Grant Burge Meshach 2008 $124–$180
Filsell and other vineyards, Barossa Valley
On a visit to Canberra in April, Barossa winemaker Grant Burge said warm climate shiraz seemed to be off the radar of many wine judges and some wine shows. This appears to be a fashion statement, he said, and completely out of touch with the market, where sales of McLaren Vale and Barossa shiraz continue to grow. The disparity between the perceptions of consumers and judges illustrates the wonderfully contrasting styles of shiraz we now make in Australia – from the spicy, peppery, fine-boned versions from cool areas to the inky deep styles from warmer climates. Burge’s flagship red, Meshach, stands as one of the very best of the inky deep Barossa style. It’s a big, beautifully balanced wine, saturated with ripe varietal flavour and cut through with soft fruit and oak tannins. It’s built for long-term cellaring.

Thomas Vineyard Selection DJV Shiraz 2011 $27–30
Lindemans Ben Ean Vineyard, Hunter Valley, NSW
What a contrast there is between this silky,medium bodied shiraz and the fruit-saturated power of Grant Burge Meshach, also reviewed today. Our national red hero, shiraz, shows many faces, including this idiosyncratic one from Hunter Valley shiraz and semillon specialist, Andrew Thomas. DJV delivers clean, fresh, vibrant fruit flavours, in the modern style, coupled with the Hunter’s traditional, savoury, earthy undertones. Soft, fine tannins and medium body give DJV an elegance seldom seen in warm climate reds. Thomas says he co-fermented the shiraz with 12 per cent semillon verjuice, which contributed much to the lighter, drink-now character of the wine.

Tyrrell’s Old Winery Chardonnay 2012 $10.45–12.99
Hunter Valley, NSW
Old Winery, first made in 1979 and fine-tuned ever since, rates among Australia’s best budget chardonnays. It combines liveliness and freshness with chardonnay’s full flavour and a rich, smooth texture. The appealing, ripe, varietal flavour comes from good fruit. And the rich, smooth texture, says Bruce Tyrrell, comes from “all the techniques of solids in the ferment and lees stirring but on a larger scale in a tank rather than a small barrel”.

Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling 2012 $24.60–$32
Eden Valley, South Australia
The Steingarten vineyard, planted by Orlando’s Colin Gramp in 1962, lends it name (and contributes part of the fruit) to Jacob’s Creek’s flagship riesling. I enjoyed a pre-release sample of the wine in January; and a recent taste confirms it as one of the best from a great year. It’s delicate and intense at the same time with exhilarating acidity and pure, lime-lemon varietal flavour. Stock up when it’s on special and put a little aside. Past vintages have aged well for decades – for example, the comparably outstanding 2002 vintage still looks young and fresh.

Dandelion Vineyards Menagerie of the Barossa
Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2011 $21–27.50
Gomersal, southern Barossa Valley, South Australia
The cold, wet 2011 vintage hit the Barossa Valley particularly hard, wiping out huge tracts of vineyards. Dandelion’s blend, then, came as a delightful surprise – a tender, juicy, seductive drop that made the bottle seem too small. It’s a blend of grenache (85 per cent), shiraz (10 per cent) and mataro (aka mourvedre or monastrell). The back label hints at how winemaker Elena Brooks and the Dandelion crew saved the day, “handpicking selected bunches” (that is, avoiding the rotten ones) of the three varieties for co-fermentation and ultimate success. What a more-ish wine this is.

Brown Brothers Victoria Tempranillo 2012 $12–$18
King Valley and Heathcote, Victoria
Brown Brothers test new wine styles by making small quantities in its kindergarten winery, then putting them on tasting and sale at its extraordinarily busy cellar door. If visitors like a wine, they ramp up production, as they did with this lovely tempranillo. They source this Spanish variety from their own vineyards at Banksdale, King Valley, and Heathcote. The 2012 delivers attractive ripe, plummy fruit flavours on a dry, savoury, medium bodied palate.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 15 May 2013 in The Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Bussell JG Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2011 $24
Barossa winemaker Grant Burge says he created the Margaret River brand, Bussell, and a New Zealand brand, Drift, to meet demand for wine styles he couldn’t make in the Barossa. He also says, “They have to be exceptional to work” – and Bussell JG cabernet merlot is. Made for Burge at Clairault Wines, the wine delivers drink-now Margaret River elegance and richness at a fair price. It’s sweetly perfumed, with a floral edge as well as the slightly leafy character of cool-grown cabernet. These characters come through as well on the delicious, soft, medium bodied palate.

Thomas Two of a Kind Hunter McLaren Vale Shiraz 2011 $24
Hunter winemaker Andrew Thomas makes a range of beautiful, cellarable Hunter shirazes as well as this drink-now blend. Thomas says it comprises 57 per cent Hunter shiraz, the rest McLaren Vale shiraz. He ferments the two components separately, but blends them before maturing them in oak barriques for two years. The result is an harmonious, smooth red, combining the fleshy richness of McLaren Vale with the savoury, earthy character of the Hunter. It’s medium bodied, but richly fruity, with fine, soft tannins.

Brown Brothers Victoria Chardonnay 2012 $17.90
Brown Brothers source fruit for this wine primarily from their high-altitude Banksdale Vineyard in the King Valley – a significantly cooler site than their original site on the Oxley Plains, a few kilometres to the north. The cool growing conditions produce rich, varietal flavours reminiscent of white peach and a touch of melon rind. These flavours underpin a vibrant, full-bodied dry white, with the rich textured derived from fermentation and maturation in oak, and a refreshing bite of acidity. While the oak subtly influences the aroma and flavour, its influence is more in the texture and structure of the wine.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
Firsts published 12 May 2013 in The Canberra Times

Brookland Valley Verse 1 Margaret River Chardonnay 2012 $13–$15
When a company makes cutting edge top-shelf wine, the quality usually flows down to cheaper wines in its portfolio. We can taste this deliciously in Verse1 Chardonnay, little sibling of the far more expensive Brookland Valley Chardonnay and relative of several other classy chardonnays (including Eileen Hardy Chardonnay) in the Accolade Wine Group. We bought our bottle for just under $13 during a recent visit to Wollongong; and came back for seconds. What a delight it is – crisp, fresh, smoothly textured and packed with juicy nectarine-like varietal flavour. It’s widely distributed, often discounted a safe bet every time.

Two Churches Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010 $12–$17
In the late nineties I created the Two Churches brand for the Coles Liquor Group. Peter Lehmann made the wine and Barbara Harkness, creator of the Yellow Tail label, designed the package. The name came from a fanciful folk tale, archived in the National Library, of a schism that resulted in two Lutheran churches existing within one small Barossa village. About 15 years on, I feel sufficiently removed from the brand to say the 2010 vintage, purchased at a Liquorland store, offers attractive, soft Barossa drinking. When it’s at is full $17 a bottle, you can drink better for the price. But on special at $12–$14, it’s a good buy.

Bussell “Grace” Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2012 $20–$22
As the winemakers of Bordeaux and Margaret River demonstrate, semillon makes sauvignon blanc interesting. In this blend – made at Clairault Wines, Margaret River, for Grant Burge – semillon comprises one fifth of the total. This adds savouriness, backbone and length to the fruity, vivacious palate. Fermentation in oak of a small portion of the blend adds to its mid-plate richness and texture, without injecting oak flavour. Barossa winemaker Grant Burge says he created the Margaret River brand, Bussell, and a New Zealand brand, Drift, to meet demand for wine styles he couldn’t make in the Barossa.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 5 May 2013 in The Canberra Times

Lerida Estate Shiraz Viognier $49.50
Lake George, Canberra District, NSW
Lerida’s elegant, restrained 2010 shiraz viognier follows the more opulent highly acclaimed 2009 vintage. The two wines share a regional spiciness, medium body and fine, smooth texture. But in the 2010 an appealing black pepper character, an endearing element in many cool-grown shirazes, adds to a general spiciness seasoning the ripe, supple fruit. A spine of fine but firm tannins adds structure to the soft and silky texture of the palate. The wine is a blend of 95 per cent shiraz and five per cent viognier grown and made at Lerida Estate Lake George.

Lerida Estate Pinot Noir 2011 $26.50
Lake George, Canberra District NSW
I review two pinots today – this savoury, “serious” style from Lake George and a simpler, fruity one from Tasmania. Lerida’s shows the quite firm tannic backbone and rich texture of pinot built for complexity off low-yielding fruit. But it also reveals the character of a very cool growing season. This shows in the light body and reliance on structure and texture more than on fruit flavour. There may be latent fruit, waiting to emerge with bottle age. Or, on the other hand it may just be dilute because of the season, leaving a pleasantly savoury red without the depth and length we see in better seasons.

Clonakilla Chardonnay 2012 $36–$40
Revee Estate, Tumbarumba, and Murrumbateman, NSW
Prepare for more excitement as the oak-fermented and –matured 2012 chardonnays come onto the market – just as the flow of lovely 2012 rieslings tapers off. Tim Kirk’s version combines fruit from Steve Morrison’s Revee Estate, Tumbarumba, with a barrel each from the Clonakilla and Chris Joshua vineyards, Murrumbateman. The Tumbarumba component really shapes the wine, giving the intense, grapefruit-like varietal flavour and taut, acidic backbone. All the usual winemaking tricks around barrel fermentation, lees stirring and maturation add greatly to the texture and appeal of this beautiful wine. The alcohol’s a refreshingly low 12 per cent.

Josef Chromy Pepik Pinot Noir 2011 $19–$22
Tasmania
The Landing restaurant, Newcastle, offers a decent selection of wine by the glass. The wine list, prepared by Hunter vigneron Andrew Margan, features many of the best modern Hunter wines, including the exceptional Meerea Park Terracotta Semillon 2006. Even this was available by the glass – and we indulged (though it’s sold out now says winemaker Garth Eather).  But the list also carries a thoughtful selection of regional varietals from across Australia, including Josef Chromy’s pretty Tasmanian pinot. It’s a bright, fresh, fruity red made to slurp down now – a true regional specialty, revealing a happy, smiling face of pinot that could only ever come from cool-grown grapes.

d’Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz 2010 $18–$20
McLaren Vale, South Australia
The waitress in Agosti Restaurant, Newcastle, approved of our choice – two glasses of Tyrrell’s Brokenback Shiraz. “What do you think of it?” asks my friend, cautiously. “It’s rough”, I reply, “not fresh”. We ask the waitress, “how long’s it been open”. “Less than a week, mate”, she replies and brings out a fresh bottle – of d’Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz. We wonder what happened to the Tyrrell’s. But as we’re in a rush, we accept the unquestioning offer of free wine. It’s a classic McLaren Vale shiraz – fruity and savoury and supported by mouth coating but soft, ripe tannins. It’s delicious and satisfying and sends us off chuckling in disbelief, “less than a week”

Riddoch Shiraz 2010 $15–$20
Coonawarra, South Australia
This is a Woolworths’ controlled brand, available through its Dan Murphy, BWS and Woolworths Liquor stores and its direct marketing brand, Cellarmasters. Through its Pinnacle Liquor Group, Woolworths is now a major wine producer, though the company employed the services of Katnook Estate Coonawarra winemaker, Wayne Stehbens, in putting this attractive red together. This is medium bodied, spicy shiraz made for early drinking. The price varies from around $15 on special to $20 among the various Woolies retail brands.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 1 May 2013 in The Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au