Category Archives: Wine review

Alinga Four Winds Vineyard Canberra District Sangiovese 2009 $19 This is one of the juiciest, loveliest Australian Sangiovese’s I’ve tasted. Jaime Lunney made it from the Yarra Yering clone of the variety, grown on her family’s Murrumbateman vineyard. It’s medium coloured and bodied and finishes with sangiovese’s typical firm, fine, savoury tannins. But it differs from most of the local versions in its buoyant, lively, earthy perfume – a characteristic that carries over to the delicious, drink-me-now palate. I know little of this clone. But they say clonal selection is vital with sangiovese. Whatever it is, there’s something very good going on here.

Brokenwood

Beechworth Pinot Gris 2010 $25 Hunter Valley ILR Reserve Semillon 2005 $32–$35

Brokenwood’s is a rich, drink-now version of pinot gris – grown in Beechworth Victoria and made in the Hunter Valley. It’s crisp and fresh, with pear-like varietal flavour, rich but fine mid-palate texture and a little grippiness in the finish – a signature of the variety. The ILR Reserve Semillon is restrained, fine expression of this classic Hunter style. How such a hot region produces such fine-boned whites, I don’t know. But at five years it’s still zingy, lemon fresh with just the first subtle notes of ageing – a little toastiness in the aroma and flavour and a little richness in the texture.

Grant Burge Barossa Valley

Filsell Shiraz 2008 $36–$40 Meshach Shiraz 2005 $145

Grant Burge owns substantial areas of vines towards the cooler southern end of the Barossa Valley in the vicinity of Williamstown. The Filsell vineyard, with vines planted in the early 1920s, is the pick of Burge’s holdings and provided the fruit for both Filsell and the company’s flagship, Meshach. Filsell shows the power and body of the hot vintage, with generous, deep, chocolaty fruit flavours ¬– coated lavishly with the Barossa’s tender, soft tannins. Despite it size and intensity, Meshach, looking young at five years, is beautifully proportioned, seductive and silky textured. It’s bound to become even finer over time, ultimately emerging as a powerful but elegant expression of the Barossa style.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Alinga Four Winds Vineyard Canberra District Riesling 2010 $17 Murrumbateman, New South Wales Alinga’s very much a family affair, based at the Four Winds Vineyard, Murrumbateman. Graeme and Suzanne Lunney planted the first vines in 1998 and their children, Tom, Sarah and Jaime later joined the business. Following Tom’s death  early this year, Sarah’s husband John Collingwood took over the vineyard management. Alinga 2010 riesling is an appealing, gentle style – delightfully aromatic, with a delicate, juicy, soft palate and a good burst of acid giving backbone and crispness to the dry finish. It’ll probably be at its best over the next two or three years.

Grosset Polish Hill River Riesling 2010 $47 Clare Valley, South Australia Jeffrey Grosset doesn’t enter wine shows. Indeed, were he to show his young rieslings, they’d likely be overlooked for more forward, juicy drops like the lovely Alinga above.  But behind the shy aroma of this 2010, from Clare’s cool Polish Hill River sub-region, lies an intense, citrusy palate of rare dimension, building with each sip and finishing very long and bone dry. It’s like an essence of riesling. And we know from past experience that the aroma and palate will build in complexity and interest with bottle age.

Cofield Vermentino 2010 $20 King Valley, Victoria Winemaker Damien Cofield writes that he discovered this Italian variety in French Corsica, “It was a bit like sav blanc but with more palate weight and viscosity, which made it go beautifully with the seafood we were eating”. Back in Rutherglen this year he trucked a small parcel in from the King Valley, with pleasing results – in an Italian way: it’s wine-like rather than overtly fruity, with a rich texture, pear-like aftertaste and dry, savoury finish.

TarraWarra K-Block Merlot 2008 $35 Yarra Valley, Victoria In “Sideways” Miles loathed merr-low – gagging, perhaps, on the thought of sweet, mawkish red wine – a perception shared for a time in Australia.  But one sip of TarraWarra dispels the mawkish merlot myth – as it sucks the water from your eyes. It’s made from an Italian clone with tiny berries, each bearing a truckload of tannin, deep purple colour and a core of delicious fruit flavour, reminiscent of black olives. It’s a powerful and distinctive wine needing time in the cellar or high-protein food to tame the tannins.

