Ross Hill Pinnacle Series Shiraz 2013
Ross Hill Griffin Road vineyard, Orange, NSW
$40
A year ago, as the 2014 bubbled along in its small, open fermenter, winemaker Phil Kerney drew samples of the 2013 from the French oak barriques they were resting in. A year on, and in bottle, the wine blended from all those barrels impresses even more than any of the individual samples did. Dazzling, aromatic fruit and a buoyant, youthful palate headline a much deeper wine. Gamey notes and a hint of stalkiness (from the inclusion of whole bunches in the ferment) build on the vibrant fruit. Finally, silky tannins, derived from the skins, stalks and oak give the wine texture and a solid backbone. This is an exceptional, medium bodied, cool-climate shiraz, requiring another year or two in bottle to blossom. I suspect it’ll continue to evolve in lovely ways for many years.

Peter Lehmann Portrait Riesling 2014
Eden Valley, South Australia
$12.95–$18
The last few years have been a tumultuous time for Peter Lehmann wines. Founder Peter Lehmann died in June 2013. A year later his son Doug, a former managing director and current non-executive chairman, died. Then in November 2014, Casella Wines, owners of Yellow Tail, bought Lehmann from the Hess Group Australia and minority shareholders, including Peter Lehmann’s widow, Margaret. However, under the new ownership, we’ll continue to enjoy Peter Lehmann wines, including this zesty, dry riesling from the Eden Valley. It’s full flavoured, light bodied (at only 11 per-cent alcohol) and should drink well over the next four or five years.

El Toro Macho Tempranillo 2013
Utiel Requena, Valencia, Spain
$4.99
Aldi’s el cheapo red comes from Spain, home of tempranillo. It’s a clean, fresh version of the variety, with all the focus on fruit flavour, and no sign of oak or other winemaking add-ons. Grape tannins give a gentle bite to the finish of this medium-bodied, easy drinking red. Aldi shows its understanding of the Australian market by importing stock sealed with screw caps – a quality standard rival retailer Costco might emulate for its Australian customers.

Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Great Southern and Margaret River, Western Australia
$90.25–$113
Owner Jeff Burch notes a connection between Howard Park’s first cabernet, made from Great Southern fruit in 1986, and his company’s flagship Abercrombie. The early wines, made by John Wade (maker, too, of the legendary Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1982), came from Great Southern vines planted in the mid seventies. Burch now owns those old vines, which join Margaret River material in Abercrombie. It’s a class act from the first sniff: seductively floral cabernet marries seamlessly with sweet oak in the aroma and on the extraordinarily concentrated but harmonious and elegant palate.

Lark Hill Riesling 2014
Lark Hill vineyard, Lake George escarpment, Canberra District, NSW
$35
Lark Hill’s riesling vines, planted in 1978, sit a couple of hundred metres higher than most of their Canberra district peers. The higher altitude means cooler, later ripening and, for the resultant wine, subtle flavour and structural differences to those grown on lower, warmer sites. This shows, to my taste, as an apple-like tartness and flavour mingling with the otherwise lemon- and –lime-like varietal characters. A year after vintage, the fruit really sings and, combined, with the racy acidity, gives a thrilling drink.

Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Limestone Coast, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek, South Australia
$71.30–$80
Penfolds introduced Bin 407 as a cheaper cellar mate to its $350 flagship Bin 707 cabernet. Bin 707, like its shiraz counterpart, Grange, offers enormous depth, power and very long term cellaring potential. Bin 407, on the other hand, shows a more approachable and purely varietal face of cabernet – albeit in the sturdy Penfolds mould. The 2012 vintage combines the variety’s ripe, cassis-like flavours with subtle herbaceous notes, reminiscent of tomato leaf. Deep, strong tannins intersect with the fruit, giving layered, multi-dimensional flavours and textures and firm finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 19 and 20 May in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Coriole McLaren Vale Sangiovese 2013 $22–$25
What to drink with Tuesday night pizza? Tongue and Groove’s short wine list offered several tempting drops. But we settled for Coriole sangiovese, the Italian variety grown and made in McLaren Vale by the Lloyd family. They planted sangiovese in 1985 and over the years, they’ve polished it to a high standard. In the excellent 2013 vintage, the wine offers delicious plush, juicy fruit flavours, with an underlying savouriness, but softer tannins than we expect from the variety. The fruity softness made it appealing even before the food arrived. And the savouriness sat well with the rich pizza flavours.

