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Huon Hooke
Huon Hooke

Moving on: Ultimo Wine Centre founder Jon Osbeitson, centre, will work as a wine broker for Vintage Cellars.
Moving on: Ultimo Wine Centre founder Jon Osbeitson, centre, will work as a wine broker for Vintage Cellars.Marco Del Grande

Coles bags Ultimo indie

One of Sydney's finest independent wine retailers, Ultimo Wine Centre, has been sold to Coles and will become a Vintage Cellars store. Ending months of speculation, owner and founder Jon Osbeiston has sold the shop, and the settlement was due to take place on Monday. He has joined the permanent staff of Vintage Cellars. But Sydney wine lovers have probably seen the last of Osbeiston on a shop floor because he'll be working as a broker from an upstairs office at the Vintage Cellars Double Bay store. He will continue to look after some of his special Ultimo clients. Coles will rebadge the shop, in 99 Jones Street, but it will continue as an upmarket fine-wine business, presumably continuing to specialise in boutique Australian and the finest imported wines, especially from France and Italy. Coles spokesman Jim Cooper said: ''Obviously, there will be some tweaks to the range, but we take the view that you don't buy these places with their successful and established business, just to tear up what's there and start again. The focus will remain on fine wine.''

… but the staff will stay

Coles and Woolworths were keen bidders for Ultimo, and Woolies had its hat in the ring until late in the process. Most of the staff, including manager Renee Foster, will stay on. Ultimo has not dealt with the big Australian wine companies, such as Treasury and Accolade, for many years, and I would expect to see this change. No doubt some of VC's range of exclusive imports will also be stocked. Many observers will decry the loss of yet another top independent retailer to the supermarkets. There's little doubt Ultimo's massive product range will shrink somewhat, but we can only hope the high level of service and staff knowledge for which Ultimo has been famous will continue. We'll have to wait and see.

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Luxury has a premium

California-based winemaker Chris Carpenter surely has one of the best jobs in his field: making only luxury wines. His cheapest wine is La Jota, at $75; the dearest are Lokoya single subregion Napa Valley mountain cabernets for $650 a bottle. I tasted a selection with him recently, and it was outstanding. Carpenter is solely responsible for the super-premium brands of Jackson Wine Estates. He was in Australia for his second vintage, making cabernet at the Jackson-owned Yangarra Estates in McLaren Vale. His cabernet fruit is sourced from the Hickinbotham Vineyard at Clarendon, which the Jackson family bought in 2011. His first Hickinbotham Vineyard cabernet, a 2012, will be released in 2014, with the name to be decided. I have a hunch it won't be cheap.

New Italians drop in

A new portfolio of fine Italian wines is available in NSW. Adelaide importer La Cantina, whose wines are selected by one of Australia's top experts on Italian wine, David Ridge, is extending its distribution to Sydney. The range includes Coffele, one of the stars of Soave; La Roncaia, a maker of great Friuli white wines; outstanding verdicchio producer Tenuta di Tavignano; a bevy of fine Piedmontese wineries including Bera, Fratelli Revello, Paolo Conterno and Castello di Neive; and two makers of rare Sicilian marsala: Vito Curatolo Arini and Martinez. Sydney stockists include Bottega del Vino (Potts Point), 121 BC (Surry Hills) and Vine Providore (Redfern).

Huon HookeHuon Hooke is a wine writer.

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