Clonakilla Murrumbateman Syrah 2017 $108
Of medium hue, lighter in colour than Western Vineyard Syrah and Shiraz Viognier reviewed below, Syrah 2017 offers sweet aromas of dark fruits, cut with savoury notes. The palate’s full but fine, with tight tannins adding structure and additional savour to the deep fruit. Summed up as subtle, sensuous and powerful.

Clonakilla Murrumbateman Western Vineyard Syrah 2017
Revolutionary
Western Vineyard 2017’s bold fruit, soaring oak, and stalky whole-bunch flavours take it in an entirely different direction from Syrah 2017’s subtle power or Shiraz Viognier’s floral, succulence. Alone of the three Clonakilla flagships, it’s matured in all-new oak, perhaps the biggest single contributor to its attention-getting style. Even at this early stage of its evolution, the whole appears greater than the sum of its parts – even if the parts stand out individually for now. This is a revolutionary Clonakilla wine to revisit in future. Winemaker Tim Kirk says he made only 150 dozen for release in a mixed six-pack to loyal customers before Christmas 2019.

Clonakilla Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2017 $108
Brilliantly coloured and limpid, Shiraz Viognier shows the classic Clonakilla style: violet-like, spicy, fruity aroma; assertively structured on the palate, in the gentlest way, with distinctive spice and pepper pervading the succulent palate.

Mount Majura Vineyard Shiraz 2017 $30.40–$38
A winner of gold medals in the 2018 NSW Small Winemaker Wine Show and Canberra and Region Wine Show, Mount Majura holds the drinker’s interest from the first sip to the last drop. First impressions are of spice and savour, both in the aroma and palate. But sweet, vibrant fruit pushes through the charcuterie-like savour and spice, while fine tannins give satisfying grip and structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2019

Grenache deserves more credit than it gets says Clonakilla winemaker Tim Kirk.

Speaking at a Canberra tasting in late April 2019, Kirk rated Chateau Rayas 1990 as one of the three greatest wines he’d tried. The current vintage of this all-grenache red from France’s Chateauneuf du Pape area (southern Rhone Valley), sells for around $900. And the legendary 1990 may still be found for $2000–$4000.

For that price you could buy two to four tonnes of Australian grenache grapes (average $1016 a tonne in vintage 2018). Lending credibility to Kirk’s faith in the variety, the price of grenache price exceeded that of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot and was on a par with pinot noir and tempranillo – making the trio, on average, the priciest red wine grapes in Australia in 2018.

While Rayas 1990 stands apart, in both France and Australia, high yields for grenache has meant historically a tendency to produce light bodied, undistinguished table wines. At the same time, grenache contributed to many of the superb ‘ports’ produced in Australia’s warmer areas and, because of its light colour and fragrance, was and remains a delicious rosé variety.

Visibility of grenache in more serious Australian reds grew in the 1980s through the work of the Barossa Valley’s ‘Rhone Rangers’. This small group dedicated itself to making earthy, savoury, spicy reds from the Barossa’s treasure trove of old-vine Rhone Valley varieties, grenache, mourvedre and shiraz.

Of the three, shiraz remains the most widely grown and best known to drinkers. But over the decades mourvedre (aka mataro) and grenache became familiar in warm-climate blends with shiraz – a style popularly known as GSM (grenache shiraz mourvedre).

Clonakilla Murrumbateman Ceoltoiri 2018 $36

As these generous, spicy blends came originally from warm to hot regions, the arrival a few years back of Clonakilla Ceoltoiri from Murrumbateman, in the Canberra District, surprised those of us who’d assumed the area too cool to ripen the Rhone varieties.

This turned out to be deliciously not the case. Though lighter bodied than the warm-climate originals, Ceoltoiri nevertheless offers the blend’s fragrance, spice, juicy fruit flavours and supple, soft texture. The warm 2018 vintage gives Ceoltoiri a little more richness than usual. Kirk says, ‘It’s over 60% grenache, with five other varieties. It’s an ode to the southern Rhone’. The other varieties are mourvedre, shiraz, cinsault, counoise and a drop of the white variety roussanne.

This is a fine, elegant expression of a grenache blend.

Introducing Heidenreich Barossa Valley Grenache 2016 $28

In 1936, Rufus Armein Heidenreich planted grenache vines at Vine Vale on the Barossa Valley’s eastern ridge. Eighty years later his granddaughter Liz harvested grapes from those vines and made the first grenache to appear under her new Heidenreich label.

Liz writes, ‘This area of vineyard is located along the eastern edge of the Barossa Valley, which was one of the first areas settled in the 1840s due to its deep, sandy, loam soils and water-holding capacity in non-irrigated vineyards. The gully breeze that is prevalent in this area helps keep grapes cool during the hot ripening season, and retains natural acidity and freshness’.

Place fruit from these lovingly tended old vines in the care of an experienced winemaker and you get an exceptional expression of warm-climate grenache.

Liz says she made the wine in an open-top, four-ton fermenter, gently plunging the skin twice daily for colour and flavour ‘without extracting bitter seed tannins’. After fermentation, the wine matured in French oak hogsheads, 10% new, the rest 2–4 years of age. Clearly, her aim was to mature the wine without inserting overt oaky flavours.

The wine displays the red-berry fruits of the variety, along with spice and deeper savoury notes. The generous, supple palate ripples with ripe, juicy fruit flavours, supported by soft tannins and boosted by the underlying savour first noted in the aroma. This is an excellent straight grenache, demonstrating the great appeal of warm-grown reds.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2019

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riparosso 2016 (Illuminati)  $9.50–$14
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Ilico 2015 (Illuminati)  $14.30–­$14.99

Illuminati’s Riparosso first arrived in Australia in 1991 following a Farmer Bros buying trip to Italy. People immediately took to the savoury, medium-bodied red and it became the company’s biggest selling Italian red. When Farmer Bros collapsed in the mid nineties, importation and sales direct to consumers continued through Coles and later Woolworths, the current importer.

In theory, cutting out the wholesaler gives the retailer a greater profit opportunity. But as other retailers do the same, the potential gain is substantially competed away, meaning lower prices.

This is good news for drinkers and Chateau Shanahan continues to enjoy Riparosso as much now as 28 years ago when those first containers rolled off the ships.

We recently enjoyed Riparosso 2016 (screw cap) and its cellar mate Ilico 2015 (cork) side by side over a meal in Melbourne. Riparosso appealed for its initial fruitiness, then its rustic tannins and overall savour – a satisfying quaffing red, showing the earthy, savoury character of the Abruzzi region’s signature grape variety, montepulciano. Ilico amplifies the montepulciano experience and adds a touch of finesse.

The wines come from leading producer Azienda Agricola Illuminati of Contraguerra, Teramo Province. The winery sits on a ridge with views to the Adriatic to the east and Apennine Mountains to the west.

Nicolo Illuminati founded the estate in 1890 and following the early death of his son, raised his grandson Dino Illuminati. On Nicolo’s death Dino took over and today, at 88, continues to work in the business, now run by his son Stefano.

Woolworths imports Illuminati wines through its subsidiary, Pinnacle Drinks, and sells them through Dan Murphy and BWS retail stores operated by another subsidiary, Endeavour Drinks Group.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2019

Clonakilla Canberra District Riesling 2018 $32
To every thing there is a season. And for Clonakilla riesling, the warm, dry 2018 season produced a riper, richer wine than in the cooler 2017 vintage. Despite the heat, ‘Grapes held excellent acid’, says winemaker Tim Kirk.

That tangy acidity balances a delicious riesling with rich, citrus-like varietal flavour in the pure, delicate Clonakilla style. It’s impressive now as a vibrant, fruity young wine. But it’ll change in pleasing ways over the next decade – best experienced by cellaring a case and enjoying a bottle every year or two, potentially over decades.

For example, the 16-year-old, 2003 vintage (the first sealed with screw cap), ‘Looks fantastic’ according to Kirk, combining mellow aged character with freshness.

Kirk says 2018 marks the first year his riesling came predominantly from young vines on a cool south-facing slope near the cellar door building. Previous vintages had been sourced from a combination of estate-grown fruit and grapes from nearby Long Rail Gully.