Kirrihill Vineyard Selection Watervale Riesling 2014 $20
Kirribilli offers a range of wines sourced from vineyards in the Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills. Their riesling comes from two vineyards at Watervale, at the southern end of the Clare Valley. For a fair price it delivers the region’s floral and citrus-like aromas, intense, lime-like flavour and racy, dry finish. Despite its flavour intensity, the wine remains light-bodied, at 11 per-cent alcohol, and pleasingly delicate. The fruit purity, aromatics and delicacy come down to gentle grape handling and protective winemaking techniques.

Gallagher Canberra District Riesling 2014 $22
Good on the Hellenic Club for offering a local wine of this calibre by the glass. Like other Canberra 2014 vintage rieslings, Gallagher offers highly perfumed, floral aromas, with generous, juicy, citrus-like varietal flavours. However, there’s a gentle delicacy to the palate and a zingy acidity that makes it impressively vibrant and fresh. A modest alcohol content of 11.4 per cent adds to its drinking appeal. Based on many earlier vintages, you can enjoy this wine for its youthful fruitiness now, or follow its flavour evolution over the next four or five years – perhaps longer in a cool, dark cellar.

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

Clonakilla Pinot Noir 2014 $55
Clonakilla vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
“Pinot’s the holy grail”, says Clonakilla’s Tim Kirk, “and the general wisdom is you can’t make great pinot noir in Canberra”. But after producing pinot for decades, only to blend it into the flagship shiraz-viognier, Kirk made small, separate batches from 2011. He used fruit from vines planted in 1978 by his father, John Kirk, and two plots he planted in 2007 and 2008. “They were always good and interesting wines but not great”, says Kirk, though they improved a little with each vintage. However, the 2014 stands convincingly on its own – an exciting, irresistible wine, displaying the many dimensions of good pinot: sweet fragrance, layers of fruit, deep savoury characters (reminiscent of olive tapenade), silky texture and elegant structure. Kirk produced just two barrels, or around 80 dozen bottles.

Clonakilla Ballinderry 2013 $55
Clonakilla vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
In 1971, John Kirk planted cabernet sauvignon at Clonakilla. In 1985 and 1987 he added the related varieties cabernet franc and merlot. But in the mid nineties shiraz emerged as Clonakilla’s (and later the district’s) red specialty, forcing the cabernet blend into the background. Then along came the outstanding 2013 vintage and, to me, the best cabernet blend yet made at Clonakilla, or in Canberra. It comprises cabernet franc (42 per cent), merlot (35 per cent) and cabernet sauvignon (23 per cent) in a taut, elegant, tannic style. Only after hours of air exposure does the absolutely beautiful fruit reveal itself. And when it does, it’s irresistible, though tightly bound up in those fine tannins. It’ll probably evolve for decades. Tim Kirk believes a serendipitous extra 10 months in oak contributed to its great dimension. Disease ruled out harvesting of cabernet varieties in 2014, meaning there was no call on the barrels containing the 2013 wine.

Quarry Hill Shiraz 2013 $21
Quarry Hill vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Hardys are long gone from Canberra, but the company left a rich legacy of high quality small vineyards inspired by their presence. Dean Terrell’s Quarry Hill vineyard, planted during the Hardy era in 1999, now sells fruit to other winemakers and makes small quantities of wine under its own label. This shiraz, made by former Hardy winemaker, Alex McKay, captures the delicious berry-and-spice character of Canberra shiraz. It’s medium bodied, in the district style, and shows a teasing, stalky twist, probably a result of including whole bunches in the ferment.

