Stargazer Tupelo 2024

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.