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The Fat Bastard brings welcome relief to those looking for a bigger, fuller style of Chardonnay amidst the current market trend of lighter, fresher and more elegant styles. Filling a gap in the market and delivering incredible value for money has made this our best selling Chardonnay over the last 4 years.

Rich and lusciously textured this will be another big hit with the Fat Bastard faithful.

Brilliant pale straw to straw colour with a distinctive tinge of green around the outskirts and a watery hue. Rising out of the glass with plenty of intensity are peach and ripe apricot scents followed by subtle notions of honeycomb, crème brulee and spicy butterscotch. Delivering it’s trademark generous mouth full of flavour rich peach and apricot fruits overlay light honeycomb, crème brulee, subtle butterscotch and spice characters. Full, creamy like texture. Displaying excellent depth it finishes long and luscious with nicely balanced acidity. Fatty B is bang on the money yet again.
Drink over the next 2-3 years.
Alc. 13%

Certified organic, this Rose was produced from all of the red varieties grown at Cullen using the saignèe method. Translucent salmon pink colour. Pronounced spicy peach, blood orange and raspberry scents have a fragrant lift trailed by notions of rose petals. Delicious peach, ripe nectarine and blood orange fruits show plenty of intensity over a tangy citrus and spice back drop. Nicely rounded textural feel finishing dry and crisp with a delightful spicy blood orange aftertaste.
Drink now.
Alc. 13%

Bright pale straw colour with a greenish tinged outskirts and watery hue. Emanating from the glass are lime and green apple scents with some fresh pear and stony mineral notes ensuing. Juicy ripe pear flavours drive the palate with an undercurrent of lightly spiced honeysuckle characters, quince and wet stones. The well rounded mouthfeel showing plenty of flesh. Finishes dry and fresh with a long satisfying aftertaste.
Drink over the next 1-2 years.
Alc. 12.5%

A blend of 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella and 5% Molinara grapes produced using the appassimento drying technique whereby the fruit is laid out on bamboo racks during the winter months to concentrate their aromas and flavours. A 28-30 month maturation period takes place in Slavonian oak barrels of 40-80 hl (80%) with the balance in small Allier and Slavonian oak barrels (40% new, 30% second usage, 30% third usage). The wine is then bottle-aged for a minimum of 4 months.
Inky black dark red colour with a deep dark red hue. Intense liquorice, black plum, black cherry and dried cherry scents waft out of the glass mingling with dried herb, vanillin oak, earth and subtle spicy cinnamon notes along the way. Very dense rich and concentrated, the palate is saturated with black plum, liquorice and black cherry fruits that have a thick opulent textural feel. Sitting in the background is a combination of dried cherries, vanillin oak, dried herbs and spiced cinnamon. Ripe chewy tannins back the fruit and provide a sturdy framework. Superb power and intensity with a long sumptuous yet robust black fruited aftertaste.
Drink over the next 6-8 years.
Alc. 15%

Other Reviews…..
This opens beautifully to reveal violets, blueberries, licorice, citrus, oyster shell and orange rind. So velvety and polished, but with real depth and structure. Medium-to full-bodied with delightful fruit and a long finish. Drink in 2021 but already so satisfying.
95 points
JamesSuckling.com

Brilliant very pale straw colour with greenish tinged edges and a watery hue. Aromas of ripe nectarine and grapefruit intermix with lime and hints of gun flint. Rich white peach and dried honey flavours show a gentle creaminess across the mid weighted palate with notions of biscuity oak, nougat and lightly spiced cashew sitting on the other side. Finishes with a nicely balanced freshness, the aftertaste long and well rounded. Great value.
Drink over the next 3-4 years.
Alc. 13%

Other Reviews…..
It’s a pulpy chardonnay with grapefruit, lime and oatmeal flavours pushing confidently through. It came across as flinty at first but it quickly settled to display a wealth of pure, pristine fruit flavour. Elegance gets a good look-in too. This is an Upper Yarra Chardonnay with a good bit of flesh on its bones. Drink 2020-2026.
93 points
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front

Winemaker Chris Bendle’s day job is at Hoddles Creek Estate but he still finds to time to work on his own venture, DCB wine. His entry level Pinot Noir is a blend of two vineyards in Kangaroo Ground and Woori Yallock, from the Northern and Southernmost points of the Yarra Valley. With a similar ripening period, but distinctly different soils, MV6 pinot noir from both vineyards was picked within a period of 1 week and treated in a near identical manner whilst being kept entirely separate.
Deep dark red colour with black tinged edges and a bright light red hue. Fragrant aromatics of violets, strawberries, ripe red cherries and subtle anise blossom from the glass trailed by fresh herbs and light spicy cedar. Light across the palate but possessing plenty of intensity, delicious red cherry and strawberry fruits flood the mouth with subtle anise, light forest floor and spicy cedar the undercard. Polished and refined tannin structure finishing with good freshness and a long moreish red fruited aftertaste.
Drink over the next 4-5 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews….
It comes from two vineyards, one at Kangaroo Ground and one at Woori Yallock, both in the Yarra Valley though pretty much at the extreme opposite ends, north and south.
It somehow manages to be fresh, modern and old school at once. By old school I’m not referring to oak, which is modest here at most, but rather to the fruit profile. It has a macerated feel; it’s built on bass and mid-range more than it is on treble; there’s a suggestion of undergrowth and forest berry to the core of red cherry. It’s neither forward nor backward and that’s not a bad place to be. Special note on this wine’s balance; it’s impeccable. Drink 2021-2026+
93 points
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front

First produced in the year 2000, this the sixteenth release of Oliver’s HJ Shiraz. Fruit is sourced from the very best parcels of fruit on the Old Block vineyard planted in 1948 by HJ Oliver. Maturation took place in French oak (30% new) for a period of 20 months.