Four Winds Tom’s Block Shiraz 2013 $45
Four Winds vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Four Winds vineyard made two very good shirazes in the outstanding 2013 vintage. Their standard shiraz, reviewed last year, offers a particularly aromatic expression of Canberra’s shiraz style. Tom’s Block, on the other hand, heads in a deeper, sturdier direction. As a selection of Four Winds’ best shiraz, it shows richer, deeper fruit flavour than the standard version. Maturation for a year in French oak barrels also built extra weight into the mid-palate, while adding its own sympathetic spicy, charry aromas and flavours.

Freeman Rondinella Corvina Secco 2010 $35
Freeman vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
Brian Freeman’s blend emulates the Amarone reds made in Valpolicella, near Verona, Italy. There, vignerons co-ferment fresh-picked and dehydrated grapes to produce distinctive reds of intense sour-cherry, prune- and port-like flavours. The best are remarkable. Freeman planted the Veronese varieties rondinella and corvina for this purpose. He sends part of the crop to a neighbour’s prune dehydrator, then ferments the dried fruit with fresh-picked material. Freeman’s 2010 presents very strong, sour-cherry- and port-like flavours, meshed with the distinct aromas and flavours of oak, on a potent and tannic palate that some will love and others will hate.

Ross Hill Pinnacle Series Chardonnay 2014 $35
Ross Hill Griffin Road vineyard, Orange, NSW
The Robson Family’s Ross Hill has emerged as the one of the hot producers of the cool Orange district. The varied altitudes (and climates) of the family’s vineyard (750 to 1000 metres) gives winemakers Phil and Rochelle Kerney an extraordinary palate of varieties to work with. Chardonnay, for example, comes from the family’s Griffin Road vineyard at 750 metres. Handpicked, whole-bunch pressed and fermented spontaneously in French oak barrels, it’s about as natural as wine gets. It showed great promise tasted from barrel about a year ago and now delivers on that promise: a seamless, plush, vibrant chardonnay, combining cool-climate, grapefruit-and-nectarine varietal flavour with the textural richness and flavour nuances derived from fermentation and maturation in barrel.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 12 and 13 May 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the canberratimes.com.au

Logan Weemala Central Ranges Shiraz Viognier 2013 $19
Peter Logan’s shiraz-viognier blend combines grapes from two distinct points on the NSW Great Dividing Range – Mudgee and Orange. Lower, warmer Mudgee makes strong, tannic shiraz; higher, cooler Orange makes lighter, spicier, softer styles. Logan says the wine is basically Mudgee shiraz (70 per cent of the blend), mollified by the Orange component. It’s a pleasing result from a very good season, the best in his 20-year career, says Logan. The wine shows ripe, cherry-like fruit flavours, with a spicy lift and firm tannins that give a dry, savoury finish.

Angullong Orange Sauvignon Blanc 2014 $19
The 220-hectare Angullong vineyard, 35-kilometres south of Orange, rolls in and out of the Orange wine-district boundary, which is defined partly on altitude. The vineyard’s altitude varies by only 40 metres, from 580-metres to 620-metres. But only the vines above the 600-metre mark lie within Orange. Those below it qualify for the Central Ranges appellation, which must make harvesting and separating the fruit quite a challenge for the managers. Fortunately they grow very good grapes – and it shows in this bright and zesty, clearly varietal dry white. It’s a drink-now style from a region well suited to the variety.

