Monthly Archives: March 2016

Wine review – Robert Stein, Cockburn, Domain Day, Irvine, Majella, Van Volxem

30 March 2016People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Robert Stein Riesling 2015
Stein and Mirramar vineyards, Mudgee, NSW
$25
With his 2015 vintage, winemaker Jacob Stein takes us away from traditional floral, delicate Australian rieslings. Thirteen per cent alcohol puts it at the bigger end of the variety’s style spectrum. Then spontaneous fermentation on skins of a component, and barrel-fermentation in old oak barrels of the pressings, bring extra weight and grip to the palate. The result is a ripe, full, dry (if not bone dry) white that retains citrus-like riesling flavours and racy acidity. This is an impressive and interesting riesling, heading off in its own direction.

Rockburn Pinot Noir 2013
Gibston and Parkburne, Central Otago, New Zealand
$38–$43
At two degrees south of Australia’s southernmost vineyards, Central Otago produces wines of greater body and ripeness than we might expect at the latitude. But the area’s dry, sunny, continental climate produces distinctively powerful pinots that fetch high prices in world markets. Rockburn provides a taste of the style in a warm year. Vibrant, dark-cherry-like varietal flavours back an assertive palate, comprising fruit, warming alcohol (14 per cent) and strong, fine, drying tannins. Winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis writes, “This pinot is generously proportioned but remains taut for the moment”. I agree. A year or two in bottle should bring all the flavour elements together.

Domain Day “S” Saperavi 2004
Mount Crawford, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$24–$35
Impressed by its longevity, winemaker Robin Day planted the Georgian red variety saperavi at Mount Crawford. Day writes “I have my vineyard and cellar door on the market as I aim to retire and write (an anecdotal travelogue is half written)”. While we wait for Day’s hilarious stories, his wines seep into the market, sometimes at very low prices. His 2004 saperavi, for example, can be found on winerobot.com.au for $24 by the dozen, while Dan Murphy offers the 2005 vintage at $28–$29. The 2004 appeals for its warm, earthy, mellow aroma and rich, firm, medium-bodied palate. It’s fully mature now and a delight to drink.

Irvine “The Estate” Shiraz 2014
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$25–$28
The Wade and Miles family recently purchased Jim Irvine’s brand and Eden Valley property. The revamped label now draws fruit from wider sources, including the Wade and Miles family’s Barossa Valley vineyards. Sam Wade writes, “The wine styles are also moving towards a fresher, brighter style in response to the changing palate of the consumer”. However, the Barossa’s warm-to-hot climate hasn’t changed. So the new, lighter style shiraz belies the reality of its warm origins. It’s a very pleasant, clean, fruity red of medium body, soft tannin and drink-now appeal.
Majella Shiraz 2013
Majella vineyard, Coonawarra, South Australia
$30–$35
Majella shiraz caught our attention from the very first vintage, 1991 – the year the grape-growing Lynn family began its gradual, and now complete, transition to winemaker. Their shiraz, though elegant and fine boned in the Coonawarra style, nevertheless requires cellaring to bring out its best, perhaps even more so in the powerful 2013 vintage. Behind the light, vivid, limpid colour lie deep, sweet berry fruit flavours, tightly bound up in fine but assertive fruit and oak tannins. The wine has its charms now, but from past experience we can expect the delicate and lovely fruit to flourish with a decade or so of cellaring. First reviewed in July 2015, the 2013 vintage looks even better half a year later, especially given its outstanding cellaring record.

Van Volxem Saar Riesling 2013
Saar River, Mosel wine region, Germany
$35
Roman Niewodniczanski’s historic wine estate, at Wiltingen, Germany, makes a range of single-vineyard rieslings as well as this dazzling blend from steep sites on the Saar River. At Manta Restaurant, Woolloomooloo, bone-dry Van Volxem 2013 served both as an aperitif and company for a variety of juicy, NSW oysters. Delicate yet intensely flavoured, with a laser edge of acidity, the wine suited the food, the moment and the setting. The unique combination of power and delicacy of Saar and Mosel rieslings comes from the very cool growing conditions at around 49 degrees north. The Saar flows north into the Mosel near Trier. Wines from both rivers belong to the official Mosel wine region. Imported by Fox Beverages and available by order through fine wine retailers.

