The Lucky Dip Case is back! Last time we did this, we broke the internet. This time we’ve bubble-wrapped the servers because they’re in for another beating.
Every case contains 11 wicked wines, including some our absolute faves here at the ‘fo. More info on them below, and they’re all good things: six ripper reds; four unique whites; even a nifty prosecco. All mofo standard - i.e. nothing we haven’t enjoyed ourselves.
Then there’s the added excitement of seeing which of these world-beaters you won. The odds of scoring change, but each one is a centrepiece wine, worthy of some truly special occasions.
The twelfth wine is the wildcard and could be one of these four wines:
That 98pt Iconic Penfolds Grange 2014 worth $900 (1 in 100 chance)
A 98pt winning Meshach shiraz ‘12 worth $185 (1 in 36 chance)
A Saint-Joseph Syrah 2016 worth $100 (1 in 18 chance)
Mofo favourite, Kilikanoon Golden Hillside shiraz 2017 worth $45
We should say up front: there are no returns on this - click here for case terms and conditions. The chance involved would make this unfair for all. But rest assured there are no fillers here. I can tell you the mofos around HQ have their fingers on their keyboards, waiting for this offer to go live. So it’s mofo a mofo, mano a mano, dog eat dog.
The easiest way to guarantee getting a bottle of Grange is to go out and buy one for yourself. If you, like me, don’t have $900 handy, this is definitely your best (and cheapest) option! Heard enough already? Pop that case in the cart and cross your fingers and toes! Otherwise, read on for a bit more info on all those lovely wines:
Wildcard Wine #1
Penfolds Grange 2014
South Australia
98pts Joe Czerwinski Wine Advocate | 98pts Tony Love | 98pts Huon Hooke | 20++/20 Matthew Jukes | 18.5/20 Jancis Robinson | 97pts James Halliday | 97pts Anthony Rose, Decanter | 97pts Andrew Caillard MW | 97pts Tyson Stelzer | 96pts Campbell Mattinson | 5 red star winery
THE quintessential, genre-defining, high-watermark of Australian red wine production. A wine that draws as many superlative and exclamations marks from critics as it does massive scores and gold medals. A wine that causes even the most high-profile elite of the wine world to blush like bashful schoolchildren in its presence. This is Penfolds Grange.
A blend of the absolute cream of the crop fruit from six different regions across South Australia, it’s as complex, architectural and iconic as Sydney Opera House. It sees 20 months of maturation in 100% new American oak hogsheads which impart lashings of tannin grunt and structure. The 2014 vintage leans toward the more elegant side of the spectrum; the wine is aristocratic in its poise and has cellar potential bordering on the ludicrous. Gift it to your newborn now, to be opened on their 25th birthday.
It’s a once in a lifetime wine that only a very lucky few get to try. Even fewer get to win a bottle.
You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’
Well do ya, mofo?
YOU’D PAY $900 full price.
Wildcard Wine #2
Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz 2012
McLaren Vale, SA
98pts James Halliday | 97pts Peter Chapman | Five red star Halliday rated winery
No two ways about it, Meshach’s at the big end of town. Lots of fruit, lots of oak, lots of impact. Chief Winemaker, Craig Stansborough, says it’ll be in your face until its early teenage years, and then everything starts to come together. Like the absolute joy of having kids, but you can tuck them away until they’re becoming civil. And then you can pull one out on an appropriately swanky occasion, decant, watch it blossom and do you proud.
YOU’D PAY $185 full price.
Wildcard Wine #3
Jeantet Laurent Les Échalas
à Jo Saint-Joseph 2016
Saint-Joseph, FR
92pts Decanter
I’m willing to bet you’re familiar with the shiraz grape, but what about French syrah? This is more than the same thing with a Gallic accent.
Some things will be familiar (particularly when you look at cooler climate Aussies, like Mornington syrah) but as with much of the ‘old world’, there’s definitely some unknowable magic in here too.
