After taking the reigns at Bannockburn in 2015, Matt Holmes has steered the Geelong based producer to its former glory, and the current release is stunning!Now in complete control of the winery, Matt looks to take advantage of his depth and breadth of experience and take Bannockburn into a very secure future producing delicious wines.
Hugh French, MWwines
Hosted By John Jens
Masterclass: 5.30-7pm, 10 Wines with nibbles, $45
Dinner: 7.30pm, 12 Wines & 4 Courses, $135
Monday August 26th
Recent Reviews & Accolades:
SRH Chardonnay 2022
96 Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
SRH Chardonnay 2021
97 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
96 Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
Bannockburn Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
96 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
95 Points Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
94 Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
Bannockburn Vineyard Chardonnay 2021
95 Points Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion
94 Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
Bannockburn Vineyard Gamay 2022
93 Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
Bannockburn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
97 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
95+ Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Bannockburn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
96 Points Stuart Knox, The Real Review
95 Points Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion
94+ Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
Bannockburn Context:
From where I sit, Holmes is managing the task admirably.
Holmes tells me the vineyard is moving towards achieving organic status, and since the dry-farming experiment of the Glover years, irrigation is again being used. In such a dry growing-season climate as the Moorabool Valley’s, says Holmes, it’s difficult to maintain a healthy vine canopy without watering. This also has implications for better acidity in the fruit, and vitality in the wine.
It’s onwards and upwards for Bannockburn.”
Huon Hooke, The Real Review
The late Stuart Hooper had a deep love for the wines of Burgundy and was able to drink the best. When he established Bannockburn, it was inevitable that pinot noir and chardonnay would form the major part of the plantings, with lesser amounts of riesling, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot. Bannockburn is still owned by members of the Hooper family, who continue to respect Stuart’s strong belief in making wines that reflect the flavours of the certified-organic vineyard.
James Halliday
The Wine List & Menu (TBC)
1st Course
Riesling 2024 (Pre- Release), Our Price $33
2nd Course
Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Our Price $30
Made from vines planted in '96 and certified organic in '21. Matured in both stainless steel and older oak for three months. Aromas of red apples, fresh gooseberries, lemon zest, a little lemongrass and jasmine. Makes you think of summer. The palate is focused, tightly wound, pithy and long. Top-notch in every respect, and a wine I can see improving over the next two to three years.
96 Points Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion
Chardonnay 2023, Our Price $68
This has opened up since last tasted, a very refined, tensioned, intense and subtle chardonnay with vitality and energy, powered by bright acidity, its oak nigh invisible. There is subtle complexity, aromas of cream filled pastries, waxy and yeast-leesy, the palate arrow-like with its focused, piercing flavour and acidity. More Chablis-like than expected from this vineyard, and very smart.
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Bannockburn S.R.H Chardonnay 2023, Our Price $100
The 2023 SRH Chardonnay is textural and taut; it is bound in phenolics at this point, but clearly superb. The length of flavour shows this. The complexity shows this. It's a hugely impressive wine that speaks of white peach, green apples, green olive brine, white strawberries and white pepper. It's salty and a little chewy. This will be a seriously great wine—give it time.
96 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
3rd Course
Pinot Noir 2023, Our Price $68
This is excellent. Fine, tight, intricate, wild and precise at once. Not exactly sure how they do that but here it is, they have. Cherries, meat, soy, strawberries, twiggy spice, some volatility, a fine web of tannin, some beet characters, some undergrowth. So much going on within an overall impression of control. Mightily impressed.
95 Points Campbell Mattinson, Wine Front
‘Serré’ Pinot Noir 2023, Our Price $100
This is autumnal and sinewy and savoury and spiced, but it’s also sleek, harmonious and settled. It just feels right. It bursts onto the palate with red cherries, rhubarb, tangerine and strawberry, with inlays of dried leaves, pepper and smoked cedarwood, but it’s the soft-firm of the finish, and the way it seems to both dry and expand at once, and the way the juices keep flowing and fanning, that really mark its quality.
95+ Points Campbell Mattinson, Wine Front
‘De la Terre’ Pinot Noir Museum Release 2019 (Dinner Only), Our Price $73
From a block of ultra-close-planted (1.2m x 1m) clones (777 and 114) of pinot noir. Fermented with 10% whole bunches and wild yeast, 2 weeks on skins, matured for 10 months in French hogsheads (20% new). Typically powerful and complex, with dark fruits that have made light work of the oak, but haven't moved out of primary mode. Will cruise along the next 15–20 years, as the savoury, forest floor and spice notes develop in a leisurely fashion.
97 Points James Halliday, Wine Companion
4th Course
Shiraz 2021, Our Price $42
A cool 2021 season in our region has offered up a fragrant expression of medium bodied cool climate Shiraz. Red fruits, olives, black pepper and spice aromatics. A fine structure and tannin profile, and a cleansing finish of good persistence.
winery notes
Shiraz 2013, Our Price $49
An elegant and complex nose of spice, pepper, black cherry and blackberry compote that is deceptively elegant for a firm wine; but with dusty tannins and savoury spice providing complexity and a deep structure. This is a powerful wine and a wine that will offer a lot of pleasure now but will reward further cellar time.
winery notes
Shiraz 2003, Our Price $59
Fragrant, spicy black cherry fruits; beautifully silky and supple mouthfeel; lovely wine.
96 Points James Halliday, Wine Companion
5th Course
Douglas Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot 2014, Our Price $30
Cabernet Merlot Museum Release 1997 (Dinner Only), Our Price $42