Top beer judge calls for balanced beers

30 March 2016Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Highly flavoured brews need balance

If you thought the hoppy IPA you downed last night finished all hops and bitterness, you’re in good company.

Little Creature brewer and head judge of the Australian International Beer Awards, Warren Pawsey, has called for balance in beers – especially highly flavoured brews laced with hops, spice or smoke.

He was speaking at The Institute of Brewing and Distilling 2016 Convention, held 14–18 March in Sydney.

In brewsnews.com.au, James Atkins writes, “Pawsey said hopped beers such as India Pale Ales often lack malt sweetness on the finish giving the beer a thin body, which means hop flavour and bitterness dominate”.

Pawsey believes the beers “aren’t train wrecks but many of them could be tuned up to be a bit more balanced”. Pawsey’s solution to the problem, reports Atkins, is in “improving raw materials selection and brewhouse processes”.

Beer reviews

Guinness 1798 Limited Edition Double Extra Stout 750ml $49.90
Perhaps “limited edition” refers to its availabiliy in Australia only through Dan Murphy outlets. It’s a beefed up Dublin-brewed Guinness, black as ebony, with a warming nine per-cent alcohol content. Bitter–sweet malt, roasted-grain and dark-chocolate flavours easily take on the alcohol and hops, leaving a bitter chocolate aftertaste.

Castlemaine XXXX Gold 375ml stubby 6-pack $15
Full-strength VB and mid-strength XXXX Gold arm-wrestle for top spot among Australian beer drinkers. XXXX Gold impresses as it retains good beer flavours, bitterness and balance despite its 3.5 per cent alcohol content. It’s the antithesis of modern uber-hoppy styles, but it refreshes while delivering just one standard drink per stubby.

Wine review – Bleasdale, Kirrihill, Howard Park

27 March 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Bleasdale Langhorne Creek Second Innings Malbec 2014 $15.15–$22
Bleasdale, Langhorne Creek’s original winery, used malbec for table wines from 1961 (111 years after Frank Potts established the business). Although long a blending wine, malbec now stands on its own under a number of Bleasdale labels. Indeed, winemaker Paul Hotker writes, “We have recently planted three more malbec clones, bringing our total up to nine”. The company’s entry-level Second Innings provides a deliciously fragrant, mouth-filling, juicy, soft expression of the variety at a fair price. The flagship Generations Malbec 2014 ($33.25–$35) provides a more concentrated, tannic experience. It needs a good splash in the decanter or a few more years’ bottle age.

Kirrihill Vineyard Selection Series Watervale Riesling 2015 $18–$20
The 2014 vintage of Kirrihill Watervale riesling weighed in at 11 per cent alcohol, substantially lower than the 12.6 per cent of the 2015 vintage. As both were dry wines, with very low levels of residual grape sugar, we know the 2015 was harvested significantly riper, with a consequent increase in the alcohol content. The alcohol boosted the body of the wine compared to 2014’s, resulting in a less delicate palate. However, Watervale’s distinctive lime-like flavours remain in a rich but very fresh and appealing riesling.

Howard Park Miamup Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 $14–$28
A recent tasting of the 2013 Miamup against the current-release 2015 revealed how with bottle age the wine loses much of its more aggressive, herbaceous character. The older, mellower, rounder wine retains enough of the punchy varietal flavour of the two grapes. But it also shows more texture and flavour depth. The 2015, on the other hand, is all about fresh, grapey flavours and the pungent, herbaceous character the two varieties develop in Margaret River. Barrel fermentation of a portion of the blend gives that little extra depth that becomes amplified with bottle age.

