!

And.....for good measure Ben and Sally are very serious about organic preparation and farming to ensure they can produce the best possible fruit from the 100% dry grown vineyard.

A few brief thoughts on the wines.......

2024 'Cambrian' Chardonnay - "1982 plantings @ 600m; good generosity; dry grown; good weight; fruity edges; less than 1kg per vine; 12 barrels. Huge presence for a MR chard."

2024 'By Wilimee' Sangiovese - "5 barrels; Kennedy vineyard in Heathcote; juicy early; firms a touch; easy going style."

2024 'By Wilimee' Fiano - "Heathcote (Kennedy) sourced; dry, almost savoury; 8yr old vines; made like chardonnay; pressed direct to barrel; old oak; wild ferment; full malo; it's very good; 350 cases made."

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Search: 3 results found for "wilimee" Good Soul Wines is Australia's leading online retailer for Vegan Friendly and Organic wines and beer. Hundreds of Vegan Friendly, Organic, Biodynamic & Sustainable Producer wines & beer for sale.

Thomas New's 'Future Perfect' label has been around for a little while now (established 2020) but it didn't hit our radar until late last year. Naturally enough the winery focuses on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, sourcing small parcels of fruit across Tasmania but the focus tends to be on the Derwent Valley. The Pinot Noir is particularly impressive and we will be pouring at the Grape & Hop Wine Bar shortly.

Thomas New's path to creating Future Perfect was unconventional. After working for various operations across Australia (including the Granite Belt, Margaret River, and other Tasmanian producers) and Austria, he concluded that Tasmania was the ideal place for his winemaking approach.

Chardonnay 2024 - cool climate clothing with bright citrus fruits but kicks up a gear mid-palate as the malo and oak impacts become more obivous. 92pts Halliday Wine Companion.

Pinot Noir 2025 - maybe, just maybe, the best Pinot Noir I've had over 2025 and 2026. Plenty of fruit sourced from Lubiana (in itself a surprise) and of course it's very good. Sweet fruit where it needs to be and eats the oak. Good acid; darker fruits late. The mineral / acid handling is impressive.

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Search: 2 results found for "future perfect" Slowbeer & Wine is the dedicated e-commerce sales division of Slowbeer, Australia's first beer retailer to focus exclusively on craft beer. Our founder also established Melbourne retailer Cloudwine, Australia's only wine retailer devoted to small-producer wines at the time.

Some pretty handy top-ups to the Old & Rare portfolio over the past few weeks....the full range can be found on the Good Soul Wines website.

Bass Phillip

First time we've been able to get our hands on this house through 'official' channels. Complex cool climate fruits and mineral laced, the BP wines will live for some time.

Rockford

Additional vintages of the 'Rod & Spur' Shiraz Cabernet now on the shelf.

Vintage Ports

No better birthday present we reckon? Vintages spanning 2001 to 2006 from Stanton & Killeen, Noon and Campbells.

Old & Rare These wines are sourced from our personal collection or from cellars we trust. We define 'old' as 2015 or older. Please note that wines sold from this collection are offered 'as is' and thus are not eligible for refund in the event they are corked. This approach is consistent with our retailing peer...

We've been working through a handful of samples from uber-micro Heathcote producer Sutherland Estate. The vineyards were planted in 2012 and 2014, mostly to Shiraz, with smaller plots of Grenache and Mataro.

The east facing vineyard comprises 3 acres of Shiraz from 2 distinctively different clones, an old Tahbilk and old Barossa clone which each provides distinct character to the wines. On the steeper slopes of the southerly vineyard Grenache, Mourvèdre and Cinsault have been planted.

Shiraz 2021 $25 (available on the website)

Carrying its adolescent 5yrs of age nicely. Medium weight, bright fruit early but gets darker as the palate progresses. Faint toasty oak late. Drinks like a proper medium climate Shiraz region and this would be a fair representation of Heathcote. The freshness is a highlight. Very solid value. Drink now to 2028.

Shiraz 2023

Somewhat different to the 2021 but probably reflects the cooler vintage. Still very much in the medium-bodied spectrum but a noticable tangy component. Did unsettle me early but got my head around it and particularly so on night 2. Lifted fruit, bristles a little, but does dance through the palate. Time won't hurt.

Rose 2025

Looks a bit 'skinsy' with a blood orange hue but don't be fooled into thinking this a fruit bomb. Broad palate structure (ahla Provence-style) but this is dry and savoury. Grenache-based, clearly ripe with a slatey pepper note late. Bit of class here and can take a chill (ie strongly recommended).

Sparkling Shiraz 2022

So I need to be transparent on my general bias against this style (Rockford excepted). Not bad however. Mostly dry, some jube fruits early, medium length finish. If you like the genre you will like this.

