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Halliday Wine Club

By J'aime Cardillo

25 Jun, 2023

Halliday Wine Club is a monthly wine subscription service. We'll deliver two Australian wines, rated 95 points or higher, right to your door.

Halliday Wine Club is a specialised wine subscription service that delivers two top-rated Australian wines to your door each month. We showcase classic and emerging varietals, and known and lesser known regions, from across the country. The wines are expertly selected by the Halliday Tasting Team, and will always be rated 95 points or higher.

For the month of May, Halliday Wine Club members received a pinot noir from Tapanappa in Piccadilly Valley and a syrah from The Story Wines in the Grampians.

Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021, Fleurieu

Dijon clones; aged in French barriques (30 per cent new). A pretty pinot with a cherry and plum duo that provide the heart of both bouquet and palate. It's a base for the spices and rose petals that will appear over the next two to three years, in the meantime the juicy mouthfeel of the palate will do the work. James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.

The Story Wines R. Lane Vintners Westgate Vineyard Syrah 2019, Grampians

Fruit from the maker's oldest vineyard source, the Westgate vineyard (planted 1969). The winemaker says this wine represents 'the best that I can do.' In 2019 the season was warm and yields were lower than usual. There are many layers of sometimes-intricate winemaking involved here and it shows. This is a most complex tale of syrah. Enjoy the unravelling that is ahead of you; dark and brooding fruit, tastes of the earth, fields of wildflowers, with savoury touches and rich in Grampians super-spice. It's all here. Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion, 96 points.

Receive two wines rated 95 points or higher each month as part of your Halliday Wine Club subscription.

Here's what chief editor Campbell Mattinson had to say about these two wines:

"...Both of these wines are vineyard wines. By that I mean: they are tended by people who are obsessed with small, unique, special plots of land, and by trying to capture that small, unique plot of land in the glass.

"Enter, Brian Croser. He’s famous in Australian wine for many things...at Tapanappa he has championed vineyards in Wrattonbully and – most relevant here – on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Almost no one else has gone for quality gold with pinot noir on the Fleurieu Peninsula, but Brian Croser had a vision, and a depth of knowledge, and once again he’s proven himself to be right. James Halliday rated the Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 at 95 points. Indeed, over the past 10 years, no release of this wine has rated lower than 94 points, and most have rated 95–97. In short, it’s a star wine, with a stellar track record, which is remarkable given that it’s from just a small patch, where there’s nowhere to hide from the vagaries of each season.

"Rory Lane’s The Story wines are just as vineyard-obsessed. Indeed Rory Lane fulfils the romantic ideal in many ways, not the least being that he started his wine brand by – literally – making wine in his suburban garage. He’s since progressed significantly from there, but all of his wines are still made in tiny quantity, and they are almost always outstanding. The Syrah included here is from a vineyard in the Great Western/Grampians region of north-west Victoria that was planted in 1969. It’s the ‘best of the best’ as far Rory is concerned and – having sat beside an open fire and tucked into this wine myself – all I can say is that you’re in for an absolute treat with this one."

Join Halliday Wine Club to receive two bottles delivered to your door each month. The subscription is $139 per month ($129 per month for Halliday members) and you can skip, pause or cancel at any time.