Yangarra McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012 $25
Yangarra’s irresistible red sits towards the finer end of McLaren Vale shiraz spectrum. It’s ripe, smooth and satisfying, but a tad lighter in body than some of its neighbours. Tasted alongside several other 2012 Australian shirazes, it pleased for the spice, savour and secondary earthy, leathery notes cutting through the lovely, bright fruit. We can’t quite evoke winemaker Peter Fraser’s “smells of rain on hot sun-baked sandstone and rusty galvo, and explosives in the quarry”. But we admire the passion and might drink the wine based on his descriptions alone.

Gallagher Canberra District Chardonnay 2014 $20
Greg Gallagher’s chardonnay offers just-off-the-vine fruity freshness, with zingy acidity biting through the melon-rind and citrus-like varietal flavours. There’s no oak in sight, leaving the fruit to provide the flavour and structure. Gallagher describes the vintage as a “season of two halves” – a dry warm first half, during which he picked most of the crop; and a wet second half, accompanied by disease, which destroyed some of the crop. He adds, the chardonnay “benefited from being harvested in the first part of this picking season”.

Sandalford Element Western Australia Merlot 2013 $11–$14
The first Sunday in spring calls for a note of optimism and a lighter bodied, fruity, luncheon red. Sandalford’s multi-region Western Australian merlot presents a fragrant, soft and fruity version of a chameleon variety. The variety adds perfume and mid-palate flesh to many seriously good cabernet blends. But it can also be medium bodied, fruity and soft, like this one; or dark, brooding, tannic and long lived, as in Pomerol’s classic Chateau Petrus or Petaluma’s Coonawarra merlot. At lunch, in spring, however, we opt for Sandalford’s happy floral and musk perfume and bright, friendly, fruity freshness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 7 September in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Nick O’Leary Shiraz 2013 $28
Fischer vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Canberra’s benign 2012–13 growing season produced, in abundance, grape quality not seen in the much cooler, wetter 2011 and 2012 vintages. Our exciting 2013 reds include Nick O’Leary’s shiraz – a jaw dropper that kept judges gaping as they piled gongs on it at the 2014 Royal Brisbane Wine Show. They gave it a gold medal, then three trophies: best one-year-old red of the show (Stoddart trophy), best shiraz of the show and best red of the show. This is a very significant achievement for Canberra shiraz, not just for O’Leary. It provides yet more recognition, in a hotly contested national event, of our region’s distinctive style. O’Leary’s highly perfumed, medium-bodied wine shows the vibrant red-berry-and-spice character of cool-grown shiraz – on a luscious, silky palate, cut with very fine tannins. This is a lot of wine at a modest price.

Mr Riggs Outpost Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $20–$22
Penley and Weatherall vineyards, Coonawarra, South Australia
Winemaker Ben Riggs sourced fruit for Outpost cabernet from Kym Tolley (Penley Estate) and Michael Weatherall in Coonawarra. 2012 was an excellent season down there, though based on a recent visit, likely to be surpassed by 2013. Whatever the merits of the coming 2013, though, Riggs’s 2012 delivers silver-medal quality at a keen price. It captures Coonawarra’s pure, blackcurrant-like varietal flavour and coats it with strong but gentle tannins. The combination delivers Coonawarra’s strength with elegance.

John Duval Wines Plexus Marsanne Roussanne Viognier 2013 $25–$30
Barossa Valley, South Australia
John Duval’s blend of three Rhone Valley white varieties offers a distinctive and mouth-watering alternative to popular single-variety whites like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and riesling. Chardonnay lovers in particular should love the full body and delicacy of the blend – and note the subtly different fruit flavours and very rich but soft texture. Marsanne (55 per cent) and roussanne (32 per cent) dominate the blend, while the much more assertive viognier makes up the balance.