Wine reviews – Teusner, Craggy Range, Jacob’s Cree

20 March 2016WineChris Shanahan

Teusner Empress Eden Valley Riesling 2015 $21.90–$23
Bateman Bay’s Starfish Deli very sensibly offers good riesling by the glass. The current tipple, Barossa-based Kym Teusner’s Empress riesling, comes from two Eden Valley vineyards, one of them 50 years old. Teusner takes riesling in a lean, taut direction, sometimes described as “minerally” – well away from traditional highly aromatic styles. The bone-dry wine appeals for its refreshing acidity and delicious, though muted, citrus-like riesling flavours. We enjoyed a glass with Clyde River oysters. But alas these had been washed free of vital brine flavours.

Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard Martinborough Pinot Noir 2013 $45–$55
Craggy Range’s chewy, satisfying drinkability surprised one of our tasters. Coming after a dark, brooding McLaren Vale red, the comparatively pale pinot ambushed his unsuspecting palate. The wine comes from eight clones of pinot growing on the company’s Te Muna Road vineyard at Martinborough, near Wellington New Zealand. The climate suits pinot noir. But there’s more to it than fruit, which is just a starting point for a wine of this calibre. The makers built this wine layer by layer to give us a notable pinot of perfume, fruit, deep, chewy, savoury-earthy flavours, smooth texture and fine, grippy tannins. It’s a complete red with, I suspect, a long cellaring future.

Jacob’s Creek Classic Chardonnay 2015 $8.55–$12
The Jacob’s Creek winemakers, based in the Barossa Valley, draw grapes from across Australia. Each vintage they fill the mighty tanks at Rowland Flat with new wines destined for a worldwide market. Of a night, a halo of light illuminates the sky above the winery, giving the impression of a small city at the valley’s southern end. Despite the great volume produced in the winery, the wines retain excellent varietal fruit flavours and generally provide better drinking than we could hope for at the modest price. The current chardonnay provides vibrant, refined drinking with clear melon- and peach-like varietal flavour on a smooth, medium-bodied palate.

Wine review – Tellurian, Josef Chromy, Stockman’s Ridge, Redbank, Saltram, Tim Adams

16 March 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Tellurian Viognier 2014
Eastern Mount Camel Ranges, Heathcote, Victoria
$27
Tellurian Viognier 2014 topped the “other whites varietals and blends” section in February’s Winewise Championship. The Canberra-based championship rates gold-medallists from other Australian wine shows – a sort of best-of-best taste-off, judged in small groups of no more than seven wines. Tullurian topped the viognier class before advancing to the finals against four other varietals and a blend, each a winner of its own class. Viognier can be big, brash and overbearing. But barrel-fermented Tellurian captures pure apricot- and ginger-like varietal flavour on a silky, richly textured. harmonious palate. It’s a juicy and loveable example of the variety, best drunk within three or four years of vintage. I rated it top in both the heat and the final. It’s available at tellurianwines.com.au.

Josef Chromy Fumé Blanc 2015
Relbia, Northern Tasmania
$28
Another white that impressed while judging at the Winewise Championship, was Joseph Chromy’s oak-fermented sauvignon blanc, labelled as “fume blanc”. The wine retains fresh sauvignon blanc flavours, but against the rich texture and flavours derived from fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. We rated it the best of the sauvignon blancs or sauvignon blanc dominant blends in the competition. Californian vigneron Robert Mondavi coined the name “fume blanc” in the 1960s to differentiate dry sauvignon blanc from sweeter versions. Australian winemakers flirted with it in the 1980s. It still pops up occasionally in Australia and generally indicates, as this one does, an oak-fermented sauvignon blanc.

Stockman’s Ridge Rider Shiraz 2014
Stockman’s Ridge vineyard, Orange, NSW
$23
I’m not as excited by Stockman’s Ridge 2014 as the judges at the 2015 Australian Highlands Wine Show, where it won a gold medal and three trophies. But it’s a pretty shiraz, displaying pure, sweet, berry fruit flavours on a medium-bodied, lively, soft palate. It offers pleasant, fruity current drinking. The wine comes from Jonathon Hambrook’s 20-year-old shiraz vines located at 800 metres above sea level on the north-west slopes of Mount Canobolas.

