Mike Bennie & The Winefront have always appreciated our journey to explore rare varieties and our special terroir. This is much appreciated and much needed as Australian wine industry is still a bit shy to look at the best variety & terroir match still hedging their bets mostly on internationally (and commercially) well-worn grapes.
Manseng 2021
Gros manseng, as the dice have rolled. Topper’s excels with the variety, producing one of Australia’s most compelling wines with it, or so I say. Oft overlooked! At the price this is a compelling offer.
What a delight this is. Full in texture, deep in flavour and scent, loaded with quince, preserved lemon and ginger and cinnamon spice. Feels well seasoned, savoury with cashew nuttiness and then lush with soft, ripe citrusy characters and yet finishes impossibly long and fresh with briny-minerally acidity. Geez, this has so much mojo. A stellar white wine, complex, layered, yet bright and lively despite the apparent richness. It presses so many buttons. Serious stuff.
95 pts – Mike Bennie, The Winefront, October 2022
Gewurztraminer 2021
Topper’s Mountain went around the pursuit of noble varieties, as so many younger wine regions have, and settled into regional blends and lesser-known varieties, by and large. A very clever and authentic move. This one is fermented in ceramic eggs and matured on lees in stainless. They seek out texture.
Big ripe scents, big ripe flavours. Plenty of grip. Lots of lychee, lemon balm, egg custard in aromas and taste. Interesting wine, deep and chewy, strong in its sweeter fruit characters but also an seaweed-umami tang, zingy acidity pushing through and some attractive, almost peppery spice. It’s a lot. But a lot done well. Dive in.
92 pts – Mike Bennie, The Winefront, October 2022
