Vin De Savoie Le Feu (Domaine Belluard) 2011 $57
The village of Ayze, 450 metres up in France’s Savoie region, is home to Domaine Bulluard’s 12-hectares of the gringet vine. Jancis Robinson writes just 22-hectares of the variety remain in Ayze, with Domain Belluard now the only commercial producer. Robinson quotes 19^th century writing on the variety’s unique “property of not causing inebriation so long as one does not leave the table”. Apparently the cold night air does the damage. The 2011 (available from importer livingwines.com.au), provides, exotic and delicious full-bodied drinking. It’s bone dry, with teasingly tart acidity, melon-rind-like flavours and viscous, smooth texture.

Forester Estate Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2012 $17–$24
Margaret River’s classic blend of semillon with sauvignon blanc can offer so much more drinking interest than straight sauvignon blanc – while retaining much of the variety’s vibrant, fruity character. In this blend, semillon comprises 53 per cent of the blend and sauvignon blanc 45 per cent, with a splash of chardonnay making up the balance. A tiny portion of barrel-fermented material adds subtly to the texture. But the main game is the dazzling fruit festival in your mouth. The wine has a string of show medals, including a blue-gold medal at the Sydney International Wine Competition and a gold medal at the Royal Hobart Wine Show 2013.

Mount Monster Padthaway Cabernet 2012 $14–$16
The Bryson family owns two vineyards, totalling 170 hectares, at Padthaway on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, about an hour’s drive north of Coonawarra. The vineyard hold could produce, by my estimate around 120 thousand dozen bottles in a good year – fairly large production for a family holding in Australia. The family manages the vineyards and marketing of its Moorambro Creek, Jip Jip Rocks and Mt Monster brands. Their cabernet offers exceptional richness and purity of ripe varietal flavour. The mid-palate is juicy, plump and satisfying, but the wine still retains the elegant, regional structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 13 April 2014

Tyrrell’s Vat 9 Shiraz $80–$90
Ashmans property, lower Hunter Valley, NSW
Where vignerons in much of eastern Australia struggled in the cold, wet 2011 vintage, Hunter winemakers turned out remarkable shirazes, like Tyrrell’s Vat 9. Always a regional benchmark of the medium bodied, long-lived style, Vat 9 in 2011 shows the extra fruit intensity of the good season. It’s sourced from old vines (average age 50 years) grown in the red volcanic soils of the Weinkeller and Short Flat vineyards on Tyrrell’s Ashmans property. Made from hand picked fruit, fermented in open vats and matured in large-format French-oak casks (2700-litre), the wine reveals the delicious flavour of outstanding fruit, gently handled. Maturation in oak, apart from polishing the silky tannins, gave a liveliness and aromatic lift that completes a harmonious, gentle, sensuous wine.

Tyrrell’s Stevens Shiraz 2011 $32.30–$38
Stevens family Old Hillside vineyard, lower Hunter Valley, NSW
Stevens shiraz shows a family resemblance to Vat 9 (above), but in a distinctly brawnier style. It offers the rich, juicy fruit flavours of the good season, with an underlying earthiness and savouriness, backed by solid, but soft, tannins. The grapes come from the Stevens family vineyard in Pokolbin, the traditional heart of the lower Hunter region. Tyrrell’s say the oldest vines on the block were planted in 1867 and “may be the oldest vines still in production in the Hunter Valley”.

Rolf Binder Shiraz 2012 $20
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Barossa winemaker Rolf Binder delivers huge value in this rich, ripe, satisfying Barossa shiraz. It’s notably fuller bodied than, say, the two Hunter wines reviewed today, with stronger, earthier tannins. Although it’s big and ripe, the wine’s harmonious without the heaviness or over-ripeness we once saw in many Barossa shirazes. Binder writes, “fruit was taken from a collection of five Barossa Valley shiraz vineyards with varying characteristics to add more complexity to this wine”. Binder singles out the northern Barossa and Marananga as key sub-regions in the blend.

