Chris Shanahan: Wine review – Wily Trout, Mount Trio, d’Arenberg

Wily Trout Vineyard Canberra District Pinot Noir 2015 $30
Until recently Susan and Robert Bruce’s Wily Trout vineyard lived in the shadow of Poacher’s Pantry, the couple’s successful food outlet located on the same site. However, their son Will now runs the vineyard and oversees winemaking at Eden Road winery. He’s determined to lift the quality and profile of the wines, and plans a few surprises too – including a hop-infused sauvignon blanc, made jointly with BentSpoke brewery. Bruce’s 2015 pinot shows a fresh and fruity face of the variety, with smooth texture and fine, mouth-drying tannins. It’s not a pinotphiles pinot, but a lovely, moreish drink indeed.

Mount Trio Porongurup Riesling 2015 $22
The Porongurups Range is a granite knob rising from the landscape about half an hour’s drive north of Albany, Western Australia. In 1989, husband and wife Gavin Berry and Gill Graham and partners planted vines there, some of the first in this particularly cool part of the vast Great Southern region. The small operation made just 266 dozen bottles of this delicious riesling in the 2015 vintage. Riesling from the region can be shy when young, but this one leads with assertive, citrus-like varietal aromas and flavours. However, the palate remains delicate and bone-dry with tingly, refreshing acidity.

d’Arenberg McLaren Vale Footbolt Shiraz 2013 $13.95–$18
Time and again at tastings, bottles of McLaren Vale shiraz empty well ahead of their more delicate, cool-climate peers. People praise the latter, but drain the former. Why? It seems nothing pleases the senses more than a deep, dark red, rippling with earthy, ripe fruit flavours, backed by savour and tannin. Pleasingly, the pleasure remains in reach as even the modestly price d’Arenberg Footbolt delivers the true Vale experience. It’s ripe, rich, fruity, savoury and satisfyingly grippy, without being heavy or porty.