Redbank Fiano 2014
Myrrhee, King Valley, Victoria
$21.95
With more romance than reality the back label depicts fiano as a variety “dating back to the days of Roman viticulture”. More prosaically, Jancis Robinson and Jose Vouillamoz in Wine grapes – a complete guide to 1368 varieties, including their origins and flavours, dismiss as futile attempts to link ancient names to modern varieties. They do, however, point to its origins in Campania and mentions of it as early as 1240. At Myrrhee, 700-metres up in Victoria’s King Valley, it produces a full-flavoured, melon-scented dry white with a rich texture and tangy, lemony dryness. At the recent Winewise Championship, Redbank ranked second in my score sheet to the delicious, but sold-out, Briar Ridge Limited Release Fiano 2015.

Saltram “The Journal” Old Vine Shiraz 2010
Schultz vineyard, Mount McKenzie, Eden Valley, South Australia
$133–$175
Buried among Treasury Wine Estate’s vast portfolio are beautiful regional gems, including Saltram The Journal, made from Eden Valley vines planted in Australia’s federation year, 1901. This high (472-metre), cooler section of the Barossa produces perfumed, comparatively elegant shiraz with very long-term cellaring potential. In the solid 2010 vintage, Shavaughn Wells made a powerful, brooding wine from these old vines. Despite its power, The Journal is an harmonious red with deep, bright fruit flavours meshed with strong but soft, persistent tannins. It’s a wine to marvel at and savour as it evolves over the next half century.

Tim Adams Riesling 2015
Clare Valley, South Australia
$18.90–$22
Tim Adams riesling offers absolutely delicious current drinking and outstanding cellaring potential. A year on from vintage, it shows appealing floral and lime varietal aromas and a shimmering, fresh palate. A combination of intense lime-like varietal flavour, light body (11.5 per cent alcohol), pure, refreshing acidity and bone-dry finish add up to pure drinking pleasure. The light colour, delicacy, freshness and high acidity all point to interesting flavour development in the years ahead. Buy a dozen, throw it somewhere cool and dark, and enjoy a bottle every now and then over the next ten years.

Murrumbateman brewery a Shaw thing

16 March 2016Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Brewpub to open late 2017

Canberra district is to get a new brewery in the heart of Murrumbateman wine country.

It’s the brainchild of developer and proprietor of Shaw Vineyard Estate, Graeme Shaw. He says a brewpub, with restaurant, will be part of Fairlie, a mixed residential–tourist development on Murrumbateman’s north-western edge.

The project will include 110 houses on blocks of “1200 square metres plus”, says Shaw. And a planned commercial development will comprise a 52-room hotel, a visitor centre, cafes and restaurants, a bakery, a medical centre, and park as well as the brewery.

Housing construction on stage 1 of the residential area, along with site works on stage 2, commenced in early March. And by the end of April Shaw expects to lodge a development application for the commercial component.

Shaw believes the development, on the north-western boundary of Murrumbateman, will be the “first expansion of the village since the 1870s”.

The commercial site sits on the corner of the new Fairlie access road and the Barton Highway. The hotel will be on the right hand side of the new road, opposite the brewery and other components.

“The brewery will be prominent and clearly visible from the highway. It’ll be part of a significant tourist attraction supporting local wineries”, say Shaw.

The brewery, targeted at tourists, will produce draft beer for consumption in its bar and restaurant, and packaged beer for the take-away trade and potentially wider distribution.

Shaw expects construction to commence during the last quarter of 2016, with first drinks flowing by spring 2017.

Shaw is currently in discussions with Fyshwick brewer, Christoph Zierholz.