Walnut Tree Pinot Noir 2008 $32 Marlborough, New Zealand This impressive pinot comes from Clyde and Nigel Sowman’s Walnut Block vineyard in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. The aroma and flavour reveal both the fruity and savoury characters of pinot, with deep, ripe flavours, woven in with persistent, fine tannins and an acidity that accentuates the fruit and adds to the structure. The usual ingredients accounts for its success: cool climate, low yields, gentle winemaking and maturation in high quality, sympathetic oak.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $19–$34 Coonawarra, South Australia The release of the new-vintage Black Label coincides with today’s feature on cellaring. That’s appropriate because it’s hard to think of an Australian cellaring red with such a reliable cellaring history. At a tasting of all the Wynns cabernets in 2004, almost every wine, stretching back to the original 1954 vintage, still drank well. The 2008 is cast in the same mould, albeit more solid than recent vintages. It’s densely coloured, intensely varietal, with a touch of Coonawarra “mint”, and firmly structured. The big retailers occasionally slaughter the price, hence the wide price range.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Brand’s Laira Coonawarra Stentiford’s Old Vine Shiraz 2006 $67–$75 We’ll kick off today’s Coonawarra theme with this beautiful, elegant shiraz sourced from some of the region’s oldest vines. When John Riddoch opened Coonawarra’s first winery in 1896, retired sea captain Stentiford, sold Riddoch shiraz grapes from his Laira vineyard, named after his old ship, and probably planted in 1893. The vineyard now belongs to McWilliams (and before that Eric Brand and family) and in good years produces up to 500 dozen bottles. In the outstanding 2006 vintage winemaker Peter Weinberg captures the deep, sweet elegant flavours produced by the old vines, woven with taut tannins and sympathetic, spicy oak.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate $13–$19

Riesling 2010 Chardonnay 2010

Riesling once occupied plum terra rossa soil in Wynn’s Coonawarra vineyards but it’s been paired back now, in favour of cabernet, leaving a respectable 70-hectares, much of it off the terra rossa. Because 2010 was a warm vintage, the new release is slightly fuller and softer than the 2009. But it’s still in the lemony, crisp, bone-dry style. While about 50 per cent of the chardonnay blend is still barrel fermented and matured, in older oak, modern Wynns simply screams with vibrant, melon-like varietal flavour. The oak treatment simply adds to the texture and complexity without inserting overt woody flavours.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2009  $10–$22 The big retailers regularly use strong brands, like Wynns, to drive trade, hence the wide variation in retail price. Wynns Shiraz offers good value at $22, but if Dan Murphy and 1st Choice (Woolworths and Coles respectively) mete out the same treatment to the 2009 vintage they did to the 2008, then join the rush when the price hits $10. It’ll drive other retailers, and Wynns crazy. But don’t miss out. The 2009 stands out for its pure, intense, spicy varietal flavour and plush, but fine, velvety texture. Wines of this pedigree are rare at the price. Buy up.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos Tributo a Galicia 2009 $27–$30 Symphonia Vineyard King Valley, Victoria In early 2009 Australian growers learned that their prized plantings of the Spanish white, albarino, were, in fact, traminer, also known as savagnin blanc. There’d been a gigantic stuff up in Spain decades back and, as a result, the CSIRO imported a woolly pup. Crittenden took the shock graciously, pushing ahead with savagnin and renaming the wine in honour of albarino’s home, Galicia. The partially barrel-fermented wine offers delicious, rich, peachy flavours and a bone-dry, fresh, savoury finish.

Coldstream Hills Chardonnay 2009 $23–$29 Yarra Valley, Victoria Coldstream Hills has the intensity of fruit flavour and searing acid backbone to match its quite assertive barrel-ferment character. This declares itself in the aroma with a distinctive bacon-rind character hovering over the fruit. The palate springs to life with juicy flavours reminiscent of nectarine spiked with lemon and grapefruit – sweet but also lively and refreshingly acidic at the same time. The barrel-ferment element adorns the lively fruit flavours and adds richness to the texture. Coldstream is a distinguished member of Foster’s recently renamed Treasury Wine Estates.

Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos Tempranillo 2009 $27–$30 Patterson Lakes and King Valley, Victoria This is an appealing, pure expression of Spain’s tempranillo grape, unburdened by obvious oak – but benefiting from ten months maturation in old barrels. Aromas and flavours of ripe summer berries peek through a pervasive savouriness and spiciness, setting it apart from other red varieties. And on the palate, fresh acidity boosts the fruit flavour, while firm, drying tannins give a farewell tweak. Clearly tempranillo adapts well to Australian conditions – and winemaker Rollo Crittenden’s all over it.

