FIVE STARS - The focus on the high quality, single vineyard…. wines in what is demonstrably a very distinguished portfolio. JAMES HALLIDAY
The key is to forget the varieties here, the wine is not about that. What the LDR offers is all in the name, fragrant red fruited and inflected with spice. It has a plump, giving and generous feel to the fruit with a touch more of the white pepper showing through this year. This is eminently drinkable to the point that you kind of overlook just how good it is because you are busy knocking it down. Simply put this is gorgeous.
‘Truffles – anyone who does not declare himself ready to leave Paradise or Hell for such a treat is not worthy to be born again’ Maurice Goudeket, 1955Come together to celebrate Bellota’s favourite part of winter, truffle season of course! This menu has been specially designed by Nicky and paired with traditional wines from the […]
Two thousand sixteen in Gigondas, as in the rest of the southern Rhône, experienced a growing season for the record books, yet again – producing expressive, intense, fruit-driven wines of often profound depth as well as energy. Two thousand sixteen is one of the most consistently outstanding vintages for Gigondas that I have ever tasted. […]
Registration due date 10th April 2019 – registration fee $175.Exam date 12th June 2019, 4.30pm-5.35pm
2015s, this is a truly sensational vintage (in the northern Rhone) that should not be missed by any Rhône lover out there. Let me say that one more time: 2015 is a truly sensational vintage. JEB DUNNUCKPhilippe Guigal describes 2015 as “a monument” that has few peers in recent times. “It needs to be spoken […]
Glen Goodall is one of Australia’s most gifted wine people. In recent years he has won just about every award you can think of, claimed the Jimmy Watson Trophy, James Halliday’s Wine of the Year and a swag of trophies at all the important shows. He deserves the lavish praise piled on him, his wines […]
Festa del Barolo has grown in 2019. Originally a seven day series of events in Melbourne, this year it expands to Adelaide and Sydney Hosted by a collective of Australia’s most important importers of Italian wine. Over the course of nine dinners, and two tastings we will highlight each of the most significant communes of […]
Read More >London’s traditional wine merchants were an inspiration for the early visions Michael had for a business that he would later grow as Prince Wine Store. After completing degrees in Journalism and Industrial Relations at Deakin and Melbourne Universities respectively, Michael moved to London where he worked with UK independent wine retailer Odd Binns at the height of its popularity. Returning to Australia, he worked across wine retail and importing, moving into the role of Imported Wine Buyer at Philip Murphy Wine & Spirits where he met future business partner Alex Wilcox. The two bonded over a shared vision in growing the customer base for high-end wines such as Bordeaux and Burgundy beyond the elite. His time as a partner at Italian wine wholesaler Trembath & Taylor refined his vision, but it was his buy-in of the Prince Wine Store in 2003 that allowed him to explore the potential of a retailer growing beyond its scope. Michael has played a key role in the group’s growth beyond its humble beginnings, and into the bigger picture it projects today. Now with retail stores in Melbourne and Sydney, Michael is passionate about growing the group’s impressive portfolio of producers, and profiling these in their Melbourne wine bar, Bellota and its upcoming Sydney equivalent.
Law school didn’t stand a chance with Alex Wilcox, when a cycling trip through the vineyards of Europe during university sent Alex off in a new direction towards what would become a lifelong career in the world of wine. Whilst completing an Honours Degree in Agricultural Economics at the University of Sydney, with a year spent at California’s UC Davis focusing on Wine Trade, Alex worked wine vintages in France, Tuscany and Western Australia. Realising he wasn’t destined to inherit a European vineyard, Alex followed his future wife to Melbourne where he went onto work across all aspects of wine trade, including service, retail and importing. It was during his time working at Phillip Murphy Wine & Spirits in the late 1990s that Alex met future business partner Michael McNamara; a partnership that was formalized when the two bought into the Prince Wine Store a number of years later. Over the last 13 years, Alex has been instrumental in the growth not just of the group and its breadth of offerings, but of lesser-known, quality wine producers he has worked with Michael to source and develop. With stores now in Victoria and NSW, Alex looks forward to expanding the Prince Wine Store’s customer experience to Sydney and beyond.