Clonakilla Riesling 2018 is due for release in March.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2019

Freeman Rosso Corvina Rondinella 2017 $20
It’s dusk at Lake Conjola, and on a small jetty the tailor continue to take my friend Mario’s line, if not mine. He’s bagged enough for tomorrow’s brunch, and I think, well no bites for me but I can at least pour a drink. Try this I say. Mario tastes the red wine. Lemon, he declares, bloody delicious, fruity and tangy.

And it is, too, a distinctive dry red wine made from the Italian varieties corvina and rondinella. Brian Freeman grows both on his 175-hectare estate in the Hilltops region, the high country in the vicinity of Young, New South Wales.

These are the varieties behind the medium bodied, savoury dry reds of Bardolino and Valpolicella in Italy’s Veneto region. At their best, both offer a refreshing combination of fruit, savour and tangy finish – not unlike Mario’s impression of the Australian wine.

Freeman says they’re late-ripening varieties, which he harvested in early April (weeks behind other reds) in the benign 2017 vintage.

Fermentation in stainless steel vats captured varietal flavour and 12 months’ maturation in old oak mellowed the naturally savoury tannins.

The resulting wine pulses with vibrant berry flavours, in the clean, fresh Australian style; but there’s a deep, savoury, soy-like element, too, accompanied by the pleasantly tart but soft tannins experienced in the better wines of Bardolino and Valpolicella.

Clearly rondinella and corvina grow successfully in the Hilltops region. And this cleverly made wine, revealing minimal winemaking artifice, allows us to experience their unique flavours and textures at a fair price.

Freeman Rosso 2017, made to enjoy now, is available direct from Freeman Vineyards.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2019

Windowrie Family Reserve Cowra Shiraz 2016 $35
Windowrie Family Reserve won gold at November’s National Wine Show of Australia. It was one of 113 wines entered in the ‘Shiraz 2016’ class, and one of eight wines to win a gold medal in it. However, several big, expensive names – including Yalumba The Octavius and Seppelt St Peters – escaped the judges’ attention, confirming the democracy of masked tastings if not the reliability of the results.

Windowrie Family Reserve 2016 no doubt stood out to the judges for its delicious fruit character. The wine pulses with ripe, red-berry and spice flavours, supported by juicy, soft tannins – a pleasing combination that means vibrant, fresh drinking and the satisfying structure and finish of a real red.

David and Wizz O’Dea planted their first vines at Windowrie, Cowra, in 1988. They’ve witnessed and stood solid during Cowra’s massive vineyard expansion of the nineties, followed by massive contraction a decade later. They preside now over a large vineyard holding and over time have added a winery and moved steadily up the quality ladder.

In the nineties many critics, myself included, typecast Cowra as a source of mid-priced whites while doubting its potential to make decent red.

Some time back now Jason O’Dea (son of David and Wizz) and winemaker Anthony D’Onise proved otherwise. Windowrie reds, including their Pig in the House label, regularly win medals at wine shows. Taking gold at the National Wine Show is a great achievement.

Windowrie Family Reserve Cowra Shiraz 2016 is available from the Windowrie website.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2018

If Australia owns any one wine grape variety, it’s shiraz. We grow around 40,000 hectares of it. Our shiraz vineyards cluster either side of the 4,000 kilometres from east to west coast, through 16 degrees of latitude (from south-eastern Queensland (27 degrees) to southern Tasmania (43 degrees) and from near sea level to 700 or 800 metres above it.

We’ve grown shiraz successfully for over 200 years and, in several regions, vines planted in the mid-to-late nineteenth century still produce beautiful fruit.

A diversity of climates, soils plus viticultural and winemaking approaches produces an equivalent diversity of shiraz styles, ranging from fragrant, light to medium styles in cooler areas to thunder-in-the brain blockbusters from hot areas.

At a recent Chateau Shanahan masked tasting we compared three of these contrasting styles – two from warm climates (Barossa and Hunter valleys) and one from the cooler Canberra district. I selected each specifically for individuality and perceived leadership in its style.

The experienced tasting group saw nothing but three glasses in front of them. Their brief: in front of you are three Australian wines of the same variety but from three different vintages and three different regions. What is the variety? What are the style differences? What regions could they be from? Are these as good as Aussie shiraz gets?

The group has been tasting wine systematically for more than 20 years. They quickly nailed the variety, albeit with a couple of false starts, no doubt caused by the amazing style variations.

With only the senses as a guide, the group looked for clues: surely wine number one’s deep colour and strong flavours pointed to a warm area. Yes, indeed.

Wine two – now that’s an enigma: the colour’s pale to medium and it’s medium bodied, but it’s also savoury and strong with tight tannins. Put this in the too-hard basket for a moment. Well, no, said one taster, I think the lighter colour and body suggest a cool climate. Wrong, but good reasoning and not the first time someone’s seen this particular wine this way.

Wine three’s medium depth and vivid colour pointed to youth (this must be the youngest of the three), and its fragrant, floral, spicy aroma and medium body said ‘cool climate’. Yes, indeed.

So after a few minutes, we had wine one in a warm climate, wine three in a cool climate and wine two unresolved. We explored the options for number two, and found ourselves in the Hunter Valley. What other hot area grows shiraz with cool-climate characteristics? Nowhere else.

We’d not yet nailed the other two wines to specific regions. But the same guy who’d suggested cool climate for the Hunter wine, said I think number three’s Clonakilla Canberra Shiraz Viognier. Spot on. It’s a distinctive wine, long familiar to our Canberra-based tasting group.

After mentally exploring Australian warm climate shiraz styles, we eventually placed wine number one in the Barossa – and it must be said the sheer dimension and beauty of the wine surprised several of the tasters.

Discussion then moved to what remarkably beautiful and unique wines we had in front of us. Food being served, we relaxed and savoured the magnificence in our glasses.

Our conclusion: the three easily sit among Australia’s very top shirazes. Although a comparative newcomer, our favourite wine of the night, John Duval Eligo 2015, rightfully claims a longer pedigree than the label alone suggests.

John Duval worked for Penfolds for decades and in the mid eighties succeeded Don Ditter as chief winemaker, a role he retained until 2002. Responsible for making all of Penfolds reds, including Grange, Duval also created Penfolds RWT, a wine that still stands as one of the greatest of all Barossa shirazes.

Duval’s deep knowledge of Barossa vineyards and exceptional winemaking skills produced the wine that topped our little tasting.

John Duval Wines Eligo The Barossa Shiraz 2015 $100–$120

Vineyards: John Duval writes, ‘Eligo represents the best of my 2015 vintage and is sourced from some excellent vineyards in the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley regions’. (The more elevated, cooler Eden Valley adjoins the Barossa Valley’s eastern boundary. The two regions together form the greater Barossa Zone).

Winemaking: Fermentation with submerged cap in small stainless steel tanks. Some batches on skin up to two weeks. Maturation, 20 months in French oak hogsheads (300-litres) – 55% new, the rest two, three and four-year old.

Tasting note: Deep red–black colour with crimson rim; full, ripe, plummy varietal aroma with spicy, charry oak; full, ripe palate with intense black-cherry like fruit flavours deeply meshed with sympathetic oak and persistent, fine tannins; a wine of rare dimension – intense, ripe and firm, but elegant and refined. This was the group favourite.

Tyrrell’s Vat 9 Hunter Shiraz 2016 $85–$92

Vineyards: Pokolbin, lower Hunter Valley: 1892 Eight-Acres block,1968 Contours block, 1968 Weinkellar east block. Average vine age 66 years. All vineyards dry grown in similar soils: red volcanic clay over limestone.

Winemaking: All fruit handpicked, de-stemmed but not crushed; fermentation in open-top stainless steel vats. Maturation in new French oak 2,700-litre casks until April 2017.

Tasting note: Pale to medium colour, with youthful crimson rim; wedged between the Duval and Clonakilla wines, Vat 9 showed contrasting savoury, earthy characters on a taut, comparatively austere palate, with an underlying core of sweet fruit. The group rated this second of the three shirazes. Paradoxically the group drank more of the Vat 9 than of either of the other two wines. Was it really the favourite? Or were we simply probing its idiosyncrasies?

Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2017 $108–$115

Vineyards: Clonakilla Euroka Park and T&L vineyards, Murrumbateman, New South Wales. (The Canberra District includes vineyards in both the Australian Capital Territory and neighbouring NSW).

Grape varieties:Mostly shiraz, co-fermented with the white variety viognier (about 6% of the total).

Winemaking: Fermentation in open vats (20–30 per cent whole bunches, the rest de-stemmed and pumped to the fermenter, resulting in a mix of crushed and whole berries); cold soaking for several days as a spontaneous fermentation begins. Plunging machines break up the caps of skins and grapes three times a day at peak ferment, then daily as the ferment slows down. The 2017 remained on skins for three weeks post-ferment before being pressed off into 225-litre French oak barriques, one third new, for 12 months’ maturation.

Tasting note: Medium, vibrant crimson colour; fragrant, floral and vibrant aroma and a matching deep, spicy, luscious palate; a wine of supple elegance, with a fine, persistent tannic structure and notable length. The group loved this wine, but on the night paid more attention to the Duval and Tyrrell wines.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2018

WHITES

Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling 2018 $40
Maturation:Three months, stainless steel.
Pale, green-tinted straw colour; pure, citrus-like riesling aroma, precisely mirrored on an intense, powerful but very finely-textured palate, backed by assertive acid. An invigorating drink now in its fruity youth, Bin 51 also has potential to gain rich secondary flavours and texture with cellaring.

Bin 311 Chardonnay 2017 $50
Regions:Adelaide Hills (South Australia), Tasmania, Tumbarumba (New South Wales).
Maturation:Eight months, French oak, 25% new.
Previously sourced from Tumbarumba, NSW, a reborn Bin 311 now contains fruit from three regions from three states. The wine combines spicy oak and barrel-ferment character with varietal grapefruit- and nectarine-like flavours. If you were a fan of the old Bin 311, be aware this is a more restrained, delicate style than the punchier old all-Tumbarumba version.

Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2017 $125
Maturation:Eight months, French oak, 40% new.
Since when does a white upstage Penfolds’ reds? Reserve Bin A Chardonnay grabbed my attention more than any other wine at this year’s release tasting. Though it’s not better than the best reds in an absolute sense, it offers amazing richness and dimension, albeit in far more robust style the Bin 311 and Yattarna chardonnays flanking it: pale straw-lemon colour; funky aroma combining barrel-ferment characters in amalgam with nectarine-like varietal fruit aroma; delicious palate featuring fruit, barrel-ferment and nutty barrel-maturation flavour. It’s a very big, generous style but still elegant and refined. It’s a wonder to drink now and I suspect will evolve well for another ten years or so. This is very special indeed. Wow. We note its cellar mate, the Cellar Door Reserve 2017 won several trophies at the recent National Wine Show of Australia.

Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay 2016 $175
Regions:Tasmania, Henty (Victoria), Adelaide Hills (South Australia), Tumbarumba (New South Wales).
Maturation:Eight months, French oak barriques, 35% new.
It’s a leap of faith to buy Yattarna at $175. Right now it’s supple, elegant, restrained and harmonious – all good and rare qualities. However, the fine fruit doesn’t leap out at present, certainly not in a fleeting tasting, and like other vintages its best drinking probably lies a few years ahead. Put this on your watch list and buy through auction.

REDS

Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro 2017 $40
Regions: McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Wrattonbully.
Maturation: Eight months, French oak (10% new) and American oak hogsheads.
Deep red–black colour with crimson rim; the aroma and flavour combine the round, ripe character of shiraz with the distinctive jube-like flavour of mataro (ak mourvedre or monastrell). Where shiraz on its own finishes with soft tannins, this blend shows the pronounced, grippy tannins and savour of mataro, creating an assertive, firm blend.

Bin 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2017 $50
Regions:Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Wrattonbully
Maturation:10 months, French and American oak hogsheads
Bin 8 provides a subtle, elegant and earlier drinking expression of the shiraz–cabernet blend than the far more assertive Bin 389 reviewed below. Ripe, round shiraz provides the first impression before the cabernet makes its presence felt in flavour and elegant structure, underpinned by delicious, supple fruit.

Bin 23 Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2017 $50
Maturation:Nine months, French oak barriques, 30% new.
A fully priced, good if not leading Aussie pinot noir, Bin 23 provides sweet aromas and voluminous sweet fruit, overlaid with herbal and savoury characters. Part of the savour comes from the inclusion of whole bunches in the ferment. Fine tannins give grip and structure to a wine best drunk within a few years of vintage.

Kalimna Bin 28 Shiraz 2016 $50
Regions:Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Upper Adelaide, Wrattonbully.
Maturation:12 months, seasoned American oak hogsheads.
Deep colour, vividly crimson at the rim; black-cherry-like fruit with black-olive savour in the aroma and also raspberry-like fruit on a palate cut by firm tannins and accompanied by alcoholic heat. A generous warm-climate shiraz with savour as well as fruit. Fully priced.

Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2016 $60
Maturation:12 months, French oak, 30% new.
Where Bin 28 shows the power and grip of warm climate shiraz, Bin 128 shows the fresh berry character and elegance of Coonawarra’s comparatively cool climate. The colour’s a shade lighter than Bin 28’s, though no less vivid and youthful; sweet, ripe berry flavours fill an enticing aroma; the same pure berry flavours flow to the supple palate, accompanied by spicy oak and subtle herbal characters. This is a sound regional varietal marred ever so slightly by alcoholic heat – which may have been a function of serving temperature on the day. Fully priced.

Bin 138 Barossa Valley Shiraz Grenache Mataro 2016 $60
Grape varieties:72% shiraz, 16% grenache, 12% mataro (also known in Australia as mourvedre).
Maturation:12 months, seasoned French and American oak.
Dense colour with purple rim; ripe but spicy fruit aroma, with a notable lift from the grenache; juicy, soft, generous palate, round and rich with earthy, spicy and savoury character as well as plum- and cherry-like varietal flavour. The dry finish emphasise the spicy character of these varieties. What a lovely expression of this classic warm-climate regional blend.

Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2016 $100
Region:Marananga, north-western Barossa Valley.
Maturation:12 months, American (25% new) and French (7% new) hogsheads and puncheons.
Dense with crimson rim; great volumes of ripe, black-cherry-like aroma, with an exotic spicy-herbal overlay; exciting, buoyant palate with vivacious fruit, deliciously integrated with oak and tannin. A complete, generous and complex Barossa shiraz. Wow.

Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 $100
Regions:Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Padthaway.
Maturation:12 months, French oak (25% new) and American oak hogsheads (9% new).
Deep with purple rim; a subtle but clearly cabernet aroma suggests a wine of modest body; but the powerful palate belies the aroma and combines sweet, supple fruit with chewy, sweet oak flavours, backed by ripe, firm tannins. Bin 407’s proven cellaring ability makes it a sound buy, albeit fully priced.

Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2016 $100
Grape varieties:51% cabernet sauvignon, 49% shiraz.
Regions:Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Wrattonbully.
Maturation:12 months, American oak hogsheads, 37% new.
Deep with purple rim; a striking and appealing aroma combining ripe fruit, soy-like and earthy characters; the initially generous, rounded shiraz-driven palate reflects the aroma and although supple and smooth, strong cabernet tannins assert themselves in the finish. This is a potentially long-lived Bin 389.

St Henri Shiraz 2015 $135
Grape varieties:93% shiraz, 7% cabernet sauvignon.
Regions:McLaren Vale, Robe, The Peninsulas, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Adelaide Hills, Mt Benson.
Maturation:12 months, large oak vats, more than 50-years old.
Ah St Henri, the shy, elegant Penfolds red never sees a small oak barrel – a mainstay of the general Penfolds style – yet ages for decades and drinks beautifully. It’s a favourite at Chateau Shanahan because it’s always exciting. I rated the 2015 vintage among the top few wines of this year’s release tasting: Deep with crimson rim; pure aroma of ripe, dark berries with a savoury overlay; juicy, fruit-packed palate, supple, sweet and intense; it’s seductive but too young to drink yet with its deep fruit, savour and fine, firm structural tannins. Wow.

