Peter Lehmann Drawcard Barossa Shiraz Mataro 2010 $20–$25
It’s hard to believe now that so much of the Barossa’s wine once disappeared anonymously into multi-regional blends. But the area’s recognition as one of the world’s great makers of shiraz, grenache and mourvedre (aka mataro) opens up the palette of wine styles available. Increasing numbers of winemakers now present the product of single vineyards or sub-regional blends. In this instance Peter Lehmann’s Ian Hongell delivers the earthy power of shiraz and mataro from the Barossa’s north-western ridge – a generous, sweet-fruited wine, principally shiraz, with the fragrance, spice and grippy tannins of mataro.

Port Phillip Estate Quartier Mornington Peninsular Arneis 2012 $28
A number of Australian winemakers, principally in Victoria’s King Valley, now cultivate arneis, a white variety first documented in Piemonte, Italy, in the fifteenth century. Port Phillip Estate’s version, from a vineyard at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, presents a lively, full-flavoured expression of the variety, with unique, sappy, slightly pear-like flavours and savoury, vigorous dry finish. Winemaker Sandro Mosele writes, “[the wine] comes from a 0.61-hectare parcel planted in Red Hill. Handpicked fruit is whole-bunch pressed, tank fermented without inoculation and matured in stainless steel for seven months”.

Cappa Stone Clare Valley Shiraz 2010 $18
Mildura-based Cappa Stone Wine brings in fruit from a number of other wine growing regions, including the Clare Valley, source of this shiraz. Winemaker Donna Stephens, formerly of Clare Valley’s Kirrihill Wines, recently took over at Cappa Stone, though I suspect this wine predates her arrival. For a fair price, it offers a big mouthful of flavour – combining ripe, sweet shiraz, with aggressive, palate-gripping tannins, a little burst of oak and a warm-to-hot alcoholic aftertaste. I’d call it a modern rough red, where bright fruit intersects with angular tannins.

Copyright Chris Shanahan 2013
First Published 28 July 2013 in the Canberra Times