Roger Jones picks his favourites from this year’s joint venture held at The Royal Horticultural Halls in London.
Levantine Hill
Levantine Hill which is seeking UK representation and has been featured a few times in The Buyer and by Amelia Jukes’ State by State roadshow, is a Yarra Valley-based producer offering wines that burst with excellent quality and are sourced by collectors across the globe. Although the top end wines cost a few dollars, they do have an exciting range offering excellent value for the quality. The wines (specialising in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernets) also hit the perfect alcohol level with an average of 12.5%.
Levantine Hill ‘Estate’ Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Australia 2023
This delivered layer after layer of texture, purity and prestige stone fruit, poised and beautifully balanced, drinking well now but will evolve for many years gaining in elegance.
Great news that Pol Roger is now bringing in Mount Mary to the UK, one of Yarra Valley’s most revered family-owned estates.
Mount Mary Vineyards ‘Triolet’ Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadelle 2019, Yarra Valley, Australia (RRP £56.50)
First produced in 1987, with a nod to the white wines from Graves, aged for up to 11 months in old barrels, his latest release with seven years under its belt offers a funky but balanced wine with a lovely lime texture then a lingering mellow mid palate, ending on a fresh moreish note.
Mount Mary Vineyards “Quintet,” Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec & Petit Verdot 2017, Yarra Valley, Australia (RRP £80.00)
Savoury, liquorice, fresh offal, blueberries and wild billberries, elegant seamless dark notes with great refinement.
Alkina Estate from the Barossa Valley is now represented by Flint, with a full range being showcased on the day by Amelia Jukes. Alkina is one of Australia’s current superstars, especially when discussing Grenache, under the guidance of Chilean soil scientist and terroir expert, Pedro Parra.
Alkina ‘Old Quarter’ Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro 2023, Barossa Valley, Australia (£56.50)
Beautifully balancd between juicy leg of lamb juice and dark loganberries, mulberries and Scottish autumn raspberries, slate, black pepper with a great balance between darkness and fresh bright notes.
Moving up the scale the Alkina Polygon No5 Grenache 2023 is nutty, with pomegranate, tangerine zest, silky, cracked pink peppercorns, aromas of grilled black pudding, awesome, whilst the Alkina Striato 2023 is a superlative Shiraz produced in tiny quantiles, black olives, allspice, silky smooth, tiny clusters of blackberries and juicy blueberries, clean cut finish, outstanding. On allocation.
Huia Vineyards based in Marlborough, named after the Huia bird, one of the sacred Māori status symbols (their feathers were worn by the Māori chiefs). Great range of wines here hugely impressed with the Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir all offering great purity and focus, however the Sauvignon Blanc is a superstar.
Huia Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Marlborough, New Zealand (RRP £19.00)
This Sauvignon Blanc very much in the Loire style, offering a clean-cut wine with hints of Guava, crisp red apples, glorious spices and shaved raw asparagus, hints of olive oil peppery notes. Wow.
Handpicked Wines which is a part of the House of Arras consortium, offered in my mind the best value Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at the show, its entry “Regional Selection” Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with a recommended retail price of £17.00 a bottle is hard to challenge. The Chardonnay (2023) is fresh vibrant with that stone fruit focus and lime zest freshness, sourced from the Yarra Valley, a marvel, very appealing with a clean-cut quality of fine diamonds, glistening in quality. The Pinot Noir (2022) again from the Yarra Valley, balances fresh berries with a gently unassuming savoury note, seamless and easy to drink especially at £17.00 a bottle. Handpicked scales up to the ‘Collection’ wines at £29.00 a bottle offering more focus and tension.
New Generation Winers has some superstar wines especially from New Zealand, with Kumeu River setting the benchmark for World Class Chardonnay, but do try the Kumeu River Estate Pinot Gris 2025 (RRP £23.50) from its Auckland home base. This is creamy, luscious and fresh, giving a good balance between a chardonnay style and classic Pinot Gris.
Wonderful Rieslings from Pegasus Bay, giving a cross section of styles, and for me the stars on the table were the Pinot Noirs from Valli, from Central Otago.
Valli, Pinot Noir, 2023, “Gibbston”, Central Otago, New Zealand (RRP £57.00)
Savoury and spiced, incredible purity and poise, this just evolves beautifully in the glass, restrained by focused red berries and pomegranate, dark brooding savoury notes, violets and hints of perfume, wonderful.
Valli, Pinot Noir, 2023, “Bannockburn”, Central Otago, New Zealand (RRP £57.00)
Beautiful, elegant, perfumed nose, this has a lovely balance, gentle but refined, seamless with tiny clusters of red berries, essence of pomegranate and a clean granite umami note.
Yealands Wine Estate, based on the rugged and windswept Awatere Valley, is an unique outcrop of Marlborough. With a focus on sustainability from the start this estate showcased a range of Sauvignon Blancs. New on the card is the Babydoll Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024, with the name reflecting the pretty short legged sheep that roam the vineyards, encouraging eco friendly practices. This is a vibrant clean-cut Sauvignon that has a mouthful of fresh sea breeze and herbacious notes balanced together.
Further up the line there was the outstanding Yealands Estate ‘Single Block L5’, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024. This delivers style, a serious Sauvignon Blanc retailing at £18.00 a bottle, lovely bright fruit; guava, melon, citrus zest, salinity and fresh cut green herbs. This delivers a prestine style (more Old World), that would grace gastronomic food.
Penfolds was well represented, highlights were Penfolds ‘Bin 51’ Eden Valley Riesling, 2025, oozing with notes of lime marmalade, Penfolds ‘Reserve Bin A’, Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2024, for me the star of Penfolds Chardonnay range, just a beautiful wine, do try to age it for a few years to get the full kick. On the reds, and there were many, the Penfolds ‘Bin 2’ South Australia Shiraz Mataro 2023 retailing at £24.00 showcases that Penfolds can deliver at the very top as well as its introduction range. This red is bright and clean, has a lovely vibrancy and delivers a mouthful of pristine red and black berries with a touch of savoury smokey bacon crisps on the back.
