Log in for prices and ordering

Garagiste: The 2022 Single Vineyards – The Penultimate Release from this Banner Year

Garagiste: The 2022 Single Vineyards – The Penultimate Release from this Banner Year

 

“All the [Garagiste] wines are exceptional.” James Halliday, The Australian

“Garagiste is a gem of a producer.” Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

We’re heading towards the end of a trio of La Niña patterns, and Barney Flanders will be glad to see the back of them. Although quality has been, to quote the man himself, “bloody spectacular”, it’s been a real challenge when it comes to yields. Inclement weather at flowering played havoc with Garagiste’s volumes with some blocks down as much as 50 to 70%. Consequently, we have a considerably smaller single vineyard offering this year.

As most of you will know, the Balnarring site forms the backbone of the Stagiaire label and in 2022 almost the entire Balnarring crop went into this range. Luckily for us, there was a marginally better crop at the Tuerong site, so Barney was able to siphon off enough for a single vineyard bottling. As for Merricks, he always aims to make a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this flagship site and 2022 has gifted two brilliant wines, albeit in reduced quantities.

This year however we are pleased to be working with a little more volume of what has become a Garagiste cult wine, the Tuerong Aligoté. Barney made this first in 2017 from a mere three rows of 30-plus-year-old vines rooted in the sandy grey loams of the Aligoté ‘mother’ vineyard of Australia. Depending on vintage and yield conditions, he makes either a single 300-litre barrel or 500-litre barrel, so there’s only ever a pallet or less to go around. Proof that flattery will get you everywhere, this year we’ve convinced Barney to give us a little more.

As to the winemaking, the 2022 conditions required a gentler approach in the cellar. A low-yielding, intensely flavoured vintage like 2022 can “easily throw your balances out of whack”, so eternal equity-seeker Barney adopted a more subtle approach, which included a reduction in the whole bunch component in the Merricks Pinot Noir and a slight decrease in time in oak for the Chardonnays.

Despite the lack of bottles, today we offer a pitch-perfect release, perhaps one of the very finest, from a wine grower who goes from strength to strength. As such, our standard Garagiste advice applies: do not hesitate.

The Wines

Other Recent Releases

  • Bodegas Exopto
    Bodegas Exopto
    A visit to Tom Puyaubert’s winery on the outskirts of Laguardia in the Basque corner of...
    A visit to Tom Puyaubert’s winery on the outskirts of Laguardia in the Basque corner of Rioja can be a culture shock after visiting some of the gra...

    Read more

  • The Road Less Travelled
    The Road Less Travelled
    There are few certainties in life. One is that great wine is great wine, regardless of ...
    There are few certainties in life. One is that great wine is great wine, regardless of where it is grown and made. On the one hand, our role as win...

    Read more

  • Théo Dancer 2023
    Théo Dancer 2023
    There is a lot of young talent in Burgundy today, but, to be frank, we do not know of a...
    There is a lot of young talent in Burgundy today, but, to be frank, we do not know of a more gifted or driven young grower than Théo Dancer. He pro...

    Read more

  • Valenciso
    Valenciso
    When you tally up Luis Valentín’s long tenure at Bodegas Palacio in Laguardia with his ...
    When you tally up Luis Valentín’s long tenure at Bodegas Palacio in Laguardia with his 25-plus years at Valenciso, you end up with a lifetime of ex...

    Read more

  • La Réméjeanne
    La Réméjeanne
    The high-altitude village of Sabran takes some tracking down. Yet it’s one of those pla...
    The high-altitude village of Sabran takes some tracking down. Yet it’s one of those places that is “worth a special journey”, as the Michelin Guide...

    Read more

  • Bachelet-Monnot 2022
    Bachelet-Monnot 2022
    2022 brought nothing but good news for Marc and Alexandre Bachelet, whose perennially o...
    2022 brought nothing but good news for Marc and Alexandre Bachelet, whose perennially overperforming Burgundies have earned them a stellar reputati...

    Read more

  • Bodacious Rosé
    Bodacious Rosé
    Is there a better wine style to celebrate the joie de vivre of summer than rosé? The be...
    Is there a better wine style to celebrate the joie de vivre of summer than rosé? The best examples encapsulate everything great about our food and...

    Read more

  • Bérêche et Fils
    Bérêche et Fils
    A big thank you to all who got behind this grower’s marvellous Champagnes when we intro...
    A big thank you to all who got behind this grower’s marvellous Champagnes when we introduced them late into 2024. When we caught up recently, Rapha...

    Read more

  • Di Majo Norante
    Di Majo Norante
    Italy is full of delightful surprises. We might guess that most people have never taste...
    Italy is full of delightful surprises. We might guess that most people have never tasted a wine from Molise. Only the postage-stamp appellation of ...

    Read more

View All Offers