A month in the media – See what these journalists thought about our wines in March.
The Real Review released their Top Wineries of Australia 2023 and Eisenstone came in at a very impressive number four! The list, which features about 350 of Australia’s best wineries, is based off the 10,000+ wines The Real Review team has tasted over the last year.
We have very limited amounts of the below Eisenstone wines, and are currently organising our allocations for the 2021 vintage, due later this year, so please contact us to arrange your allocation today.
2022 Harewood Porongurup Riesling
97 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): Characteristic citrus blossom with talc and fresh lime on the nose; Incredible flow and texture on the palate with mineral acidity and such precision of fruit that shows off its floral side with great concentration of vibrant lime fruit. Layers of citrus and blossom richness to finish. Impeccable.
94 pts – Andrew Graham (Oz Wine Review): By contrast, this is a fresher, less dense, more frisky expression with an extra zip of juicy grapefruit. This is a quality wine – the sense of lightness, but this bangs on with this crunchy green grapefruit fruit and perfect acidity. The Denmark release has more mid-palate punch, but this feels like the complete package. Best drinking: I prefer this style now.
2022 Harewood Mount Barker Riesling (Sold Out)
96 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A producer that can almost do no wrong when it comes to Riesling, the nose gives slate washed with lime alongside mandarin blossom; expansive citrus blossom and lime that has texture and mouth feel frames the palate before mineral lines of acidity add a chalkiness to the wine. The finish has crunch and length and a considerable cellaring life ahead.
2022 Harewood Denmark Riesling
94 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): Crushed rock with briny citrus fruits on the nose, the palate is the most closed of the 2022 riesling releases. It is textural, with an almost savoury aspect that focuses on lime without quite as much floral influence. The mid palate shows some kaffir lime and coriander and a continuation of the briny influence before the long, textural finish. The wine is sure to develop plenty of secondary interest over time.
94 pts – Andrew Graham (Oz Wine Review): Every year the question is more about which Harewood sub-regional release is best, and this year it’s a close thing between this Denmark release and the Porongurup below. I think I prefer the Porongurup marginally, but not much in it. This is an excellent, expressive, yet tight Riesling. There is this juiciness, a real juicy citrus intensity, but it’s more grapefruit than, say, the Limefinger below. A little celery and white flowers too. Celery and white flower aromatics, but also flavour and ripe, rather than hard acidity. Just so much punchiness, and yet you step back and admire it as a crisp, lithe white wine. Best drinking: good now.
94 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): The most delicate and floral of the 2022 releases, the nose has fresh cut flowers and citrus blossom that sits in front a light touch of lime. There is a beautiful flow to the wine with a lightness of mouthfeel that sees jasmine etched citrus fruits move effortlessly. There is enough acidity to gives a crushed rock and citrus zest a pull of texture that is a welcome contrast to finish. Very good length.
93 pts – Andrew Graham (Oz Wine Review): We’re now down in the Tunney Vineyard in Frankland River for this Harewood release. James Kellie (Harewood winemaker) must do a few km every year as the Great Southern is a huge region too! Grapefruit and lemongrass with a little cucumber is what this Riesling smells like. It’s not unripe, though – there’s a bit of melon in that crunch. It’s quite an expressive thing. Makes it quite moreish. It’s a lovely wine, even if it doesn’t quite have the x-factor of the Denmark/Porongurup releases. Best drinking: go now.
2022 Harewood Great Southern Riesling
93 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): As always the value here is excellent. A wonderfully precise but impactful Riesling that is the perfect lead into the impeccable single region releases from one of the best producers of the variety in Australia. Aromatics focus on fresh lime with a subtle impact of citrus blossom and talc. There is great energy to the palate with clean lines of citrus fruits that tend from lime to more mandarin like across the journey. The suggestion of cut fresh flowers and tropical tones is a constant contrast and comes into its own to finish, the length is very good.
91 pts – Gary Walsh (The Wine Front): Good value here. Floral, ripe apple and lemon, a bit of bath salts. It’s juicy in fruit flavour, apple and lemon, veering into light tropical flavours, zesty and tangy, with a kiss of sweetness, a flinty texture, and a fresh and juicy finish. Affable and very good to drink.
90 pts – Stuart Robinson (The Vinsomniac): This is the entry level Riesling from Harewood Estate – a producer that explores a range of sub-regional Riesling to such excellence. Lime pith, green melon, a floral note – steely reserve under that initial aromatic introduction. Quite austere, yielding little. There’s a length and generosity of intent – but hard to nail its colours to the mast when I find such expression elsewhere in the range.
