Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2012 $100
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Canberra (and Australia’s) benchmark shiraz–viognier came out of the blue – a wine style no one would have backed in the first two decades of Canberra viticulture. But the wine, now honed to perfection, speaks for itself. Indeed, without it, Canberra may have puddled around for decades seeking a red-wine identity. Fittingly, Gourmet Traveller named its creator, Tim Kirk, as winemaker of the year just as we finished the last few mouthfuls of our bottle. It’s a stand out vintage – all perfume, spice and silk. It’s a unique wine in Australia’s wide and extraordinary spectrum of shiraz styles.

Gallagher Shiraz 2012 $25
Gallagher vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Winemaker Greg Gallagher describes 2012 as a wonderful vintage, “Especially after so many difficult seasons – 2009, 2010 and particularly 2011”. He says rain delayed ripening and this probably accounts for the extra depth of flavour in this outstanding shiraz. The cool ripening conditions also explain the peppery high notes of the aroma – a varietal character seen more intensely in cool-grown shiraz. The seductive aroma leads with pepper, but also includes spice and fresh, bright fruit characters. The elegant palate reflects the aroma – and persistent, ripe, fine tannins add savouriness and grip to the lean, peppery finish.

Quarry Hill Shiraz 2009 $18
Quarry Hill vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
The inclusion of three Canberra shirazes, all from Murrumbateman, in today’s reviews underlines our region’s great strength with this variety. These are beautiful wines – all variations on a generally fine-boned, spicy cool-climate style. Quarry Hill, made by Alex McKay, won the trophy as best shiraz at this year’s Winewise Small Vignerons Awards. Four years’ age simply enhances the appeal of its buoyant, spicy, flavours – cut through with fruit and oak savouriness. It’s a riper, rounder style than the Gallagher wine. Alas, the wine is all but sold out – hardly surprising given the quality and price. There’s limited stock available at cellar door (quarryhill.com.au), Dan Murphys, 1st Choice Braddon, Ainslie Cellars, Plonk and George’s Liquor Stable.

Gallagher Riesling 2013 $20
Barton Estate, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
As I enjoyed Greg and Libby Gallagher’s 2013 riesling, an email arrived from Matt Skinner at the Canberra and Region Wine Show. Skinner wrote, “Just judged riesling 13 – possibly the best bracket of riesling I’ve ever had the pleasure of judging!”. And if Gallagher’s riesling was in the line up, I’d be surprised if it doesn’t win silver or gold [It won silver]. This is seductive riesling – floral and lime-like in aroma and flavour, with mid-palate richness, and a fine, delicate and dry finish.

Helm Riesling 2013 $26
Cullen vineyard, Tumbarumba, NSW
In 2013, veteran Tumbarumba grape grower, Juliette Cullen, offered Ken Helm a parcel of riesling grapes. Helm accepted them, he says, as they looked ripe and healthy and free of sunburn, disease or bird damage. From the grapes Helm made just 370 cases of dry riesling. It’s slightly plumper than his Murrumbateman wines, and offers attractive citrus-like varietal flavour, with a touch of granny smith apple.

Pizzini Sangiovese $26
King Valley, Victoria
Sangiovese can sometimes be a little too skinny – lacking fruit, but not mouth-puckering tannins. Fred Pizzini’s 2012 gets it pretty well spot on – a kernel of sweet, ripe, cherry-like fruit flavour gives life and instant appeal to the palate. And the variety’s earthy, savoury flavours and firm tannins counterbalance the sweet fruit. It’s a distinctive and loveable wine style. Pizzini attributes the intense fruit flavour to seasonal conditions. He writes, “Summer was colder than average, this was good for the vines and fruit maturation process. The conditions allowed for flavours in the grapes to mature at the same rate as sugar ripeness”.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 9 October 2013 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Torbreck Barossa Valley Cuvee Juveniles 2011 $20
Founder, David Powell, recently departed Torbreck, the winery he founded in 1994 and built into one of the Barossa’s most esteemed names globally. Torbreck continues, however, under American owner Pete Kight. A group of us recently enjoyed Torbreck Juveniles at Shorty’s, Garema Place. An unoaked blend of grenache, mataro and shiraz, it’s a delicious lunch wine – fragrant and fruity with soft tannins and a smooth, silky texture. Powell made the wine originally for the Juveniles Restaurant, Paris. You can now find it on a number of Canberra wine lists and in retail outlets. Expect to pay double the retail price in restaurants.

