St Maur September 2026 – Spring Newsletter

Welcome to our St Maur Spring Newsletter for September 2026. In this edition:

• • • • • • September 2026 Vineyard & Winery Update
          • Limited Release 2023 MARA Pinot Noir – Secure Your Bottles
          • New LOT 41 Releases for Spring
          • Supporting Our Local Stockists, Retailers, Cafés and Restaurants
          • Current Cellar Door Hours

September 2026 Vineyard and Winery Update       

Spring is beginning to make itself felt here in the Southern Highlands. The recent rain has been welcome across our farm and vineyard at Exeter, giving the soils a valuable reserve of moisture after winter. Now, as warmer weather and longer stretches of sunshine begin to come through, the vineyard is waking up after its winter hibernation.

At this time of year the season can change quickly. Moisture is important, but so too are clear days and good airflow as the vines come out of winter. We are monitoring each block closely, completing winter maintenance, checking our trellising and preparing for budburst and the first flush of new growth.

Although the 2027 vintage may still seem a long way off, its foundations are being laid now. The decisions we make through spring, around vine balance, canopy, soil health and disease pressure will influence the fruit we bring into the winery at harvest. Every season asks something different of us. Our job is to observe, respond and give the vines the best possible start with the least intervention.

There has also been plenty happening in the winery. I am delighted to share new wines from our  LOT 41 range: the 2025 LOT 41 Pinot Noir, and the 2026 LOT 41 Pinot Noir Rosé. Together, they capture both sides of our cool-climate vineyard. The depth and elegance of Pinot Noir, and the brightness and freshness we look for in our Pinot Noir Rosé.

I am also very proud of our 2023 MARA Pinot Noir Limited Release. This is only our second MARA release and, with just 800 individually numbered bottles made, I encourage members who would like to secure bottles for drinking or cellaring to do so while stock lasts.

I hope you enjoy our September update. As always, we thank you for supporting St Maur, our wines and the local businesses that help bring them to your table.

Happy reading.

Limited Release MARA 2023 PINOT Noir – Secure Your Bottles

Having enjoyed a good rest after bottling, to settle the wine, I am proud to release our 2023 MARA Pinot Noir. Named in honour of MARA Panizzutti, the matriarch of our family, our MARA Pinot Noir is made only when the vintage and the wine are truly distinctive. It is not a label we intend to release every year.

The 2023 MARA is only our second release, following the inaugural 2018 vintage that quickly became sought after by our members. From the outstanding 2023 vintage, we produced only 500 litres, yielding just 800 bottles. Each bottle is individually numbered – a quiet acknowledgement of the small quantity and special character of this wine.

Crafted from whole bunches of Pinot Noir selected from parcels of our St Maur vines, the wine was matured in French oak for 18 months. It is a full-bodied Pinot Noir that remains unmistakably elegant. Opening with dark chocolate and earthiness on the nose, that develops into sweet strawberry fruit. The well-structured palate shows full bodied fruit and elegant tannins on the finish. A distinctive expression of the season, vintage and our unique terroir.

MARA has always been intended to sit above our other wines, not through the force of oak or the hand of the winemaker, but through the alignment of vineyard maturity, seasonal grace and patience in the cellar. The 2023 release is confident, composed and deeply expressive of St Maur.

Stocks are limited and there will not be another MARA release until a future vintage earns its place. At a recent private function in our Members’ Dining Room, the 2023 MARA Pinot Noir received great reviews from the group, and the canny supporters purchased a number of six bottles cases.

If you would like to secure individually numbered bottles for a special occasion, your cellar or a gift, I recommend ordering now.

RRP $79.00 per bottle  |  Members’ discount available  |  Strictly limited release

Order online, contact us on (02) 4883 4401 or info@stmaurwines.com.au, or visit the cellar door to secure your bottles while stock remains.

2026 LOT 41 Pinot Noir Rosé

RRP $29.00 Bottle                          $174.00  Box of 6   Members discount available for members

2025 LOT 41 Pinot Noir

The grapes for our 2025 Pinot Noir come from the back block of our cool-climate farm vineyard. Matured in French oak barrels for 12 months, this aromatic wine opens with a rustic nose of earthiness and black cherry before developing into clean, pure fruit. The palate is well structured, with full-bodied fruit and elegant tannins on the finish. Enjoy now or cellar through to 2035.

RRP $39.00 Bottle                          $234.00 Box of 6   Members discount available for members

Members can order wines by phone (02) 4883 4401, via email: info@stmaurwines.com.au or through our website: stmaurwines.com.au  or at our cellar door, open Saturdays and Sundays between 10.30am – 4.30pm.

Supporting our Local Stockists, Retailers, Cafes and Restaurants

St Maur may begin in the vineyard, but our wines reach people through a much wider local community. Bottle shops, independent wine merchants, retailers, cafés, restaurants, pubs and clubs all play an important part in building the Southern Highlands as a food and wine destination.

When a local retailer puts a regional wine on the shelf, or a chef or venue team includes it on a wine list, they are making a choice to support local producers. That choice helps preserve agricultural enterprise, sustains local jobs and gives visitors and residents a genuine taste of the Highlands.

To every local business that ranges, recommends and serves St Maur, thank you. Your support is never taken for granted, and we encourage our members to support the businesses that support us.

The stronger our local network becomes, the stronger the Southern Highlands becomes as a region. Every bottle enjoyed locally helps keep that story growing.

You can find St Maur at our cellar door of course, and these local businesses:

Restaurants and cafés

• Alphabet St Cronulla
• Café Rosso Bowral
• Cheeky’s Pizza & Bar Darlinghurst
• Josh’s Café Berrima

Hotels and pubs

• Bundanoon Hotel
• Highlands Hotel Mittagong
• Mittagong Hotel
• Robertson Public House
• Surveyor General Inn Berrima
• The Grand Hotel, Kiama
• The Robertson Hotel

Bottle shops and retailers

• Berry Bottle Shop
• Celebrations Cellars Rozelle
• Chambers Cellars, Bowral – plus 20 other stores
• Chiswick Cellar
• Dan Murphy’s, Mittagong
• First Choice North Wollongong
• IGA Fine Food & Liquor Moss Vale
• Kemeny’s Liquor Bondi
• Liquorland Bowral – plus 100 other stores
• Thirsty Cellars Bowral

Apologies if I have missed any – will get you next time. I always look to choose a local wine when there’s one on the shelf or wine list. Ask your favourite bottle shop, café, restaurant, pub or club to consider stocking St Maur if they do not already range us. And let us know about a venue you think would be a good fit. A simple introduction can begin a lasting local relationship.

Current Cellar Door Hours

The St Maur cellar door is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

It’s always helpful if you let us know you are coming so we can make sure you have the best possible experience. Tastings for groups of six or more are by appointment only and require confirmation from St Maur.

To plan your visit, contact us on (02) 4883 4401 or email info@stmaurwines.com.au.

Marco

This post was written by John Giro