Beer reviews

Rabbit and Spaghetti Brewing Co The Fox Hop and Rye Lager 500ml $11.80–$13
We’d all like to believe in Grange for $10 or – as Naked Wine (owners of this beer label) claims – that their customer-funded business model translates to lower prices and higher quality. It’s a clever, and apparently successful, vertically integrated direct-marketing business. The Fox offers a full, malty flavour with assertive hops bitterness.

4 Pines Brewing Company Pale Ale 500ml 6-pack $20
Drinking our last bottle of 4 Pines on its expiry date tested its durability. The tropical- and citrus-like hops aromas enjoyed in the young brew had faded, leaving the rich, sweet malt flavours to the fore. However, the hops bitterness remained, offsetting the malt sweetness perfectly on the rich, creamy palate.

Wine review – Logan, Shaw Vineyard Estate, Ad Hoc

13 March 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Logan Weemala Orange Riesling 2015 $16–$20
Mudgee-based Logan wines sources grapes from a range of altitudes across a swathe of the NSW central ranges, including Orange. Winemaker Peter Logan writes, “Logan’s vineyards sit particularly high above Orange. At altitudes ranging from 850 to 1,050 metres above sea level these are some of the highest vineyards in Australia”. The high altitude means comparatively low temperatures during the ripening period. In the great 2015 vintage, these conditions produced a highly aromatic, intensely flavoured riesling of great delicacy. The wine’s high natural acidity gives it a racy, fresh, dry finish.

Shaw Vineyard Estate Canberra Riesling 2015 $22.50–$25
Graeme Shaw writes, “I craft my wines with my customers in mind and I’ve rarely seen a wine judge in my cellar door buying wine. However, I can’t help but be a smidgen proud that this wine won three trophies at the 2015 Australian Cool Climate Wine Show, including best wine in show”. This is a fuller bodied riesling than the delicate Logan wine reviewed above. It offers strong, lemon-like varietal flavour on an assertive, dry palate. Refreshing acidity combines with warm alcohol and a light astringency to the finish.

Ad Hoc Middle of Everywhere Frankland River Shiraz 2014 $19–$21
The quirky name reflects winemaker Larry Cherubino’s belief in shiraz from Western Australia’s Frankland River region. He writes, “Some people might think Frankland River’s a little isolated – but if you want to make great shiraz in WA, it’s right where you want to be”. The region feels the continent’s hot breath which, on its own, might be too much heat for shiraz. But the southern ocean counters with lovely cold air – and the result is savoury, spicy, medium-bodied cool-climate shiraz. Ad Hoc is a drink-now version of the style. Cherubino captures vibrant fresh berry flavours, laced with pepper and spice, on a smooth, savoury palate.

Wine review – McKellar Ridge, Four Winds, Swinging Bridge, Hay Shed Hill, Pike and Joyce, Toppers Mountain

9 March 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

McKellar Ridge Shiraz Viognier 2015
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$33–$35
Due for release at the April Harvest Festival, Brian and Jane Johnston’s shiraz-viognier shows the exceptional fruity depth of Canberra’s 2015 vintage. Round, plush and seductive, the palate ripples with vibrant, ripe-berry flavours. Brian Johnston says he accentuated the fruit flavour by using more new French oak than usual, but reducing the time in oak by about five months. It’s a noticeable change and one that worked deliciously in the outstanding 2015 season. The wine remains medium bodied and spicy in the Canberra mould, with a special buoyancy and depth.

Four Winds Vineyard Shiraz 2014
Four Winds Vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$30
Graeme and Suzanne Lunney planted the 13.4-hectare Four Winds vineyard in 1998 and 1999, during BRL Hardy’s tenure in Canberra. Hardys are long gone, but the family now makes and markets wine under the Four Winds label. Daughter Sarah Collingwood looks after marketing and husband John Collingwood manages the vineyard. Another Lunney daughter, Jaime Crowe, and husband Bill Crowe, make the wine. The family’s 2014 reveals a fragrant and gentle side of Canberra shiraz. Vibrant, berry fruit flavours, a touch of spice and savoury oak, and a round, soft, palate complete an appealing, medium-bodied style.

