Stargazer
— Portfolio —
TUPELO 2024
Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Gewurtz blend
Bottle shot
A wine that continues to defy the ‘Other varietal’ black hole on a wine list just by shining too bright to be missed. Stargazer’s Tupelo continues to be loved by trade and consumer alike. So much so much of the volume is allocated on release.
The great news is that in 2024 the younger plantings on Samantha’s Tea Tree vineyard have started to mature enough that a small parcel was included this year in the final blend, offering us a little more wine to go around.
The blend of the 2024 is 42% Pinot Gris, 30% Riesling, 21% Gewürztraminer & 7% Pinot Blanc. This unusual blend mirrors the famous Alsatian ‘Gentil’ styles marrying the body and texture of Pinot Gris, exuberance of the Pinot Blanc with the spicy aromatics of Gewürztraminer and finishing with the finesse and acid structure of Riesling. That’s straight from Samantha’s own words.
The name Tupelo was inspired by the Tupelo black gum, of which its honey is highly sought after for its unique characteristic of having the perfect balance of sugars that it doesn’t crystallise. Samantha’s passion for white blends and the drive to find the perfect balance of sugar, acid and texture with her wines makes the naming of this wine perfect. Plus it’s the name of a Van Morrison song ‘Tupelo Honey’ and the place where Elvis was born. Given the praise this wine has received in recent vintages I’d say it’s keeping up with its heady namesake.
Samantha highlights how delicious Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer taste straight off the vine in Coal River Valley, so much flavour in the skins. All of the component varietals are sourced from the Coal River Valley from differing sub regions, Richmond, Tea Tree and Campania.
All the grapes are hand picked, destemmed. Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc & Riesling are left on skins for approximately 8 hours then pressed off to seasoned oak for wild ferment. Gewurztraminer is left a little longer on skins pre-ferment for 2 days. All varietals are left on lees post ferment for 2 months, with lees stirring every two weeks. Small parcel of Riesling is fermented in ceramic egg.
Wine is fined and filtered due to the 3.7 grams of RS purposely left in the wine.
This wine teeters on the brink between ‘dry’ and ‘off dry’, but simply put it’s just superbly balanced in terms of acid and fruit/RS. The grapes are sourced from a two vineyards in the Tea Tree sub region of Coal River, planted in 2004, 2017 and 2021 respectively. Soil type as described by Samantha is predominantly dark clay on Jurassic dolerite.
Hand picked in two picks one week apart, destemmed and left on skins for 8 hours before being pressed off to tank for fermentation. 100% wild ferment. Samantha stops the tank ferment when she feels the sugar to acid balance is right (approx 11 weeks) and then leaves on lees for one further month, stirring fortnightly.
A Riesling with natural acid (2.97 PH) and with 8.4g grams residual it’s an absolute pleasure of a wine that showcases the potential of the Coal River for this variety and how the texture is so very different when you don’t need to acidify this variety.
PALISANDER RIESLING 2023
Bottle shot
Sourced exclusively from Stargazer’s own vineyards in the sub region of Tea Tree in the NW side of the Coal River Valley region planted in 2002. Samantha highlights that the soil is brown dermosol on Jurassic dolerite which in layman’s terms is clay loam over ironstone with a high level of calcium, which she mentions promotes thick skins. She loves the extra flavour from this.
Hand picked, destemmed and left on skins for 12 hours then pressed off and wild fermented in a combination of ceramic & concrete egg then 10 months on lees post fermentation. Just 1.2 grams of residual sugar.
2023 is the third vintage that Stargazer have used both fruit from their own Palisander vineyard in Coal River Valley + sourced from a grower in the Upper Derwent Valley. The Stargazer plot was planted in 2017, south facing and is primarily brown dermosol on Jurassic dolerite. The Derwent Valley vineyard owned by Bernand Brain was planted in 1999 and there are soils white silica sand over sandstone and clay. The site is north-east facing.
Hand picked, whole bunch pressed directly to oak and concrete egg for fermentation. The oak portion represents 80%. Wild ferment in 500L French oak (Mercurey), 20% new. Full malolactic. No lees stirring, left in barrel for 8 months, the blended in tank for 3 months before bottling.
RADA 2023
Pinot Meunier + Pinot Noir
Bottle shot
Where does the name Meunier come from? “Meunier is a clonal mutation of Pinot Noir and is recognised viticulturally for its delicate web of white hairs on the underside of its leaves – resembling a fine dusting of flour (Meunier is French for miller)” – Samantha Connew – Owner of Stargazer.
Interestingly Samantha named this wine as a tip of the hat to Rada Penfold Collins, who in the 70’s represented Penfolds PR department and was perhaps Australia’s first female wine columnist, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Pinot Meunier for this wine is sourced from Pipers Brook region in the North East of Tasmania. That region of course is synonymous with sparkling wine production hence how she managed to find some. The blend in 2023 is 51% Pinot Meunier 49% Pinot Noir. 90& of the fruit was destemmed, with the remainder left as whole bunches. 40% of the Pinot Noir was co-fermented with the Pinot Meunier. Pressed off to tank then racked off gross lees into seasoned French puncheons. Elevage for 5 months on fine lees.
This wine is sourced exclusively from Stargazer’s own Palisander vineyard in the Tea Tree subregion of Coal River Valley. Two separate parcels of Pinot Noir, planted in 2002 and 2017 respectively.
Primarily brown dermosol on Jurassic dolerite, the plant material is combination of clones, the majority of which is G5Vl2 or Wadenswil. The 2022 also includes clones Abel, 115, 777 and MV6 from the blocks planted in 2017. It is all cane pruned and trained to a vertical shoot positioned canopy.
20% whole bunch with the remainder destemmed but not crushed. Cold soak for three days pre ferment. Post primary ferment the must is pressed off to French oak puncheons (Francois Freres, Mercurey and Ermitage), 25% new. 8 months elevage in oak with a further 10 weeks in tank.
The Shiraz for this first release of the Kura Shiraz/Pinot Noir blend is sourced from a vineyard in the Tamar Valley as well as a vineyard just outside of Richmond in the Coal River Valley, the former a combination of 1654 and Tahbilk clones, and the latter the PT23 clone planted on a north facing slope in 2017. The Pinot Noir also comes a Coal River Valley vineyard, located at Tea Tree and planted in 2004 to the D2V5 clone.
The Shiraz was destemmed and left as whole berries whilst the Pinot Noir was left as whole bunches. The Shiraz and Pinot Noir parcels were co-fermented. Cold soaked for three days prior to being warmed up for wild ferment (by indigenous yeasts) which lasted for about seven days prior to being pressed to tank on 9 April 2023. Racked off gross lees to French oak puncheons the next day, 25% of which were new. Seven months in oak on fine lees prior to preparing for bottling. 70% Shiraz, 30% Pinot Noir.