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How good is a name like The Wine Farm? The sort of moniker that does what it says on the tin, evokes a sense of place but also sorta humbly undersells what’s going on beneath the surface. The farm in question, of course, is the three-hectare estate in Gippsland that Neil and Anna Hawkins purchased in 2014. In the decade since, the pair have worked tirelessly, employing a rigorous biodynamic approach in the vineyards and cultivating a cult following for frisky, stylistic cool-climate wines that make virtues of classic varieties in ways you don’t always expect. Take the 2020 riesling, for instance, which is given the full malo treatment to give a creamier edge to the chalky, sherbety things going on. Their 2020 chardonnay hits that just-opulent-enough bullseye, creamy textured with honey-on-toast, stone fruit and baked apple flavours playing nice together. Generous, let’s say. Syrah works a treat in the salmon-hued 2022 rosé, which’ll please fans of the leaner, fine-boned style, the dryness balanced out by hints of wild strawberry. And lo, there’s pinot noir from 2019, but of the rustic, rugged school that’s seriously dark-fruited and brooding, with smoke, spice and brine flavours all vying gamely for attention in the background. Personality in spades.
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