News and Reviews

"The Willem Kurt vineyard, just south of the town of Beechworth, is on Buckland Gap Road, the mere mention of which road, as a former cyclist, raises my anxiety levels.

This is a very good release. At $45 it’s a lay down misere. It’s a wine of power, concentration, depth and length; it’s a wine of freshness and style. It tastes of grapefruit, stone fruits, stones, cedarwood and flint, though everything in reality is tucked in and composed. At every turn it feels textural, fruit-filled and confident. The Willem Kurt wines are always good, and this is one of the best of them."

94 pointsCampbell Mattinson, The Wine Front. June 2024

"Well hello.This is a beautiful Beechworth shiraz. Composed, fresh, flavoursome and complex. It tastes of black cherries, almost into plum, with deli meat, black pepper, floral elements, woodsmoke and an array of both sweet spices and garden herb characters. There’s a clear, welcoming sweetness to the fruit, which really draws you in, but then there’s so much savoury, spicy, bunchy character inlaid. This is a beauty."

94 pointsCampbell Matinson, The Wine Front. June 2024

"Beechworth punches above its weight (i.e. size) when it comes to chardonnay. Consistently so, which is why we see another strong, sun filled chardonnay release from Willem Kurt. Bright, light, yellow hues glisten. Lifted scents of nectarine, white peach, citrus and spring flowers flow. Mineral tang is a most attractive feature, lipsmackingly so, backed with crunchy, bright acidity. So good."

95 points, Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion

The essence of Beechworth chardonnay, beautifully captured. The granitic soils produce an effortless natural balance with a stone-like mineral tang. It's here in spades, joining nectarine, lime, ruby grapefruit, almond macaroon and nougat laced in a subtle oak spice. Fabulous concentration of fruit on display, smooth and textural, too. Runs long and delicious.

95 points

Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion

Published 06 July 2023

Sourced from their home vineyard, planted in 2017, with some additional grapes from another Beechworth vineyard.

Bright, zesty, grapefruit and passionfruit crème brûlée, cedar and spice, with a little struck match. It’s tight and flinty, gently buttery and nutty, ginger, plenty of grapefruity acidity, and a firm finish of excellent length. It’s maybe a little lacking in depth of flavour and concentration, but gee it has some energy to it.

93 points

Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

6th June 2023

This isn’t the first Vermentino release from Willem Kurt but I think that it’s the first from its Beechworth vineyard. Previous releases have been Alpine Valleys.

It’s quite a beauty. Distinctive too. Brine and grapefruit flavours with oysters, fennel and melon. It has flavour and (lots of) texture but it feels direct. It’s lengthy too. This would really sing with food. There’s a great deal to like about this wine.

93 points

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

2nd July 2023

All-around delicious drinking in shades of citrus – lime zest, grapefruit and Meyer lemon – with a pinch of white flowers and apple blossom, a splash of baked apple and pear. It's all delivered smoothly across the palate accompanied by bright acidity.

91 points

Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion

Published 24 April 2023

"Youthful and bright red in the glass. Pretty aromas of bramble, blue fruits, cola, spice and vanilla. Full, fleshy and blueberry fruit driven on the palate. Textured, layered, long and mouth-filling. A fresh, bright and lively shiraz"

90 points

Aaron Brasher, The Real Review

25th June 2023

The Willem Kurt range of wines is in fantastic shape.

This weighs in at 12.8% alcohol but just look at the power of it. And the flavour. Peach, cedar, sweet almonds, milky-vanilla-like notes and a quartz-like aspect. This really works up a head of steam once it’s had time to breathe. It’s (pale) straw-coloured and it shows its oak but it’s completely integrated and has semblances of chalky dryness through the finish. Excellent.

94 points

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

5th March 2022

This is tight and controlled and yet it has presence. Daniel Balzer, the man behind the Willem Kurt wines, turns out fine vermentino. I guess this wine is citrussy but there’s slate, chalk and a suggestion of fennel too, almost into blackcurrant bud territory but the control here means that it’s a lot more savoury than that; indeed it’s almost earthen. I know that I’ve already mentioned presence but it’s worth underlining that. This wine excellent now but there’s a good chance that it will be better again with some extra time in bottle

94 points

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

4th March 2022

This looks relatively light in the glass and is lifted and floral on the nose, not to mention spice-laden, but the palate has presence and power beyond expectations. Cherried fruit with explosions of woodsmoke and exotic spice are the hallmarks of this wine, though there’s a lot going on besides. Fine-but-firm tannin, more florals, musk and chocolate. It reminds me of the old Battely Syrah wines but with greater lightness of touch. This is very good.

93 points

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

5th March 2022

It has the depth and ripe flavour that this region achieves with chardonnay. It's powerful, yet the acidity keeps a firm hold on ensuring it's not too much. Citrus and stone fruit together, spice and cedary sweet oak in balance, creamy lees/curd and lemon tang on the finish, the combo makes this spot on.

95 points

Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion

Published 18 June 2021

“Light straw-yellow colour; appealing bouquet of subtle toasty oak and lemon and grapefruit characters. There is good lemony intensity in the mid-palate which carries long, the fruit doing most of the talking. A refined style of considerable charm, and it has the potential to go further. Lovely drinking.”

95/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review, April 2020

“It’s creamy cashew and peachy, ginger spice (feels posh too), a silky feel in with juicy pink grapefruit acidity and flavour, flows along beautifully, but it’s the burst of fresh acidity and intensity on the long finish that makes it so very appealing. Flavour yes, but delivered with style and control. Excellent.”

94 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, March 2020

“A graceful and effortless Shiraz. Mixed berries, a little cracked pepper and spice, gentle vanilla and floral perfume. It’s medium-bodied, fine and pleasingly ‘mineral’ in feel and taste, supple long grained tannin, and spicy, long and a little meaty to close. Beautifully made”

94 points Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, March 2020

“Very good Vermentino. Fine chalky feel, lemon pith and spice, freshness and energy, some juicy green pear flavour, savoury almost umami flavour on the finish, along with a little quinine-like bitterness. Lovely.”

93 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, March 2020

“Beechworth shiraz. Fermented wild, 10% whole bunches, all-French oak, no fining or filtration. It’s a pretty, medium-weight shiraz but it doesn’t lack flavour; or character for that matter. Trademark (in Beechworth terms) cherry-plum fruit flavour with inklings of anise. Choc-orange notes, not into Jaffa territory but suggestive of it. Herb notes, sweet and floral. Maybe some mint. It just works. Tannin is massaged through the back half. It’s a lovely shiraz.” 

93+points , Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, December 2018

“There’s no doubt that Beechworth is ‘flavour country’ when it comes to Chardonnay.

Golden colour with peach, lime zest, honey oatmeal, fresh basil, and spicy oak in the background. Medium to full-bodied, almond biscuit, ripe citrus and peach, a good tang and grip in the middle, though perhaps a little loose through the finish. Good wine. I’m thinking roast chicken.”  

92 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, December 2018