Stargazer ➺ Side By Side 3-Pack by Samantha Connew
Side By Side Winemakers Selection 3-Pack by Owen Latta
Winemakers are equally enthusiastic about the wines they craft as the wines they drink. No surprises here. Our Side by Side series offers a glance at what our favourite producers drink when they're not picking, pressing or putting their own wines to bottle.
This time round, Samantha Connew selects three incredible Rieslings to drink Side by Side. Pull up a seat, and drink like the winemakers do.
"As I write this, we are only a week or two away from the 2025 harvest starting. The nets have been on (and stayed on!) in the vineyard for a few weeks now, so our little team of myself, Guy (vigneron extraordinaire) and vineyard hand Rosario have been thinning and finessing the Pinot blocks as well as taking care of the chickens, bees, olives, natives and sheep. There is always plenty to do even though it does feel like the lull before the storm.
Riesling, along with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, is one of the main reasons I made the move to Tasmania. In my opinion, Tasmania, and specifically the Coal River Valley, is one of the only regions in Australia that can do all three at the highest level.
The three wines I have selected are all wines with texture and mouthfeel which takes them out of the realm of what people may think of as being ‘traditional’ in style but demonstrate what Riesling is capable of."
— Samantha Connew
Stargazer ➺ Side By Side 3-Pack by Samantha Connew
- Currently Unavailable!
- Contact Us For ReOrder!
Our Side by Side series offers a glance at what our favourite producers are drinking when they're not picking, pressing or putting their own wines to bottle. This pack is curated by Samantha Connew of Stargazer. Three bottles that demonstrate what Riesling is truly capable of: a pure and elegant example of her own, a wine that pushes the envelope with its wild ferment and an Alsatian bottle with poise and intensity.
Includes:
Stargazer - Riesling 2024
Wines by KT - Melva Riesling 2022
Domaine Weinbach - Alsace Théo Riesling 2022
It’s hard to decide what we enjoy most about Stargazer–the wines themselves, being incredible varietal expressions of small batch, honest wines from Tasmania, or the woman behind them–Samantha Connew, an exemplary figure for Australian winemaking. Perhaps we’ll draw this one a tie, which says just how good the Stargazer wines actually are.
“The Coal River Valley produces beautiful Riesling with quite a different fruit spectrum from their mainland counterparts.”
2024 Stargazer Riesling
"The Coal River Valley produces beautiful Riesling with quite a different fruit spectrum from their mainland counterparts. The 2024 vintage demonstrates the green apple skin and white florals typical of this region, in this case married with around 8.4g/L of residual sugar which is balanced by some positive phenolics from about 12 hours on skins prior to pressing off. It’s 100% tank fermented and left on lees before bottling."
“Melva has always been one of my favourite wines of Kerri Thompson's and was one of the first South Australian wines that I can recall which started to push the envelope for what Riesling could be—an off dry wine wild fermented.”
2023 Wines by KT Melva Riesling
"Kerri Thompson and I have had very similar careers in a lot of ways and in fact she preceded me as assistant winemaker at Wirra Wirra Vineyards a zillion years ago now! She has been a role model and inspiration in what she has done with her own wine brand, which highlighted for me how it was possible to successfully operate your own business and make wines that you love.
Melva has always been one of my favourite wines of hers and was one of the first SA wines that I can recall which started to push the envelope for what Riesling could be - an off dry wine wild fermented. It works so well with the stunning fruit she gets from the Peglidis Vineyard, and I have similarly used both elements in my Stargazer Riesling from the beginning."
“I love what Alsatian producers do with all of the aromatic varieties, but it is the depth and concentration of their Rieslings which have always captivated me, none more so than Domaine Weinbach.”
2022 Domaine Weinbach Alsace Théo Riesling
“I love what Alsatian producers do with all of the aromatic varieties (hence my white blend Tupelo) but it is the depth and concentration of their Rieslings which have always captivated me, none more so than Domaine Weinbach under the stewardship of the exemplary Faller family.
Across the board, their wines have intensity and poise, and what in the good old days would been called ‘dry extract’, a phenolic quality which I actively seek in my wines. I also love that they are pushing the boat out with an experimental range of wines. The fact that Weinbach have a strong matriarchal lineage is even more of a reason to admire this estate!”
