Newcastle Shopping

Wickham is a suburb not noted for its shopping but there is a boutique wine seller located right in the middle who knows his stuff and only sells top quality. I have to thank my eldest son for putting me on to this. Rather than waffle on, I'll quote the man from his own site-
'Peter Howland gets to know his single vineyard wines intimately. It's the attention to detail that sets them aside in quality. According to Pete, it's fun jumping in as well.
Pete started out as a professional trumpet and sax player and decided to explore some of the other senses: the nose and palate. As a musician, his approach is a little different, treating wine like a musical expression. He has decided to focus right down to the individual vineyard level, allowing each particular vineyard environment to provide the "sounds" while Pete "produces" them.

What to buy: All of the wines are a pure expression of that particular vineyard, with no blending of other blocks. The quality comes from within the vineyard and minimal, careful handling of the fruit produces uniquely distinctive wines. This approach shows the true quality and uniqueness of these exceptional vineyards on their own....naked. Each block is sustainably grown with careful attention to the soil micro-ecosystem. Pete says "afterall, that's the engine-room for flavour and we need to tread lightly on the land."
Pete says he originally set out to make an elegant, balanced, complex and carefully structured style of Shiraz, not the typical fruit bomb. With some very talented growers, exceptional fruit and some unusual winemaking techniques, Peter Howland has already produced some truley outstanding wines, critically acclaimed and themselves "complex jazz pieces."
Peter Howland wines are available on-line within Australia and in Canada, USA, Japan, Singapore and the UK.'