Clonakilla Ceoltoiri 2013 $36–$45
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Tim Kirk’s Ceoltoiri (the musicians) salutes the red blends of France’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape region. It combines “grenache, shiraz, mourvedre and a tiny splash of cinsault”, writes Kirk, adding, “it may surprise you”. It’s certainly different from last year’s release from the cool 2011 vintage. From the warm 2013 vintage, this year’s release offers the alluring, sweet, musk-like fragrance of ripe grenache, seasoned with spice and pepper. The brisk, medium bodied palate reflects the aroma, though the spicy character asserts itself through the fine, soft, savoury tannins.

Eddystone Point Riesling 2013 $26
Derwent and Coal River valleys, Tasmania
Eddystone Point, a new brand, comes from Accolade Wines’ Bay of Fires winery, Tasmania. The first Eddystone Point riesling, from the warm, early 2013 vintage, sets a high standard for following vintages, having won gold medals in the Hobart and Melbourne wine shows last year. The wine offers floral and lemon-like varietal aromas and an intense, juicy, mouth-watering palate. The wine’s intense acidity masks the almost seven-grams a litre of residual grape sugar, which simply fleshes out the palate of a unique and loveable riesling.

Ravensworth The Grainery 2013 $27–$30
Ravensworth vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
If it’s in the vineyard, it’s in the blend, it seems. Local winemaker Bryan Martin describes The Grainery 2013 as, “a blend of mainly marsanne, roussanne, chardonnay and viognier, plus a mixture of aromatic varieties, riesling, pinot gris, gewürztraminer and sauvignon blanc”. All were whole-bunch pressed to 600-litre barrels for spontaneous fermentation, with no wine maker additions other than sulphur dioxide, says Martin. The result is bright, medium-lemon coloured, full flavoured wine. Richly textured, bordering on viscous, with a pleasantly tart, melon-rind-like bite, it’s a most loveable and distinctive dry white.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 9 April 2014 in the Canberra Times

 Rolf Binder Eden Valley Riesling 2013 $22
In 1955 Rolf Binder senior and his wife Franziska bought a winery on Langmeil Road, Tanunda, and named it Veritas. In 2005, Rolf Binder junior renamed the winery in memory of his later father. Binder now makes the red wines while his sister, Christa Deans, looks after the whites, including this impressively tasty and delicate riesling. Sourced from two vineyards on the western side of the Eden Valley, it presents a most delightfully pure, floral and citrus varietal aroma. These characters come through on the intense, delicate, dry palate. This is a beautiful riesling with good cellaring potential as well as drink-now appeal.

Magpie Estate Barossa Valley The Schnell Shiraz Grenache 2010 $20
Barossa winemaker Rolf Binder and UK wine man Noel Young created the Magpie Estate wine brand in the 1990s as a vehicle for Barossa-grown Rhone Valley varieties, shiraz, grenache and mourvedre. Binder says The Schnell is one of their most popular blends globally, though one wonders why the 2010 remains available when the market is generally full of 2012s. The wine offers the rich, full, spicy flavours of shiraz, lifted by aromatic, soft grenache. A backbone of sturdy tannins gives satisfying grip to the finish.

Tahbilk Nagambie Lakes Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $17.09–$24
Tahbilk’s long-lived, medium bodied cabernet comes with a mother load of tannins – sturdy, grippy tannins that permeate the underlying fruit flavours, giving a satisfying, chewy texture. In the 2010 vintage, those tannins seem even more prominent than usual. Though the underlying fruit flavour provides an offsetting sweetness, tannin defines Tahbilk cabernet and account in large part for its great longevity. Serve the wine with juicy, pink lamb or beef, though, and the protein strips away the tannin to reveal the ripe, blackcurrant-like varietal flavour.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 6 April 2014 in the Canberra Times

Ravensworth Nebbiolo 2013 $32
Grove Estate vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
Piedmont’s nebbiolo grape teases with a promise, seldom realised, of sublime, elegant reds, supposedly smelling of tar and roses and offering intense flavours coupled with the mighty tannic grip of a blacksmith’s handshake. On the point of despair some 20 years ago, we finally saw the light at posh Asti restaurant, Gener Nev. There we explored mature (and sublime) Barolos from famed producer Angelo Gaja. They remain our benchmark for a style that too often starts with tar and roses before descending into Mike Tyson tannins. The appealing aromatics of Ravensworth nebbiolo – winemaker Bryan Martin’s first – encouraged a wary sip. The bright fruit promised by the aroma flowed through on the medium bodied palate. The tannins arrived quickly enough. They were firm but velvety and contributed a savoury note as well as nebbiolo’s unique grip.

