Newsletter #2 (December 2025)

Newsletter #2 (December 2025)

Hi,

Apologies in advance for the slightly repetitive tone of the newsletter preamble.

Turns out several thousand of you didn't receive the November edition a few weeks back so I'm having another attempt and hopefully it hits all inboxes as intended.

Please use discount code WELCOMEBACK33 if you'd like to get $33 off your next order ($89 minimum spend applies).

As I've said before it's been a while 'between drinks', as least as far as newsletters and email comms are concerned. I have a decent excuse however - we've been busy with real-world stuff like selling the Smith Street site and taking over the 'Grape and Hop' neighbourhood bar in Montmorency in Melbourne's north east (near Eltham).

The bar has an incredibly strong local following and we've had much success introducing craft via 5 rotating tap options) and introduce nearly 100 packaged beer options. We've given the wine a fair shake-up as well with the additional of 150+ high quality wines to the bottle list. There are plenty of superstars on the shelves (Rockford, Bindi, Mosswood, Koomilya, Fighting Gully, Denton etc etc) and we are pretty confident we have the most expansive and exciting list in Melbourne's north east.

On the digital side of things we have given this site a facelift and broadened the reach to include quality small wineries and some emphasis on Old & Rare. Our other wine e-com venture, Good Soul Wines, will continue to focus on all things Organic, Vegan Friendly and Sustainable.

Ok - down to business........

Wine on Sale - some excellent bargains to be had here from some big name high end red wines.....think Grant Burge, Hewitson, Passing Clouds and Dave Powell's newish gig Neldner Road. Some of these are running at 50% off the cellar door price!


New Stuff - we are just a little bit chuffed to be one of very few retailers across the country for Hoffmann Family (Barossa Valley) and Domaine Razal (Macedon Ranges). Both possess a great and storied history; I'm sure references to 'Dallwitz Block' and 'Virgin Hills' will catch the eye of any true wine geek.

We have a few new and interesting beers worthy of your attention in the lead up to Christmas. Great to see Epic is back with the legendary Amageddon IPA now packaged in a 440ml tall can. Mornington Peninsula's Devil bend has gone into over-drive on the Pilsner front (4 colab releases this month) and we reckon the King River Brewing effort is the pick of a very good bunch. We've also been very impressed with Duncan's 'Research Kemicle' NZIPA. Ultra calm and classy yet no lack of interest or intensity. Well worth a look.

If you are ever out in the NE burbs of Melbourne please drop in for a beer. We do run a very sharply priced clearance beers in the fridge from time to time (we are running out a few Mountain Culture 440ml @ $9 drink in or takeaway!) so we are giving you a decent excuse to visit.

Until next time...................cheers