Silky tannins frame a rich, power-packed palate that has a cashmere-like feel to it.

Impenetrable inky black heart with a deep dark red black hue. Intense ripe blackberry and liquorice aromas are followed by vanillin oak, mocha, light earth and spice. Rich and full bodied the palate has a cashmere like texture to it, layered with plush ripe blackberry, liquorice and dark plum fruits. Elements of vanillin oak, chocolatey earth and spicy mocha play the undercard. Velvet smooth tannins are seamlessly integrated with the exceptionally concentrated fruit. Outstanding power finishing very long and opulent yet also refined.
Drink over the next 8-10 years.
Alc. 14.5%

Other Reviews……
Part from the oldest estate block (planted '48), and Rayments clone 1654 (planted '96), destemmed, berry-sorted, lightly crushed, 3 days cold soak, wild yeast-open fermented, pressed at 1 degrees baume for primary and mlf in French oak (35% new). Great fruit, great vintage, great winemaking. Drink by 2047.
98 points
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot. The colour of this wine is holding up exceptionally well displaying a totally opaque black dark red heart with a dark red hue. Elevated ripe blackcurrant aromas intermingle with hints of mulberry, liquorice, cedary tobacco characters, earth and hints of bay leaf. Medium to full bodied there’s ample richness to the generous blackcurrant and liquorice fruit which evolves into dusty cedar, tobacco, leather and spicy dried herb characters on the back half. A sturdy tannin structure provides support. Concludes with a long aftertaste that has lingering tertiary elements of leather, earth and black olive to it.
Drink over the next 3-4 years.
Alc. 14%

Other Reviews…..
Vivid crimson-purple; a 65/35% blend with abundant and totally delicious cassis/blackcurrant fruit aromas and flavours allied with a hint of black olive, the well balanced tannins and oak doing their job well. Drink by 2027.
95 points
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion

A big, powerful, badass McLaren Vale Shiraz that’s packed with seductive black fruits.

Fruit was sourced from the Clarendon and Blewitt Springs sub districts of McLaren Vale with maturation taking place in French oak, 35% new, for a period of 18 months. Impenetrable pitch black in colour with a deep dark red black tinged hue. Unfurling from the glass are intense black cherry and liquorice aromatics which are complimented by earthy vanillin oak, hints of leather and spice. Rich and densely textured, the mouth is awash with opulent blackberry, liquorice and black cherry fruits which have a thick, heavy feel across the palate and boast superb concentration. Elements of vanillin cedar, earthy fennel, faint traces of leather and spicy blackpepper also make an appearance. Velvet like, yet sturdily built tannins. A big mouthful of a wine it concludes with considerable power and length.
With 5 years bottle age behind it this is great drinking now or over the next 2-3 years.
Alc. 14.5%

Owner/winemaker Chris Catlow was born and raised in Beechworth where during his teenage years he worked for Barry Morey at Sorrenberg. His time there inspired him to go onto complete a double degree in viticultural science and wine science. Then after working seven vintages on the Mornington Peninsula for the likes of Kooyong Estate and Paringa Estate, he established Sentio wines with a particular focus on Chardonnay.
Brilliant pale straw colour with a subtle glimmer of green around the outskirts and a watery hue. Refined and complex the nose offers up aromatics of white peach and nectarine subtlety infused with gun flint followed by biscuity oak, citrusy nougat and light roasted almond notes. Rich, mouthfilling flavours of white peach, nectarines and dried honey have a cream tinged edge to them with biscuity oak, roasted almonds, spicy nougat and infusions of gun flint adding interest on the back half. The finish fresh, textured and very long. All class.
Drink over the next 4-5 years.
Alc. 12.8%

Other Reviews…..
Sat out on the verandah, kicked off the moss, poured a glass of chardonnay, pre-dinner light, September, fading.
In a heartbeat. I would drink this. And buy this. It’s a wine of understated flavour, high texture, satisfaction and finesse. It builds as it progresses through the palate. Like a train, surging. It’s all stone fruit and nut, a hint of vanilla, cool tones but flesh. You can tell it’s been in oak, it has that woody afterwards. That woody afterwards; I had to type it again. Beechworth is a pretty harsh place. Hot, cold and rocky. Vines don’t thrive there, they resist. No wonder Kelly made a stand there. Upright power; that’s what this wine has. Drink 2020-2027+
95 points
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front