Fox Gordon The Sicilian Nero d’Avola 2012 $24.95
Adelaide Hills, South Australi
Several Australian producers now cultivate nero d’Avola, Sicily’s most widely planted red grape variety. It produces deeply coloured reds, a characteristic that saw it widely used in the past to add colour to paler wines. However, it’s now commonly used in its own right and in Australia offers an interesting change from our usual red menu. Fox Gordon 2012 delivers the deep colour of the variety, ripe, vibrant, jube-like fruit flavours and rustic, savoury tannins.

Saltram Pepperjack Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $21.85–$25
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Saltram Pepperjack brand is part of Treasury Wine Estates, the now separately listed former wine arm of Fosters. For reasons unknown, you can enjoy the fabulous Pepperjack Barossa Shiraz 2012 for as little as $15.90 (reviewed in my Sunday 30 March column) while paying far more for the also impressive cabernet. The excellent 2012 vintage looks like one of those once or twice a decade seasons where Barossa cabernet matches it with the local specialty, shiraz. The wine offer rich, ripe cassis-like varietal flavours, with a leafy edge, on a plush, juicy palate cut with soft cabernet tannins.

Scarborough Shiraz 2011 $27
Lower Hunter Valley, NSW
At Canberra’s recent Winewise Championship, judge James Halliday commented on the high quality of Hunter shiraz from 2011 – a cold, wet vintage in most of eastern Australia and associated with lacklustre, skinny wines. Scarborough 2011 doesn’t sit with the finest from the Hunter 2011 vintage. But it appeals for its medium body, modest alcohol content (13 per cent) and its rustic, savoury tannin and pleasantly tart finish.

Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay 2013 $12.35–$15
Padthaway, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Wolf Blass Yellow Label range occupies the middle turf of the brand’s three colour coded segments – red label for generic blends, yellow label for varietals (chardonnay in this instance) and gold label for regional-varietal matches (for example, Barossa shiraz, Adelaide Hills chardonnay). For these big blends, the company draws fruit widely to achieve an acceptable quality to price ratio. Yellow Label chardonnay sits in the high bronze to silver medal standard as it presents pure melon and peach varietal flavour of great freshness, with a smooth texture and dry, clean finish.

Main Ridge Chardonnay 2012 $50–$55
Main Ridge vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victori
What a contrast there is between the Wolf Blass and Main Ridge chardonnays reviewed today. The former provides good varietal flavours, produced to the best standard possible at a set production cost. The latter, on the other hand, presents the best possible product Nat and Rosie White can coax from their vines, then polish in their winery. The exceptional vintage produced a wine of amazingly powerful flavours and luxurious texture – but in the very, fine, delicate Main Ridge style. This is a great Australian chardonnay.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 2 April 2014 in the Canberra Times

Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2013 $32
Ravensworth 2013 is one of the greatest reds to come out of the Canberra District, a very fine but powerful expression of the local specialty – shiraz co-fermented with small amounts of the white, viognier. Winemaker Bryan Martin writes, “after a few tough years in the vineyard, this year [2013] saw us all in hammocks reading 90s crime fiction, it was that easy”. The crime, though, would be drinking this wine too early. Tasted soon after bottling, it revealed, in a raw, youthful way, Canberra’s distinctive floral aroma, vivid berry-and-spice varietal flavours and sensuous, supple texture. It appeals now, but will deliver even more with bottle age.

Tower Estate Hillside Vineyard Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2012 $30
Long ago the focus on fine chardonnay shifted to cooler regions, hundreds of kilometres south of the Hunter Valley. However, this warm area continues to produce fine chardonnays, some capable of extended bottle ageing. Tower Estate 2012, sourced from the Cowley family Hillside vineyard at Pokolbin, is a good example of the modern lower-Hunter style. Its 12.5 per cent alcohol indicates fairly early fruit picking. Nevertheless, the wine shows ripe, peachy varietal flavour with typical Hunter roundness and softness – the texture enriched by fermentation and maturation in French oak barrels.