Fraser Gallop 'Innovation' Chardonnay 2025 (Margaret River) $39.50

FG's 'Innovation' tag is a relatively new mid-tier offering and I assume takes over the previous 'Margaret River' label. It's easy to forget about this winery when the region is jammed packed with high profile superstars but there's plenty of quality to be had at the price. Lively with bright minerals and supporting acid.

Denton 'Shed' Chardonnay 2024 (Yarra Valley) $31.50

A YV favourite for mine and although I'm not the winery would want to be known as a 'value player' the fact is most wines across both the 'Estate' and 'Shed' range play well above their respective price points. Flint, talc, river stone, jasmine and citrus. Pulpy, solids-y weight from whole bunch and dirty juice ferment. Even in these warmer years the granitic soils of the vineyard ensure a clean acid line and cool fruit characters.

Mahi 'The Alias' Savignon Blanc 2019 (Marlborough) $37

Easily the standout NZ wine at the Nelson Wines Trade Show late last year. I'm no fan of the bog standard Sav B offerings from this part of the world but examples like this force me to pause for thought. Fresh minerals (think river stones) and even fresher tropical fruits. Honey hints coming through. A cracker of a wine.

Quealy 'Mornington Peninsula' Pinot Grigio 2025 (Mornington Peninsula) $33

Pretty certain I'm not the first person to claim these dudes are the best white wine producers on the Peninsula. Oz leaders in Gris and Grigio, the Quealy's make high grade Gris & Grigio across an impressive range of sub-regions and single vineyards. easy to rubbish local Grigio but you won't here.

Good Soul Wines - Australia's #1 On-Line Store for Organic Wines Good Soul Wines is Australia's leading online retailer for Vegan Friendly and Organic wines and beer. Hundreds of Vegan Friendly, Organic, Biodynamic & Sustainable Producer wines & beer for sale.

Never thought I'd writing about a winery in Mernda, the home of 'value' house and land packages, but here we are!

The Valla family began planting vines on the family cattle farm in 2019 with the focus on Chardonnay, Shiraz and Pinot Noir. Predictable enough but of course these varieties have a proven track record in this part of the world. Five Vineyard doesn't sit in any particular GI although it is ~5km from the western boundary of the Yarra Valley and 10km east of the Sunbury region.

A recent tasting with Sam Valla proved to be quite the eye opener. I didn't have huge expectations (young vines, unproven terrior) but happy to report that I was taught a lesson on making assumptions (again!). The Estate Range, in particular, demonstrates a well handled balancing act of value, drinkability and competent winemaking.

The standout was the Reserve Shiraz 2022 $54, built from vines a mere 3yrs old (first commercial crop). Juicy fruit that never mis-steps with mineral streaks and great purity and lift. More than a hint of Craiglee here I reckon (true d***s!).

Full range on the website.

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I was fortunate enough to try the Lambert and Salo 24s recently as a side-by-side comparison. Both wines retail in the mid 40s to mid 50s bracket so I guess they could be called 'mid-market' these days.

Both wines are available on the website and The Grape & Hop Wine Bar in Montmorency.

To me 2024 seems like a more expressive and powerful chardonnay vintage, not double helped by the fact 2023 was very cool and bordering on cold which result in crisper and more subtle profiles.

Lambert Chardonnay 2024 $41

Although Luke Lambert is no longer the winemaker at Denton he still sources fruit from the stunning granite infused slopes from this site b/w Yarra Glen and Healsville. All fresh fruit here, seemingly simple at first, but progressively works through the complexity gears. Little to no oak impact. This is immediately atractive and ready to drink.

Salo Chardonnay 2024 $55

Salo is a real personal favourite of mine and a strong contender for most under-rated white wine from the whole of the Yarra Valley. The wine is the result of a colab project between Dave Mackintosh (Afrion) and Steve Flamsteed (Giant Steps, Eldredge). Fruit is sourced from the Full Moon vineyard in Gladysdale, located in an elevated area in the south of the Valley. The wine is somewhat more controlled and structured than the Lambert and again mininal oak impact. No doubt elevation is talking here as the cooler site has likely knocked the juicy edges off the. Taking into account structure this appears to have good cellaring prospects and I'd recommend drinking from late 2027+.

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Hot off the press!

Leading Melbourne wine distributor Joval (via the Mezzanine and Red & White portfolios) held an invitation-only tasting covering 60 of their leading wines from Australia and New Zealand. Needless to say the average rating was high and indeed I rated very wines below 'very good'. Turns out reputation counts!

We've hand picked a half dozen pack to highlight our 6 favourite wines. We've not made any consideration to price, as you will see, rather just selected wines that stood out on the day. Quoted retail price is what you could reasonably expect to find in the broader market.

Save $32 on realistic retail pricing.

Search "mixed cases" on the website.