Dutschke Cab Mac Shiraz 2010 $20 Lyndoch, Barossa Valley, South Australia In the early and mid eighties a boom in Beaujolais imports, prompted development of many Australian lookalikes, notably the late Stephen Hickinbotham’s Cab Mac – a name play on the French “maceration carbonique” winemaking technique. In this wine, Wayne Dutschke applies the technique (see www.dutschkewines.com for details) to shiraz from old Barossa vines with mouth-watering results. The aroma’s pure, ripe and fragrant and the palate opulent, juicy, slurpy and soft. Dutschke played a part in the original Cab Mac and salutes it by resurrecting the original label.

Majella The Musician Cabernet Shiraz 2009 $17 Coonawarra, South Australia There’s great excitement in Australian regional wine specialties – glimpsed in today’s diverse selections. Majella’s contribution couldn’t be anything but Coonawarra in its high-toned aroma, sweet, ripe berry flavours and elegant structure. Cabernet, the area’s signature variety, makes up 60 per cent of the blend. It leads the aroma and accounts for the tight structure; and shiraz gently fleshes out the mid palate. It remains one of the best value reds in Australia. It’s sourced entirely from Majella Vineyard, owned by brothers Brian “Prof” Lynn and Anthony Lynn, and the wine’s made on site by Bruce Gregory.

Houghton Gladstones Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $70 Margaret River, Western Australia This is about as good as cabernet gets. I’d happily slip it in a masked tasting of top-end Bordeaux reds – including the likes of $1,300-a-bottle Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2005 – and expect an expert panel to see them as peers. At five years’ age, Gladstones, named for visionary viticulturist, Dr John Gladstones, still has the bright crimson colour of youth. It has profoundly, deep, sweet varietal fruit flavour beautifully integrated with superb oak – and the fine, firm structure of great cabernet. It should age well for decades and, from a global perspective, delivers huge value.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Hungerford Hill Tumbarumba

Pinot Noir 2009 $27–$30 Chardonnay 2009 $27–$30

Southcorp Wines merged with Rosemount Estate in 2001 and in 2002 sold its Hungerford Hill Brand to the Kirby Family. Michael Hatcher now makes the wines, including these two from Tumbarumba, in the company’s winery at Pokolbin, Hunter Valley. The chardonnay’s intense, cool-climate nectarine-like varietal flavour melds seamlessly with barrel-derived characters; brisk acidity adds structure and freshness – adding up to a vivacious, complex white. Tumbarumba’s pinots tend to be on the lighter side and fine boned, but with good varietal flavour depth. Hungerford Hill 2009 throws in a pleasing tight but fine tannin structure and savoury note or two.

Amungula Creek Canberra District Pinot Noir 2008 $16 Amungula is the second label of Brian Schmidt’s 1.1 hectare, Maipenrai Vineyard on the Yass River Valley. At 760 metres it’s one of Canberra’s highest vineyards (they vary from about 550 metres to 860 metres). Maipenrai’s planted entirely to six clones of pinot noir, managed to yield a miserly 2.5 to 4.0 tonnes a hectare. Schmidt writes that he’ll release the flagship Maipenrai 2008 next year – all three barrels of it. Meanwhile there’s about six barrels of Amungula. It reveals a spectrum of pinot aromas and flavours – from a touch of stalkiness to ripe berries. Despite the light colour, it has a good depth of flavour and the silky but firm structure of good pinot.

Houghton Wisdom Frankland River Shiraz 2008 $26–$32 Frankland River has a unique niche in Australia’s wide and impressive spectrum of shiraz styles. And it’s expressed clearly in this very good wine from Houghton, part of Constellation Wines Australia. At the heart of the wine is beautifully fragrant, ripe, juicy berry flavours (like mulberry and blueberry). As the wine breathes, the ripe berry aromas, tinted with lovely oak, become more apparent. On the medium-bodied palate, though, the berry flavours become a core of sweetness, tightly wrapped in firm, savoury tannins. That savouriness and grip, in combination with the underlying teasing, juicy fruit, sets the style apart from other Australian shirazes.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Draytons Vineyard Reserve Shiraz 2009 $30 Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, New South Wales John Drayton and winemaker William Rikard-Bell say they made this from the Drayton family’s unirrigated Bull Paddock Block, planted in 1965. At a refreshingly modest 13 per cent alcohol, it’s medium bodied and spicy with a substantial grip of savoury, youthful tannins. It’s a world removed from the plump, juicy styles of other warm areas. While it’s enjoyable now with high protein food, it’ll settle into the unique and beguiling “Hunter Burgundy” style with a few years’ bottle age.

