News & Reviews
We love sharing our wines and our favourite parts of our beautiful Kangaroo Island. Our blog shares our team's favourite ways to get the most from your visit when you're exploring Kangaroo Island. And of course we like to share the latest news and wine reviews with you too!
Halliday's 2020 Wine Companion 95+ wines
Halliday's Half Dozen:
Our 95+ point wines from the 2020 Australian Wine Companion
James Halliday is an unmatched authority in Australia on every aspect of the wine industry, a respected wine critic and vigneron with a career that spans almost 50 years. His annual Halliday Wine Companion is recognised as Australia’s most comprehensive tasting note library.
It goes without saying that any winery is proud to have their wines featured in the Australian Wine Companion. And while, every wine lover's own palate is the most important judge of the wine they like to drink, many wine lovers also rely on the Wine Companion as a guide to the best of Australian wine.
Any wine that rates between 94 and 100 points in the Halliday Wine Companion is considered to be outstanding, of the highest quality, and often with a distinguished pedigree. So we're thrilled to share the wines rated 95+ points in this year's Wine Companion. See the Wine Companion team's tasting notes and ratings below.
2017 Wally White
Semillon
95 points
Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, cloudy juice fermented with cultured yeast in demi-muids, left on fermentation lees for two years with low sulphur. A very complex, full-bodied semillon that has no parallel I have tasted or read about. It's layered, with notes of biscuit and honey, the acidity ample to provide balance.
2018 Bark Hut Rd
Shiraz/Cab Franc
95 points
70% cabernet franc, 30% shiraz, wild-fermented, some whole bunches. Deep colour; unashamedly full-bodied, with velvety black fruits, the depth seeming to come from the shiraz licorice and tar. Not for us to argue - it is what it is. And beyond doubt decades away from its use-by date.
2018 Old Rowley
Shiraz/Grenache
95 points
A hand-picked 60/40% grenache/shiraz blend, matured in a demi-muid for 7 months on heavy lees. A full-bodied wine with tannins part of the landscape, sultry red and black fruits the major part. Finishes with conviction, and a savoury farewell. Built to age
2015 The Investigator
Cabernet Franc
95 points
Hand-picked, destemmed into demi-muids for wild fermentation, 20% skins return, maceration continued until mlf complete, the wine drained and the skins and stems passed through the hand basket press, matured for 2 years on lees in demi-muids. Jacques Lurton has always loved cabernet franc, and this spicy red-fruited wine, plus its diamond dust tannins, shows why.
2015 The Cygnet
Shiraz
97 points
Hand-picked bushvine vineyard, destemmed into demi-muids for wild fermentation and extended maceration on skins until mlf completed, the juice run off and the skins pressed in a hand-operated basket press, blended after 2 years in demi-muids. An extremely complex and powerful wine with black fruits, spices, oak, tannins, earth and sea spray moulded into a single flame of flavour.
2015 The Independence
Malbec
96 points
Barrel-fermented in specially adapted demi-muids, followed by 5-6 week post-fermentation maceration, then pressed to 50/50% new and used demis. It makes no apologies for its full-bodied palate, but the primary flavours are profoundly varietal, the tannins firm but ripe.
Shop the Halliday Range now
08/08/2019 at 5:00 PM
Permalink
Jacques Lurton, new president of Les Vignobles André Lurton
Vignobles André Lurton announce
Jacques Lurton as new group President
The Islander Estate Vineyards has always represented the connection of two vastly different worlds of wine. The remote, untamed environment of Kangaroo Island, one of the world's newest wine regions. And the history and finesse of the Lurton family's six-generation Boardeaux wine heritage.
Our connection has never been stronger than now, as Jacques Lurton takes the reins as President and Chairman of the André Lurton group, following his father's passing in May.
Vignobles André Lurton includes 9 Châteaux including Château Couhins-Lurton, Château Dauzac, Château La Louvière and Château Bonnet, across 7 appellations - Pessac-Léognan, Margaux, Lussac-Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Entre-Deux-Mers and Graves.
Jacques role as owner and lead winemaker for The Islander Estate Vineyards will remain unchanged. As it has for the past 19 years, Kangaroo Island and The Islander Estate Vineyards remains the Jacque's special place for creative, hands-on winemaking.
Read the full annoucement at www.andrelurton.com
16/07/2019 at 8:30 AM
Permalink
Gourmet Traveller Wine Best Cellar Door Awards 2019
It's part of The Islander Estate Vineyard's mission to help put the Kangaroo Island wine region on the world map of fine wine. Our Tasting Room established in September 2017 has enabled us to connect many thousands of visitors to the region with our regional wine story and Jacques Lurton's inspiration for making cool climate wines here.
A big thanks to Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine for recognising our efforts in their 2019 Best Cellar Door Awards, we love the variety of wine and experiences offered by our region's cellar doors.
13/05/2019 at 2:34 PM
Permalink
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit gets up close and personal with Islander Estate
Kangaroo Island was featured extensively in Sports llustrated's 2019 Swimsuit issue. The SI Swimsuit team sat down with Islander Estate's General Manager Yale Norris to chat about what drew him across the world to Kangaroo Island and makes it the perfect place to make wine and a home. Check out the article here.
13/05/2019 at 1:55 PM
Permalink
A Year In The Vineyard
September/October: Inflorescence – Also known as 'Budburst' signals the official start of the new growing season.
November: Floraison – the buds begin to flower before producing tiny bunches.
Late November/December: Fruit set – now we begin to get a good idea of bunch development and quality on the vine with an insight into how vintage may shape up if the god’s are kind.
Late January: ‘Veraison' – the beginning of ripening where berries turn from green and begin to turn purple, red and golden. A tipping point when the vine begins to focus its energy on development sweetness in the grapes.
March to May: Harvest! Can begin from late February but most often in March. We will pick for six to eight weeks, checking the vineyard daily and hand-picking only what is perfectly ready. From early May, the focus of the winemaking crew turns away from the vineyard and into the winery.
June - September: Even as the grapes are harvested, the green foliage begins the yellow and leaves drop. As the weather turns cold, the vine withdraws its energy to the roots and returns to their dormant state. The vineyard slows but doesn’t stop as our pruning crew methodically work their way through the vineyard hand-pruning.
01/02/2019 at 11:40 AM
Permalink
15 Things to do on Kangaroo Island
Travel journalist Irene Issacon travelled to Kangaroo Island for Travel2Next and shares her 15 must-do things to include in your itinerary to Kangaroo Island. Thanks for the recommendation Irene!
Read her article on Travel2Next here
05/01/2019 at 4:31 PM
Permalink