Sancerre (Domaine des Grosses Pierres) 2013 $19–$28
This delightful unoaked French sauvignon blanc showed up in a masked tasting alongside oak-fermented 10X Mornington Peninsula Sauvignon Blanc 2014 ($28). They’re both comparatively delicate sauvignons, though poles apart in style. The 10X wine showed varietal tang and herbaceousness, overlaid with the rich texture and charry aroma derived from barrel fermentation. The wine from Sancerre, Loire Valley, on the other hand showed delicately herbal and tropical-fruit-like flavours, with great freshness and vivacity. The lightness and purity of the wine is preserved by a screwcap and therefore a safer buy than cork-sealed wines from sauvignon’s French heartland.

Mr Mick Clare Valley Novo Sangiovese 2015 $12.80–$17
Many years back the success of the light, fruity, young reds of France’s Beaujolais region fanned a brief craze for Australian lookalikes. Winemakers large and small plunged in. However, demand for both the French and local versions quickly receded and Australians reverted to drinking big, solid reds. The release of Tim Adams’ Novo Sangiovese 2015, sparked memories of those vibrant, light and fruity styles. It’s a wine to enjoy lightly chilled, with or without food, during the warm months. The light crimson colour, shimmering, summer-berry flavours and tart tannins provide easy, refreshing drinking.

Richmond Grove Limited Release McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012 $12.90–$22
The term “limited release” surely means little on a widely distributed, deeply discounted red from one of Australia’s largest wine groups, French-owned Pernod Ricard Australia. Not in question though is the wine’s quality, authenticity and sheer good value. It combines the bright, fresh, pure varietal flavours of modern winemaking, with the deeper savoury character of McLaren Vale shiraz. Oak maturation also adds to the savouriness, while building richness on the mid palate and mellowing the wine’s earthy tannins.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 14 and 15 November 2015 in goodfood.com.au  and the Canberra Times

Hurley Vineyard Hommage and Garamond Pinot Noirs 2013
Hommage and Garamond vineyards, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
$70 and $85
This review covers two Hurley Vineyard 2013 pinots – one from the Hommage block ($70), the other from Garamond block ($85). They were tasted masked, then, after unveiling, consumed over the next hour or so. Hommage shows a vibrant, ripe, pure and mouth-filling side of pinot – fragrant, generous and round, but with a good backbone of soft tannin. The more intense Garamond shows pinot’s tighter, leaner face, with stemmy and savoury characters woven in with the fruit, and quite firm tannins attenuating a long, satisfying finish.

Chapel Hill The Parson Shiraz 2014
McLaren Vale, South Australia
$15.20–$18
Winemakers Michael Fragos and Bryn Richards consistently turn out excellent McLaren Vale reds. While the best of these sell for around $75, the winemakers take their entry-level shiraz very seriously indeed. The Parson captures the essence of modern McLaren Vale shiraz. Bright, fresh and clean, it combines plummy varietal flavours, which dominate the wine now, with the Vale’s earthy savour and fine but grippy tannins. Bigger retailers discount the wine regularly, currently to $15.20 in six bottle lots. This is a bargain.

Yering Station Chardonnay 2013
Yering Station vineyards, Yarra Valley, Victoria
$40
Where riesling largely expresses varietal fruit flavours, unadorned by winemaker inputs, the best chardonnays carry the winemaker’s thumbprint. In modern Australian winemaking that means aromas, flavours and textures introduced by fermentation and maturation in oak barrels – plus other factors, including whether grape solids are included in the ferment, the type of yeast (inoculated or indigenous) and whether malolactic fermentation occurs, either partially or fully. Yering Station builds on juicy, vivid grapefruit- and -nectarine-like varietal flavour with barrel-derived texture and funky aroma.

Richmond Grove Limited Release Riesling 2015
Watervale, Southern Clare Valley, South Australia
$18.05–$22
Way back in 1998, inspired by winemaker John Vickery, Richmond Grove led the modern charge into screw caps – arguably the wine industry’s greatest quality breakthrough in a generation. Vickery retired from Richmond Grove in 2009, but his winemaking style continues with this delicious riesling. From the warm 2015 vintage, it’s fuller and rounder than usual, but remains packed with Watervale’s signature lime-like aromas and flavours and brisk, refreshing finish.

Pouilly-Fume Close des Criots (Domaine Christian Salmon) 2013
$32.90–$39
Before Marlborough seized Australia’s sauvignon blanc market, what little of the variety Australians enjoyed came mainly from Pouilly-sur-Loire and Sancerre in France’s Loire Valley. This excellent Pouilly-Fume shows a shy, demure side of sauvignon, the antithesis of Marlborough’s uber-fruity style. Herbal and savoury varietal flavours come on a fresh, soft, supple, smooth-textured palate. Loire sauvignons can be green and austere, but this one offers ripe flavours and slips down easily. Available at Jim Murphy’s Airport Cellars. (Stocks of the 2013 vintage are low but the 2014 is being distributed).

Colvin Wines Sangiovese 2005
De Beyers Vineyard, Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, NSW
$33.35–$35
The Colvin family owns De Beyers vineyard, located near Tyrrells at the base of the Brokenback Ranges – a majestic backdrop to the lower Hunter Valley wine region. The family grows Hunter staples, semillon and shiraz, but added Tuscany’s sangiovese in 1995 and 1996. Though Tyrrells now make the wine, this early vintage was made by the late Trevor Drayton, a good friend of John Colvin. Ten years after vintage, the medium-bodied wine combines freshness and sweet fruit with the mellow flavours of age, a unique Hunter earthiness and tender tannins. It’s available in limited quantities, along with other vintages, at colvinwines.com.au.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 10 and 11 November 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Greywacke Pinot Noir 2013
Yarrum and other vineyards, southern valleys, Marlborough, New Zealand
$40–$45
Marlborough makes its red specialty, pinot noir, mostly in the light and fruity, drink-now style. However, the area’s cool, sunny climate suits the variety and the best equal those of more glamorous New Zealand pinot regions like Central Otago and Martinborough. Kevin Judd’s Greywacke is one of those. His beautifully harmonious, 2013 delivers deep, ripe, varietal flavours, meshed with the earthy, savoury, smoky flavours and silky texture of great pinot noir.

Soumah Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2014
Soumah vineyard, Gruyere, Yarra Valley, Victoria
$31–$40
Soumah 2014 topped the chardonnay classes at this year’s Royal Sydney Wine Show to win the chardonnay trophy, then the best-white-of-show trophy. The judges no doubt loved the completeness of a wine built on outstanding stone-fruit and grapefruit-like varietal flavour, with the extra dimension contributed by skilled winemaking: barrel fermentation with indigenous yeast, barrel maturation and partial malolactic fermentation (converting harsh malic acid to soft lactic acid). That all adds up to a full-bodied, smooth-textured, refined chardonnay, seasoned with barrel-derived flavours.

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz 2014
Padthaway, Coonawarra and Bordertown, Limestone Coast, South Australia
$10.90–$18
On a quality basis, Jacob’s Creek Reserve justifies its full $18 recommended price. But why pay that when it’s perennially discounted, currently to $10.90 as part of a six-bottle buy? Lap it up and let the marketers worry about how they differentiate it from the standard Jacob’s Creek brand. The 2014 delivers pure, vibrant varietal fruit flavours on a medium-bodied, elegantly structured palate.

d’Arenberg d’Arry’s Original Shiraz Grenache 2013
McLaren Vale, South Australia
$16–$19
d’Arry Osborn popularised this rich, warm blend of shiraz and grenache decades ago as d’Arenberg Burgundy. Varietal labelling from the early 1990s made no difference to its quality, style or long-term cellaring ability – the latter a rare thing in sub-$20 reds. The new release shows the extra body and depth of a very good vintage. It offers full-flavoured, bright fruit, deeply layered with firm, satisfying tannins – perhaps a touch firmer and more assertive than usual.

Huntington Estate Semillon 2015
Huntington Estate vineyard, Mudgee, NSW
$22
Huntington Estate, founded in 1969 by Bob and Wendy Roberts, built a reputation as much for its music festival as for its long-lived red wines. Tim Stevens bought Huntington a decade ago and continues making wine in the styles established by Roberts. Stevens’ new semillon, weighing in at just 11.7 per cent alcohol, provides light, lemony, juicy flavours on a soft, drink-now palate. Available at huntingtonestate.com.au.

Tulloch Pokolbin Dry Red Shiraz 2014
Pokolbin, Lower Hunter Valley, NSW
$30
There’s a paradox in Hunter shiraz: a warm to hot region this far north ought to make ink-deep, high-alcohol, big and tannic wines. Instead it makes limpid, medium bodied shiraz of moderate alcohol (13.5 per cent), with soft, silky tannins. The Tulloch family’s 2014, a great example of the regional style, sits light and bright on the palate, with fruit flavours reminiscent of red summer berries. Soft tannins weave through the fruit and together they create a well balanced, satisfying but gentle red. It’s enjoyable now, but a few years’ bottle age should see the Hunter’s earthy characters come into the picture.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 3 and 4 November 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Balnaves “The Tally” Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Balnaves family vineyards, Coonawarra, South Australia
$90
The dense colour and vivid purple meniscus suggest a five-year old of great staying power. The aroma and palate confirm the wine’s youth and could accurately be described as essence of cabernet. Ripe cassis-like varietal flavour saturates a powerful palate, deeply layered with fruit and tannin, part of it oak derived. Despite the wine’s power, it retains Coonawarra’s elegant structure. Were it not for the ProCork seal – a cork coated with a wrinkly, plastic membrane at each end – this would be a five-star wine. Wine has already travelled past the membrane, raising questions about the seal’s long-term integrity, crucial in a potentially very long lived wine.

Lerida Estate Pinot Noir 2014
Lerida vineyard, Lake George, Canberra District, NSW
$26.50
Lerida Estate lit up an inconsistent pinot noir class at the local agricultural society’s Canberra and Region Wine Show 2015, winning the only two gold medals among16 entrants. Judges rated the $65 Lerida Josephine 2014 slightly ahead of the $26 wine, which is due for release in about three months, says owner Jim Lumbers. Lerida’s $35 Cullarin Pinot Noir 2014 won a bronze medal in the same class. Lumbers long-term vineyard and winery work on pinot, in conjunction with winemaker Malcolm Burdett, is paying off. He says pinot is the only red variety to ripen reliably on this elevated, cool site. Continuing tweaks to canopy management and winemaking regime produced this aromatic, fine-boned, silky style.

Battle of Bosworth Shiraz 2013
The Hill, Braden’s and Chanticleer vineyards, McLaren Vale, South Australia
$23.75–$25
Nothing fancy about Battle of Bosworth 2013, just a big mouthful of ripe, juicy shiraz flavours, reminiscent of luscious black cherries or, as one taster saw it, sour cherry. In the ripe, early 2013 vintage that lovely fruit flavour remains at the heart of the wine, where in cooler years the spicy and savoury characters of McLaren Vale shiraz tend to be more pronounced. Ripe, soft tannins match the sweet fruit and complete a delicious, drink-now red.

Mount Horrocks Semillon 2014
Watervale, Southern Clare Valley, South Australia
$30
Stephanie Toole’s semillon provides the full body and texture of an oak-fermented white but unique flavours, far removed from our usual oak-fermented tipple, chardonnay. Semillon’s unique lemon- and lemongrass-like characters come through in both the aroma and flavour and give delicious vigour and life to the deep, satisfying palate. The 2014 perhaps shows a little less flesh and more lemongrass character than the 2013.

Traviarti Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Fighting Gully vineyard, Beechworth, Victoria
$30
Simon Grant moved to north-eastern Victoria to head a grape-grower cooperative before buying land in Beechworth. He established a vineyard devoted mainly to Piedmontese variety nebbiolo, with a smaller amount of Spain’s tempranillo. While waiting for his own vineyard to produce, Grant sourced cabernet grapes from Mark Walpole’s neighbouring Fighting Gully Road vineyard. It’s a tasty first effort, offering ripe, well-defined cabernet varietal flavours, with good mid-palate richness (often missing from cabernet) and assertive tannins, which give a firm, dry finish.

d’Arenberg The Hermit Crab Viognier Marsanne 2014
McLaren Vale, South Australia
$14.25–$16
McLaren Vale’s warm climate appears to suit Rhone Valley white varieties viognier and marsanne better than it does chardonnay, riesling and sauvignon blanc. Chester Osborne’s blend puts the bolder of the two varieties, viognier, in the driver’s seat. This gives the wine its distinctive apricot- and ginger-like character and slick texture, ameliorated somewhat by the marsanne. For a reasonable price it provides vibrant, rich, dry drinking with unique flavour and texture.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 27 and 28 October 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Hewitson Miss Harry Barossa Valley 2013 $21.85–$25
What would a bunch of hairy chested blokes make of tender, supple, perfumed Miss Harry, served alongside burly reds from Clare Valley and McLaren Vale? The group generally favours big, ripe shiraz with their post-tennis curry. But the lighter coloured Miss Harry overcame early suspicions and several drinkers came back for more. The blend of grenache, mourvedre, shiraz, cinsault and carignan provides perfume, spice, ripe fruit, supple texture and instant gratification. It’s a subtle, medium bodied red in a unique, tender, juicy Barossa style.

Grosset Clare Valley Apiana 2015 $40
Jeffrey Grosset’s Apiana combines semillon with fiano, a very old white variety from Campania, Italy. It was mentioned as early as 1240, write Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz in Wine grapes (2012). They describe the variety as a “rich, waxy, strongly flavoured, fashionable, southern Italian”, cultivated in Australia by Grosset and others “looking for varieties that withstand the heat”. Grosset’s blend provides exciting drinking, with vivid citrus and melon fruit flavours and chewy, smooth texture that could indeed be called “waxy”.

Yalumba Christobel’s Barossa Semillon Sauvignon Blanc $12.35–$15
Had mainland Australia remained a few degrees further south, our vignerons may have had an answer to New Zealand sauvignon blanc, the absolute leader of Australia’s white wine market. Alas, we can’t match what the folks make in cool but sunny Marlborough at 41-degrees south. However, we can offer a bright and zesty alternative with our blends of semillon and sauvignon blanc. Early picked Barossa semillon gives a lively, zesty, citrusy tang to Christobel’s blend, while the mention of “sauvignon blanc” on the label no doubt adds commercial appeal.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 24 and 25 October 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times