Tudor Central Victorian Shiraz (Aldi) 2013 $12.99
Few wines at this price win gold medals and trophies. But Aldi’s blend shiraz–mourvedre blend earned one trophy at the 2014 National Wine Show of Australia and two in the 2015 Sydney International Wine Competition. That’s on top of two gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The brilliant crimson-rimmed colour; cheerful, fruity aroma, reflected on the juicy palate, are easy to love. Little wonder the judges rated it so highly. Gentle tannins mingle with the fruit, though there’s a savoury note and a little bite to the finish, courtesy no doubt of the mourvedre.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 10 May 2015 in the Canberra Times

Sevenhill Cellars Inigo Riesling 2014 $18.80–$20
Sevenhill Cellars vineyards, Clare Valley, South Australia
In 1851 the Society of Jesus established Sevenhill Cellars, the Clare Valley’s first winery. The Jesuits still run Sevenhill from magnificent stone cellars where they make amazingly concentrated wines from their own extensive vineyards. Inigo – the cheaper of their two rieslings (the other, St Francis Xavier, sells for $35) – seduces the palate with a sensuous, drink-now opulence. Seduction begins with the pure citrus-and-floral varietal aroma. But it’s the slick and slippery palate that makes the earth move. More please.

Bowen Estate Shiraz 2013 $28.50–$33
Bowen vineyards, Coonawarra, South Australia
For a cool-climate Coonawarra shiraz, Bowen’s is of heroic proportions: high in alcohol at 15.5 per cent, pulsing with rich, very ripe fruit flavours, made even more succulent by a mother-load of soft tannins. If these descriptors seem at odds with Coonawarra’s demure template, they come with a few caveats. Despite the wine’s size and power, the fruit flavours remain in the regional ripe-berry spectrum and there’s an elegance to the structure, albeit obscured slightly by the high alcohol.

Yalumba FDR 1A Cabernet Shiraz 2010 $36.10–$43
Eden Valley, South Australia
“We have a new deal on FDR”, announced the sales rep in nineteen seventy something. Undeterred by collective groans in Farmer Brothers’ buying office, he poured samples. We duly applauded what was to be one of the few successes of the Barossa’s appalling 1974 vintage. That was the first vintage of a blend that, on the strength of the Eden Valley cabernet component, became 100-per-cent Eden from the 2010 vintage. At five years’, it tastes young and fresh, with the deep berry, mint and firm tannin character of Eden cabernet, rounded and softened by shiraz. It’s an outstanding red with decades of slow evolution ahead of it.

Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay 2013 $34.80–$40
Tumbarumba, NSW
In the early nineties Penfolds put its mind to making a white flagship – a white equivalent to Grange, eventually released as Yattarna, from the 1995 vintage. Though the search began with semillon, riesling and chardonnay, the latter fairly quickly became the sole focus. During this search, Tumbarumba chardonnay made the initial cut, but soon bowed out to components from the Adelaide Hills and, later, Tasmania. However, Penfolds didn’t abandon Tumbarumba altogether and the region generally contributes partly or solely to the brilliant Bin 311 – a rich, fine and sophisticated chardonnay. It has immediate drinking appeal and potential to evolve in the cellar for several years.

d’Arenberg High Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $18–$20
d’Arenberg High Trellis vineyard, McLaren Vale South Australia
Only a comparatively small proportion of under-$20 reds have the stuffing to cellar well. But an earthy, fruity, richness and savoury, rustic tannins give High Trellis cellarability as well as grippy, drink-now appeal. The wine, produced from a nineteenth-century vineyard, shows clear varietal cassis- and mint-like varietal flavours and firm but friendly tannins. The chewy, richly textured palate has a wholemeal goodness, partly because winemaker Chester Osborne doesn’t fine of filter the wine before bottling.