Schild Estate Barossa Valley Grenache Mourvedre Shiraz 2012 $15
Ed Schild and his family own about 160-hectares of vines in the southern Barossa Valley, a winery and a cellar door at Lyndoch – the lovely little southern gateway to the valley. The significant vineyard holdings allow the Schilds to sell grapes to other winemakers as well as to make 40 thousand or so dozen under their own label. Offering tremendous value is their unoaked blend of grenache, mourvedre (aka mataro) and shiraz. Like Torbreck’s blend, above, it offers ripe, juicy fruit flavours and soft tannins for current drinking. It’s fuller bodied than Torbreck’s, reflecting the warmer 2012 vintage.

Jacob’s Creek Classic Chardonnay 2012 $8.55–$12
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2012 $14.25–$18
Even critics who should know better sometimes heap scorn on popular brands like Jacob’s Creek. But the proof of the wine is in the bottle. And on that account Jacob’s Creek’s two chardonnays offer really delicious drinking at fair and – thanks to retail competition – widely variable prices. The Classic, a multi-regional South Australian blend, provides smooth, medium-bodied drinking with fresh, lively, pure melon and peach varietal flavour. The Reserve version delivers the full, but refined, deep, nectarine-like flavour of cool-grown chardonnay – the flavour completely integrated with minerally, fresh acidity.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 6 October 2013 in the Canberra Times

Quarry Hill Lost Acre Tempranillo 2013 $18
Quarry Hill vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
In a tasting of eight Australian tempranillos, two Canberra wines appealed strongly in utterly different ways. In the serious, complex, sip-and-savour mould, Mount Majura 2012 topped the list. But Quarry Hill 2013, the first from this Murrumbateman vineyard, strutted the naked beauty of the variety fresh from the vine. Quarry Hill’s Russell Kerrison described “the delicate juggling at harvest to get good fruit without going either side of it [neither over- nor under-ripe]”. Winemaker Alex McKay praised “the quality of fruit in a very good year”. The excellent balance of fruit, acid and tannin in the fruit, he said, suited production of a fruity, early-bottled style. Kerrison and McKay both see boldness, and an element of risk, in a style outside the mainstream for the variety in Australia. The risk paid off, as this is a joyous, fruity wine with tempranillo’s strong but rounded tannins.

Mount Majura Tempranillo 2012 $42
Mount Majura Vineyard, Canberra District, ACT
Alex McKay made Quarry Hill’s first tempranillo in 2013. At Mount Majura Frank van de Loo crafted his tenth in 2012. Now Mount Majura’s flagship variety, tempranillo, says van de Loo, “covers more area in our vineyard than any other single variety”. Cool conditions in 2012 produced a light-to-medium bodied style (compared to seven other tempranillos in the tasting), with just-ripe cherry and plum varietal flavours and delicious spicy and peppery notes. A day after the tasting we paired it with baked salmon in pastry, cooked by Linda Peek . The medium body, fruity-spicy-peppery flavour and savoury but fine tannins folded deliciously in with the food. See Linda’s recipe.

Balnaves Shiraz 2010 $24–$26
Balnaves vineyards, southern Coonawarra, South Australia
The 2010 vintage Coonawarra reds passing across Chateau Shanahan’s tasting bench point to an exceptional vintage. A few recent highlights include Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, several Wynns reds (Black Label Shiraz 2010, John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Messenger Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 and Michael Shiraz 2010) and this voluptuous, silky shiraz from Balnaves. Although it’s rich, full, round and silky, it retains Coonawarra’s elegant structure. A small amount of viognier in the blend might account in part for the notable silkiness. Should age well for a decade despite its seductive appeal now.

St Huberts Roussanne 2012 $30
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Roussanne, perhaps the least known of the Rhone Valley’s white trio – roussanne, marsanne and viognier – makes a more subtle wine than its peers. In this instance, winemaker Greg Jarratt barrel fermented juice from handpicked fruit in French oak barrels. The wine shares textural characteristics with other barrel fermented whites, but the flavours head off in their own direction, well removed from those of say chardonnay, marsanne or viognier. It’s a distinctive, full-flavoured (but not heavy), smooth-textured dry white with subtle, pear-like flavour and tangy, slightly tart finish. St Huberts is a brand of Treasury Wine Estates.