Tar and Roses Pinot Grigio 2009 $18 Strathbogie Ranges and Nagambie, Central Victoria Call it “grigio” or  “gris”, it still means grey – although the skins of this pinot noir mutant can be pink, too. Hence, the pale grey/pink rinse in Tar and Roses, attributable, write winemakers Narelle King and Don Lewis to, “the exposed fruit being affected by the extreme conditions of 2009”. Behind the colour rinse, though, is a thoroughly enjoyable, bone-dry white, with the backbone and grip of pinot, a pleasing pear-like varietal flavour and a textural richness derived from partial barrel fermentation and maturation.

Winbirra Le Marechal Viognier 2008 $25 Mornington Peninsula, Victoria In Canberra we’re more likely to see the white viognier as a minor component with shiraz. On its own it tends to make fat, slightly oily-textured whites, dripping with apricot-like varietal flavour. But there’s a finer version, too, exemplified by the barrel-fermented wines of Condrieu, in France’s Northern Rhone Valley. Winbirra approximates this style. It’s fine boned but silk smooth with crystal-clear, delicate apricot-and-ginger varietal flavour – backed by subtle barrel-derived aromas, flavours and texture.

Stanton and Killeen Fortified Vintage 2005 $45 Rutherglen, Victoria Inspired by Portugal’s elegant, ethereal, long-lived vintage ports, the late Chris Killeen, led the way in their Australian equivalents. He adopted classic Portuguese varieties and moved decisively away from our traditional heavier, jammy styles. The 2005 is simply beautiful – magnificently luscious, with complex, subtle spirit notes, silky, ethereal texture and, though sweet, finishing dry, thanks to the spirits. It’s destined to age beautifully, becoming more ethereal and elegant as the decades roll by. It’s made from shiraz (32 per cent), durif and the Portuguese varieties tinto cao, tinta roriz and touriga nacional.

Mount Beautiful Pinot Noir $34.95 Cheviot Hills, North Canterbury, New Zealand This is an exciting start for a new producer. David and Leigh Teece planted vines at Cheviot Hills (about 100km north of Canterbury on the South Island) in 2004 and mad their first pinot in 2007. Their second vintage sits at the pale, delicate end of the pinot spectrum – quite a contrast to the burlier styles from Central Otago, to the south. It’s highly perfumed and purely varietal with an attractive earthy undertone. The palate’s fine-boned with a sweet core of fruit and assertive but soft tannins providing a proper red-wine backbone.

Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos Homenaje e Cataluna 2009 $30 King Valley and Patterson Lakes, Victoria Garry Crittenden and his son Rollo have been great pioneers of alternate varieties in Australia. In this blend, a tribute to the reds of Spain’s Catalonia region, Rollo combines the Spanish variety tempranillo with mataro (monastrell) and grenache (garnacha). The aroma’s vibrant – built on ripe berries and spice with a touch of pepper. The lively, medium bodied palate reflects the aroma.  And firm, savoury tannins check the lovely, plush berry flavours. It’s a wine that slips down easily and you wonder where the bottle went.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Riesling 2010 $23 Moppity’s cheaper sibling, Lock and Key Riesling 2010, won the trophy as best riesling at the recent Winewise Small Vignerons Awards. The more expensive wine walked away without a medal. But it’s unquestionably the better wine of the two with its lovely floral aroma, fresh, intense lime-like varietal flavour and zesty, bone-dry finish. It’s not uncommon for better rieslings to flourish months, or sometimes a year or more after release as the delicate fruit flavour’s sometimes masked by high acidity. The cheaper versions, on the other hand, tend to flaunt it all from day one.

Bowen Estate Coonawarra

Shiraz 2008 $30 Chardonnay 2009 $30

There’s been some criticism of high alcohol in Australian red wines. It’s a complex subject, as even comparatively low-alcohol wines can appear hot and alcoholic, while in others like this beautiful Bowen Estate shiraz, high alcohol (15 per cent) simply disappears without trace into the sweet, ripe, supple fruit. It might be big, but it’s still graceful and elegant – a great joy to drink now and probably for a decade or more into the future. It’s made by father and daughter team Doug and Emma Bowen. Their chardonnay’s a full, vibrant style featuring pure, melon-like varietal flavour and a noticeable overlay of high-quality new oak.

