letuffeau.com
(Link)
—
Contrefort
&
Defialy
“Certified Minimal Fuckery.”
— Will
“I am continually surprised by the genuine love that Central Victorians have for vine, land, and the product of the grape. These are peasant wines in the best sense. Enjoy them, don’t think about them. Match with your favourite dishes. I am astounded that wines like this exist in Australia. Finesse? No. Yummy? Yes.”
— David
—
North Wines / Contrefort
“Late one night, hunched over the backgammon board and loosing the sheep station, I heard whispers of an eccentric Frenchman living in the wilds of the Macedon Ranges and making untamed wines. None of this is made up.*
Fast forward and Etienne Mangier reached out to Will and I and brought in a swag bag of wines to taste. The rumours were true.
Upfront: Etienne makes the best Savagnin in Australia. This is Macedon by way of Macle; unashamedly difficult, old fashioned. Will and I are here for it. The other wines are equally off-piste and absolutely delicious. Sometimes you have to believe the rumours and go for broke.”
— David
*Except for loosing the sheep station. It isn’t a sheep station, and I haven’t lost it yet …
I
North Wines Contrefort 2023 Macedon Ranges ‘Fume Blanc’
(Shelf Price: $45.00)
Offer: $38.00
“Sauvignon Blanc with braggadoccio. I can’t imagine this being drunk south of the river on a Sunday morning … Fistfuls of nettles and other meadow herbs, crushed snow peas, and dandelion flower aromatics grip the senses. There is a mineral, wet clay background here that gives the impression that this is a wine which has sprung from the earth. The palate packs a wallop. This wine is awash in primal, vernal energy (*David gestures, primally*), Following a brief concession to tropicality (pineapple), we’re back in the orchards of central France, with white fruit and citrus going tête-à-tête. The finish is surprisingly opulent given the phenolic grip.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
II
North Wines Contrefort 2022 Macedon Ranges Savagnin Sous Voile
(Shelf Price: $56.00)
Offer: $47.00
“This is the best Savagnin in Australia. Strikingly Jurassic, authentically rugged, and demanding a comparable, Comte-like cheese from the bovines in Gippsland.
There is something of the authentically guttural peasant to this wine. An unappealing hazy tubidity greets the eye: peach-skin orange in the glass, this Savagnin is surly, with mineral, peat, and preserved lemon rind aromas. There is a faint whiff of cheesecloth, salted cashews, and the sort of spices you might find in a kitchen in Jura. These aromas ride a welcome wave of volatility. The palate is as austere as Winter after a poor harvest, but fills out with its requisite cheese pairing. Chalk, further preserved citrus rinds, some stonefruit richness, and dried kitchen garden herbs. Encountering this wine is nothing short of astounding. It is a force of nature and I am so glad to see it in the Australian wine scene. Be warned …”
— David
Order here
(Link)
III
North Wines Contrefort 2023 Macedon Ranges Pinot Noir
(Shelf Price: $56.00)
Offer: $47.00
“This wine doesn’t tiptoe through the petunias, it sidesteps the violets to grab you by the black cherries. If you could imagine Southern Jura Pinot Noir — without the brett. — then you’ll understand this wine. That black fruit, dark loam squat central to the aromatic profile, but there is relief in the form of dried orange rind, iodine, and medicinal tinctures (of the kind which can no longer be bought for regulatory reasons). I am delighted that this wine has no finesse on the palate, being at first succulent and then chalkily austere when the tannins kick in like a village mule. Liqueur cherries, further dark forest fruits, and some blood plum vie for attention, followed by … I don’t know, leather, limestone, and panforte eaten in a eucalypt forest.
— David
Order here
(Link)
—
Domaine Defialy / Defialy
“I have been buying wines from Micah at Cathedral for years now, pretty much since day dot. Each release we always buy a box of most wines, and each release they always sell out within the same week they arrive. Why? Because the wines are simply delicious.
‘Domaine Defialy’ — Micah's new site that he is now fully farming up in the Macedon Ranges, planted out with Chardonnay, Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Merlot and more — is one I would be watching.
They are honest, sensual, open wines that show vintage and cepage so well. We look forward to the future of Domaine Defialy!”
— Will
IV
Defialy 2024 Macedon Ranges Chardonnay ‘Candlebark Hill’
(Shelf Price: $48.00)
Offer: $42.00
“Glowing straw gold in the glass. You're hit with a mass of exotic ripe stonefruit, roasted apples, and peaches straight from the get-go. There is a lovely toasted bran and nuttiness showing behind that, mixing with some tangelo rinds.
The palate is round and waxy, and has some soft yoghurty vibes, Yakulty. Fresh hazelnuts, peach skins, shortcrust cobbler, almost sherbet-like phenolic tingling leads into a saline-edged finish. It's active and open knit, probably from the use of amphore, but in the best way, not bacterial. You feel this ferrous, red earth soil presence at the very back, like a mineral thumbprint. David said the words ‘Pommard blanc’. It's good.”
— Will
Order here
(Link)
V
Defialy 2024 Pyrenees Grenache Syrah ‘There Are No Stars’
(Shelf Price: $42.00)
Offer: $35.00
“I think some people would like this wine. I for one had never understood nor cared for Pyrenees Grenache, but with this wine, I think I get it. Currants. This wine eddies around black and red currants, fresh and dried, with tributaries leading towards moss and wet river stones, leather and lavender, bush-garrigue, and dried herbs, all throughout an estuary of brown Christmas spices. Distinctly old-world in mouthfeel, there is a cooling, almost mentholated touch here, with a granular, Provence-like feel to the tannins. Cooked damsons, earth — and those damned currants again — form the core here with garrigue ebbing and flowing around at the edges.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
VI
Defialy 2024 Macedon Ranges Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Candlebark Hill’
(Shelf Price: $45.00)
Offer: $39.00
“Baby’s first lunch claret, and nobody puts baby in the club corner…
Sipping this at the naughty table, I can’t help but think this is the wine that will win all of you readers over to Cabernet. Getting serious: red cherries, freeze-dried raspberry, bay leaves, and bush-garrigue, Southeast Asian green charoots, rhubarb, and orange rind all mingle with immediate aromatic presence. There is just something so inviting and enticing about this drop; it seems to be the perfect mix of fresh, redolent, dark, and warming. Sitting very pretty at the lighter end of medium-bodied, with surprisingly elegant and light tannins, and a sneakily long finish. The flavours here present like unhurried conversation around the lunch table, with different elements coming at you from different directions like arguing relatives. Crushed blackberries and liquorice bullets; blood orange; sage and mint; and milk chocolate on the finish.
Moreish, and sure to get the older chaps talking.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
—
What the fuck else do you want to know?
We’re hungover and tired, buy these wines.
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.