Saltram Pepperjack Barossa Shiraz 2012 $15.90–$20
Judges at last year’s Great Australian Shiraz challenge voted Pepperjack the best of the 300 wines exhibited. That it vanquished wines up to seven times its price shows once again the value of masked tastings and the difficulties even experts encounter discerning between $20 and $140 wines. I noted, though, that some of the pricier wines came from challenging vintages like 2008 and 2009, rather than the wonderful (for Barossa) 2012 vintage. Pepperjack shows just what a good year it was. This is ripe, dense, satisfying shiraz of exceptional quality. It’s a great example of the soft but tannic, potentially long-lived Barossa style.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 30 March 2014 in the Canberra Times

Hewitson Miss Harry 2012 $21.85–$23
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Dean Hewitson’s delightfully savoury, spicy Miss Harry combines the Rhone Valley varieties, grenache, shiraz, mourvedre, carignan and cinsault. Much of the fruit comes from “historic 100-year-plus, dry-grown bush vine vineyards dotted throughout the valley”, writes Hewitson. The venerable old vines gave their best flavours in the wonderful 2012 vintage. Grenache (60 per cent of the blend) forms the base of this medium coloured, medium bodied red, while the other varieties collectively add fruit flavour, spice and earthy, fine tannins. Together, they deliver an harmonious, elegantly structured, satisfying red revealing the warm Barossa at its best. This is a lot of wine for not a lot of money.

Tyrrell’s Brookdale Semillon 2013 $17–$20
Tyrrell’s HVD vineyard, Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, NSW
Tyrrell’s makes a spectrum of Hunter semillons – at one end the austere, slow-evolving Vat 1, capable of evolving for many decades; and at the other end, the softer, drink-now Brookdale. It’s from Tyrrell’s HVD vineyard, which, says Bruce Tyrrell, “always produces wines that are floral, softer and more approachable than [wines from] our other vineyards”. The 2013 offers the variety’s distinctive lemongrass-like aroma and crisp, fresh, lemony flavours. It’s light bodied at 11 per cent alcohol and a very small amount of residual grape sugar (5.4 grams a litre) helps round out the mid palate.

Chalk Hill Shiraz 2012 $19–$25
Slate Creek, Wits End and Chalk Hill vineyards
McLaren Vale, South Australia
To compare opposite ends of the Australia’s amazing shiraz spectrum, taste two wines reviewed here today – gutsy, full bodied Chalk Hill and elegant, medium bodied Mount Langi Ghiran Cliff Edge. Chalk Hill’s dense, crimson-rimmed colour signals what’s to come – a big, ripe, flavour packed palate combining ripe fruit and strong, savoury, rustic tannins. The wine comes from vines aged between 20–45 years and is matured in a combination of new and older French oak barrels.

Clonakilla Chardonnay 2013 $45
Revee Estate Tumbarumba, Murrumbateman, NSW
In a mini chardonnay shoot out over the long weekend, we compared the 2013s from Clonakilla and Ravensworth. Although Clonakilla drew a little fruit from two Murrumbateman vineyards, the two wines come predominantly from a single batch of Tumbarumba grapes. Our tasting therefore compared the different flavours resulting from two distinct winemaking approaches. This sort of comparison makes a nonsense of any scoring system, so let’s just say both drink deliciously in their own ways – Clonakilla in the classic Burgundian style and Ravensworth more on the wild side. I describe the differences under the Ravensworth heading.

Ravensworth Chardonnay 2013 $32
Revee Estate Tumbarumba, NSW
During the tasting, winemaker Bryan Martin (winemaker for Ravensworth and Clonakilla) tweeted, “Same fruit, whole bunch V skin contact” – shorthand for fermenting juice low in phenols (Clonakilla) versus juice higher in phenols (Ravensworth), extracted by allowing juice to remain in contact with grape skins. The Clonakilla is classic cool-climate barrel fermented chardonnay with varietal fruit to the fore (grapefruit and melon), with very fine texture. In Ravensworth, the funky, wild aromas and flavours hit first, then the slightly grippier texture – and finally, the fruit pushes through. We shifted our preferences from one to the other over the weekend. But both bottles emptied at the same time – a dead heat for sure.