Bremerton Tamblyn Cabernet Shiraz Malbec Merlot 2012 $16.70–$18
Langhorne Creek, South Australia
Produced by sisters Rebecca and Lucy Willson, Tamblyn brings together four much-loved red varieties, all from Langhorne Creek. Taste Tamblyn, and understand how the region earned the moniker, Australia’s middle palate. Long the source of anonymous multi-regional blend, the area makes wines of vibrant varietal character and rich, mouth filling flavours. Tambyln presents the backbone of cabernet, dark brooding character of malbec, generosity of shiraz and chocolaty richness of merlot – a mouthful of flavour at a fair price.

John Duval Plexus Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre 2012 $31.35–$40
Tanunda, Light Pass and Ebenezer, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Where the cooler summer of 2012 retarded ripening in the cool Canberra district, it produced some beautiful reds in warmer regions like the Barossa – albeit in a generally refined style than usual. In John Duval’s blend, vibrant red-berry characters underpin an otherwise savoury red of great complexity. Earthy shiraz provides a generous base for a blend that’s seasoned by fruity, perfumed grenache fruitiness and gripped by mourvedre’s persistent tannins. It’s an harmonious, understated that grew in interest as we tasted it over a period of four days.

Nick O’Leary Riesling 2014 $25
Lake George and Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Nick O’Leary’s new riesling combines grape from three locations: the original Westering vineyard, planted by the late Geoff Hood about 40 years ago (but now part of the Karelas family’s Lake George Vineyard), the Fischer and Long Rail Gully vineyards, Murrumbateman. In the warm 2014 vintage, O’Leary riesling presents floral varietal aromas and a fairly full, gentle palate. The palate reflects the floral aroma and also includes lemon-like flavours and the zingy acidity to see it through several years in the cellar.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 3 September 2014 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Pig in the House Cowra Chardonnay 2013 $20
Cowra played an important role in Australia’s chardonnay-drinking history. In 1977 the region provided fruit for the first and extraordinarily influential Petaluma chardonnay. And in the following decades it fed the ever-growing success of Rothbury Estate’s chardonnay. Back then, the style was ripe and peachy with a big lick of oak. But the market moved on to lighter, fresher, less oaky styles, and Cowra makers, in general, moved with it, albeit in declining volumes. Pig in the House, made at Windowrie Winery (belonging to the extended O’Dea family), presents the modern face of Cowra chardonnay – fresh and fruity (white-peach-like), medium bodied, zesty and dry.

Mr Riggs The Gaffer McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012 $19–$22
While Canberra vignerons enthuse more over the 2013 vintage than the cooler 2012 season, McLaren Vale winemaker Ben Riggs writes, “[2012 is] likely to be one of the better South Australian vintages of recent times”. He goes on, “McLaren Vale was a particularly lucky candidate, with a wet winter and relatively mild-to-warm summer and autumn over the ripening period, culminating in top-notch fruit”. The quality of the fruit shows in Riggs’s The Gaffer. It’s ripe, fruity, savoury and generous, but not at all heavy. That generous mid-palate and savoury, dry tannins give it a special McLaren Vale thumbprint, loved by so many red drinkers.

Yellowtail Australia Shiraz 2014 $8.55–$10
The Casella family’s affordable Yellowtail wines enjoy enormous international success – particularly in the USA where it’s the number one import, with sales reportedly in excess of 8.5 million dozen bottles annually. Add Casella’s domestic sales, and exports to around 50 countries and, by my estimate, total output could be around 12 million cases annually. Grapes are sourced from a vast network of independent grape growers, representing perhaps 10–11 thousand hectares of vines across Australia. Yellowtail’s barely-off-the-vine shiraz offers simple, clean, fresh, fruity, drink-now pleasure – but not the satisfying, more sturdy structure of, say, the Mr Riggs Gaffer reviewed today.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 31 August 2014 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Xanadu Stevens Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 $57–$65
Stevens Road vineyard, Margaret River, Western Australia
Xanadu’s classy cabernet comes from “21 rows of Houghton clone cabernet at the bottom of Block 3” [of the Stevens vineyard, planted 1989], says the company’s website. This tiny batch of grapes made one of the purest, most elegant and harmonious cabernets imaginable – a wine of great flavour intensity and assertive tannin structure, yet so satisfying and lovely to drink now. At a recent office tasting, drinkers preferred it decisively over the also excellent, and similarly priced, Lindemans St George Cabernet Sauvignon 2012. The winery has sold out, but some retailers have stock.