2021 Harewood Flux V Pinot Noir
Jane Thomson (Taste Magazine): Add some funk to your festive table with this spunky, unfiltered, unfined pinot noir from the southern tip of WA. It hits all the sour cherry and cranberry high notes, while the base line beats with savoury herbs and a lick of spice.
2021 Harewood Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon
90 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A light yellow in the glass with tropical fruits met with grassy herbaceous and green pepper tones. The palate has snap pea, gooseberry and understated passionfruit that has a fullness of mouthfeel; acidity pulls things into line on the finish with a return of the herbaceous thread to gently tropical fruits.
2022 Harewood Denmark Pinot Noir
91 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A light red in terms of colour with a nose of black cherry, raspberry, rhubarb and clove like spice. There is a suppleness of red berry fruit that is texturally complimented by a bitter cherry pip aspect on the mid palate before expansive red cherry and wild strawberry frames the finish. Drinking well now and will reward a few years in bottle.
Jane Thomson (Taste Magazine): This mysterious red blend of undisclosed varieties, organically grown somewhere in South Australia, has been made simply and deliciously – with natural yeast and nothing else. Chill it down and drink all summer long.
2021 Highgate Organic Cabernet Sauvignon South Australia
Jane Thomson (Taste Magazine): This is a flavour-packed, well-structured South Australian cab sav that punches well above its weight. Lip-smacking tannins are balanced by deep purple and blue fruits, and a hint of vanilla and clove.
2022 The Little Wine Company Pecorino
92 pts – Mike Bennie (WBM): A delicate, light and pure expression done well. A blink and you’ll miss it kind of experience, but once you pause there’s fine minerally detail, good sense of lime on green apple fruit characters, a lick of faintest yeasty/sour dough savouriness. Gentle white wine rendered well. Pass the oysters.
92 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): Lovely florals on the nose of lemon blossom and ripe apricot. There is a litheness to the palate with mineral acidity giving flow to light to medium bodied fruit that sits somewhere between Meyer lemon and lime with attractive jasmine like spice to finish.
91 pts – Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front): There’s lightness and weight in this wine which is quite enticing. Lemon and grapefruit spectrum but also gunpowder and white pepper spice. Oregano and white peach. Palate is spicy and warming but rounded by just a touch of the soft nutty/dairy note. The texture is king here. It lands on a salty, bitter grapefruit finish. Tasty on its own but would complement many dishes, no doubt.
2019 The Little Wine Company Barbera
93 pts – Kasia Sobiesiak (The Winefront): It starts with cranberries, sweet tobacco, basil and sour cherries. Driven by acidity, there’s great tension in this wine. High-toned red apple skins, rose petals. Raw almonds are here too. All pinned down by fine-grained chalky tannins. More leafy spice evolve in the glass. There’s lovely red fruit here but altogether it’s more of a savoury style. This is your alternative go-to, Pinot and Nebbiolo drinkers. It’s an impressive Hunter Barbera.
90 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A nose of brambly black cherry and with some fresh earth, the palate has upfront red cherry and firm, textural acidity that works well with fine tannins that build in savoury influence across the journey. There is a touch of crunchy wild strawberry to finish with a dusting a cocoa and good length. A texturally enjoyable wine.
2019 The Little Wine Company Sangiovese
93 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): An opulent nose of red and black cherry with a sweetness of brown spice. The palate shows generous, textured red berries initially, but what is most enjoyable is the subtle build of bay leaf and spiced impact that gives complexity and contrast to the wine; there is a drying almost saline edge to finish that draws you back for another sip of the beautifully expressive red fruits. Some very good winemaking here.
2022 The Little Wine Company Vermentino
91 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A light yellow in terms of colour with lime, cut white flowers and a touch of oyster shell on the nose. The palate is medium to full bodied and works from a core of finger limes that have lemon blossom and pink grapefruit embellishments. There is a briny, saline edge that works well with driving citrus fruits to finish.
91 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): An entertaining name, with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon for this wine sourced from Riverland. An appealing nose of candied wild strawberry and cherry skins. There is plenty of generosity of red berry fruits on the palate, they fill the mouth and have a nice flow to them; acidity is there but more of a supporting lattice and etched with a touch of citrus. The finish focuses on strawberry and raspberry fruit with good texture and length. The wine says made in hell, but i think it is pretty good!
93 pts – Kim Brebach (BWU20): The Spaniards have a knack of turning out really attractive wines at reasonable prices. This is a great example that offers lively, seductive red fruits mixed with savoury herbs and coffee grounds, dark chocolate? Young but smooth drinking, real crowd pleaser.
Jane Thomson (Taste Magazine): Spain produces some cracking, well-priced reds, and this one delivers on juicy red fruits, like cherries and raspberries, along with deliciously savoury, umami flavours and chewy tannins. It’s hard to have just one glass!
