Wickman's Wine Gossip
Archived

May 2011
With the new release of the Penfolds Grange (2006) hitting the retail outlets at $599 a bottle, you have to ask yourself where the investment in Grange is these days. Remember, just because it initially sells for $599 doesn't mean that's what it is worth; it is only worth as much as the next person who wants to buy it is willing to pay. In the mid-1990's Penfolds decided to release Grange at Market price, which is set by the auction market of course. Hubris seems to suggest pricing policy at Penfolds is out of touch these days as the average market price of the last few releases is only $400 !!

October 2010
The Noon mailers are now out and the cellar door will only be open for 3 weekends from the 13th of November. No eclipse this year and everyone on the mailing list is limited to 3 bottles each of the reserves.

September 2010
The Greenock Creek mailers are now out and in circulation. The Wendouree have been and gone and Noons will be coming up very shortly.

January 2010
The Christmas & New Years retail period had a few surprises in store as discretionary spending was down on wine (considering the time of year this is unusual). Historically this will see more wine bargains at the retail end which will affect the price paid at auction for at least the 1st quarter of 2010.

October 2009
The Noons mailers are out again and there will be NO Reserve Cabernet or Reserve Shiraz available this year.

October 2008
The Noons mailers are out and the cellar door will be open for 3 weekends only from Saturday the 15th of November. Very, very strict limits per customer this year only 1 reserve cabernet, 1 eclipse and 2 reserve shiraz per person.

July 2008
The Wendouree mailers have been out for some time and wines have started arriving to select customers already. If you are one of the lucky few to be on the list and if you are puzzled by the crayon marks that appear on your order form, head to one of the online wine forums like Auswine and read the inevitable annual discussions about it.

8th-November-2007
The latest release of Robert Parkers wine advocate was published to the internet last week, with a specialised Australia Report containing many of our current releases. However, mixed reactions to this publication are being noted because Robert Parker is no longer doing the tasting, but one of his employees has been contracted to taste through the Australian wine. How this affects the demand for these wines will be interesting, but not really significant at the moment until the US / AUD exchange rate settles down a bit.

4th-October-2007
The Noon mailers have started to arrive with the cellar door opening on Saturday the 17th of November and closing the 2nd of December. Drew is announcing their advancement into the internet era with their very own website.

27th-July-2007
Well done to Bremerton in Langhorne Creek! The national press have been having a field day with James Halliday's latest scores released this week. It seems that the 2004 Bremerton Old Adam shiraz rated up with Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace. The problem is that the 2004 Old Adam is in short supply and people seem to be turning to the secondary market and pushing up the prices of earlier vintages.

8th-June-2007
A massive amount  of wine from the failed Heritage Wine Investment fund is hitting the secondary market in June and will have an affect on auction prices over the next few months.

5th-Nov-2006
The latest Wine Advocate has just been released earlier this week. Robert Parker has assigned very high points to a number of Australian wines, in particular a relatively new winery, Mollydooker, has had its wines awarded points from 99 (for the Mollydooker Carnival of Love shiraz) through to 92 points for the Mollydooker Cabernet. The 2003 Greenock Creek,  Creek Block Shiraz along with the 2001 Chris Ringland Shiraz have hit perfect 100 point scores and have sent their secondary market values souring.

4th-Nov-2006
The latest 2005 Noon wines are being delivered and the cellar door is due to open on the 18th November for those that are not on the mailing list it is probably the only opportunity to pick up these sought after wines at cellar door prices.

7th-July-2006
Tasting notes on back vintages of Oliver's Taranga wines have just been published 
here »

3rd-May-2006
An excellent article on collecting wine by Louis Coutts has been published
here »

14th-Feb-2006
There appears to be a lot of wine suddenly appear on the grey market. Large stocks of Clarendon Hills, Howard Park, Katnook, Redbank and more are being discreetly offered for sale. Possibly the first wave of stock to be released under the liquidators orders from failed wine investment fund Heritage.  

8th-Oct-2005
The Kalleske 2004 Greenock Shiraz has hit a limited number of retailers. I will let my mailing list know which retailers will be stocking it shortly.

8th-Oct-2005
The Noon mailer has arrived. A good vintage by the sounds of it with limits imposed to 6 per person of the 2004 Noon Eclipse, 2004 Noon Reserve Shiraz and 2004 Noon Reserve Cabernet. Drew has also released a new label called Twelve Bells which was formerly the house red cleanskin.