Magill Estate Shiraz 2016 $150
Maturation:13 months, new French and American oak.
When Max Schubert designed Magill Estate Shiraz in late 1982, ahead of the first vintage in 1983, he specified the inclusion of fruit from other areas to bolster the estate’s more elegant style. However, it quickly became a single-vineyard wine of medium body. Today’s Magill, however, is a more substantial wine than the earlier vintages and this year’s release is particularly impressive: Deep with crimson rim; spicy, sweet scented and subtle in the Magill style but with Penfolds’ distinctive soy-like overlay; oak and fruit combine pleasingly on the palate, lifted by another Schubert thumbprint, volatile acidity. This is a distinctive wine showing the medium body of fruit from Magill overlaid with skilfully applied winemaker inputs.

Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 $360
Maturation:13 months, new French oak hogsheads.
Bin 169 is to Penfolds cabernet what RWT is to Penfolds shiraz. The wines contrast with the sheer power of Bin 707 and Grange respectively. Elegant, regional fruit and subtle French oak, rather than American oak, play key roles in Bin 169 and RWT. Bin 169 2016 expresses the perfectly ripe varietal flavour of Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon, cloaked in a cedar-like character derived from barrel maturation. Firm tannins underpin the fruit and together they form a strong but elegant palate with considerable cellaring potential.

Bin 798 RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz 2016 $200
Maturation:12 months, French oak hogsheads, 72% new.
Another great highlight of this year’s release: deep with vivid purple rim; glorious, perfumed Barossa shiraz aroma – bright, buoyant and ripe with generous, supple, sweet, pure, cherry-like varietal flavour. The fruit simply ate all the oak, though it subtly adds depth, structure and spice to a remarkable palate. Wow.

Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 $600
Regions:Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills.
Maturation:20 months, new American oak hogsheads.
We can personally vouch for Bin 707’s very long term cellaring potential. It starts life brooding and tannic. Over decades its aroma develops greater dimension and the palate transforms from sheer power to an elegantly structured unity of oak, fruit and mellow aged flavours. The 2016 vintage: dense colour with purple rim; brooding and deep aroma, revealing ripe varietal flavours mingled with oak and Penfolds’ soy-like savoury character; the palate soars with deep, ripe, varietal fruit, lifted by the sympathetic oak – a wine of substance, power, elegance and with very long-term cellaring potential. Wow.

Grange 2014 $900
Varieties:98% shiraz, 2% cabernet sauvignon.
Regions:Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Wrattonbully, Coonawarra, Clare Valley, Magill Estate.
Maturation:20 months in new American oak hogsheads
Dense colour with crimson rim; savoury, complex aroma combing earth, oak, vanilla, soy and spice with a deep, ripe pulse of fruit; powerful palate reflecting the aroma, but with an exotic spicy oak character hovering over the opulent, tannin-packed palate. The spicy oak and inclusion of fruit from the cooler adjoining regions of Coonawarra and Wrattonbully make this slightly different stylistically from earlier warm-climate Granges. It’s a subtle change, as power, firmness and longevity remain the main theme.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2018

The tasting notes in this post represent a wide range of wine styles from regions sprinkled along the Great Dividing Range in southern New South Wales: Tumbarumba, Orange, Gundagai, Hilltops and the Canberra District.

I wrote the notes for Jugiong Wine Cellar website. The cellar (located at Jugiong, between Yass and Gundagai) lies at the centre of these high-country regions and specialises in the local wines.

Jugiong, a few minutes drive off the busy M31 linking Sydney and Melbourne, draws tens of thousands of visitors annually, attracted by delicious food at Long Track Pantry and beautifully restored Sir George Hotel and the local wine and artwork offered by Jugiong Wine Cellar.

TUMBARUMBA REGION

Barwang Tumbarumba Pinot Gris 2016
The pinot grape yields its best flavours in a cool climate like Tumbarumba’s. Barwang’s version captures the variety’s plush, smooth texture and tangy pear-like character, while natural acidity gives extra vibrancy to the refreshing dry finish.

Barwang Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2016
For a modest price, Barwang provides the rich, satisfying flavour and smooth texture of cool climate, barrel-fermented chardonnay. Stone-fruit-like varietal flavour combines with subtle, spicy oak character on a full, finely-textured palate with a dry, refreshing finish.

Chalkers Crossing Tumbarumba Sauvignon Blanc 2014
The majority of white sauvignons come from the current vintage and present pure, fresh, grapey flavours. Winemaker Celine Rousseau, however, used a little oak in this one to build additional texture, body, and subtle spicy character. Four years’ age adds another honeyed layer of flavour to an enjoyable if unconventional sauvignon blanc.

Chalkers Crossing Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2014
Winemaker Celine Rousseau carved a great reputation at Chalkers Crossing before moving to Canberra’s Eden Road Wines in 2017. We still have limited stock, however, of this lovely chardonnay Celine made, using fruit from the Maragle Creek vineyard, Tumbarumba. A few years’ bottle age has given a lovely honeyed character to a smooth, full-bodied chardonnay.

Excelsior Peak Tumbarumba Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Excelsior’s Juliet Cullen pioneered grape growing in Tumbarumba in the early 1980s, originally for sparkling wine. She now focuses on table wines, including sauvignon blanc. Juliet’s 2014 vintage has shifted from youthful, all-fruit flavours displayed by the young wine, to a more plush and savoury flavour. It offers an interesting comparison to younger wines made from this variety.

Johansen Tumbarumba Gamay 2017
In France’s Beaujolais region, the gamay grape makes generally vibrant, fresh, fruity reds meant for immediate consumption. Johansen’s Tumbarumba version presents a slightly more austere version of the grape: The wine’s pale to mid coloured, showing aged hues at the rim; the aroma provides both savour and fruit, and the lean structure combines acidity with fine tannins.

Johansen Tumbarumba Pinot Noir 2015
Robert and Heather Johansen’s pinot noir, grown at around 700 metres above sea level, shows typically pale colour of the variety grown in cool conditions. The colour shows a touch of age and the aroma suggests the stemmy character of whole bunches included in the ferment. The stemmy character comes through on a silky textured, medium wine that finishes with a light astringency.

Johansen Tumbarumba Riesling 2017
Robert and Heather Johansen’s riesling shows the strong lemon-like varietal flavour and zingy, fresh acidity expected from Tumbarumba’s cool growing climate. The refreshing acid accentuates the wine’s flavour and dry finish. This is a lighter aperitif style to enjoy on its own or with a wide range of foods.

McW 480 Tumbarumba Pinot Grigio 2017
McWilliams, one of Australia’s larger family owned wineries, produces its McW 480 range from vineyards averaging 480 metres altitude in the high country of NSW. The cool climate produces richly flavoured pinot grigio with varietal flavours reminiscent of pear. Crisp acidity and pinot’s rich texture create a unique medium bodied dry white to enjoy young and fresh.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Tumbarumba Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2016
Tumbarumba was originally planted in the early 1980s to produce high quality sparkling wine. The area’s high altitude, cool vineyard sites continue to produce the right fruit, as we can taste in Lock and Key’s blend of 65% pinot noir, 35% chardonnay and 5% pinot meunier. The key is to use fruit that develops ripe flavour while acid levels remain high. Lock and Key offers tremendously good value as it has offers a harmony of delicate but ripe flavours on soft, bracingly fresh palate.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Adelaide Hills – Tumbarumba Pinot Noir 2017
Moppity Vineyards own sites in the Hilltops region and in nearby Tumbarumba. Tumbarumba’s high altitude and cool ripening season favour pinot noir and in this wine owner Jason Brown follows an old Australian custom by blending his own grapes with material from another good pinot region, the Adelaide Hills. The result is a light to medium coloured pinot with strawberry-like varietal aroma, a palate combining fruit with more savoury characters and finely textured tannins.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2016
Jason and Alicia Brown offer amazing value in this intensely flavoured chardonnay from their Tumbarumba vineyard. The focus is all on the stone-fruit-like varietal flavour, which it has in abundance. But the high acidity of the cool climate and partial barrel fermentation add silky texture, backbone and dazzling refreshment to a most delightful drink.