2021 Amigo de la Tierra Organic Tempranillo Grenache
92 pts – Kim Brebach (BWU20): Genius blend – these two varieties are close friends, one contributing cherries and tomatoes, the other plums and oregano. The wine is one year old but ready to enjoy. Not complex, just fruit-driven and smooth as velvet, it’s the perfect pizza / pasta/ tapas red, and the price is right.
2020 La Sorda Vendimia Seleccionada
93 pts – Kim Brebach (BWU20): Another seductive, polished Spaniard, at twice the price. More racy acidity, a little more finesse perhaps, a touch more sophistication? The Campos Luz above is much better value to my mind, and the fun label and price makes it a perfect bistro red.
91 pts – Stuart Robinson (The Vinsomniac): Baked raspberry over earth warmed by a summer sun. Remnants of oak – in a supporting role – with bay and woody herb. Lovely powdery, drying tannins here – still with a freshness and vitality across the length. Delivers in spades, all too often Rioja can come across as tired and dusty, not so here. A tidy offering.
94 pts – Kim Brebach (BWU20): Rioja rules say that Reserva wines have to be at least 3 years old on release, with 1 years stored in oak. This is a great example, and a lot more modern than the last Reserva I had from Rioja years ago. They used to taste oxidized from spending too much time in old barrels. No such issues with this polished, glossy example offered at perfect maturity. Ripe red fruits mix it with smoked meats, bay leaves and spices. A whiff of sweet warm earth and some oaky notes complete the picture. Pure velvet on the palate, soft maturity, not as complex as I expected.
92 pts – Stuart Robinson (The Vinsomniac): At seven years of age it maintains a presence, one that balances a Fruit freshness – albeit fading – against the savoury depths, of oak and age. The palate throws a lingering lick of vanilla over blue fruit; cocoa powder tannin sworls, filling the expanse of the oral cavity – before concluding on a gentle, ebbing length.
2021 Bonny Doon “Vin Gris de Cigare” Rose
93 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A lovely copper to burnt orange in colour, aromatics see red cherry and new season pear with some citrus tones The mouth feel is supple, yet builds in concentration of wild strawberry and a continuation of the ripe pear seen on the nose, flecks of cranberry give texture and drive with a savoury nuance. The finish is long and accentuates juicy red berry fruits. An excellent rose.
2019 Silkwood ‘The Walcott’ Chardonnay
94 pts – Kim Brebach (BWU20): The premier label of Silkwood, which always covers interesting wines. Pemberton subtlety and restraint here, so you need to get under the skin. White peaches and a touch of grapefruit, backed by spicy oak and almond meal plus some lees complexity. Impressive modern chardy with finesse and polish. Has the structure to fill out over the next year or two.
92 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): Those nose has worked nectarine and nougat with some flint like spice; the palate is rich and fills all corners of the mouth with creamy stone fruits, however there is a steel thread of mineral acidity that gives great contrast, along with a grapefruit pith like grip on the mid palate. The finish is long, with ripe peach laced with oak derived spice.
2022 Silkwood ‘The Bowers’ Sauvignon Blanc
91 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A varietal nose of guava, ripe melon and tropical fruits that is fresh and floral. The palate has tropical fruits joined by boysenberry and an enjoyable thread of green herbs. The most enjoyable aspect of the wine is its texture, it has curves in the right places and drive of acidity elsewhere. Very hard to go wrong here.
2022 Silkwood ‘The Bowers’ Chardonnay
91 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A light to golden yellow in the glass with some lovely aromatics of nectarine, fig, decadent vanillin oak and raw hazelnut. The palate is big and bold, with nectarine fully ripe and latching onto the worked leesy complexity and oak derived spice. Acidity is there and does just enough to keep things in check . The finish has a butterscotch like aspect to stone fruits and good length. It won’t be everyone’s style but this is wonderful value at $20.
2020 La Resistance Organic Rose
91 pts – Patrick Eckel (Wine Reviewer): A light copper in colour with aromatics of poached strawberries and raspberry coolie. The palate has a great build of texture and fruit impact with generous red berry fruits taking on a touch of citrus and cherry pip like bitterness whilst still maintaining great flow. The finish sees wild strawberry intertwined with fresh lemon acidity and very good length.
90 pts – Stuart Robinson (The Vinsomniac): Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; 36m in bottle – that time adds aromas bready, freshly baked sourdough with stonefruit elements sitting gently, square and centre. Not the liveliest, a gentle bead at best. Stonefruit, delicate citrus, more of that autolysis derived flavour and leesy complexity. Retains a good acidic presence, a good palate cleanser/aperitif.