Rutherglen Estates

Shelley’s Block Marsanne Viognier 2009 $13–$16 Burgoyne’s Block Mourvedre Shiraz Grenache 2008 $13–$16

Rutherglen Estate’s white blend provides quite a departure from our usual menu of white-wine flavours – led by the exotic, apricot-like richness of viognier. It’s a full flavoured drop and richly textured, though the alcohol’s a comparatively modest 13 per cent. And the red blend chips away at the Rutherglen stereotype – there’s no blockbuster here. Rather it’s fragrant and medium bodied with a delicious, gentle core of ripe-berries and spice and pleasant, rustic bite of tannin. Rutherglen Estates, with five vineyard sites, claims to be the largest grower in the Rutherglen region. We’ve been impressed with the quality and value of wines tasted to date.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Mt Langhi Shiraz 2007 $85 Grampians, Victoria This extraordinary wine, now part of the Rathbone Wine Group (Yering Station Yarra Valley, Mount Langhi Ghiran Grampians, Parker Coonawarra and Xanadu Margaret River) comes from shiraz vines planted in 1963 at about 350 metres above seal level, in the shadow of Mount Langhi Ghiran. The particularly cool climate produces the distinctive graceful, spicy, elegant Langhi style – now being finely polished, under the Rathbones, by winemaker Dan Buckle and viticulturist Damien Sheehan.

Bowen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Coonawarra, South Australia The 2008 continues a recent resurgence in wine quality from Bowen Estate – operated by Doug and Joy Bowen and daughter, Emma. It’s as pure an expression of cabernet as you’re likely to find – absolutely ripe, but not overripe, with deep, sweet berry flavours a plump (for cabernet) mid palate, persistent, strong-but-gentle tannins and Coonawarra’s signature elegance. It’s already irresistible. But the fruit depth and structure suggest a good cellaring life.

Lock and Key Riesling 2010 $12–$15 Hilltops, New South Wales In a pattern common to Australian wine shows, modestly-priced Lock and Key outscored wines up to four times its price to carry off the Winewise Riesling Trophy a few weeks back. It’s an attractive, full, crisp, fruity riesling – perfect company for Asian food – and it’ll probably never be better than it is now. But I’ll back Ken Helm’s two silver-medal 2010 rieslings – and a few others overlooked by the judges –to power through in the months ahead as their intense fruit emerges from behind the austere acid of extreme youth.

Philip Shaw No. 11 Chardonnay 2008 $30 Orange, New South Wales I can’t recall a better Orange chardonnay than Rosemount Estate1994, made by Phillip Shaw when he was chief winemaker for the company. There’s more than an echo of that superb wine in Shaw’s 2008. This is a pristine, cool-climate style – pale, finely structured and unevolved, with intense white peach and grapefruit varietal flavour, taut, spritely acidity and subtle, interwoven barrel-derived characters. It’s a style to enjoy now or in its evolution over the next five or six years, perhaps longer.

Black Chook Shiraz 2009 $13–$17 McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek, South Australia Black Chook is a free-ranging blend of shiraz, with a dollop of viognier, from McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek. It roams the same coop as the Woop Woop, Penny’s Hill and Mr Riggs wines, all made by Ben Riggs as part of the Galvanised Wine Group. Like all the tastiest chooks, it’s big, plump, juicy and ready for the table now.

Draytons Vineyard Reserve Semillon 2006 $30 Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, New South Wales Not everyone likes the idiosyncratic lower-Hunter semillon style. But for those who do this is a brilliant and delicious example. At four years it’s just beginning to reveal the textural richness that comes with age. The pale straw colour, twangy, lemony acidity and crystal-clear lemon and lemongrass varietal flavour provide good current drinking. But experience with the style says it’ll grow more interesting over the next decade, taking on a lovely toasty character. It’s from Drayton’s Oakey Creek Vineyard, established in 1899.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Mount Majura Canberra District TSG 2008 $21 Mount Majura, Australian Capital Territory Mount Majura’s TSG (tempranillo shiraz graciano) won gold for the second consecutive year in the 2010 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards. This year’s award winner, the velvety 2009 vintage, is due for release next year and it’s probably a shade more intense even than current-release 2008 – a delightful drop featuring ripe, blueberry-like fruit flavour with a distinct peppery note that winemaker Frank van de Loo says might come from the graciano component.

Picardy Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2008 $25 Pemberton, Western Australia Most Australian cabernet blends salute the firm, cabernet-dominant styles of Bordeaux’s Medoc sub-region. But this merlot-led blend looks more to Saint-Emilion, another major Bordeaux sub-region, for inspiration. It’s fragrant – courtesy of the merlot and cabernet franc – and medium bodied with a juicy, plump kernel of fruit, elegant structure and fine tannins holding it all together. It’s made by Dan Pannell from estate-grown fruit and probably best within five years of vintage.