Mount Langi Ghiran Cliff Edge Shiraz 2012 $23.75–$30
Mount Langhi Ghiran vineyard, Grampians, Victoria
The back label describes Cliff Edge as “baby Langhi”, a reference to the Mount Langi’s superb $100 flagship, “Langhi” shiraz, made from the oldest vines on the property. A chip off the old block, Cliff Edge offers its own expression of the Langi Ghiran and regional style. Medium bodied and flavour packed, it shows the unique flavours of shiraz grown in this part of the Grampians. The ripe-berry flavours are woven through with spice and pepper and cut with silky but quite assertive, savoury tannins. This is a complex and loveable shiraz that should evolve in the cellar for another decade.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 26 March 2014 in the Canberra Times

Grosset Chardonnay 2012 $52–$57
Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
In the early nineties, Clare Valley riesling master, Jeffrey Grosset, looked south to the cooler Adelaide Hills for chardonnay, ultimately establishing vines in its Piccadilly Valley sub-region. The wines have always been good. But Grosset’s 2012 rises above any previous vintage, I believe. Its amazing power and richness of fruit, woven in with barrel-related aromas, flavours and textures, make it one of the most enjoyable and distinctive chardonnays I’ve tasted from this outstanding vintage. Despite the big, rich fruit flavour, this is an elegant, harmonious wine with good cellaring potential.

Seville Estate The Barber Chardonnay 2013 $19–$24
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Dr Peter McMahon established Seville Estate in the early seventies and sold it to Hunter-based Brokenwood in the late nineties. In turn, Brokenwood sold it to Graham and Margaret Van Der Meulen in 2005. The Van Der Meulens offer three chardonnays – The Barber, Estate ($36) and Reserve ($70), the latter dedicated this year to Dr McMahon, who died in October 2013. Though fermented and matured in oak barrels (10 per cent of them new), the wine leads with vibrant melon and stone-fruit varietal flavour. It’s medium bodied, dry, smooth textured and finishes with zippy fresh acidity.

Vinaceous Raconteur Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $25
Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia
Nick Stacy and Mike Kerrigan, the guys behind Vinaceous, source fruit from many regions around Australia, including the Adelaide Hills, Margaret River, McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley. Their impressively deep, purple Margaret River red provides a virtual fruit festival, consistent with the colourful circus-inspired label. The deep colour, luscious, varietal fruit flavour and loads of soft tannins make juicy, irresistible current drinking.

Mitolo Jester Vermentino 2013 $19.50–$22
McLaren Vale, South Australia
Frank Mitolo says he grows the vermentino grapes for this wine, “at the southern end of McLaren Vale, about five kilometres east of the coastal town of Port Willunga”. The variety, best known in Sardinia and Liguria, seems to work well in warmer Australian locations. Mitolo’s been at it a few years now and in 2013 the wine seems notably fruitier and fuller flavoured than usual, though still with vibrant tropical and citrus flavours. The finish is savoury and dry.

Topper’s Mountain Gewurztraminer 2013 $35
Tingha, New England, NSW
Stand back when you open the bottle. Gewurztraminer’s penetrating musk and lychee aroma escapes instantly from the bottle before it’s even poured, let alone tasted. The potent perfume attracts and repels at the same time. The equally strong palate reveals the slightly oily, slick texture of the variety and gives a firm, tannic tweak to the dry finish. It’s a wine to marvel at on occasion and everyone should try it. But it’s hard to imagine coming back for a second glass, or drinking it more than once a year. The wine was made by Mark Kirby, high up in the New England ranges.

Wickhams Road Pinot Noir 2013 $16–$17
Gippsland, Victoria
Hoddles Creek Estate’s second label, Wickams Road, offers good quality Yarra Valley and Gippsland pinot noir and chardonnay at a reasonable price. The Gippsland pinot noir offers medium-bodied, savoury drinking with a good, food-friendly bite of tannins. The fruit flavour’s bright and fresh, with an earthy, funky under current. Wickhams Road Yarra Pinot Noir 2013 (same price) is in a similar mould, though with a greater focus on bright red-berry varietal flavours.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 12 March 2014 in the Canberra Times