Every year, James Halliday and his tasting panel pinpoint the best Australian wines, winemakers and wineries from a pool of several thousand featured in the annual Halliday Wine Companion guide.
We are thrilled to once again be included as a 5 Star winery in his 2021 Halliday Wine Companion. Our wines for this years’ publication, were reviewed by Ned Goodwin. Our results and reviews are featured below. Our Italian varietals have fared really well this year, with Ned commenting “The work with Italian varieties at this address is exemplary. Benchmark!”
If you’re interested in trying our Italian varietals, we have a 6 bottle mixed pack available on our site now, which includes our 2019 Friulano, 2019 Arneis, 2019 Vermentino, 2019 Pinot Gris, 2017 Il Capo and our not yet released 2018 Il Capo (a blend of 82% Nero d’Avola and 18% Negroamaro). Click here to purchase.
2019 Cosa Nostra Friulano
“Whole-bunch pressed to old oak before lingering until a wild ferment kicked in. Malolactic had its way as a softening agent, before 4 months on full solids provided tension and texture. The result is sumptuous. A mid to deep yellow hue portends of what is to come: ripe apricot, bitter almond, lemon and some fennel to toasted nuttiness. Ripe and billowing across the mouth, this is at once a generous wine as much as it is a highly refined one. Richer than its alcohol suggests, this is the by far the finest example crafted from this variety on these shores. My score is for sheer deliciousness and ambition.” Ned Goodwin. Published August 2020.
2019 Cosa Nostra Pinot Gris
“Seville-sourced, hand-picked and left in press for some phenolic pickup. A meld of sturdy inoculated ferments and wild ones. Thereafter, 4 months in oak on full solids. This is exceptional gris, attesting to just how this neutral variety has become among the more exciting idioms of the Australian vinous score card. Oxymoronic, perhaps, given its anodyne persuasion. And yet here we have riffs of nashi pear gelato and cinnamon across a broad chord of baked apple pie pasty. A thrumming intensity and unbridled juiciness lifts this above most. Very well done. A spanking gris, far from the swill of Cougartown. And scored accordingly.” Ned Goodwin. Published August 2020.
2019 Cosa Nostra Vermentino
“Pressed as whole bunches to oak, before a wild ferment and ample time on solids to confer tension and textural amplitude. A nose that sings a song of varietal interplay with a longing for Sardinia: glazed quince, apricot pith and bitter almond, pistachio and fennel, all. A saline thread of freshness keeps it all on the straight and narrow. The work with Italian varieties at this address is exemplary. Benchmark!”
Ned Goodwin. Published August 2020.
2018 Cosa Nostra ‘Il Capo’ (82% Nero d’Avola + 18% Negroamaro)
“I enjoy tasting Italianesque blends on these shores. They, among few other options, are the future. Given the 82% nero and 18% negroamaro, a bipartisan love of both Puglia and Sicily seems the inspiration. And a delicious one at that. Delicious because it tucks in the portent of jammy fruit behind a veneer of dusty, detailed tannins; just palpable enough. Scents of blood orange, black plum, root spice, violet, anise and a whiff of amari flow long and plush. Delicious wine.” Ned Goodwin. Published August 2020.
2019 Cosa Nostra Arneis
“Sourced from Coldstream, one of the very few sources of Arneis in the Yarra. Fermented both wild and with flavour-enhancing yeast in neutral wood before extended time on full solids. This, the wine one drinks in the Piemonte when desperate for a white, is fresh and light of alcohol (11.6%) and yet with all the buildup of texture, far richer in the mouth. Pear, apple and baking spice.”
Ned Goodwin. Published August 2020.