West Cape Howe Riesling 2014 $18–$20
Langton vineyard, Mount Barker, Western Australia
Western Australia’s remote Mount Barker region produces outstanding riesling largely thanks to the cooling effect of the ocean, 50km to the south. West Cape Howe 2014 shows the stunning freshness of the new vintage. The lime-like varietal flavour comes with a sharp and thrilling acidity that cuts through the palate, adding vibrance and length to the flavour and a pristine, dry finish. The wine’s intense, flavour, fine structure and high acidity all point to good medium-term cellaring.

Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2014 $23–$25
Balhannah, Woodside and Lenswood, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Cousins Michael Hill-Smith and Martin Shaw celebrate Shaw and Smith’s 25^th anniversary with yet another fruit-laden sauvignon blanc. The cousins launched their product just as New Zealand’s Marlborough sauvignons gained traction in the Australian market – but long before the variety overtook chardonnay as Australia’s favourite white wine. Shaw and Smith became (and remains) the benchmark for Australian sauvignons, in a field now totally dominated by Marlborough. Like a bottled fruit festival, the 2014 smells, tastes and delights like a mouthful of fresh, tangy, tart and sweet passionfruit.

Majella Merlot 2012 $28
Majella vineyard, Coonawarra, South Australia
Majella’s reputation for cabernet sauvignon and shiraz might well be matched one day by merlot. This is only the fourth vintage under the label, says proprietor Brian Lynn, but already we see in it the Coonawarra stamp of power with elegance. It’s an appealingly perfumed expression of the variety, and very fine-boned, despite its underlying gamey and earthy notes.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Shiraz 2012 $12.99
Moppity vineyard, Hilltops region, NSW
Moppity Vineyard owner, Jason Brown, recently launched a Canberra sales push, through local independent retailers. Cut-case displays of Brown’s entry-level Lock and Key range seem to be popping up everywhere, including at the city Supa Barn, where we bought our bottle for $12.99. A seriously good red at the price, Lock and Key 2012 won a gold medal at this year’s Royal Sydney Wine Show. It shows the floral, spicy, varietal aroma of the cool 2012 season and a medium-weight, smooth palate, reflecting the aroma.

Pig in the House Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $18–$25
Pig in the House vineyard, Cowra, NSW
In the early 1990s David and Elizabeth O’Dea planted vines on their Cowra property, Windowrie. They later built a substantial winery and switched from grape selling to winemaking. Their son Jason works in the family business and, with wife Rebecca, owns the separate, certified-organic Pig in the House vineyard nearby. Their 2012 cabernet (winner of the inaugural NASAA Certified Organic Wine of the Year Award) provides a lighter, vibrantly fruity expression of cabernet, with a leafy note that’s part varietal and part result of a cool growing season.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 27 August 2014 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Long Rail Gully Canberra District Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 $24
A wet vintage, and its attendant fungal diseases, ravaged much of Canberra’s grape crop in 2011. In addition, low temperatures meant a struggle for ripeness for what healthy fruit growers managed to salvage. Out of the near disaster, our vignerons made respectable wines, albeit stamped with the mark of the cold season. At Long Rail Gully, Murrumbateman, Richard Parker succeeded with this comparatively light but flavoursome cabernet. It delivers bright, fresh varietal flavours, tinged with leafiness, but not green or unripe as cabernet can be in these conditions. Fine tannins give structure to a wine best enjoyed with protein-rich food.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Chardonnay 2013 $12.99
Jason and Alicia Brown produce wine from their Moppity vineyard near Young (officially the Hilltops region) and their Coppabella vineyard in higher, cooler Tumbarumba. Huge wine-show success for their wines hasn’t yet pushed their prices up. Indeed, we bought the excellent Lock and Key chardonnay for $12.99 at city Supa Barn. The Brown’s top chardonnays come from Tumbarumba. But their Hilltops version still captures chardonnay’s melon- and white-peach-like flavour in vivid detail – and with the texture and finesse usually seen only in more expensive wines.

Pig in the House Cowra Shiraz 2012 $20–$25
In the early 1990s, farmers David and Elizabeth O’Dea established grapes on their property, Windowrie, about 20 kilometres downstream of Cowra, on the Lachlan River. They later made the transition from grape growing to winemaking. Later again, their son Jason, with wife, Rebecca, began converting a nearby vineyard to certified organic production. They named the vineyard Pig in the House – a salute to its former use (and a belief that the former owner allowed pigs into what is now Jason and Rebecca O’Dea’s farm house). Made in the Windowrie winery, this shiraz is fragrant but earthy, medium bodied, with delicious, fresh red-berry flavour and a dry, pleasantly tart finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 24 August 2014 in the Canberra Times

Mount Majura Tempranillo 2013 $42
Mount Majura vineyard, Canberra District, ACT
Frank van de Loo’s 2013 tempranillo offers greater richness and power than the excellent but leaner style from the cool 2012 vintage. Blended from three separate blocks of this Spanish variety on the 9.3ha Mount Majura vineyard, it combines fresh, vibrant fruity flavours with the savour and chewy, juicy tannins of the variety. This is perhaps the best since van de Loo’s first in 2003 – an exciting wine, showing the extra dimension of a great vintage. Perhaps to satisfy his own curiosity, as much as that of the wine’s follower, van de Loo is also releasing (in October) separate bottlings from each of Mount Majura’s three tempranillo blocks

Mount Majura Individual Vineyard Tempranillos 2013 $45
Mount Majura, Canberra District, ACT
In October, Mount Majura will release tempranillos from each of three separate blocks on the property. Each contributes to the flagship blend, reviewed above. The wines are: Rock Block, a fragrant, soft, slightly minty wine from the original 2000 plantings; Little Dam (grafted onto pinot noir vines in 2004), a powerful and firm wine with exceptional fruit concentration and length; and Dry Spur (grafted onto merlot vines in 2009), with deep, sweet, blackcurrant-like flavour, cut with firm, fine tannins.

Helm Tumbarumba Riesling 2014 $26
Tumbarumba, NSW
Frosts in October 2013 significantly reduced Ken Helm’s Murrumbateman 2014 riesling crop. As he did in 2013, Helm sourced fruit from Juliette Cullen’s vineyard at Tumbarumba. It offers pure, lime-like varietal riesling aromas and flavours on a taut, dry and intense palate. The high acidity and long dry finish suggest some potential for the wine to age well, though that same acidity, in conjunction with delicious fruit, means good drinking now, too. Helm also sourced fruit from a vineyard near Orange, releasing it as Helm Central Ranges Riesling 2014. This is a floral, bright, fresh riesling with a round, gentle fruity palate and soft, fresh finish.

Santolin Individual Vineyard Chardonnay 2013 $42
Yarraland Vineyard, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Adrian Santolin made just 250 dozen of this wine from grapes he purchased from the Yarraland vineyard in the Yarra Valley. It’s an impressive, barrel- fermented and –matured wine, in a style increasingly seen in Australia. At its heart is the bracing, fresh grapefruit-like varietal flavour of high quality, cool-grown chardonnay. The winemaking process, however, adds greatly to the wine’s textural richness and the strong, but balanced seasoning often referred to vaguely as “funky”. This character comes from naturally occurring sulphur compounds that sit comfortably, if teasingly, in wines of this calibre. See santolinwines.com.au for stockists.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 20 August 2014 in the Canberra Times