Brookland Valley Unison Chardonnay 2012 $17–$22
Margaret River, Western Australia
Brookland Valley is one of many brands of Accolade Wines, the successor of Constellation Wines Australia and before that the Hardy Wine Company. Brookland’s entry-level Unison shows us the leaner, even skinny, face of modern Australian chardonnay – an overreaction, perhaps to the fat, buttery styles of old and to the dominance of sauvignon blanc. It’s a clean and pleasant enough wine. But to my taste chardonnay needs more flesh on the bone.

Running with Bulls Tempranillo 2012 $16–$20
Barossa, South Australia
In the same tasting as the other two tempranillos reviewed today, Yalumba’s Running with Bulls revealed yet another side of this versatile variety – consistent with the general Barossa red style. Though a touch less aromatic than either of the Canberra wines, the palate delivered an initial hit of delicious, ripe, round, juicy cherry-like varietal flavours. But tempranillo’s abundant tannins soon closed in on the fruit, giving a satisfying grip to the finish. The Barossa, incidentally, is home to 135 hectares of tempranillo, the largest plantings of any Australian region.

Copyright  Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 2 October 2013 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Balnaves of Coonawarra The Blend 2011 $19–$20
Coonawarra fared better than many other regions in the cold, wet 2011 vintage. And within Coonawarra, thick-skinned cabernet sauvignon proved more resilient to fungal disease than shiraz did. Balnaves’ blend – comprising mainly cabernet sauvignon, with a little merlot and cabernet franc – captures the region’s fragrant, ripe-berry aromas, rich flavour and fine-boned structure impressively well for a wine at this price. Firm but fine tannins cut through the supple, ripe, berry flavours, giving true cabernet authority. Doug Balnaves established vineyards in 1975. These days, daughter Kirsty Balnaves looks after marketing, son Peter Balnaves tends the vineyards and former Wynns winemaker Pete Bissell, makes the wines.

Bay of Stones South Eastern Australia Chardonnay 2012 $18
Orlando Wines produces the Bay of Stones brand for the on-premise trade. Therefore, you won’t find it in retail outlets. However, if you’re dining in a pub, club or restaurant with a lacklustre wine list, as we did at The Mooring, Tomakin, recently, it’s a very good wine and likely to cost under $20 a bottle. It’s a bright, rich, modern style with clear varietal flavour and smooth texture. Quite likely it’s a cousin or sibling of Jacob’s Creek, one of the world’s best value chardonnays, made in the same Barossa winery.

Paxton McLaren Vale Tempranillo 2011 $20–$25
Paxton’s certified biodynamic tempranillo survived the cold, wet 2011 vintage to produce an attractive dry red for current drinking. The aroma suggests summer berries and spice – pleasant characters that come through on the medium bodied palate. Tempranillo’s tannin, however, keeps the palate lean, tight and savoury, making it good company for protein-rich or savoury food. David Paxton and family sourced the grapes from their Thomas Block and Landcross Farm vineyards. I’ve tasted many Australian tempranillos recently and believe Spain’s most widely grown red variety has an hospitable new home in Australia.

Copyright Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 29 September 2013

Neudorf Tom’s Block Pinot Noir 2011 $31–$39
Moutere, Kina Beach and Lord Rutherford vineyards, Nelson, New Zealand
Driving through Nelson in summer, tall stands of hops stand out before the neat rows of vine come into focus. In this lovely, sunny-but-cool spot on the south island’s north-western edge, Tim and Judy Finn make beautifully elegant table wines, first imported to Canberra in the early nineties. Their entry-level pinot noir displays the great delicacy and beauty of this variety when grown in the right climate and made with tender loving care. This is a lighter style of pinot, but deceptively so as the juicy richness and silky texture grow in attractiveness as you sip through the bottle.