Swinging Bridge Mrs Payten Chardonnay 2014
Orange, NSW
$32
Tom Ward’s Swinging Bridge chardonnays demonstrate the varietal intensity achieved in Orange’s high-altitude vineyards. His current releases include this lovely Mrs Paytens 2014 and a reserve bottling (4.5 stars–96 points, $38), also from the 2014 vintage. Mrs Payten – a richer, rounder style for Orange – seduces with ripe, nectarine-like varietal flavour and refreshing, brisk acidity. The reserve version echoes those nectarine-like flavours in a leaner, tighter style of great intensity. These are classy drops from a region that makes excellent wines, yet struggles to create a clear style identity as Canberra has with its shiraz and riesling.

Hay Shed Hill Shiraz Tempranillo 2013
Margaret River, Western Australia
$19–$22
Michael Kerrigan fermented and matured shiraz and tempranillo separately before combining the two in this solid, loveable blend. At 86 per cent, shiraz dominates the blend, giving a sweet, mid-palate ripeness and flesh. But the tempranillo brings earthy, savoury characters and assertive tannins that cut through the bright, berry flavours, giving a long, grippy finish. Kerrigan writes, “Margaret River has experienced an unprecedented sequence of outstanding vintage – all with their own twists and turns but all of the highest quality. 2014 will prove to be another highlight in this run”.

Pike and Joyce “Separe” Gruner Veltliner 2015
Lenswood, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
$28
Austria’s national white variety, gruner veltliner, now grows in several cool Australian regions, including Canberra and the Adelaide Hills. The Clare based Pike family source theirs from Lenswood, a particularly cool part of the Adelaide Hills which, like Clare, lies on the Mount Lofty Ranges. The 2015 gruner tingles and pleases with its richly textured palate and tart melon-rind and pear-like flavours. It finishes dry and refreshing with a distinctive spicy aftertaste.

Toppers Mountain Gewurztraminer 2015
Toppers Mountain vineyard, Inverell, New England, NSW
$35
Gewurztraminer’s remarkable aroma – reminiscent of musk and lychee – tends to attract at first, then repel with its unrelenting attack on the senses. I’ve toyed with the variety for about 40 years, since falling in and out of love, in one evening, with a particularly heady version from Alsace. The fascination returned recently with tastings of the 2014 and 2015 vintages from Mark Kirkby’s Toppers Mountain vineyard. The 2014 tasted so pure and delicate at the Winewise Championship; and a few days later the new-release 2015 showed similar class. This is dry, intense gewürztraminer of the highest order. It’s a wine to admire, but probably not drink much of.

Lion lowers beer alcohol content, risks consumer backlash

9 March 2016Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Drinkers will have the final say

Success or not of Lion’s decision to cut the alcohol content of three of its beers will ultimately be decided by beer drinkers.

Although Lion bravely declared the flavour of XXXX Bitter, Tooheys Extra Dry and James Boag’s Premium Light would not change, recent history suggests otherwise.

CUB’s VB lost market share rapidly following a reduction in its alcohol content in 2009. A few years later, CUB returned the beer to its original 4.9 per cent alcohol content and sales picked up.

Just as CUB did in 2009, Lion cites containment of costs for the change. Production costs would fall instantly as beer is taxed on its alcohol content. The savings could bolster company profit, fund new investments or maintain crucial retail price points.

XXXX Bitter and Toohey’s Extra Dry will change from 4.6 per cent alcohol by volume to 4.4, while James Boag’s Premium Light will fall from 2.7 to 2.5.

Reviews

Hahn Ultra 330ml 6-pack $10.90–$13
Flavour vanishes as alcohol content declines, presenting a challenge to brewers of low-alcohol beer – especially of dry brews, not propped up by sugar. Hahn’s new Ultra (0.9 per cent alcohol) does a good job of it: light bodied, dry and refreshing, it offers real beer flavour and mild bitterness, albeit without the body of full-strength brews.