Expect to find expansive dark blueberries and tart raspberries, intertwined with liquorice, black olives and cracked pepper. It’s powerful and tightly coiled, like 400 years of winemaking history carefully eased into bottle.
YOU’D PAY $100 full price.
Wildcard Wine #4
Kilikanoon Golden Hillside
Shiraz 2017
Clare Valley, SA
5 red star Halliday rated winery
2017 in the Clare Valley was another (yes, another) fantastic year. Like, some said the best since 2002. Like, for realz. Like, I’m just gonna put another ‘like’ in here to annoy my dad. Meanwhile, the primary winemaking challenge was what to do will all that excellent fruit. An all-star cast of berries and cherries are supported by judicious toasty oak. There’s great depth of tannin and a fine acid to keep everything in superb balance. As in previous instalments, it’ll age very gracefully for a decade, but we doubt you’ll manage to keep your hands off it.
YOU’D PAY $45 full price.
THE OTHER WINES IN THE CASE
BLACK MARKET Semillon 2017
Hunter Valley, NSW
Sustainable farming | 5 red star Halliday rated winery
This is the freshest release from one of the big names in the Hunter. 2017 was hot and dry and left producers with outstanding fruit quality. This producer scored low yields of perfectly ripe fruit, and the generosity shows. It seems atypical of most young Hunters I’ve tried, more tropical and forward. Absolutely approachable now, I’d say. But I’d also recommend that you don’t, because this’ll go another 15 years if you can keep your thirsty mitts off it.
YOU’D PAY $34 full price.
BLACK MARKET Chardonnay 2018
Adelaide Hills, SA
92pts Sam Kim | 5 red star Halliday rated winery
This is a stunningly elegant wine from the northern end of the Adelaide Hills. It’s a lovely climate to make chardonnay in; you get fabulous, summery fruit flavour, while retaining all the vibrant acidity. This one has a lovely apple blossom nose, followed by juicy apricots and rockmelon on the palate. A faint hint of nougat thanks to just a touch of new French oak, which is terrifically judged. It’s not there to make a statement, just to play a tasteful supporting role. The ideal drinking window starts now. You’ve got the next few years to enjoy it at its best, but don’t wait long to order. It’s one of our favourite wineries, and we know how this stuff flies.
YOU’D PAY $30 full price.
Mi Terruno Uvas Malbec 2017
Mendoza, AR
From the Maipu region of Mendoza province, producer Mi Terruño, Spanish for My Terroir have made a cracking young Malbec. Perky plum and other purple fruits right here. A freshly proven sourdough quality to it that’s quite alluring, with a blueberry juice moat around it. The palate is super smooth and fruit-driven, with stewed plum, strawberry and black pepper following through with more allure. Long, sumptuous, just a little bit of tannin to give the wine weight and presence. ‘Perky’ is the perfect word for this bright little medium-bodied red.
YOU’D PAY $24 full price.
Maverick GSM 2018
Barossa, SA
5 red star Halliday rated winery
It’s a fantastically well thought-out wine. Each of the individual varieties, from every different vineyard, was separately matured in small vats to track their progress, and then matured in French oak for depth and complexity. A small amount was kept in stainless steel to preserve fruit purity, too. The resultant blend utilises grenache from the Barossa and Eden Valleys (the former, opulent, the latter more floral), mataro from the Barossa, and a selection of shirazes from across all of Maverick’s holdings. Talk about painstaking process. The 2018 vintage saw some drought, so yields were massively reduced and fantastic quality resulted.
YOU’D PAY $29 full price.
BLACK MARKET Riesling 2018
Clare Valley, SA
95pts Sam Kim | 5 red star Halliday rated winery
This Watervale riesling is from 100% free run juice - i.e. only the best bits. Lemons, limes - sure. But it’s the tight little palate that sets this riesling apart. Zesty and fresh, dry and crisp, with florals and a softly mineral richness thanks to gentle lees-stirring. It screams classic Watervale riesling, and we’re happy to be shouted at if it ends up tasting this good. Scream away, little rizza.
