Scientifically prove love? I’ve just had lunch with some fabulous ladies … Note to self: do that more often. Vanya Cullen and Stephanie Toole both make wine in Australia and I’m lucky to have visited both of them at their vineyards in the past. They say that owners end up looking like their dogs … Well a lot of what I have to say about the wines, I would also say about their maker. Which is why I do not have time for faceless operations and I cannot describe the wines of Isole e Olena without mentioning Paulo … Stephanie is a pocket rocket, focussed, precise, ordered, determined, fearless and right!! Her Riesling is razor sharp, don’t mess with the Riesling ok? It’s exactly as it should be and fabulous for it! Her barrel fermented semillon is like landing a punch in the solar plexus, so unexpected, powerful but totally satisfying. Her Cabernet is restrained elegance - it’s not a wild hippy frivolously dancing, it’s like that dance sequence at the end of ‘streetdance’, choreographed ballet with some really cool moves (foot crushing) thrown in. Quite shocking in it’s intensity and beauty. Like Stephanie. Vanya is mother earth herself. She is grounded and balanced and natural. Extremely good company and utterly tuned into the world. Her Chardonnay is the most amazing wine - no wonder it has just won best Chardonnay on the planet! Vanya tries to ‘harvest the aliveness’ of her vines and captures this by using biodynamic practices. On winning her recent award a fellow winemaker suggested she undertake some studies to prove biodynamics. But when you’ve just won best Chardonnay on the planet, who cares? You can’t scientifically prove love either and that’s the great mystery of wine. But if anyone could, I think Stephanie might! My companion over lunch at the Scottish Malt Whisky Society was Fran from Creelers but I’ll need a bit longer to process my chat her :-)) in fact I think we’ll have to meet again over another fine bottle of wine one day … Cheers!