Mount Tumbarumba Vineyard On the FlyPinot Gris 2016
Grape growers Richard Cottam and Elvie Yates grow pinot gris in their Tumbarumba vineyard but leave the winemaking to Canberra’s Alex McKay. McKay coaxed the mouth-watering best out of these very good grapes. The sometimes-elusive varietal flavour of pinot gris comes through reminiscent of spiced, ultra-fresh apple and pears on a smoothly texture palate, with a pleasantly tart dry finish.

Mount Tumbarumba Vineyard On the Fly Chardonnay 2016
Chardonnay may well prove to be the real hero variety of Tumbarumba. This beautiful wine from Mount Tumbarumba Vineyard won a gold medal in the 2017 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, one of Australia’s most highly regarded wine competitions. Winemaker Alex McKay fermented and matured the wine in a combination of new and older French oak barrels. The result is a finely textured, full-bodied dry white with nectarine-like varietal flavour cut with the spicy, nutty character of oak.

Mount Tumbarumba Vineyard On the FlyPinot Noir 2015
Grown at Mount Tumbarumba vineyard and made by Canberra vigneron Alex McKay, On the Fly pinot shows an aged colour and the earthy, savoury side of the variety. The medium bodied palate shows the stemmy influence of whole bunches used in the ferment, a silky texture, savoury flavours and firm but fine tannins in a dry finish.

Mount Tumbarumba Vineyard On the Fly Pinot Noir Rosé 2017
Mount Tumbarumba’s Richard Cottam says, ‘The last of our pristine 2017 pinot noir grapes were begging to be picked. A quick chat with our winemaker and the result was our very first rosé’. A very pale pink colour, the wine offers seductive red-berry-like pinot aromas and matching delicate flavours on a soft palate, with dry, fresh finish.

Quarry Hill Two Places Tumbarumba-Canberra Pinot Gris 2016
Like other Canberra wineries, Quarry Hill uses grapes from higher, cooler Tumbarumba for some wine styles. In this instance Tumbarumba pinot gris (94% of the blend) joins grenache from Quarry Hill’s Murrumbateman vineyard in a fresh, zesty, light pink dry wine. The savoury palate offers a subtle pear-like flavour, with a dry, gentle grip and a warm alcoholic aftertaste.

ORANGE REGION

Antonio’s Orange Region Pinot Gris 2017
Antonio d’Onise works at Cowra’s Windowrie winery but makes small batches of wine under his own label. He made this wine from pinot gris grapes grown at Colmar Estate, Orange, located around 900 metres above sea level. The cool growing conditions and low grape yields created a wine with intense pear-like varietal flavour and a little rinse of bronze colour typical of the variety. Fermentation and maturation in oak added texture and backbone to a characterful example of the style. Only 50 cases were made.

Antonio’s Orange Region Pinot Noir 2016
Antonio d’Onise sources pinot noir from Mayfield Vineyard, a high-altitude site in the Orange region. Antonio’s wine appeals for its vibrant crimson colour and fresh red-berry-like varietal aroma. The berry flavours carry through to a lively, medium-bodied palate cut with natural acidity and fine tannins.

Borambola Orange Region Wishing Well Sauvignon Blanc 2017
Gundagai based Borambola wines sources its sauvignon blanc grapes from Orange, higher up in the Great Dividing Range. Orange’s cooler climate brings out the pungent, grapey character of the variety – and the Borambola winemaker lets it rip. Fresh and tangy, this is traditional in-your-face sauvignon blanc showing the distinctive herbaceous character of a cool grape-growing region.

GUNDAGAI REGION

Book Book Estate Kyeamba Valley Tempranillo 2014
Book Book Estate, established in 1997 near Wagga Wagga, NSW, produces the red varieties shiraz, tempranillo and touriga. From this site the Spanish variety tempranillo makes a medium bodied red featuring the savour and firm tannin of the variety, with a juicy core of blueberry-like fruit flavour.

Book Book Estate Kyeamba Valley Shiraz 2014
Book Book Estate, established in 1997, harvests around 250 tons of shiraz annually and sells most of it to major wineries. Fortunately for drinkers, they keep a little for their own label – which is in keeping with shiraz styles of the southern NSW high country. The wine offers fragrant cherry-like varietal aroma, medium body, a spicy note and perhaps slightly firmer tannins than seen in the cooler parts of the region.

Borambola Gundagai Moonlight Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Borambola’s estate grown and made cabernet commemorates an 1870s visit to the old homestead by infamous bushranger Captain Moonlite. The only bullets the McMullen family ducks these days are those thrown at their vineyards by the weather. Nature was kind in 2014, producing this elegant cabernet, featuring ripe-berry varietal flavours, balanced by firm tannins and subtle, spicy oak.

Borambola Gundagai Hiraji’s Spell Shiraz 2013
The McMullen family established Borambola vineyard at Gundagai in 1995 and now makes wine, beer and cider on site. Hiraji’s Spell, named for the winner of the 1947 Melbourne Cup (raised at Borambola), shows just how exciting Gundagai shiraz can be. It reveals a fragrant, spicy side of Australia’s most popular red variety. The wine tastes as plush and fruity-spicy as it smells, and soft, savoury tannins give a satisfying, dry finish.

Borambola Gundagai VIII Sparkling Brut
Sourced entirely from chardonnay vines planted at Borambola in 1995, VIII Sparkling Brut offers lively, fresh drinking, featuring delicate chardonnay flavours on a fine, dry palate. It’s a lighter style bubbly to enjoy on its own, with pre-dinner nibbles or even as a palate refresher at the end of a meal.

Retief Gundagai Rosé 2016
Alex Retief made this rosé from cabernet sauvignon grapes grown on his family’s Winbirra vineyard in the Kyeamba Valley, south-east of Wagga Wagga, within the Gundagai Wine Region. It’s a darker, full-bodied rosé, offering both savoury and fruity flavours, with cabernet’s distinctive astringency and dry finish. The vineyard is managed on biodynamic principles.

Coe and Co Leaning Cow Gundagai Chardonnay 2013
The Coe family’s Leaning Cow wines come from their vineyards at the foot of Cooba Mountain near Gundagai. Five years old at the time of tasting, the 2013 chardonnay retains melon-like varietal flavour. Bottle age adds honeyed notes to the fruit and also accentuates firmer, dryer elements that say, ‘Drink me now, I’m ready’.

Coe and Co Leaning Cow Gundagai Shiraz 2014
The Coe family’s Leaning Cow wines come from their vineyards at the foot of Cooba Mountain near Gundagai. The 2014 shiraz shows a little age in its colour. The aroma is spicy and savoury with a touch of red-berry fruit character. The medium-bodied palate has a core of red-berry fruit flavour, wrapped firmly in savoury tannins, which give the wine a dry assertive finish.

Patersons Gundagai Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
The cabernet grape makes firm wines that often need ageing as tannin outweighs fruit in the early days. However, Patersons’ 2016 vintage, while firm in the true cabernet mould, also offers fleshy, ripe fruit flavour that offsets the tannins. The result is a rich, powerful wine that can be enjoyed now, though the firm tannins demand the company of high-protein food.

Patersons Gundagai Vineyard Shiraz 2016
Grape growers like to talk about vine clones. While it seems obscure to an outsider, clonal selection influences wine flavour. This wine, writes Stuart Paterson, ‘… is made from two of the best clones (PT23 and BVCR12) planted in our vineyard’. The first, says Stuart, contributes deep colour and flavour and the second adds complex, spicy aromas. The wine shows vibrant, youthful colours, medium body, deep, rich berry and spice flavours, soft tannins and a complimentary touch of charry oak.

HILLTOPS REGION (centred on Young, NSW)

Ballinaclash Hilltops Eleanor Viognier 2014
Peter and Cath Mullany grow the grapes in the Hilltops area, Wally Cupitt makes the wine at his family winery near Milton, NSW. This is a distinctive style of viognier. Normally big, plush and apricot-like, viognier reveals a more restrained face in Eleanor. The apricot character shows subtly through a fresh, youthful palate marked more by its tannic structure and the texture and flavour derived from maturation on spent yeast cells.

