Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/807387
{ SOMMjournal.com } 103 sounds of Jimi Hendrix murmured in the background. Luke started making wine in 2004, and his main focus is Nebbiolo with touches of Syrah (he prefers this spelling as the wines are made in more of a French style) and Chardonnay. His standout wine was his 2013 Nebbiolo from the Denton Vineyard. It boasted a beautiful, dusty rose- petal nose with notes of earth and a lean, savory palate marked by red currant and dried raspberry. Bindi (VINE STREET IMPORTS) is located in the Macedon Ranges just 50 kilometers northwest of Melbourne. This family estate is led by Michael Dhillon, whose passion for Burgundy has led him to visit over 100 French domaines. Bindi has just seven hect - ares (17 acres) under vine with the remain- ing 160 given over to eucalyptus and bush land that is wildl y populated with kangaroos who hop freely, grazing on the natural vegetation. I certainly didn't think this trip would conclude with one of my favorite wines being a Chardonnay: Bindi 2015 Quartz Vineyard Chardonnay. It's made from a small parcel of the vineyard with the highest concentration of quartz and is racy and complex with very vibrant acid. If the current release was one of my favorites, you can only imagination my delight with the 2009 and 1991, both of which showed amazing vitality and youthfulness but with complexity and depth. In South Australia While the wines of Victoria were intriguing and beautifully complex, I would be incom- plete in my understanding of the country's cool-climate wines without venturing into South Australia, where the wines can be just as historically important but also wildly experimental and even irreverent at times. Surprisingly, South Australia is home to almost half the production of Australian wine, mainly due to mass-produced box wines but also including labels with heavy- hitter cult status such as Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace. Tucked into the Barossa are some of the oldest vines in the world. Under the care of ninth-generation winemaker Marco Cirillo (BROADBENT WINES), whose family made wine in Italy before coming to Australia, Grenache and Semillon vines planted in 1848 are carefully tended solely by his hands. These six-feet-high and six-feet-wide bush-trained vines produce exquisitely bal - anced and intense wines of richness and complexity without the often rough edges of their younger counterparts. While the wines of Cirillo take us back in time, a few winemakers tucked into the Basket Range of the Adelaide Hills are firmly sending Australian wine into the future. Michael Downer stepped onto the scene in 2012 as the youngest member of the Downer family, whose vineyards were planted in 1998 at Murdoch Hill (VINE STREET IMPORTS). These single-parcel wines have a certain freshness from the high-altitude plantings, wild yeast ferments, extended skin contact and minimal intervention. The 2016 Surrey was a stand out. It is 100 percent unfined, unfiltered Pinot Meunier with a super vibrant cranberry nose with high-note acid and bright red-cherry fruit, an elegant structure and soft finish. Nothing says cutting-edge winemaking like a misspent youth of surfing and play - ing in punk bands, and winemaker Taras Ochota is all that and then some. Taras is the winemaker at Ochota Barrels (VINE STREET IMPORTS), and he also paid dues as a "flying winemaker" in Europe and at a handful of wineries throughout California and is an enology graduate from Adelaide University. These holistic wines garnered Ochota Barrels the distinction of Best New Australian Winery in 2013. As I am shaken back from my day - dream of all of the beautifully complex cool- climate wines I have had on my journey, I awaken to the smell of open pit–roasted lamb and the sounds of skateboards hitting the ramp and laughter—lots of laughter. I am firmly tucked in at BK Wines (VINE STREET IMPORTS), founded by husband-and-wife team Brendon and Kirstyn Keys in 2007. They make just 3,500 cases of wine across five different releases. High-quality fruit and non-conformity are the rules these two live by, and it showed in two wines for me. Their 2016 Pét-Nat Chardonnay boasted a cloudy lemon curd color, a giving texture and bright stone fruit (apricot and white peach). It had large, vibrant bubbles and a bone-dry finish. Their 110-case production Gower 2015 Pinot Noir was a brilliant ruby-garnet color with bright cranberry and black cherry on the nose with cooked cranberry and fresh strawberries in the mouth; it has a very pretty structure and bright acid marks the finish. I did a lot of head-scratching over the course of two weeks and came to very few conclusions. One thing I know for sure: These wines were absolutely not what I was expect - ing, and I look forward to getting to know them more, including them in my programs and drinking them at every turn. Brendon Keys of BK drops into the halfpipe after showing off his Pét-Nat. The full line up of Murdoch Hill wines on display. Michael Dhillon's Bindi Quartz shines as an amazing example of Australian Chardonnay. Luke Lambert pours his Nebbiolo for eager tasters.