The Holm Oak 2008 pinot is like the Tardis. The outside, which in this case is the look and smell, gives no indication of what you'll find on the inside. What is on the inside is truly remarkable.

Rebecca Wilson and Tim Duffy have managed to produce a pinot that looks light and fruity but packs one hell of a taste. Looking at it we thought "just another competent but usual Tassie pinot". Er no.  More please!

The Maxim 1000 sounds like a unwanted hair removal device or a washing machine or even a contraption for perfecting those tight perms favoured by ladies of a certain age. Strangely this is not the case. It is in fact the moniker given to the 2008 Limestone coast Cabernet Shiraz from Baritone. You'll hear a full review as part of the up and coming podcast with Graeme Phillips but in a nutshell this is a great quaffer. $12.99 gets you a litre of rich, jammy, big red.  Perfect for sittin', drinkin' and thinkin'.

Irving and Kim Fong have had a crack at a white blend and it's worked out pretty well. The 2009 Fong's White is a well balanced mixture of all the white grapes from Jinglers Creek. Now don't be thinking this is the wine equivalent of bubble and squeak. No way, you get a very tasty, very drinkable white. Goes with food and company. Take this to a party where you don't know anyone and share it around - instant popularity. Our only question is why isn't it called Fong shui or even Fong's way? 

What happens when you try the 2005 Wharncliffe chardonnay savagely hung over? Awful, unspeakable and horrible things. You feel like wandering away from others, sucking in deep breaths and hoping against hope that everything stays where it should. But what happens if the people you're with have the good sense to buy a bottle so you try it some days later? Happy, joyous and pleasurable things. This is an intense and wonderful wine. It comes from a vineyard whose location is such that grapes don't always ripen. When they do, however, the results are very very good.