Ballinaclash Hilltops Sub Tuum Shiraz 2014
Sub Tuum Shiraz comes from Peter and Cath Mullany’s 16-hectare Ballinaclash vineyard near Young. The wine – made by Chris Derrez and Lucy Madox of Madrez Wine Services, Orange – won gold in the 2016 Canberra and Region Wine Show. Medium bodied, vibrant and fresh it shows the region’s delicious cherry-like varietal flavour and spice, with soft, juicy tannins.

Ballinaclash Hilltops Edward Shiraz 2016
It’s not a household name, but Peter and Cath Mullany’s Ballinaclash vineyard produces great fruit and wines. Their Edward 2016 Shiraz, for example, topped the Hilltops Wine Show, was rated best shiraz and best red of the 2017 NSW Small Winemakers Awards, and topped all the shirazes in the 2017 Canberra and Region Wine Show. Little wonder the judges loved it. This is gorgeous high-country NSW shiraz, saturated with sweet, spicy fruit flavour, packed with soft, mouth-filling tannin.

Barwang Hilltops Shiraz 2014
The Hilltops region’s first winemaker (established 1969) these days sources fruit from across Hilltops and surrounding regions, but still turns out big-value wines. Barwang 2014 shiraz, now with a few years bottle age, captures the area’s pure, soft, berry-and-spice style and offers, as well, that lovely mellow texture of age.

Bit O’ Heaven Wine Think Outside the Circle Hilltops Rongorongo Viognier 2017
Buy the wine, read the label and learn about the dots that connect rongorongo, an Easter Island glyph system, to the grape variety viognier – in the grape grower’s imagination at least. Better still, buy the wine and savour the luscious ginger and apricot flavours unique to viognier – a white variety from France’s Rhone Valley now very much at home in the Hilltops region.

Bit O’ Heaven Wine Think Outside the Circle Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
The wine comes from a vineyard between Wombat and Young and the wines are made by Wine Insights, a contract winemaking company located at Cudal, near Orange. This is a juicy, elegant cabernet, balancing pure, youthful berry flavours with the variety’s assertive tannins. It’s amazingly good at this price and shows just how well suited the variety is to the Hilltops region.

Chalkers Crossing Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
While the tough cabernet vine thrives all across Australia, it yields its best flavours in a limited number of locations, including the Hilltops region. Celine Rousseau’s 2014 captures the variety’s cassis and mint-like flavours and firm tannic backbone. Maturation in French oak barrels added subtle layers of flavour and structure to support the wine’s quite deep, fleshy fruit.

Chalkers Crossing Hilltops Shiraz 2014
With time in bottle, Chalkers Crossing now shows the first signs of bottle-age character. Sweet, cherry-like varietal flavour continues to underpin the wine, but age introduces savoury and charcuterie characteristics to yet another delicious, medium-bodied variation on the Hilltops shiraz theme. The wine was made by Celine Rousseau using fruit from Chalkers Crossing Rockleigh vineyard near Young.

Chalkers Crossing Hilltops Semillon 2015
Semillon, one of the most widely planted white varieties in Australia, reaches its greatest heights as a table wine in the delicate, long-lived, unoaked wines of the Hunter Valley, hundreds of kilometres north of the Hilltops region. Winemaker Celine Rousseau took a different path than her Hunter peers and fermented and matured her semillon in French oak barrels. The result is a light-bodied dry white, with lemongrass-like varietal flavour, overlaid with a toasty character derived from both oak and bottle age. It’s an interesting wine for the adventurous palate.

Chalkers Crossing Hilltops Riesling 2015
Celine Rousseau made this riesling from grapes grown on Chalkers Crossing’s Rockleigh vineyard near Young in the Hilltops regions. A few years’ bottle age has filled out the palate, accentuating the strong citrus-like flavours of the variety. Fresh acidity keeps the palate lively and contributes to the clean, dry finish. The bottle-age character provides an interesting variation on riesling’s flavour and aroma.

Cleanskin Hilltops Chardonnay 2016
There’s fabulous drinking value here in a wine dripping with plush, juicy fruit flavours. Think of delicious nectarines and apricot cut with a teasing splash of lemon juice to give tang and refreshment. It’s all about fruit, freshness and pure drinking pleasure right now.

Cleanskin Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
It’s not quite Penfolds Grange for $10, but it’s probably the best value cabernet sauvignon you’ll ever buy at this price. The variety suits the Hilltops region exceptionally well and even at this low price the wine delivers cabernet’s fragrance, lovely red-berry flavours and assertive tannins. You can’t over-buy on a wine this good.

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2016
Tim Kirk sources fruit for his biggest selling red wine from five vineyards around the town of Young in NSW’s Hilltops region. Though slightly warmer than Canberra, Hilltops produces shiraz of a comparable, if slightly fuller style. The 2016 vintage pleases with its fruity–spicy fragrance, medium body, juicy palate and gentle, fine tannins. The wine will easily keep for a decade or so in a good cellar. But I doubt it will ever give greater drinking pleasure than it does right now with vibrancy of the fruit at full throttle.

Freeman Hilltops Prosecco 2017 (Gold medal winner)
During a downturn in Hilltops region vineyard prices, Dr Brian Freeman has been adding to what is now a 175-hectare estate, ‘within a radius of 10 kilometres on a 560-metre ridge’, he writes. Freeman’s Italian grape varieties include prosecco, the grape behind north-eastern Italy’s delicate sparkling wine of the same name. Freeman’s Aussie version, released shortly after vintage each year, captures the juicy freshness of the grape, boosted by bubbles and pleasantly tart acidity.

Freeman Hilltops Rondo Rondinella Rosé 2017 $21.50
Brian Freeman’s Rondo sits at the palest end of the rosé colour spectrum, with merely a wash of pink, bordering on onion-skin, colour. Made from the rondinella grape, a variety originating near Valpolicella, north-eastern Italy, the wine beguiles with subtle Turkish-delight-like flavours, overlaid with spice. The palate is light and ultra-fresh with slinky texture and bone-dry finish.

Freeman Hilltops Secco Rondinella Corvina 2012 $43
This is a brilliant Aussie take on the classic Amarone style of Verona, Italy, made from dried grapes. Brian Freeman established his vineyard at Young from just six cuttings each of the Veronese varieties, rondinella and corvina in 1999. Rather than go the whole hog like the Valpolicella Amarone makers, Brian uses mainly fresh grapes, adding a portion of dehydrated berries during fermentation. The result is a very full, ripe red with a distinctive ripe black-cherry flavour with undertones of port and prune and a pleasantly tart, savoury edge. 

Freeman Hilltops Fortuna Pinot Grigio 2013 $27
Brian Freeman owns extensive plantings of Italian varieties in the Hilltops region. In Fortuna he creates a broadly Italian style white – with savour and tartness – by co-fermenting five varieties: the mainstream pinot grigio, riesling and sauvignon blanc, and the lesser-known aleatico. He later adds barrel–fermented chardonnay to ‘round out the palate weight of this unique blend’. At five years’ age, this is one of the best pinot grigios on the market. It’s teasingly tart, delicious and savoury, with a sensuous bite of tannin in the bone-dry finish.

Grove Estate The Italian Hilltops Nebbiolo Sangiovese Barbera 2016 $27
‘It’s one of the fruitiest things you’ve ever seen’, says winemaker Bryan Martin of barbera grown in the Hilltops region. The Italian red variety, the junior component of Grove Estate’s three-way Italian blend, stamps its character on the wine as soon as it’s poured. Fruit and more fruit mark the aroma and harmonious, delicious, medium-bodied palate. Acid gives freshness, too, and soft tannins support the fruit, while leaving it as the star act. Nebbiolo and sangiovese give savour to the mid palate. Yum. Sophisticated, low-intervention winemaking gives the wine great purity, drinkability. (The blend: nebbiolo 80%, sangiovese 15%, barbera 5%).

