May is Aussie Wine Month and after TWD’s awesome dinner featuring Classic Australian Producers I thought it would be nice to dig a little deeper and look at some producers that aren’t classics… yet. Mezzo will be opening their restaurant space to allow you to taste a great range of wines with a little bit of food. This time around you will have the chance to meet the wine maker and ask them all the questions rather than just listening to me talk.

There is so much excitement and experimentation in the current Australia wine industry that is it hard to keep it to a reasonable number. To make it easier we are going local and focussing on Victoria. Victoria has a diverse range of climates, soils and people. Within a rather smart dress circle of Melbourne we have almost all the bases covered when it comes to your drinking needs and more importantly, your drinking wants.

You can book at the bottom of this page or by clicking here. Note there is a new time for this tasting and it runs for a bit longer than normal too. Below are the list of producers on offer, keep in mind each wine will have up to three wines to taste so leave yourself plenty of time to taste and consider an alternative to driving to getting home.

Bass River – Gippsland
The Butera family’s property in the cool maritime region of South Gippsland was established on the western bank of the Bass River in 1983. The first vines were planted on their House Block, shortly after the close by but distinctly different River Block was planted too. Bass River produces Single Vineyard wines expressing variety, region and season. Viticulture is looked after by Pasquale “Pat” Butera, while son Frank takes the lead in the winery.

Warner Vineyard – Beechworth
Outstanding single vineyard that produces highly sought-after grapes. Graeme Warner was enticed to plant 20 years ago by Rick Kinzbrunner who’d planted across the road at Giaconda and thought their site may be just as suitable. Turns out Rick was right and to this day still sources fruit from the vineyard. Outstanding Chardonnay and Shiraz are grown here.

Citadine – Yarra Valley & Mornington Peninsula
Some people come to wine having grown up on a vineyard or through an experience with a special bottle. Kirby Siemering (PhD in Microbiology) came to wine having lead a research team that sequenced the genome of a wine yeast. Despite the qualifications he holds, Kirby’s winemaking is not as technical as you might expect. All his wines display a feel for vineyard and vintage conditions – wild yeast and whole bunch fermentation feature strongly.

Oakdene – Bellarine Peninsula
Established in 2001, Oakdene‘s vineyard is located in Wallington (near Ocean Grove) on the Bellarine Peninsula, approximately 20kms east of Geelong. The region enjoys a cool, maritime climate moderating our weather patterns, resulting in a long cool growing season; producing low yields of high quality fruit. These are some stand out wines from a region where quality can be elusive.

Rob Hall – Yarra Valley
Having made wine with so of the greats in the wine industry, notably Mount Mary for over ten years and now head winemaker at Kellybrook, Rob has all the experience need to make good quality wine.  The 2013 vintage saw him release some wines under his own label. A Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir both from the Yarra made up the first release with 2014 possibly holding a few more goodies beyond that.

Out Of Step – Yarra Valley and Pyrenees
How two jaded music industrians started making small batch wines from some of the most distinguished sites in Victoria is probably still a mystery to them. The quality of the wines proves their calling was definitely in the vineyard and winery rather than studio. Three wines have been released to date and they all possess a rare and infectious charm.