29th-Sept-2005
Drew Noon told me this week that his mailing list will be getting their order forms for the 2004 vintage in the next week or so.

28th-Sept-2005
The 2003 Greenock Creeks are out at cellar door. By all accounts they are massive wines that are as good as the 2002's but more savoury.

18th-August-2005
Tasting notes on back vintages of De Bortoli Noble One have just been published
here »

16th-June-2005
Tasting notes on 1996 Australian Cabernet Sauvignon have just been published
here »

13th-May-2005
Tasting notes on 1997 Australian Shiraz have just been published
here »

12th-May-2005
The Kalleske newsletters started to arrive in peoples inboxes yesterday. Those people who have been on the mailing list since the beginning were rewarded with an offer to buy a single bottle of the remarkable Johann Georg shiraz and some of the 2003 Old Vines Grenache (Which I personally believe is a stunning wine). The few retailers that stocked the wine are reporting that they have already sold out of both.

28th-April-2005
A recent tasting of the 2003 Kalleske Grenache leads me to believe that it will be as well received (if not better) than the 2002. Robert Parker gave the 2003 a potential 96-99 points when he tried it from barrel. The 2003 will be released shortly but will be very limited, your best bet for obtaining a few bottles would be from an online retailer such as Auswine or sign up for the mailing list at Kalleske wines.

9th-April-2005
An imperial of 2002  Torbreck Les Amis was auctioned off at a recent charity wine auction in Florida for over $89,000. This is a world record paid for an Australian wine, the previous record set by an imperial of 1998 Penfolds Grange, auctioned for $64,000 in 2003.

23rd-March-2005
Tasting notes on 1990-1991 Cabernet Sauvignon have just been published
here »

7th-March-2005
Tasting notes on new release, 2002 Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon have just been published here »

17th-Jan-2005
Another small winery that is attracting a lot of interest are the wines of Glaymond in the Barossa. Limited availability at Auswine.com.au

22nd-Oct-2004
Numerous internet forums are buzzing with the latest Wine Advocate by Robert Parker which has many Australian wines scoring in the high nineties. The effect of this will be to see huge jumps in demand for some of these wines, pushing the current prices way, way up.

12th-October-2004
The post office has its work cut out for it with those on the mailing lists of some of the more hard to get cult wines being flooded with offers at the moment. Recently Wendouree and now within a few weeks of each other are Greenock creek, Noons, Rockfords and Kalleske. Greenock creek sold out of their 1999 Roennfeldt Road cabernet within a few days, Noons allocations are very low this year with a limit per person of only 4 of the 2003 Eclipse and Drew Noon advising everyone not to expect too get much at cellar door this year with very strict allocations per household.

7th-May-2004
Well, the Kalleske cellar door has sold out of their 2002 releases now, as have most retailers in Australia. If you are quick, Edinburgh Cellars in Adelaide still have some of the Greenock Shiraz in stock (2 bottle limit per person).

3rd-May-2004
Penfolds just last week released their 1999 Grange. Apparently retailers are reporting that sales and sales queries are much, much lower than last years release of the 1998!

23rd-April-2004
Heads-up! A couple of recent tastings of the 2002 Sandow's End Pinot Noir Reserve, some trade gossip and the fact that it is made in micro quantities makes me think that this will be a highly sought after wine within months. You may like to investigate yourself by contacting the winery direct »

2nd-April-2004
Keep your eye out for the 2002 releases from Kalleske wines. Demand already exceeds supply of these wines. If you have any you wish to sell at in our wine auction please contact me.

1st-April-2004
Today Seppelts released their latest 100 year old Para port from 1904.

12-March-2004
The 2002 Massena 11th Hour Shiraz has now hit a very limited number of retailers in Australia. This wine scored (94-97) Points from Robert Parker and has limited availability. The Auswine online store has these available for approx. $35 AUD.

The latest edition of Robert Parkers 'The Wine Advocate' is now being delivered to subscribers in Australia.

3-March-2004
2001 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz is now available from the Cellar Door.

The 2001 Rockford Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon is all SOLD OUT and by all accounts a wonderful wine, anybody got a few to sell ?