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Description
Since its inception in 2006, Garagiste has emerged as one of Victoria's brightest stars, showcasing Barney Flanders' commitment to single-site, sub-regional expressions of his beloved region, the Mornington Peninsula.
This fantastic six-pack is the best way to get acquainted with the wines of Garagiste, including the ever-popular Le Stagiaire Pinot and Chardonnay!
- 2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Chardonnay
- 2023 Garagiste Merricks Chardonnay
- 2024 Garagiste Tuerong Chardonnay
- 2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Pinot Noir
- 2024 Garagiste Balnarring Pinot Noir
- 2023 Garagiste Merricks Pinot Noir
2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Chardonnay
Another fantastic release here of one of Victoria's best-value Chardonnays.
This year’s blend brings together fruit from some of Garagiste’s top vineyards—65% from Balnarring, with smaller portions from Merricks North and Tuerong—where vines averaging 25 years old bring depth and concentration to the fruit.
Pressed as whole bunches and wild fermented in 500-litre puncheons, this Chardonnay is all about texture and finesse. It spent seven months on lees, building a round, supple mouthfeel balanced by a bracing saline streak that keeps everything lifted and refreshing. You’ll find layers of citrus, white flowers, and stone fruits, with just a hint of oak adding subtle structure.
There is never a lot of this wine around and given the value on offer, it's no wonder. Great buying.
94 points
"Complex and quite umami in character. Grapefruit, apple, saline, nutty, Japanese ginger, and a little struck match. It has bright acidity, a certain juiciness in with all that nutty almost sake-like character, creamy almond, fine chalky texture, and a finish of excellent length. Really good Chardonnay, and all things considered, jolly good value. Charismatic, is my last word on this wine. Say no more."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2023 Garagiste Merricks Chardonnay
The Merricks Chardonnay is the most sought-after of the Garagiste white wines... And it's the most powerful of Barney's Chardonnays, the kind of wine that blows your hair back.
The fruit from Merricks comes in ripe but balanced and incredibly intense - the perfect raw materials for Barney to strut his Chardy-making stuff.
Barney is one of the finest Chardonnay makers in the region and this release is bang on.
If you're yet to try Barney's wines, prepare to have your world rocked by this boutique artisanal producer. Chardy fans, get in quick!
96 points
"I’d like to be at lunch drinking this with friends explaining to them how good Aussie chardonnay is, but I could say nothing and pour instead. They’re bound to be mesmerised by the complexity and perfect balance of stone fruit and citrus, ginger, woodsy spices and subtle oak. A skein of minerally acidity matches the finely tuned palate and leaves me hankering for more."
- Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)95 points
"Woah this is so intense, it’s kind of like staring at the sun. It bursts with lime, grapefruit, green melon and nectarine (that just about covers it), has some salty pastry dough, and a little cinnamon. It’s very flinty and tight, but there’s also an explosion of flavour, and the finish is very long, saline and chalky textured. Quite a wine."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
95 points
"This is so fine, bright, and pretty aromatically, making for a moreish start. The palate seamlessly walks the line of energetic tension and flavour concentration, carrying notes akin to the nose... This is energetic, finessed, and bright, but at the same time complex and intense, with excellent line and length. A brilliant release."
- Tom Kline (Inside Burgundy)
2024 Garagiste Tuerong Chardonnay
Great vineyards viewed through the lens of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; that's Barney Flanders' vision for his Garagiste wines.
The Tuerong Chardonnay is an excellent example of the quality of wines he produces. There's a power and intensity to this Chardonnay, a lightning strike of acidity, a curl of luscious oak; all the while, the purity of the fruit and the characters of the vineyard remain the key point of focus.
An impressive release from Barney: it's a stunning Chardonnay comparable with the very best of the region.
2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Pinot Noir
Barney Flanders loves Pinot Noir, and every release of the value-packed Le Stagiaire Pinot Noir seems to out do the previous one. It has been one of the most popular wines in Different Drop history.
Winemaker Barney Flanders, known for his dedication to Pinot, blends fruit from several of his top vineyards, with Merricks North’s 30-year-old Dijon clones adding plushness and floral lift to the structured MV6 clones from Balnarring, Red Hill, and Merricks Grove.
Crafted with a gentle touch, this wine goes through wild fermentation with minimal whole bunches, 21 days on skins, and careful ageing in concrete, large foudre, and old oak barrels. It’s bottled unfined and unfiltered, keeping every bit of its savoury complexity and purity intact. The result is a beautifully balanced Pinot, layered with red berries, spice, and an earthy edge, all tied together by a refreshing mineral streak.
Simply put this wine represents the essence of Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir. Value for money wise, this is an Australian Pinot Noir star.
94 points
"Spicy, perfumed, complex. It has plenty of structure, juicy cherry flavour, bright but balanced acidity, and excellent length. A short note for an impressive wine. What else do you need to know? Oh, yes, it drinks a charm."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2024 Garagiste Balnarring Pinot Noir
It's no secret that Barney at Garagiste makes a great Pinot. And this, one of his very limited single vineyard releases is back after a three year hiatus!
The Balnarring Pinot comes from a little further down from the hill on the Mornington Peninsula than Barney's Merricks Pinot Noir, and it makes a fascinating comparison. It's a fine and pretty drop, a little lighter than its Merricks counterpart.
Think juicy & bright yet savoury, perfume & subtle spice, red fruits all wrapped up in a satin bow. Pure pleasure in a glass, a must-have for all lovers of a lighter Pinot.
2023 Garagiste Merricks Pinot Noir
Barnaby Flanders knows good Pinot Noir, and his reputation for producing top quality wines from Mornington has grown with each vintage release.
His Merricks Pinot is in a bit more full-bodied (in comparison to his other Pinots), but still retains finesse and elegance at the same time. Loads of unique personality, class and complexity to go along with lovely drinkability.
A great wine from one of the gem humans of the Peninsula.
96 points
"This always hits the right spot, bullseye, and all for its excellent fruit, tannin structure, balance and beauty... It’s heady with florals, woodsy spices, autumn leaves and twigs, while the fuller-bodied palate takes in dark cherries, poached rhubarb and chinotto with blood orange, too."
- Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)94 points
"It has energy, and yes, there’s some winemaking magic at play here, though it works and the balance between sweet fruit and sappy spice is so appealing. Tannin is firm. Cherry pip richness is there. But the whole thing works so well... Yep. Uncompromising in a way, but very good."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
94 points
"There’s a lovely red fruit and savoury interplay aromatically, which blossoms in the glass. The palate has excellent vibrancy, leading with sappy cherry, red florals, and strawberry before a rhubarb and tangy blood orange back palate... Great energy, complexity, and balance on show here. Time in the cellar will allow this to truly shine."
- Tom Kline (Inside Burgundy)
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