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letuffeau.com
(Link)
“ … in 1988 he [owner & then winemaker John Thomson] made an extremely elegant Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend.”
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“John is also justifiably proud of his Cabernet Sauvignon … It shows lovely cool-climate herbaceous and berry character.”
Complete Book of Australian Wine (Rev. 1990) — Len Evans
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“The newly released 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon from Belinda Thomson at Crawford River is moving in a manner rare to young wines. It immediately evokes the few Victorian wines from the 1970s and 1980s I have been lucky enough to sample … I am rendered inarticulate.”
— David
Crawford River Wines
Henty
~ please note : discounts are automatically applied at checkout ~
new releases
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Crawford River 2016 ‘Beta’ (Museum Release)
(Shelf Price: $50.00)
Offer: $39.00
Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc; 11 months old oak then 6 months settling in stainless steel
“A crisp green gold in the glass, the 2016 Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blend christened ‘Beta’ by the Thomson Family sees new light as a museum release from the cellars at the station.
Initially there are nuances of baked apples, melted wax, dried honey, and salt before the wines undergoes that marvellous oxygenation magic trick and freshens with air. Suddenly, we have a glass brimming with firm Bosc Pear, yellow apples (Gippsland Golds!), lemongrass, white pepper, candied lime peel, crushed citrus leaf; and hints of oyster shell and preserved peach.
I write brief interlude here, by way of lacuna in my tasting note proper, marking that I believe it is absurd that this wine is not better known. Not only is it riotously, and elegantly, flavoured; it is also aging at a glacial pace. To be sure, Bordeaux Blanc blends are not in high demand but I can note two, MM and S’berg, which have seen dramatic price rises in recent years while this wine has risen by about $10 in 15 years.
A silky entry segues to weighty fruit before - WHAM! - fresh, bracing acidity and chalky mineral inflected phenolics. Along the sneakily lengthy close there is a wonderful interplay between the fresh and mineral, and the rich and toasty. The palate is centered on flavours of green pear and lime curd, indeed there is a creamy generosity to the middle palate akin to curd! Accents of Makrut Lime leaf, pepper, citrus pith, and yellow apples add complexity. The final, lingering presence is of pure Williams Pear which seems to resonate long after all else fades away. A delight through and through. Fine.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
II
Crawford River 2022 Henty Cabernet Sauvignon
(Shelf Price: $85.00)
Offer: $69.00
from vines planted in 1977 and 2000 - duplex sandy loam and ironstone clay loam, and 1976 - hard gravelly ironstone; 5 days in open fermenters then into French oak for 24 months. Bottled September 2024. Released September 2026.
“The newly released 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon from Belinda Thomson at Crawford River is moving in a manner rare to young wines. It immediately evokes the few Victorian wines from the 1970s and 1980s I have been lucky enough to sample, I think especially of Balgownie Estate, Taltarni, Virgin Hills, and Wantirna Estate. Defining the quality moving me so is difficult; I am rendered inarticulate. Perhaps it is that there is refinement without elegance, perfume without pretension, and profundity and depth without weight or darkness.
Dominated by a sense of linearity, the aromatic profile is built on unified lines of graphite and cherry which extend towards the olfactory horizon. The purity of these two elements is disarming. Snapping out of the reverie, I encounter complexifying notions of cedar incense, cassis, sweet blackberry, claro cigar wrapper, gravel, clove, roast red capsicum, dried vine cuttings, and dry earth. Lurking beneath: plum blossom, damp and smokey earth, and blackberry and Morello preserves. The palate is silky, caressing on entry then immediately strict with layered tannin that instead of descending seemingly rises in the palate like exposed strata on a rift or hillside. Very aloof at this youthful stage. Gravel and shale minerality presents itself, twinned with the tannins at the side of the cheeks. Red cherry, grilled red capsicum, blood orange and mandarin peels; then deeper cherry and cassis, bay and thyme, some clove and cedar. Ultimately very closed but good nascent fleshiness in the centre of
the palate. Tobacco hints on the long, austere close are complemented by gastronomic, dried mandarin pith bitterness. Superb.
I am usually cautious about providing drinking windows to you, dear Readers, but in this case I would happy recommend avoiding any bottles for a long time. Now safely sealed under quality DIAM. Drink from 2039.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
other Crawford River wines in stock
~ generously discounted by 20% ~
Crawford River 2025 Henty Riesling
(Shelf Price: $70.00)
Order here - $56.00
(Link)
“Immensely enjoyable right now and with considerably more heft than most if not all Australian Rieslings. Fine.”
— David
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Crawford River 2018 Henty Riesling (Museum Release)
(Shelf Price: $105.00)
Order here - $84.00
(Link)
“This is just starting to show those complex, secondary lemon toast aromas whilst still being full of citrus and floral scents together with a little lemongrass and oyster shell.”
96pts — Philip Rich, James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion
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Crawford River 2022 Henty Cabernet Sauvignon 'Reserve'
(Shelf Price: $115.00)
Order here - $92.00
(Link)
“A wine of exceptional bravura; singular, perhaps, in the Australian wine scene. Belinda Thomson deserves the highest praise for this release.”
— David
“Belinda Thomson, at her family’s estate ‘Crawford River’, makes the finest Riesling in Australia. The Cabernet Sauvignon is not far behind.
John Thomson, Belinda’s father, returned from London to his family property with two options: sell the farm, or make it work as a classic ‘WD’ Merino station. John saw a third and planted vines in 1975, enrolling in Charles Stuart University in 1977 to study Viticulture and Oenology.
The situating landscape appears unremarkable yet beneath the windswept plains (ie: strongly maritime, moderated climate) lies a shelf of clay-limestone that extends over from Mount Gambier with a faint dusting of richer volcanic soils. Some magic must be afoot here with the moderated cool climate, attentive viticulture, and the deep mineral underpinning as the wines are consistently excellent and repeatedly memorable. If my notes seem vague it is because these, like R. Lopez de Heredia (& etc.), are wines I have lived with for sometime.
Indeed, Will and I’s Nana was a regular visitor to John at the estate, staying close by on property outside Hamilton. The Riesling featured first as an early wine memory. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon … is a benchmark wine for me, following not far behind.
Crawford River does not deserve my faulty notes, it deserves international renown. My affection for them is boundless and my passions reignited with every time I revisit them. They constitute the core of my personal collection and I am immensely proud to stock these wines at Le Tuffeau.”
— David
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Please join us for a drink soon. Reservations preferred.
Bookings and after-6.00pm access: (03) 9419 3867
Tue. 11.00 am–6.00 pm
Wed.–Sat. 11.00 am–11.00 pm
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If you would like any of the above, would like to come by for a private appointment, or just have some questions — please let us know.