Grove Estate Hilltops Zinfandel 2013 $22
California pretty well owns the zinfandel grape, despite its European origins, where it thrives under various names. The Italians call it primitivo, while Croatian vignerons know it as crljenak, kastelanski and tribidrag. The variety generally makes opaque, blockbuster reds. But Grove’s wine, made by Richard Parker at Long Rail Gully, Canberra, starts at least with medium colour and deep, earthy-savoury fruit flavours. However, there’s no taming the beast, and after the first sip or two, the variety’s powerful tannins wash through the palate. It’s a distinctive wine and its strong tannins demand the company of savoury or high-protein food like rare steak.

Grove Estate Hilltops Cellar Block Shiraz Viognier 2014 $32
Awards won at a variety of wine shows generally indicate high quality. Grove Estate’s four bronze, one silver, four gold medals and a trophy therefore say a lot about the quality of this wine. This is highly aromatic, fruity-musky shiraz with juicy, mouth-filling, fruity-spicy flavours, supported by loads of soft, gentle tannins, with a slight astringency in the finish.

Grove Estate Hilltops The Partners Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $22
Grove Estate’s cellar door sold out of the wine and we now offer our remaining small stocks. Retailers rarely carry older vintages, so this is the last opportunity to buy a very good cabernet at full maturity. The wine now combines sweet varietal fruit flavours with the pleasing chocolate-like character cabernet takes on with age. Firm tannins complete the cabernet picture.

Grove Estate Hilltops The Partners Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $30
Partners Reserve shows the power and elegance of cabernet hand-picked from Grove Estate’s outstanding 1990 Block. Maturation in high quality French oak adds to this many layered wine featuring a spectrum of varietal characters (cassis, tomato leaf, black olive) and completely integrated fine, firm tannins. Tasted in early 2018 the wine looked vibrant and fresh, with the first subtle overlay of bottle age.

Grove Estate Hilltops Sommita Nebbiolo 2014 $45
Grove Estate holds interests in and manages several Hilltops vineyards totalling around 100 hectares. Grove Estate itself (49-hectares) sells fruit to leading Australian wineries, including components for Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz. Grove trust their nebbiolo grapes (a Piedmontese red variety) to one of Canberra’s most accomplished winemakers, Bryan Martin. In a recent tasting of the 2013, 2014 and 2015 vintages, the 2014 appealed for its beautiful floral aroma, a hallmark of this variety. Although the colour is comparatively light (another trait of nebbiolo), the palate is strong and rich with typically muscular, savoury tannins.

Grove Estate Hilltops Flanders Fields Methode Champenoise 2014 $25
Grove Estate sells its highly sought-after grapes to a number of NSW winemakers – and in return winemakers sometimes produce wine, including this lovely bubbly, for Grove. Grapes from Grove Estate’s Flanders Field vineyard travelled to Cassegrain Winery, Port Macquarie, for conversion to sparkling wine using the classic bottle-fermentation technique. The result is a full-flavoured traditional style combining lively freshness with rich bottle aged character.

Grove Estate Hilltops Late Harvest Viognier 375ml 2016 $22
Grove Estate’s third late-harvest viognier offers luscious flavours reminiscent of ripe apricot and marmalade with a zest of lemon juice. The combination of luscious, sweet fruit flavour and counterbalancing acidity make the perfect wine to accompany dessert or ripe blue cheeses.

Grove Estate Wherehaveyoubin Hilltops Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2017 $13
Grove Estate’s Brian Mullany says Hilltops semillon is best picked when it’s barely ripe. This translates to a vibrant, light bodied dry white of comparatively low alcohol, with semillon’s exotic lemongrass-like flavour and tingly fresh acid. A splash of sauvignon blanc from the cooler Orange region adds to the aroma and rounds out a delicious palate.

Grove Estate Wherehaveyoubin Hilltops MCB $13
The MCB stands for merlot-cabernet-barbera, an eclectic red blend originally destined for Russia, but something went wrong, the Federal Police turned the boat around and the wine returned to Young. Grove Estate’s customers loved it, and it’s now a permanent fixture, offering the bright berry flavours and herbaceous notes of merlot and cabernet, the sweet aroma of barbera and fine cabernet and merlot tannins.

Grove Estate Murringo Way Hilltops Chardonnay 2015 $13
Grove Estate’s Flanders Field vineyard, planted in 1990 beside the Murringo Way, provides the grapes for this full-flavoured chardonnay. A few years’ bottle age fills out the palate, and a little oak gives spice and grip to a dry wine built mainly on melon-like varietal flavour.

Moppity Vineyards Hilltop Shiraz 2016 $35
It’s revealing to taste this $35 shiraz alongside Moppity’s $25 Lock and Key version. Where Lock and Key captures the floral perfume and pure fruitiness of shiraz, this wine goes to darker, deeper places. The inclusion of 2% viognier to the blend adds texture. But the real difference, and probably the reason for its three gold medals, comes in the sheer power of its black-cherry-like varietal flavour and deep, savoury tannins.

Moppity Hilltops Merlot 2015 $35
Merlot reaches its greatest heights in Bordeaux’s Pomerol sub-region where it’s generally, but not always, blended with cabernet franc. The fabulously lush, powerful Chateau Petrus, for example is often all merlot. Moppity takes the Petrus all-merlot approach, but sells at a fraction of the price. Moppity’s latest release shows the power and harmony of the fabulous 2015 vintage. Saturated with dark-fruit flavours on a sumptuous palate, it weaves in herbal and savoury notes, all woven in with fine but assertive tannins.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Hilltops Merlot 2014 $25
Merlot comes in so many shades it can be difficult to fathom the variety’s true character. Is it light and soft or dark and firm?  Lock and Key reveals an earthy, deeper side of the variety. Its aroma suggests black olive and dark berry fruits. The palate reflects the aroma, though the fruit’s wrapped in fine, firm tannins that give an assertive but elegant structure to a characterful dry red.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 $25
Moppity’s Jason Brown writes, ‘We’ve made a lot of changes to our cabernets since 2012, both in viticulture and winemaking, with a view to promoting vibrancy and freshness’. The outstanding 2015 provides stunning proof of Jason’s success. The wine’s deeply coloured, but limpid, with a vibrant crimson rim and absolutely delicious, pure-cabernet palate. It’s amazing to believe a wine of this calibre is Moppity’s second-tier cabernet. This is further proof of Hilltops as the centre of cabernet quality in the NSW high country.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Hilltops Shiraz 2016 $25
Lock and Key 2016 stands out for its beautiful, sweet perfume – both floral and fruity at the same time. The juicy palate continues the floral–fruit theme, offering great depth of flavour and round, soft, fine tannins. It’s a great example of the seductive Hilltops style and a worthy winner of gold at the 2017 Royal Melbourne Wine Show.

Lockwood Hilltops Tempranillo 2015 $20
Judith and Terry Mulligan grow and make very small quantities of wine just to the north of Young, NSW. Their 2015 tempranillo starts with the variety’s berry and savoury flavours then finishes with dry, astringent tannins.

Trandari Hilltops Nebbiolo 2012 $25.50
Based on research indicating its suitability, Trandari Vineyard planted its first trial plot of Piedmontese red variety, nebbiolo, in 2004. Even in its native land it’s not an easy variety for vignerons, but when it works it makes elegant, powerful wines of great complexity. Trandari 2012, made by Chris Derrez in Orange, has the pale to medium colour of the variety, along with its floral–savoury aroma. The palate belies the light colour, delivering a powerful amalgam of fruit flavour and firm, drying tannins. It captures the essential qualities of this distinctive grape variety.

Trandari Hilltops Shiraz 2013 $24.00
Trandari, a comparative newcomer to the Hilltops region, planted nebbiolo in 2004 and shiraz in 2006. The shiraz sits bang in the middle of the regional style: deep but limpid, crimson colour; aroma reminiscent of ripe cherry, with spice; delicious, medium-bodied palate continuing the cherry and spice theme, with ample but soft tannins. It’s just a lovely wine to drink now and over the next four or five years.

