Chalmers Heathcote Fiano 2012 $33
The little known white variety, fiano, thrives in the heat of Italy’s Campania region, where it’s been known since around 1240. Australian winemakers took this cue to plant it in our warmer regions – and it obliged by making characterful dry whites well removed in style from our usual fare. The Chalmers family’s version, from Heathcote Victoria, delivers bold, fresh flavours, reminiscent of melon-rind and citrus fruit. Partial barrel fermentation added to the wine’s rich, smooth texture. And being Italian, it finishes, of course, with a pleasantly tart tang.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 16 and 18 July 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times Panorama

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Shiraz 2013
Coonawarra, South Australia
$33–$44
Wynns’ top-end reds, due for release on 5 August, include this outstanding vintage of Black Label Shiraz. A relative newcomer to Wynns’ line-up, Black Label is the shiraz equivalent, in price and quality, to the legendary Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon, made continuously since 1954. The 2013 vintage displays Coonawarra’s distinctive strength with elegance – where intense fruit and strong tannins meld seamlessly in a wine of great finesse. Our bottle drank well and evolved without degradation for four days after opening, suggesting a long cellaring life.

Viognier by Farr 2013
Farr family vineyards, Geelong, Victoria
$50.35–$61
Is a wine handcrafted if it’s foot stomped, like the Farr family’s exotic, delicious viognier? The variety all too easily makes flat and flabby wines, oozing with strong apricot-like flavours. But in this instance cool growing conditions and early harvesting mean a more restrained style. The Farr wine retains a hint of varietal apricot character in its silky, rich palate, but the flavour leans more to ginger, seen in the finest examples of the variety. Barrel fermentation and maturation contributed to the wine’s plush texture.

Pizzini Pietra Rossa Sangiovese
Pizzini vineyards, King Valley, Victoria
$25–$28
Pietra Rossa, the new name for Pizzini’s original sangiovese, distinguishes it from four other reds and a rosé they now make from the variety. In the warm, dry 2013 season Pietra Rossa reveals sangiovese’s deep, savoury characters, reminiscent of black olives, soy and tobacco. These savoury elements mingle on the palate with sour-cherry-like fruit flavours and the variety’s firm, drying tannins.

Keller von der Fels Riesling Trocken 2014
Florsheim-Dalsheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
$59–$65
Riesling’s motherland shows its class with this pale, delicate, dry beauty. Germany’s riesling reputation rests largely on sweeter wines produced along the Rhine and Mosel rivers. However, dry (trocken) rieslings like Keller’s can be equally impressive. A pale and highly aromatic wine, it shimmers with vibrant fruit flavours on a palate that combines power and rich texture with supreme delicacy. One bottle won’t be enough. Contact the importer, heartandsoil.com.au, for stockists.

Smith and Hooper Pinot Grigio 2014
Wrattonbully, South Australia
$17–$19
Whether called by the French name, pinot gris, or the Italian pinot grigio, this pink-grey version of the noble pinot grape tends to make bland, non-descript wine. However, in the right climate, with attentive vineyard care and winemaking, it can rise above the ordinary, as it does in Smith and Hooper’s version. A spontaneous fermentation on grape solids, followed by six months’ maturation on spent yeast cells, gave the wine a rich texture. This texture, combined with delicate pear-like varietal flavour, gives the wine considerable appeal.

Yalumba Galway Vintage Malbec 2012
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$19
It all began with Yalumba Galway “Claret” back in 1943. And recently the Yalumba marketers extended the brand with the release of this very fruity Barossa malbec. The wine capture’s malbec’s plummy perfume and flavour on a medium bodied, moderately tannic palate. It’s all about purity of fruit flavour, with little sign of winemaker add-ons. Drink now.

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

Yering Station Yarra Valley Village Chardonnay 2012 $25
Sauvignon blanc remains Australia’s most consumed white wine. But Australian vignerons make only about a quarter as much sauvignon as they do chardonnay, which remains by far our number one homegrown white variety. Australian wineries take in around 400 thousand tonnes a year of chardonnay grapes, equivalent to about 30 million dozen bottles of wine. Much of this is exported in bulk or bottle. However, we drink most of the good stuff, including gems like the Rathbone family’s Yering Station Village 2012. At three years’ age it portrays the fresh, delicious, deeply layered flavour of elegant, cool-grown oak-fermented and -matured chardonnay.

Campbells of Rutherglen Bobbie Burns Shiraz 2013 $19.95–$22
Australian shiraz covers a broad style spectrum, determined largely by climate – from limpid, supremely elegant, cool-grown versions, structured like pinot noir, to black and burly, gum-crunching monsters, grown in hot conditions. Bobbie Burns comes from one of those regions, Rutherglen. But the Campbell family tames the monster, without losing the distinctive port-like ripeness, full body and abundant tannins. Fine -tuning of the style over the years means a Bobbie Burns of bright fruit aromas and flavours, albeit very ripe, mingled with rustic but not rough tannins. The wine has a proven ability to evolve over many years in the cellar – a rare distinction in reds at this price.

Smith and Hooper Wrattonbully Merlot 2013 $16.15–$21
The Wrattonbully region lies to the north and east of Coonawarra on South Australia’s Limestone Coast. Planting in the region exploded from the early to mid nineties during an export-led red-wine boom. Companies were attracted by Wrattonbully’s lower land prices and climatic similarity to well-established Coonawarra. Twenty years on, the region contributes to many of Australia’s popular multi-region wines and top-shelf reds, while slowly building its own identity. Smith and Hooper (part of the Hill-Smith and Yalumba empire) capture true merlot character in this wine: ripe, plummy and herbal flavours, medium body, elegant structure and grippy but fine tannins.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 11 and 12 July 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Sangreal By Farr Pinot Noir 2013
Farr Sangreal vineyard, Bannockburn, Geelong, Victoria
$80
Pinots from Gary Farr, and son Nick, always excite and unfailingly rate among the top few Australian pinots tasted each year. In the warm, dry 2013 season, Sangreal, my favourite of the Farr’s pinots, offers particularly generous, juicy, seductive fruit flavours. But there’s much more than fruit to this amazingly aromatic wine, including layers of interweaving flavours and textures derived from stems, fruit, skins and maturation in new oak barrels. Discernible as the individual flavours and aromas might be, no single component dominates. Rather, they meld into one utterly delicious, moreish, definitively pinot whole. Include Sangreal 2013 on your Christmas wish list.

Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Majella vineyard, Coonawarra, South Australia
$33–$37
One of Australia’s most loved regional–varietal combinations shows it class in the just-released Majella 2013. From the Lynn family’s vineyard on the eastern side of Coonawarra, the wine shows the ripe, plush, seductive fruit flavours of the warm, dry vintage. For all its richness, however, Majella retains its crystal-clear, cassis-like, varietal flavour, with a distinctive touch of mint, also characteristic of Coonawarra and the variety. Firm, fine tannins – derived from both fruit and oak – support an outstanding cabernet with proven ability to evolve well for many, many years.

Domaine Chandon Chardonnay 2014
Yarra Valley, Victoria
$21.95–$32
Winemaker Dan Buckle writes, “We have expanded our interest in sulphides and wild yeast. It’s great when the yields are really low, we can push the style a little harder knowing we have good fruit concentration”. Roughly interpreted, that means a wine made from very richly flavoured grapes can handle a high level of winemaker-induced flavours. In this instance, Buckle allowed the wine to ferment spontaneously, that is, without the addition of cultured yeasts. The wild yeasts, living and dead, gave rich texture and low-level “struck match” character (sulphides) to a vibrant, elegant chardonnay in which the varietal grapefruit- and -nectarine-like fruit flavours remain central.

Pizzini Nona Gisella Sangiovese 2013
Pizzini vineyard, King Valley, Victoria
$21.50
Winemaker Joel Pizzini now produces a number of different sangioveses, expressing variations of site, clone and winemaking approach. Nona Gisella is a medium-bodied red, revealing the inherent flavour of sangiovese, low in overt winemaker inputs, such as oak. Unique, bitter-cherry varietal flavours come packaged up with firm, savoury tannins, which give the wine more kick than the pale colour suggests. The savouriness, reminiscent of black olives, and tannic bite make the wine well suited to high-protein food, especially grilled or roasted red meats.

John Duval Plexus Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre 2013
Tanunda, Ebenezer, Krondorf, and Light Pass, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$33–$40
John Duval’s latest Plexus provides a rich, characterful and refined expression of the Barossa’s classic combination of shiraz, grenache and mourvedre. Shiraz (54 per cent) leads the blend, giving it great richness and depth of fruit flavour; grenache (32 per cent) contributes perfume, spice and softness; and mourvedre contributes quite firm tannins. This year’s release seems fuller and riper than the 2012, with quite a firm finish from the mourvedre.

Gaelic Cemetery Celtic Farm Riesling 2014
Gaelic Cemetery vineyard, Clare Valley, South Australia
$20
Gaelic Cemetery wines is a joint venture involving well-known Clare Valley vignerons, Andrew and Neil Pike, Grant Arnold, and Mario and Ben Barletta. Neil Pike makes the wine, while Grant Arnold owns the Gaelic Cemetery vineyard, five kilometres north of Clare township. Pike produces two wines under the label, Gaelic Cemetery Premium, a more austere, potentially long-lived riesling; and the drink-now Celtic Farm. Typical of 2014, the wine is highly aromatic, with full, round, lemon- and lime-like varietal flavour and dazzling fresh acidity.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 7 and 8 July 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Wolf Blass Original Collection McLaren Vale Shiraz 2013 $20
We bought this satisfying McLaren Vale red at BWS, Broome, packed it into the back of our Hilux and headed off for the Gibb River Road. It survived endless corrugations and finally, at the 3,200-square-kilometre Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary, emerged red-dusty and delicious onto the camp table. After a hot day, relieved by swims in the Fitzroy and Adcock Rivers, Wolfie’s shiraz warmed our cool Kimberley night. It delivered the generous, ripe flavours of McLaren Vale shiraz in an excellent season – complete with the region’s distinctive savouriness and silky, seductive tannins big winemaking companies manage so adeptly.

John Duval Plexus Barossa Valley White 2014 $25–$30
John Duval’s Plexus combines the Rhone Valley white varieties, marsanne, roussanne and viognier. The exuberant viognier, with its at times in-your-face apricot-like flavours, comprises just 13 per cent of the blend. The more demure marsanne and roussanne therefore lend the wine some restraint – albeit in a particularly fruity style in the 2014 vintage. The vibrant, upfront fruit gives the wine immediate appeal. But oak fermentation and maturation of part of the blend contributes a smooth texture and savouriness – giving it even greater appeal and setting it apart from our usual white menu of riesling, semillon, chardonnay or sauvignon blanc.

Neve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2013 (Aldi) $7.99
German chain Aldi continues to apply the blow torch to its competitors’ nether regions with amazingly well targeted, low priced, high quality wines like this. You can hear Coles and Woolies squealing as, at last, the German upstart applies real margin-pinching competition to Australia’s east coast. The chain’s Neve Marlborough 2013 brings us the previously unthinkable – drinkable pinot at $8 a bottle. The pinot grape requires modest yields and a cool climate to produce its distinctive, lighter bodied reds – with Marlborough the frontrunner for this increasingly popular style. Neve offers simple, light, fresh, true varietal flavours.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 23 June and 5 July in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Domaine Chandon Shiraz 2013
Yarra Valley, Victoria
$25–$32
Today’s reviews cover six faces of shiraz, Australia’s great red specialty. Domaine Chandon carries the cool-climate banner with a beautifully aromatic, medium bodied style. Winemaker Dan Buckle writes, “In 2013 we made the decision to move our shiraz production from Heathcote to the Yarra Valley”. In a tweet, he added, “We have some xlnt Yarra vineyards at our doorstep. Literally”. The regional change means a shift from Heathcote’s power and savour, to a spicier, highly aromatic Yarra style – a supple, smooth, richly flavoured wine that sits lightly on the palate and drinks beautifully right now.

Majella Shiraz 2013
Majella vineyard, Coonawarra, South Australia
$30–$35
Majella shiraz caught our attention from the very first vintage, 1991 – the year the grape-growing Lynn family began its gradual, and now complete, transition to winemaker. Their shiraz, though elegant and fine boned in the Coonawarra style, nevertheless requires cellaring to bring out its best, perhaps even more so in the powerful 2013 vintage. Behind the light, vivid, limpid colour lie deep, sweet berry fruit flavours, tightly bound up in fine but assertive fruit and oak tannins. The wine has its charms now, but from past experience we can expect the delicate and lovely fruit to flourish with a decade or so of cellaring.

Sevenhill Inigo Shiraz 2013
Sevenhill vineyards, Clare Valley, South Australia
$17–$28
Winemaker Liz Heidenrech says the 2013 Clare vintage arrived early, but disease free and characterised by small intensely flavoured berries. Heidenrech fermented the shiraz from the estate’s very old vines in open slate fermenters, mined from nearby Mintaro. Although the wine weighs in at 15.2 per cent alcohol, it remains graceful and well balanced, with seductive, juicy, deep, ripe, vibrant fruit flavours – seasoned with varietal spice and a hint of oak-derived vanilla. Soft, round tannins meld smoothly with the fruit flavours, making a big, bold wine immediately approachable.

Torbreck Woodcutters Shiraz 2013
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$22.80–$25
The big and beautiful Barossa Valley produces big and varied shiraz styles, characterised by full, ripe flavours and tender tannins. For its entry-level shiraz, Torbreck sources grapes from a number of distinct Barossa sub-regions: Marananga, Greenock, Ebenezer, Gomersal, Moppa, Lyndoch and Kalimna. It’s a hearty, 15-per-cent-alcohol style, combining ripe, dark-cherry-like fruit flavours with a chewy, satisfying lode of soft, savoury tannin.

Forester Estate Shiraz 2012
Margaret River, Western Australia
$17.10–$24
Forester Estate provides a full-bodied expression of Margaret River shiraz, with a vivid purple hue – perhaps attributable to the inclusion of alicante bouschet in the blend. Deeply coloured alicante bouschet, a cross of petit bouschet and grenache, was historically used to add colour to lighter red wines. Whatever its contribution, shiraz remains the keynote in a full-flavoured red, featuring plum- and dark-cherry-like varietal flavours, a touch of black pepper, rustic tannin and brisk acidity.

Tyrrell’s Shiraz 2013
Hunter Valley, NSW
$18.50–$24
Releasing his new Hunter Valley range, Bruce Tyrrell asked how important region is when Australians make wine-buying decisions. He said, “A study by Wine Intelligence found that 55 per cent of Australian wine drinkers choose region to be the number one influencer” when they decide what to buy. The same study pointed to the Hunter Valley, with three million visitors a year, as the number one region for awareness. Perhaps there’s a Sydney bias in the survey. But who cares as Tyrrell’s 2013 shiraz really captures the idiosyncratic Hunter style: limpid and medium bodied with sweet fruit, cut with savoury, spicy flavours, finishing dry and soft.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 30 June and 1 July 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

De Bortoli Yarra Valley Windy Peak Pinot Noir 2014 $9.95–$15
De Bortoli’s Windy Peak offers the juicy, pure varietal flavour of ripe, cool-grown pinot at an amazingly low price. I paid around $15 for it in Broome, where it became our much loved, campsite red, enduring the corrugations and dust of the Gibb River and Cape Leveque roads. Many retailers offer it for about $11, and Dan Murphy sells the previous, marginally better 2013 vintage online for $9.95. Remarkably for a pinot at this price, it provides some of the savour and backbone as well varietal fruit flavour.

Rolling Central Ranges Cabernet Merlot 2013 $12.95–$15
Rolling is a brand of Cumulus Estate Wines of Orange. Variations in the estate’s altitude mean that vines above the 600-metre mark lie within the Orange region boundary, while those below 600 metres fall under the Central Ranges appellation. It’s a fine line to draw as wines from, say, 650 metres bear more resemblance to those from 590 metres than to those at 750, 850 or even over 1,000 metres – all captured in the Orange boundary. But that’s for the locals to worry about. Rolling cabernet merlot, enjoyed in Qantas cattle class recently, provides pleasant berry flavours with cabernet’s herbaceous edge and fine tannins.

Brookland Valley Verse 1 Margaret River Chardonnay 2013 $13.30–$15
The trickle-down effect can never be underestimated for large-company wines. In this instance, Brookland Valley, part of Accolade Wines, produces cutting-edge Margaret River chardonnay, alongside the group’s other fine chardonnays, including Bay of Fires (Tasmania) and the flagship, Eileen Hardy. The group skills trickle down all the way to Brookland’s Verse 1 chardonnay, which provides way above average drinking for the price. Its keynote is pure, fresh peach-and-melon varietal flavour of great freshness, backed by textural richness derived from barrel maturation of some components.

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