Actually, it’s not just this month; I’m folding in August too, because another project got in the way over the last few weeks, which put a go-slow on any sort of Australian Wine Review work (and sleeping, for that matter). I’m back on the horse now though, so let’s go!

Now normally, I like to kick off this monthly wrap with a few wines I’ve drunk lately, but there hasn’t been much of that either.

This Levantine Hill Levant Chardonnay 2024 looked lovely on a bloody hot Singapore night, though, with just the right push/pull balance between delicacy and oak/fruit richness. Right up there with some of the Oakridge single-vineyard Chardies on the ‘Yarra Valley Chardonnay I want to drink’ scale.

Also high on the drinkability index, this Slipstream Brewing Billy Cart Mid Pale was much more impressive than expected. Typically I’d rather drink half a pint than a mid-strength, but this had a hop-forward fragrance and just the right amount of bitter shape for a beer that lands at 3.4%.

What about you? What have you enjoyed drinking over the past month or so?

As for buying, well, for inspo I popped by the Negociants (prominent Australian wine distributor) spring tasting last week, and plenty lobbed into view that I’d buy.

First through the door was the Ata Rangi table, and the freshly bottled Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2024 looked beautiful. There’s a silken flow and everything in its right place, and youthful joy right there. Delicious. Ata Rangi assistant winemaker Katie Cameron was pouring the wines and explained that after a few tough vintages, there was a sense of relief when this wine came out looking so good. I couldn’t warm to the Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 2025, though, which looked less pure and much more forward than I’d expect.

Alongside, Toby Bekkers poured his latest Bekkers releases, and yet again, these are such impressive things. In my McLaren Vale hierarchy, these are up there with the likes of Yangarra at the very pointy end. The Bekkers Syrah 2022 is magnificent, with this line of dark olive and licorice phenolic savouriness that is irrepressible. There’s a sense of purity in that wine that Toby attributes to what he described as abysmal (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the sentiment) extraction rates, where he ends up with less than 550 litres of juice from a tonne of grapes (the Wine Australia average is 712). Extraction isn’t everything, but the consideration that goes into these Bekkers wines feels proper uncompromising, which shows in everything from the lively TOME blend, through the perfectly balanced Grenache and then the first-ever straight Cab release: the Bekkers Cabernet Sauvignon 2023. Sourced from the Bekkers’ Clarendon vineyard, it’s a towering Cabernet in its Vale expression, yet doesn’t feel like an angular, alcoholic slap like some Vale Cabs. The Syrah is easily the king in the lineup, but hot dog, that Cab isn’t far behind.

There were a lot more impressive wines at that tasting, but it was one white that almost slipped through that I most wanted to drink – a Château Pouilly-Fuisse Tête de Cuvee 2023. I really fell hard for Pouilly-Fuisse in Burgundy earlier in the year, and this classic expression has the white rock limestone stoniness, but also a joyful, nutty, golden, richer edge. We’re not at 1er Cru levels of density, but the effortlessness of this wine makes it such a fresh, satisfying drink. Would I buy it? Yes, and finish the bottle no probs.

Speaking of buying things, Michael Brajkovich MW from Kumeu River rolled into town for a masterclass at the end of August with a vertical of his Rays Road Chardonnay and some other back-vintage goodies in tow. That’s a whole different post that I’ll get to next week, but needless to say, I’m buying some of the new Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2025 because it’s superb.

Also in the purchase pile lately is some Wanderer Upper Yarra Pinot Noir 2025, more Aeon Soleil Semillon 2025, and likely more of the delicious Bracket Brewing Double Tap WCIPA.

What about you? What have you been buying lately?