CANBERRA DISTRICT

Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2016 $110
Clonakilla’s blend of shiraz and the white variety viognier retains its mantle as the greatest wine produced in the Canberra district and the best Australian example of the style. The warm 2016 vintage produced particularly opulent fruit flavours that underpin this multi-layered, luxurious blend. Floral perfume, red berries, spice and savour all add unique flavours to a long-cellaring red of great beauty.

Clonakilla Canberra District Viognier Nouveau 2017 $28
Clonakilla makes two dry whites from the Rhone variety viognier: a complex barrel-fermented version released a year or two after vintage ($45) and this fresh, fruity style brought onto the market soon after fermentation in stainless steel tanks. It presents the pure, distinctive apricot-and-ginger flavours of viognier on a brisk, lively palate that avoids the viscosity sometimes associated with the variety.

Lerida Estate Canberra District Zenzi Rosato Frizzante NV $17
Lerida’s fruit bomb gushes from the bottle, pleasing the eye with its vibrant pink colour and exuberant bubbles. It’s low in alcohol at 8% and big on fruit flavour sugary sweetness, offset by refreshing acidity.

Long Rail Gully Canberra District Rosé 2017 $22
The Parker family’s Long Rail Gully vineyard, one of the largest in Canberra, sells fruit to a number of winemakers but also makes wines under its own label. Winemaker Richard Parker used a parcel of early picked shiraz for this wine, fermenting it cool to retain fruit aroma and flavour. The result is a vibrant pink wine with appealing strawberry-like aroma and flavour with a dry finish and just enough tannin to give structure and finish.

Long Rail Gully Canberra District Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 $26
Canberra’s 2015 vintage produced reds of exceptional quality, with fruit and tannin in great harmony. Long Rail Gully’s cabernet sauvignon 2015 demonstrates that harmony in a fine-boned, elegant, medium-bodied way, albeit without the flesh or depth of cabernet from the neighbouring Hilltops district.

Mada Wines Canberra District Syrah Nouveau 2017 $31
‘Nouveau’ is simply French for ‘new’ and came into the wine vocabulary decades ago relating to the fresh, fruity wines of Beaujolais (southern Burgundy, France) released immediately after vintage. The style inspired Hamish Young’s Mada Nouveau, which he made from shiraz, with touches of grenache and gewurtztraminer, sourced from Murrumbateman, in the Canberra District. The wine’s vivid crimson colour, exuberant aroma and juicy, slurpy palate all say drink me now. It’s pure, fruity pleasure.

Mount Majura Canberra District Touriga 2016 $31
Touriga provides earthy, grippy character in a unique red of vibrant freshness and medium body. Winemaker Frank van de Loo suggests this late ripening variety’s success in Canberra is due to recent warm vintages. He writes, ‘The 2015–2016 season was our warmest to date (as measured by heat degree days), illustrating the ongoing effect of global warming’.

Mount Majura Canberra District TSG 2015 $36.50
A blend of 49% tempranillo, 36% shiraz and 15% graciano, TSG thrills with its vivid purple colour, sweet, seductive aroma and vibrant, harmonious palate. The absolutely delicious palate features the liveliest, freshest fruit flavour imaginable, all held together by savoury tannins that give the wine smooth texture.

Nick O’Leary Bolaro Canberra District Shiraz 2015 $65
Winemaker Nick O’Leary sources grapes from Wayne and Jennie Fischer’s vineyard at Murrumbateman, one of the highest in the district. He writes, ‘Precise, low-yielding viticulture on this perfect grape growing site leads to immensely concentrated grape quality, creating wine of structure, power and beauty’. These words precisely describe O’Leary’s sublime Bolaro 2015, a wine sourced entirely from the Fischer vineyard.

Nick O’Leary White Rocks Canberra District Riesling 2016 $41
Canberra winemaker Nick O’Leary sources grapes for White Rocks from one of Canberra’s oldest vineyards. In 1973, two years after Dr Edgar Riek planted the first vines at Lake George, Captain Geoff Hood established Westering Vineyard next door. Hood’s dry-grown old riesling vines continue to thrive, producing tiny crops of powerfully flavoured grapes. O’Leary says, ‘It’s a great vineyard’, and adds ‘the vines have huge trunks on them’. From these venerable old vines O’Leary makes an extraordinarily concentrated riesling – a wine of great and finesse and delicacy and what he calls, ‘mouth-watering, laser-like acidity’.

Paterson’s Canberra District Chardonnay 2017 $23
With no chardonnay crop in 2017, Gundagai grape grower Stuart Paterson bought grapes from the Canberra District. There, Brindabella Hills winemaker, Brian Sinclair, converted the early-picked grapes to a fresh, low-oak chardonnay style. The wine’s tasty melon- and citrus-like varietal flavours sit lightly on the palate, and natural acidity enhances a tingly, refreshing, dry finish.

Quarry Hill Canberra District Lost Acre Tempranillo 2015 $24
Quarry Hill’s second tempranillo, from the outstanding 2015 vintage, pips even the gold-medal-winning original vintage from the outstanding 2013 season. Winemaker Alex McKay made it in the “joven” style – the Spanish term for young, fruity, low-oak tempranillos made for current drinking. The vivid, crimson colour, spectacularly fruity aroma and buoyant, tannic, gently grippy palate make it a joy to drink on its own or with food. Quarry Hill’s Russell Kerrison says the wine comprises ten barrels of tempranillo and one of grenache (a combination widely used in Spain).

WOMBAT

Wombat Heights Cherry Wine $23.50
Made from ripe black cherries grown on the Wombat Heights Orchard, cherry wine resembles an aged port with its tawny colour and mellow, earthy aroma. On the palate, the aged character and cherry flavours come together as a mellow, sweet whole. The wine can be consumed neat, on ice with soda or mineral water or with sparkling wine.

CROSS-REGIONAL BLENDS

Bit O’ Heaven Wine Think Outside the Circle Chardonnay 2015 $15
You’ll find great value in this generous, fresh chardonnay. The aroma combines peach varietal character with charry oak and a honeyed note of age. The fruit, oak and aged character come through, too, on a juicy, round, smooth-textured palate, cut by citrus-like acidity.

Grove Estate WherehaveyoubinBin Fizzin (Southern NSW–Victoria) $16
A great party starter, Bin Fizzin, offers fresh, lively flavours – and it keeps fizzin’. The Grove team made this for your enjoyment, using grapes from southern NSW and Victoria.

Grove Estate Wherehaveyoubin Rosé 2016 $13
Grove’s bargain-priced rosé offers bright, fresh fruit flavours on a soft palate, with dry, clean, refreshing finish. Fruit was sourced from the great grape growing regions of southern NSW.

Grove Estate Wherehaveyoubin Bin Giggling Moscato 2017 $18
Bin Giggling brings a big smile to life with its pale pink colour and highly perfumed grapey aroma and flavour. It’s light and fresh on the palate with the delicious sweetness of the muscat grape. And it’s less than half the alcohol content of the average Australian wine.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2018
First published 2018 at www.jugiongwinecellar.com

Shaw Vineyard Estate Canberra District Merriman Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 $65

When Australia rode on the sheep’s back some of the finest merino wool grew on Merriman family land around Murrumbateman, New South Wales.

The district remains a producer of fine wool, but shiraz now gives Murrumbateman an international reputation, earned initially by Clonakilla’s benchmark shiraz–viognier.

What then are we to make of five trophies won not by shiraz, but by cabernet sauvignon grown on the old Merriman property?

Graeme and Ann Shaw’s flagship red, Merriman Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, won three of its five trophies at Australian cool-climate wine shows and two more at the 2018 International Wine Challenge London.

While it’s fair to say the cabernet line-ups in the Australian shows were limited. But the London event – where the judges awarded Merriman a trophy as best Australian cabernet – included gold medals to heavyweight rivals Lindemans St George Coonawarra 2015 and Wynns Coonawarra Estate Harold 2013.

That result alone makes Merriman worthy of a close look, if not to declare cabernet a serious rival to shiraz in the Canberra district. The wine’s a deep, brilliant, crimson colour; the aroma and palate both show the ripeness and depth of the exceptional 2015 vintage – one of those rare seasons where flavour depth and ripe, firm tannins coincide. French oak adds another harmonious dimension to the substantial wine’s flavour and structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan