Ravensworth Nebbiolo 2014
Hilltops, NSW
$35
As winemaker Bryan Martin and photographer David Reist launched their book, Tongue and Cheek, in March, guests quaffed Martin’s just-released 2014 nebbiolo. At its best, the Piedmontese variety makes lighter coloured, highly fragrant reds of great power and elegance, with firm tannins that outgrip even those of cabernet sauvignon. Martin’s new wine sits at the darker end of the nebbiolo scale, with alluring fragrance and a rounder, softer palate then the 2013 vintage reviewed last year. The tannins do come back and bite in the end, but this is already a friendly and distinctive drink. It joins Freeman (made by Brian Freeman) as another outstanding expression of the variety from the Hilltops region.

Clonakilla Syrah 2013
Clonakilla T and L vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$110
Over the last few years Clonakilla’s syrah (aka shiraz) has grown to rival the winery’s original flagship blend of shiraz and viognier. The unblended syrah, says winemaker Tim Kirk, “comes from our north-east facing T and L vineyard”, named for Kirk and wife, Laura. Kirk de-stems the grape bunches but leaves the berries intact in a single fermenter. A spontaneous ferment begins inside the berries and the wine macerates for a total of one month on the skins before being pressed off and matured for 15 months in French oak barrels. The result is a bright, intensely flavoured, spicy shiraz of extraordinary finesse – a wine to savour drop by drop. It should evolve well for many years.

Helm Premium Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$52
Ken Helm’s latest cabernet shows the perfectly ripe fruit of the outstanding vintage. In our cool district, leafy and herbaceous characters become part and parcel of cabernet’s flavour. However, there’s little sign of these characters in Helm’s latest vintage. Instead we smell and taste vibrant cassis-like varietal characters, backed by cabernet’s assertive tannins, which give backbone and longevity. At this early stage of the wine’s evolution, flavours from maturation in oak are also apparent, but hopefully time will harmonise the fruit–oak combination.

Eden Road The Long Road Pinot Noir 2013
Courabyra and Maragle vineyard, Tumbarumba, NSW
$30
Winemaker Nick Spencer says he sources fruit for The Long Road pinot noir from the Courabyra and Maragle vineyards in high, cool Tumbarumba. Originally planted to pinot noir and chardonnay for sparkling wine production, Tumbarumba soon showed its class with chardonnay as a still table wine. Pinot noir, however, remains a work in progress under makers like Eden Road. The Long Road finds favour in Canberra restaurants. We enjoyed it earlier this year at Restaurant 86, Braddon, and recently at the Lanterne Rooms, Campbell. It remains a lighter style pinot, with bright fruit, stemmy notes and quite a grip from its fine silky tannins.

Ross Hill Tom and Harry Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Ross Hill vineyard, Orange, NSW
$25
Phil Kerney turned out a lovely cool-climate cabernet in 2013. It earned trophies as best cabernet in the 2014 Orange Wine Show and 2014 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, Canberra. The judges perhaps became a little overexcited and I suspect they didn’t see Tom and Harry alongside Kerney’s Pinnacle Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 ($40), a wine of much greater dimension. Tom and Harry displays the vivid berry and eucalypt-like flavours of cool-grown cabernet in a fine, elegant, medium-bodied style.

Brangayne Isolde Reserve Chardonnay 2013
Brangayne vineyard, Orange, NSW
$30
Three-star/84
Isolde chardonnay comes from Brangayne vineyard. At an elevation of 960–1000 metres, it’s the higher of two sites owned by the Hoskins family. Deep down, the wine shows the flavour intensity and the crisp, high acidity you’d expect of fruit grown at this altitude. However, perceiving this fruit requires the drinker (well, this drinker, anyway) to overlook intrusive woody and resiny flavours, inserted presumably during oak fermentation and maturation. We might politely call the wine “old fashioned”. But Australian winemakers and drinkers moved on from this style long ago.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 16 and 17 June 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Brangayne of Orange Riesling 2014 $22
The Hoskins family owns two vineyards at Orange: the Brangayne vineyard (elevation 960 to 1,000 metres); and the slightly less cool Ynys Witrin vineyard (860 to 880 metres). Riesling, from the lower site, was harvested in the cool of a late March night and trucked about 200 kilometres north-east to Simon Gilbert’s Mudgee winery. The wine offers a style contrast to those from the Eden and Clare Valleys or Canberra. High acidity accentuates the wine’s citrus-like flavours – a hint of orange cut by zesty lemony tartness. At just 11.5 per cent alcohol, it sits light and spritely on the palate and finishes dry.

Clonakilla Canberra District Vintage 2013 (fortified shiraz) $30
The Portuguese now own the term “port”, leaving our winemakers to invent alternative names for what we once might have called “vintage port’. To winemaker Tim Kirk, though, this is just another expression of Canberra’s cool-grown shiraz – made from parcels too ripe to include in Clonakilla’s elegant, medium bodied table wines. “We made this from some of the ripest shiraz that came into the winery”, writes Kirk. Kirk arrested the still-sweet wine’s fermentation by adding very, strong, pure, grape spirit – beautifully named spiritus vini rectifacatus. And what a pure, elegant and sumptuous winter warmer it is – vibrant, spicy, sweet and harmonious, with long cellaring potential.

Tim Adams Clare Valley Cabernet Malbec 2010 $22–$26
Deep, inky malbec – the national red of Argentina and local specialty of Cahors, France – thrives in Australia, too. Our winemakers generally blend it with other varieties, though a number of straight varietals are available, notably from Langhorne Creek. It’s well established in the Clare Valley, too, and in the hands of veteran winemaker Tim Adams, adds a deep, earthy punch to cabernet sauvignon. At five years the first mellow touches of age add a lovely dimension to a vibrant, solid, chewy wine. Even so, the inherent elegance of cabernet may push through with a few more years’ bottle age.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 13 and 14 June 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Pipers Brook Riesling 2014 $34
Pipers Brook vineyard, Tasmania
Tasmania may well become Australia’s premier riesling-growing region, upstaging the variety’s traditional heartland of the Clare and Eden Valleys, South Australia. OK, let’s include comparative newcomers, Canberra District and Great Southern, Western Australia, too. For Tasmania, the question remains whether the whole island gets in on the act, or if the stars emerge from north, south or the east coast. Tasmanian veteran, Pipers Brook stakes its claim with this full-flavoured but delicate, high-acid riesling. Ironically, it weighs in with higher alcohol (13 per cent) than many of its warm-climate peers on the mainland. The alcohol contributes to the full flavour, but can’t push its head through the racy, citrusy flavours and comparatively austere acidity. Should age well for many years.

Bremerton Special Release Malbec 2013 $24
Bremerton vineyard, Langhorne Creek, South Australia
Langhorne Creek’s broad-acre vineyards contrast with the scattered, smaller plots seen in regions like the Canberra district. The Willson family’s 117-hectare Bremerton vineyard, while sizeable for a private holding, looks small compared to other holdings in the district, including Pernod-Ricard’s 300-plus hectare site, a major source for Jacob’s Creek wines. Sisters Lucy and Rebecca Willson make and market Bremerton wine from the family property but also sell fruit to other winemakers. The sisters’ special release malbec 2013, a blend from favoured barrels, offers the fragrant, plummy richness of the variety, complete with firm but rounded tannins and the spicy effect of maturation in Hungarian oak. It’s available at bremerton.com.au.

Golden Ball Shiraz 2012 $50–$55
Golden Ball Vineyard, Beechworth, Victoria
James and Janine McLaurin’s elegant, intensely savoury, highly distinctive shiraz sits comfortably within our preconceptions of Beechworth wine. Since Rick Kinzbrunner (Giaconda Wines) set the standard decades ago, the region proved an irresistible magnet for others with near fanatic perfectionism. And perfectionism has its price – based on low volumes and high production costs. The market generally supports Beechworth’s high prices. And in silky, savoury, more-ish wines like Golden Ball Shiraz 2013 you’ll find no argument from me. Limited distribution and sales, including at goldenball.com.au.

Mount Horrocks Shiraz 2013  $34–$40
Mount Horrocks vineyard, Watervale, South Australia
Stephanie Toole’s 2013 shiraz tastes slightly fuller and juicier than the lovely 2012 reviewed last year. It provides an interesting contrast to the Golden Ball 2012 reviewed today – and demonstrates the great diversity of styles now being made in Australia. Toole’s wine shimmers with bright, ripe fruit character, but there’s much more to it. The fruit comes deeply layered with soft tannins and a slick, chewy mid-palate, enriched by maturation in good quality oak barrels. It’s a generous warm-climate shiraz without that sits joyously on the palate.