Port Phillip Estate Salasso Rose 2013 $21-85–$29
Port Phillip Estate vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Like sauvignon blanc, rose shows it best when it’s fresh from the vine, with fruit in overdrive. Port Phillip Estate’s latest takes that vibrant, fresh fruitiness – in this instance the strawberry-like flavours of pinot noir – then adds a slick and slippery texture that boosts the overall exuberance and juicy pleasure of the palate. Fermentation with wild yeasts in a mix of old oak barrels and concrete tanks, followed by maturation on the spent yeast cells, accounts for much of the texture.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate
John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $100–$150
Northern Coonawarra, South Australia
Wynns new releases include this stunning John Riddoch Cabernet – as good a wine as any in the line up since the first vintage in 1982. The outstanding 2010 vintage arrived a decade or so after viticulturist Allen Jenkins and winemaker Sue embarked on a complete makeover of the parent company’s extensive Coonawarra vineyards. And Hodder took full advantage of the new small-batch winery, husbanding grapes from the Alexander area, near the winery, and O’Dea vineyard, through fermentation and into top-quality French oak barrels. The result is a marvellously aromatic cabernet stamped with class and built for long cellaring. The wide range of retail prices indicates how little power parent company, Treasury Wine Estates, has over market pricing.

Maxwell Four Roads Grenache 2011 $16–$22
McLaren Vale, South Australia
Maxwell’s seductive grenache comes from vines approaching 90 years of age – grown originally as individual bush-pruned vines, but trained to a trellis in recent years. They’re hand pruned, hand picked and converted into a fragrant, fruity, spicy, medium-bodied dry red with soft, mouth-caressing tannins. Australian grenache sometimes shows a confection-like character – a big turnoff fore red wine drinkers. But this one’s red wine all through, stamped with the marks of the variety, the region, the vineyard and the maker – and all at a modest price.

Clonakilla Riesling 2013 $32
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
While Tim Kirk’s Clonakilla led the way with Canberra shiraz, neighbour Ken Helm carried the riesling banner, ultimately establishing the variety as the district’s great white specialty – and Helm Premium Riesling as one of Australia’s benchmarks. While it’s far from being a two-horse race – Canberra now makes many fine rieslings – recent Clonakilla vintages ride comfortably with Helms at the front of the pack. Kirk’s latest release, from the warm and sunny 2013 vintage, impresses for its delicate, intense floral and citrus varietal character, carried refreshingly across the palate by brisk natural acidity.

Hope Farm Mataro 2010 $17.99
McLaren Vale, South Australia
Mataro, also known as mourvedre, arrived in Australia 180-odd years ago. The variety thrived in our warm, dry, wine-growing regions where it performs as well in fortified wines as it does in table wines – in the latter generally blended with shiraz and grenache. However, a recent tasting demonstrated mataro’s appeal in its own right. Drinkers, some of them unfamiliar with the variety, preferred the rich, ripe flavours and earthy, rustic tannins of Hope Farm over several more polished and expensive reds. Barossa wine merchant, David Farmer, bottled just one puncheon of the wine and offers and sells it through his website.

Copyright Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 25 September 2013 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Tscharke Barossa Valley The Master Montepulciano 2011 $24
Barossa winemaker Damien Tscharke claims to be the first in Australia to establish the Italian red variety, montepulciano. Best known in Italy’s Abruzzo region, montepulciano makes large volumes of wine. At its best, it’s robust and fruity with rustic tannins that work well with food. Tscharke’s medium-bodied Barossa version offers vibrant fruit flavours, reminiscent, vaguely, of blueberries with a bit of pepper and spice thrown in – all wrapped in the variety’s rustic, satisfying tannins. Tscharke’s success with the wine in such a lousy vintage, suggests even better drinking in future seasons.

Fareham Estate Clare Valley Riesling 2013 $8.99
The back label carries geologist–wine merchant David Farmer’s enlightening description of the Clare Valley, “… an area of 14 kilometres east–west by 33 kilometres north–south and straddles a north trending series of ridges and valleys of striking beauty. Five ridgelines rising to 500 metres separate the four wine valleys. The main road between the southern Clare town of Auburn and the northern town of Clare travels along the most important wine valley. Just north of Auburn is the pretty town of Watervale settled in 1851”. Farmer sourced this delicate, lime-like, dry riesling from Watervale and offers it on glug.com.au.

Hereford Heathcote Shiraz 2012 $14.25–$15
The Hereford brand – along with Grunter’s Original Wipeout, Erin Cream and Tisdall wine – belongs to the French-owned Ballande Groupe. They make Hereford shiraz exclusively for the Woolworths-owned Dan Murphy chain. The wine, sourced from Heathcote Victoria and made by David Crawford, offers a safe and easy-drinking, affordable expression of the region’s rich, savoury flavours. The soft tannins and up-front fruit make it a drink-now wine, so need to cellar. And move on to the next vintage when this one runs out.

Copyright Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 22 September 2013 in the Canberra Times

Four Winds Vineyard Riesling 2013 $22
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Rieslings from Four Winds vineyard have won wine-show awards, including gold medals, in the past – under the Four Winds label and for other winemakers sourcing fruit from the vineyard. But Sarah Collingwood says the thrill went up a notch when the 2013 vintage won the trophy as best riesling at this year’s NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show. The vineyard’s first trophy winner, made by Collingwood’s sister Jaime and brother-in-law Bill Crowe, is about as appealing as young riesling gets. Its pure floral and citrus aroma leads to a vibrant, delicate, deliciously fruity dry palate. Some Canberra rieslings need a year or more in bottle before the fruit outweighs the acidity. But Four Winds sits right in the drinking zone now, though I suspect it will age well for some years.

Curly Flat Chardonnay 2011 $42–$47
Curly Flat vineyard, Macedon Ranges, Victoria
In a year notable for skinny wines, Curly Flat 2011 stands out for its luxurious richness, power and elegance – a stately chardonnay from the maker of some of Australia’s finest. Curly Flat’s Phillip Moraghan writes, “Much has been written about the difficulties of vintage 2011, yet we see it as a triumphant year for our vineyard and team. Our vintage 2011 tee-shirts carry the motto ‘divided we stand’, acknowledging the role of our horizontally divided lyre trellis system in warding off the downy mildew demons”. Moraghan’s team not only defeated disease, but also coaxed the berries to a perfect ripeness that underpins this beautiful, barrel-fermented and –matured white.

Goat Square Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2010 $9.99–$16.99
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Barossa based David Farmer works much as traditional ‘negociants’ do in France. He buys grapes, juice and wine, then makes, blends, matures, bottles, labels and sells it. The majority comes from the Barossa, but he ventures the length of the adjoining Mount Lofty Ranges to the Clare and Eden Valleys and Adelaide Hills, and further south to McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek. He looks for richness and ripeness of the kind displayed in this classic Barossa blend of grenache, shiraz and mataro – a rich, earthy and savoury red with just a little bite of alcoholic astringency in the finish. Farmer is the sole outlet (via glug.com.au), and sometimes offers it on special at $9.99 a bottle.

Terrazas de los Andes Malbec 2010 $27–$30
Mendoza, Argentina
Terrazas de los Andes is a brand of luxury goods group, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, distributed locally by Moet Hennessy Australia. We discovered it at Taze Restaurant, Civic, where they offer it by the glass. It’s a big, dark, brooding wine and a thoroughly enjoyable example of Argentina’s great red specialty. There, the main determinant of style is vineyard altitude, in this instance about 1000 metres above sea level. The black colour, powerful, ripe fruit and mouth-coating tannins make it good company with red meats. It’s a distinctive style and very easy for fans of big Australian reds to adapt to.

Innocent Bystander Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2012 $21–$24
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Innocent Bystander delivers the goods every year as a tasty, satisfying example of modern Australian cool-climate chardonnay. Bright, fresh, varietal flavours resembling grapefruit and melon underpin the wine. But there’s lots more going on in the background – a result of a couple of different approaches to fermentation in seasoned French barrels (some with ambient yeast, some selected strains), followed by maturation and lees stirring in those barrels.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2012 $15–$20
Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Coonawarra, South Australia
Winemaker Sue Hodder visited Canberra recently, promoting the new releases from Wynns Coonawarra Estate. The release includes some of Australia’s greatest reds as well as grey label shiraz, one of the best value reds on the market. Hodder lets the fruit hold centre stage, from the flashing crimson colour, to the pure fruity, spicy, slightly peppery varietal aromas and flavours to the soft, satisfying, medium bodied palate. It’s pure Coonawarra and made for drinking over the next four or five years. Wynns Black Label Shiraz is the one for cellaring these days, but more on that next week.

Copyright Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 18 September 2013