4 Pines Imperial IPA 500ml $11
From the grey world of ultra-low-alcohol beer, we move to the gawdy world of high-alchol IPA. 4 Pines Imperial IPA (9 per cent alcohol) radiates sweet malt and hop-derived tropical-fruit aromas. These flow through to an equally brazen, malt-sweet, syrupy palate laced with intense, lingering hops bitterness.

Wine reviews – Tim Adams, Tyrrell’s, Torbreck, Moss Wood, Sassafras

2 March 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Tim Adams Reserve Riesling 2010
Clare Valley, South Australia
$29
Tim Adams’ brisk, sometimes searingly acidic rieslings benefit from bottle age. His currently available reserve bottling, now six years old, retains a razor-sharp edge of acidity that accentuates its intense, yet delicate, lemon- and lime-like varietal flavours. Bottle age has also added smooth texture and subtle honeyed notes to a delicious wine with years, perhaps decades, of flavour development ahead of it.

Tyrrell’s Lost Block Merlot 2014
Limestone Coast, South Australia
$16–$18
Tyrrell’s Lost Block range offers enjoyable drinking – and quite often retailer discounts – across the range. Each comes from a region well suited to a variety, in this instance merlot from the Limestone Coast – that vast area of cool, coastal south Australia stretching from the Coorong in the north to Mount Gambier in the south. The medium bodied wine combines bright fruit flavours with earthy–savoury notes and a satisfying bite of fine, drying tannins.

Torbreck Woodcutter’s Shiraz 2014
Northwestern Barossa Valley, South Australia
$22.80–$25
Woodcutter’s shows the richness and smoothness that comes from attention to detail in the vineyard and winery. Ripe, but not over-ripe, shiraz gives the wine its mouth-filling richness. And the natural quality of the fruit – combined with varied fermentation and oak-maturation techniques – provide mellow, smooth, soft tannins that perfect the generous, warm, satisfying drinking sensation. More please.

Moss Wood Amy’s Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot Malbec 2014
Margaret River, Western Australia
$32.30–$38
Could there be a juicier, more seductive cabernet blend? I doubt it. Moss Wood puts a friendly, smiling face on what can be an austere blend. Led by cabernet sauvignon, Amy’s beguiles with its joyous, sweet, berry-laden aroma. The fleshy, deep palate reflects this vibrant fruitiness. However, serious, grippy tannins wash through the fleshy fruit, giving structure, length and a satisfying finish – completely in harmony with the overwhelmingly fruity character of the wine.

Sassafras Fiano 2015
Ricca Terra Farms, Barmera, Riverland, South Australia
$24
Fiano 2015 accompanied two other new releases from Paul Starr and Tammy Brook’s tiny, Canberra-based Sassafras label: the lightly sparkling Canberra District Savagnin Ancestral 2015 (reviewed last week) and Sassafras Canberra District Sagrantino 2013, a rustic red with the eye-popping tannins associated with this Italian variety. The lovely white comprises Southern Italy’s fiano and a splash of Canberra-grown savagnin. It’s a highly distinctive, full-bodied dry style that’s at once savoury, leesy, and slippery smooth textured.

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2006
Avize, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Cramant and Chouilly, Champagne, France
$284–$350
Being in the right place at the right time – and a handful of hastily collected cash – put three vintages of Comtes de Champagne on our palate in quick succession. The sublime and powerful 2005, enjoyed at Penfolds Magill Estate, rates as our most memorable wine of 2015. The equally sublime, if more subtle and elegant, 2002 graced a Chateau Shanahan tasting in November: 10 of us shared the $280 buying price from Jim Murphy Airport Cellars. Then in early January, the importer, McWilliams Wines, provided a taste of the 2006 – a beautiful wine, sitting in body between the 2002 and 2005, with a unique combination of delicacy, richness and backbone, derived from prolonged ageing on yeast lees. The all-chardonnay blend comes from some of the best vineyards on the Cotes des Blancs, south of the Marne River.