Cross Stitch Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 $15
McLaren Vale and Coonawarra, South Australia
Some of Australia’s greatest reds have been blends of the Bordeaux variety, cabernet sauvignon, and Rhone Valley variety, shiraz. No one did it better than Grange creator, Max Schubert, with his fabulous, long-lived combinations of Barossa shiraz with Coonawarra cabernet. The practice continues today. In Cross Stitch, Angove’s winemakers effectively combine shiraz from McLaren Vale with cabernet from Coonawarra. The medium bodied wine shimmers with fresh fruit flavours, cut with the cabernet’s fine, firm tannins. While shiraz gives generosity, cabernet makes the wine leaner and tighter. It’s a pleasing style at a good price

Mad Fish Premium White 2014 $13.30–$18
Margaret River, Great Southern and Geographe, Western Australia
Behind the vague “premium white” name lurks a decent dry white, made entirely from chardonnay grown in the south west of Western Australia. The wine shows the bright, fresh, citrus-like flavours of chardonnay fermented in stainless steel, rather than oak barrels. An exotic note of passionfruit adds even more appeal to this rich, vibrant, all-purpose dry white. Affordable unoaked chardonnay has come along under the winemakers at Burch Family Wines, owners of Mad Fish, Howard Park, and Marchand and Burch.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 10 June 2015 in the Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Evans and Tate Metricup Road Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2013 $17.10–$24
Evans and Tate – founded in 1974 at Metricup Road, Margaret River – now belongs to Griffith-based McWilliams Wines, giving the brand much-needed stability and distribution. The wine’s prime focus is on the dazzling fresh fruit flavours of semillon and sauvignon blanc. In Margaret River, that takes on a, herbaceous, pungent dimension, reminiscent of cut grass, canned peas, lemongrass and lemon. However, winemaker Matt Byrne allowed a portion of the blend to ferment spontaneously in oak barrels and mature there on yeast lees. This added a textural richness which fattens the mid palate and adds to the overall interest of the wine.

Heartland Langhorne Creek Spice Trader Red 2013 $14–$16
In Heartland Spice Trader, the Langhorne Creek region (located near Lake Alexandrina) demonstrates why Australia’s winemakers fall over each other for its grapes. The area’s broad-acre vineyards produce large volumes of high-quality grapes that convert to rich, juicy, inexpensive wine. In Spice Trader, winemaker Ben Glaetzer captures the bright, varietal character of both varieties and beautifully balances the earthy, ripe flavours and softness of shiraz with the backbone and elegant structure of cabernet. This is very, very good wine at a bargain price.

Voyager Estate Margaret River Girt by Sea Cabernet Merlot 2012 $21.90–$28
Girt by Sea delivers an affordable and delightful, drink-now expression of the region’s great red specialty. Blended principally from cabernet and merlot (sometimes with a splash each of shiraz and malbec), it’s a rich but elegant, fine-boned red, based on sweet, ripe, red-berry flavours, with an attractive overly of cedar and tobacco-like character that seems to come partly from the oak and partly from the varietal blend. The very good 2012 vintage seems up to the very high quality of the 2011 vintage reviewed last year.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 6 and 7 June 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Blue Pyrenees Shiraz 2012
$14.95–$18
Blue Pyrenees vineyard, Pyrenees, Victoria
Every so often a wine comes along that runs off the value-for-money scale. The latest, Blue Pyrenees Shiraz 2012, provided camp-fired comfort during a wintery outdoor party. The bottle sat unloved on the bar, ignored as other reds came and went. What turned people off; perhaps the blue capsule or the unprepossessing label? Ah, but the wine inside couldn’t have been better for the occasion: medium bodied, fruity, spicy and savoury all at once – and oh, so soft, gentle and more-ish. It’s a triumph for the bargain hunter, and a salutary lesson not to judge wine by its label. A string of gold medals and trophies (awarded out of sight of the label) confirm the wine’s drink-now appeal.