YOU’D PAY $27 full price.
Willunga 100 Shiraz Grenache 2016
McLaren Vale, SA
93pts James Halliday | 93pts Sam Kim | 5 stars Sam Kim
“They’re very good winemakers, these guys. They produce a very consistent product at a very consistent price. They’re grenache specialists, and add their silky Vale shiraz to the mix and you have yourself a winner.” So says John to the gaggle of geeks at the Tasting Bench.
This is spicy, peppery, and juice-running-down-your-chin plums. A full spectrum of blue, black and red fruits, with a lovely doughiness to it, barbera-like almost but much, much richer.
YOU’D PAY $25 full price.
BLACK MARKET Shiraz 2017
McLaren Vale, SA
What do you need to make good wine? Well, there’s the land, first of all. McLaren Vale does that damn well. Then you need grapes. Everybody’s favourite naturalised Aussie, shiraz, ticks that box. Finally, you’ll need a hand from the elements. How does a 9/10 vintage sound? Sounds like a bloody good wine actually, and you’re not wrong.
It’s classic Vale shiraz. Big, rich dark fruits, mocha and spice, and a touch of French oak to keep it warm. It’s a wickedly fun drop that’s ready to go on a whim whenever you fancy it. Open freely, pour liberally, enjoy deeply!
YOU’D PAY $25 full price.
Little Helper Prosecco NV
King Valley, VIC
93pts Sam Kim
Need a little help getting the party started? Let us reintroduce this little helper... Fizzing with good, clean fun it comes from Australia’s hottest prosecco region and is made by a winery team who just so happen to be one of Halliday’s top ten ‘Dark Horses’ of 2016. Party started? It’s already begun!
We’re talking about a super fresh sparkling that’s bursting with pears, citrus fruits, apples and a lively line of acidity. This prosecco is pure joy in a glass, and on a hot day, the closest thing to heaven you’ll find in the fridge.
YOU’D PAY $25 full price.
BLACK MARKET Shiraz 2017
Heathcote, VIC
2017 was a stellar vintage pretty much all over Victoria, and Heathcote was no different. Of all grapes in Heathcote, says Halliday, shiraz was the standout. Reason to get excited then!
If you’re a fan of the region (that makes two of us), then you’ll love this. Rich, ripe red and black fruits make for plush mouthfeel. Then, that characteristic spiciness crackles across the back palate. It’s all held together by supportive but unobtrusive French and American oak. Heathcote shiraz is a fun wine anyway, and this one’s a ripsnorter. Fire in your belly, and spice in your glass. You’d like four cases? Thought you’d never ask.
YOU’D PAY $35 full price.
Penley Estate Cabernet
Sauvignon 2017
Coonawarra, SA
5 star Halliday rated winery
Making the staple wine of a brand is probably harder than making its flagships. Flagships get to express individuality - the features and foibles of vintage. The staple of a stable has to work much harder, and shine as a beacon of aspiration, year in, year out - day in, day out. It’s gotta do the heavy lifting. And for Kate Goodman and Penley, 2017 is a benchmark vintage that was always going to mark Penley as one to really watch. The momentum of Penley has cranked up over the last few vintages since Kate’s arrival, with a clear pivot towards more elegant expressions of their unique terroir. And here is the purest expression of that terroir to date.
YOU’D PAY $24 full price.
Alterum Pinot Gris 2017
Adelaide Hills, SA
Boutique producer
This wine has a well-dressed foot in both the gris and grigio camps. It’s classic green and red apples plus a bit of Beurre Bosc pear and citrus peel, while the palate’s tightly wound, steely and mineral. Plus it was made in a mix of stainless and French oak, so has the best of both worlds in terms of texture and freshness. Tastes like grigio right now, but my odds on bets are that given even a few months’ bottle age you’ll see more fleshy gris style emerge.
YOU’D PAY $22 full price.