Arete Single Vineyard Greenock Shiraz 2008 $45 Barossa Valley, South Australia We’d normally reserve five-star ratings for wines with long, distinguished track records. But quality can’t be denied here. And there’s a solid provenance behind winemaker Richard Bates: winemaking experience at Saltram, Wolf Blass and Penfolds; a stint with barrel cooper Francois Frere and grape sourcing from Shawn Kalleske’s Greenock vineyard, a hotspot of Barossa shiraz quality. It’s a big, dense Barossa style, saturated with shiraz flavour in a flavour-texture matrix with soft tannins and classy oak. Arete is a big, gentle giant best cellared for a few years.

Sam Miranda Arneis 2010 King Valley, Victoria Arneis (meaning “little rascal”) is a Piedmontese white variety – sometimes blended with the local reds to ameliorate the tannins – makes brisk, pleasantly tart dry whites. Miranda’s version, from the King Valley’s Myrrhee sub-region, combines piquant pear and citrus flavours. The palate’s tight, brisk, dry and light and finishes with a gentle tweak of soft tannin. If you’re over sauvignon blanc’s in-your-face flavours, try this as a tasty but more subtle alternative.

Ross Hill Pinnacle Series Shiraz 2008 $32–$35 Orange, New South Wales This delicious, medium-bodied red is a blend of the best ten barrels of shiraz made from the Ross Hill vineyards in 2008. It’s gentle and soft with ripe, sweet fruit, well supported in flavour and structure by high-quality oak. It’s squarely in the fine-boned shiraz style now emerging, with subtle variations, along a big swathe of the New South Wales highlands, from Orange to Canberra to Young to Tumbarumba to Gundagai.

Angullong Fossil Hill Pinot Gris 2010 $22 Orange, New South Wales Because the Orange region is defined partly by altitude, the 220-hectare Angullung vineyard wanders in and out of the regional boundary – walk up a row of vines until you’re 600 metres or more above sea level and you’re in Orange; stand below 600 metres and you’re in the Central Ranges district. This smooth-textured wine, from the higher, cooler slopes, expresses crystal clear,  pear-like varietal aroma and flavour of pinot gris. It’ll probably never be better than it is now in the full bloom of youth.

Copright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Picardy Pemberton

Pinot Noir 2008 $35 Chardonnay 2008 $35

There’s a great purity and drinkability to Picardy wines, made in Pemberton, Western Australia, by Bill and Dan Pannell. The pinot’s pale coloured and deeply fragrant, revealing a big part of the pinot spectrum, from slightly stalky to ripe red berries; the palate’s fine and silky textured with a flavour reflecting the aroma. It’s easy to drink, but complex and ought to age well for some years. The chardonnay clearly bears the winemaker’s imprint (barrel fermentation and maturation on yeast lees), but the keynote is the soaring, crystal-clear varietal flavour and brisk, exciting palate. The winemaking elements simply add interest to this delicious fruit.

Arete Barossa Valley “The Chatterbox” Shiraz 2009 $20 This is a sensationally fragrant, vibrant shiraz, made by former Foster’s winemaker and barrel salesman, Richard Bate. The background steered him straight to the oak-maturation and Barossa grape growing sweet spots – and the winemaking shows a spit and polish that escapes many very small-scale makers. Bates made just 350 cases of “The Chatterbox” from two western Barossa vineyards – Andy Kalleske’s Cemetery Block at Koonunga and Shawn Kalleske’s Hill Block at Greenock. The 2009 reds seem, in general, more restrained than the blockbuster 2008s – in this instance providing plush, juicy fruit flavours and tender tannins. Available at www.aretewines.com.au

Good Catholic Girl Clare Valley

“Teresa” Riesling 2009 $25 “James Brazill” Shiraz 2007 $30

Winemaker Julie Barry (the “head girl”) sourced her riesling from Barry Marsson’s vineyard at Watervale, southern Clare, and the shiraz from in the Armagh Valley, near Clare township. The riesling, though only 11.8 per cent alcohol, sits at the richer end of the regional style spectrum – in its own pure, vigorous, citrus-varietal way. It’s bone and dry best enjoyed with food, rather than as an on-its-own aperitif, as you might with a more delicate riesling. The shiraz weighs in at 15 per cent alcohol but the very rich, ripe fruit, buckets of soft tannins and silky texture completely mask this.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010