Jacob’s Creek Riesling 2014 $9–$12
Barossa Valley, Langhorne Creek, Clare and Eden Valleys, South Australia
From Blue Pyrenees, a label many may never have seen, we come to Jacob’s Creek, a brand as familiar as Vegemite, but also delivering amazing quality for the price. And little wonder. The grapes come from the best South Australian addresses for the variety (Barossa, Clare and Eden Valleys) and, increasingly, from Langhorne Creek, to the south near Lake Alexandrina. Jacob’s Creek 2014 shows the floral and citrus aroma and flavours of riesling on a brilliantly fresh, dry palate. A very good riesling, but modestly priced, Jacob’s Creek often outscores pricier products in wine shows.

Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2014 $11.90–$20
Hunter Valley, NSW
In another time and labelled as riesling, not semillon, Elizabeth rated among the biggest selling white wines in Australia. Sometime during the switch from generic to varietal labelling (but not because of it) Elizabeth’s popularity waned. Yet it remains much the same, if a little brighter, fresher and younger at release. The aroma suggests lemongrass, and the light, bone-dry, lemony palate appeals in its tart, zesty, savoury and idiosyncratic way. Some will love this style; others may hate it. Watch for the retail specials and confidently cellar it to enjoy the extra richness age brings.

Red Knot by Shingleback Shiraz 2014 $12.40–$15
McLaren Vale, South Australia
The Davey family of Shingleback Wines, McLaren Vale, makes Red Knot for export markets, cellar door sales and for retail in Australia exclusively by Woolworths (Dan Murphy, BWS and Woolworths Liquor). They make an equivalent and interchangeable wine, Vin Vale by Shingleback, for Woolies’ archrival, Coles (Vintage Cellars, 1^st Choice and Liquorland). Shingleback’s winemakers reliably capture the ripe, earthy flavours of McLaren Vale shiraz, with its savoury undertones and soft, drink-now tannins.

Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay 2014 $9.40–$16
Padthaway and Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Wolf Blass made his first Yellow Label wines in 1966 and over time built one of Australia’s enduring wine brands, loved for their fruitiness and soft, easy drinkability. Blass sold the business decades ago, but the brand lives on under the ownership of Treasury Wine Estates. A recent note from winemaker Chris Hatcher says the wines now all bear regional labels. The delicious 2014 chardonnay, for example, combines from Padthaway (an hour’s drive north of Coonawarra) and Adelaide Hills, on the Mount Lofty Ranges, abutting Adelaide’s eastern suburbs. It’s an amazingly good, bright, loveable chardonnay, often discounted to around $10 a bottle.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 $14–$18
Moppity vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
In 2004 Jason and Alecia Brown bought the 78-hectare Moppity Vineyard from the receivers. Established in 1973, and the second oldest in Hilltops, the vineyard was mature but run down. After much TLC in the vineyard, and several changes of contract winemaker, we’re seeing a period of stability – and the best wines yet from what is clearly an outstanding vineyard. This is perhaps best seen when a great vintage like 2013 comes along. For a modest sum, Lock and Key provides a pure, fruity expression of cabernet, with cassis-like flavour, subtle, complementary oak and an elegant structure. You get a lot of wine for the price.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 2 and 3 June 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Heartland Langhorne Creek Dolcetto and Lagrein 2013 $20–$22
Heartland produces a unique blend of dolcetto – an inky deep, low-acid, aromatic Piedmontese red variety – and lagrein, a sometimes rustic, grippy variety from the Alto Adige region, in Italy’s north-east. Winemaker Ben Glaetzer says he captures dolcetto’s fresh, floral notes by fermenting and maturing it in stainless steel. On the other hand, he tames the lagrein component by maturing it in French oak barrels following fermentation. The result is a deeply coloured red, rippling with bright, juicy fruit flavours and cut through with assertive though soft tannins. This is Glaetzer’s tenth vintage of the blend – a 50:50 combination in 2013.

Clonakilla Canberra District Viognier 2014 $45
Although best known for its benchmark shiraz–viognier blend, Clonakilla also sits in the top ranks of Australia’s viognier makers. In warmer climes Rhone Valley white variety tends to make rich, oily whites that age prematurely and taste distinctly of apricots. These can be impressive on the first sip, but, like gewurtztraminer, can be just too much before the bottom of the bottle approaches. Clonakilla’s barrel-fermented version is another beast indeed: rich, plush and velvety but in a restrained, loveable way, featuring subtle, delicious ginger-like flavours. Thanks to a severe frost in late 2013, Tim Kirk produced very little viognier in 2014.

Chalmers Heathcote Nero d’Avola 2013 $29
The Chalmers family cultivates a range of so-called alternative varieties in their vineyards at Merbein (near Mildura) and Heathcote, Victoria. Bruce Chalmers was one of the founders of the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, which grew from 28 entries in 1999 to the current 600. Their vineyard at Heathcote includes the Sicilian variety nero d’Avola, noted for its deep colour, full body, ageing potential and ability to withstand hot, dry conditions. The medium- to deep-coloured 2013 shows a combination of funky and vibrant fruit characters and a taut, tannic palate, very much in the Italian mould.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 30 and 31 May 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Hahndorf Hill Winery Blueblood Blaufrankisch 2013
Hahndorf Hill vineyard, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
$40
Today’s selection of lesser-known wine varieties begins with the Austro-Hungarian red, blaufrankisch. It’s a significant variety around Wurttemberg, Germany; the second most widely planted red variety in Austria; and even more widely cultivated in Hungary. It arrived at Hahndorf Hill in the early 1990s. And from 2008, under new owners Larry Jacobs and Marc Dobson, graduated from the blending vat to star on its own. The 2013 offers delicious drinking – akin to pinot noir in its medium body and gamey dimension (albeit without the finesse) – but its own beast altogether in its blueberry- and cassis-like flavours and grippy, fine tannins.

Fox Gordon Dark Prince Nero d’Avola 2013
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
$24.95
Sicily’s most widely planted red variety makes a range of styles in its adopted Australian homes: from the elegant and savoury Chalmers, grown in Heathcote, Victoria, to this tremendously fruity Adelaide Hills style. Fruit pulses from the glass with intense, cassis- and jube-like sweetness. On the palate, the succulent fruit combines with the variety’s substantial but friendly tannins to give a memorable sensory experience. You will either love or hate this distinctive red, made by Natasha Mooney.

Di Giorgio Montepulciano 2014
Mundulla, Limestone Coast, South Australia
$23
Montepulciano is widely grown in Italy, but perhaps best known for the wholesome, rustic reds it makes in Abruzzi under the appellation Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Several Australian vignerons cultivate the variety in warmer regions. And now we have the di Giorgio family’s appealing version from milder Mundulla on the Limestone Coast, near Bordertown. Winemaker Bryan Tonkin let’s the fresh, bright summer-berry flavours shine through – before the variety’s tannins descend, drying out the palate with a fierce but friendly tweak.

Hesketh Negroamaro 2013
Kalleske vineyard, Koonunga Hill, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$25
Jonathon Hesketh and Phil Lehmann make a range of wines from traditional and alternative varieties, including Portugal’s touriga, Spain’s tempranillo and Italy’s negroamaro. From Puglia, southern Italy, negroamaro tends to make full, fruity wines to drink young. Hesketh 2013 fits that general description in a vigorous, fresh, clean Australian way. Fruit flavour, reminiscent of ripe, dark cherries, gives the palate a dense, deep sweetness, which is offset by mildly astringent, drying tannins.

Chalmers Fiano
Chalmers vineyard, Heathcote, Victoria
$33
“Fiano is an old [white] variety from Campania in southern Italy whose presence was first mentioned as early as 1240”, write Jancis Robinson and Jose Vouillamoz in Wine grapes, a complete guide to 1,368 varieties, including their origins and flavours. Though susceptible to mildew, fiano copes well with heat and is now well established in several Australian vineyards, where it makes characterful, full-flavoured wines. The Chalmers’ family, partly barrel-fermented version, from Heathcote, looks young and fresh at three years. It packs a big, fresh load of melon-rind and citrus-like flavours on a full, richly textured, dry palate.

Picpoul de Pinet (Domaine de la Majone) 2014
Languedoc, France
$24–$26
France’s picpoul de pinet appellation stretches from Pezenas, in the Languedoc hinterland, southeast to Sete on the Mediterranean. The region’s white grape variety, officially piquepoul blanc, produces acidic, lemony, dry whites, well suited to the local oysters. Indeed, producers market their wines under the slogan son terroir, c’est la mer (its territory is the sea). Melbourne’s heartandsoil.com.au imports this outstanding expression of the style: aromatic, citrusy and tangy with the acidic thrust and pleasantly tart bite to handle briny bivalves.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 26 and 27 May 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times