Sassafras Gamay Ancestral 2014 $24
Johansen vineyard, Tumbarumba, NSW
In 2014, Quarry Hill’s Paul Starr branched out and produced a sparkling rose by applying the ancestral method to red gamay grapes. The method involves a standard fermentation, with just enough skin contact to extract the pink colour. The maker refrigerates the wine to arrest the fermentation while it retains a small amount of residual sugar. After bottling, the sugars undergo a secondary fermentation, creating carbon dioxide and a very fine haze from the spent yeast cells. Starr’s wine, sealed with a stainless steel crown, offers an attractive pink colour, a modest level of effervescence and gamay’s alluring strawberry-like aroma and flavour. The zippy, fresh, fruit-sweet palate finishes pleasantly tart and dry.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 5 and 6 May 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Stefano Lubiana Derwent Valley Pinot Noir 2013 $48
Winemaker Steve Lubiana writes, “vintage 2013 was a vintage that ticked all the boxes: the timing was great, good natural acid with the right volume of fruit/ha, producing softer more approachable wines”. He and wife Monique also celebrated their 20^th vintage at Granton, near Hobart, and their first as certified biodynamic operators. As Steve suggests, the 2013 pinot presents opulent, ripe, soft fruit flavours. It’s a wine of great buoyancy and upfront charm. But there’s much more to it. The juicy varietal fruit forms a matrix of flavours and textures with the soft, abundant tannins and first stirrings of deeper, savoury elements.

Shanahans Silence is Golden Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 $23.75–$30
Shanahans The Old Dog Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 $16.20–$20
Independently of one another, an older brother and old mate brought these cellar mates on a coast weekend. The name alone guaranteed a review, though there’s no family or other connection I’m aware of. But I’ve tasted Shanahan wines before and they’ve always delivered true Barossa warmth and richness at a fair price. They’re both from single vineyards in the western Barossa – the first from Greenock the other from an undisclosed location. The opulent, silk-smooth Silence is Golden contrasts subtly with the firmer, more savoury Old Dog. Both wines were purchased at Dan Murphy’s and they’re available at shanahanswines.com.au.

Redbank King Valley Fiano 2014 $21.95
With more romance than reality the back label depicts fiano as a variety “dating back to the days of Roman viticulture”. More prosaically, Jancis Robinson and Jose Vouillamoz in Wine grapes – a complete guide to 1368 varieties, including their origins and flavours, dismiss as futile attempts to link ancient names with modern varieties. They do, however, point to its origins in Campania and mentions of it as early as 1240. At Myrrhee, 700-metres up in Victoria’s King Valley, it produces a full-flavoured, melon-scented dry white with a rich texture and tangy, lemony dryness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 3 May 2015 in the Canberra Times

Turkey Flat Mataro 2014 $32
Turkey Flat vineyard, Barossa Valley, South Australia
In Spain, where it originated, this late ripening variety is known as monastrell. The French call it mourvedre. In the Barossa most winemakers know it as mataro, though mourvedre gets a nod at times. And at Turkey Flat, writes owner Christie Schulz, “We originally referred to [it] as mataro and for unknown reasons we changed to mourvedre. After several years of customers struggling with the pronunciation we have decided to revert to mataro”. The name rolls off the tongue as easily as the 2014 slips down the throat. It’s a big, jolly wine, bulging with juicy, ripe fruit flavours, with undertones of spice and earth. Fine but firm tannins complete a seductive, unique and complete red.

Stefano Lubiana Estate Chardonnay $48
Lubiana vineyard, Granton, Derwent Valley, Tasmania
In their sheer luscious drinkability, Lubiana wines reflect the loving care lavished on them by Steve and Monique Lubiana. Their latest chardonnay, from the small 2012 vintage, seamlessly combines the intense grapefruit- and nectarine-like varietal flavours of cool-grown chardonnay with the textural richness derived from spontaneous fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. Once you start drinking this wine, you simply can’t stop. The unique vineyard site, surrounded on three sides by water, lies at around 43-degrees south, just a short drive from Hobart. The Lubianas converted to organic management some years back and now follow biodynamic principles in the vineyard and winemaking. But I think it’s the loving care that really makes the difference.

Mitchell Sevenhill Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $24.70–$27
Mitchell vineyard, Sevenhill, Clare Valley, South Australia
In a sea of soft, drink-now shiraz, high quality cabernet sauvignon stands out for its mouth-gripping tannins. It’s not a wine to drink on its own, but with high-protein food, preferably roasted or grilled beef or lamb. Protein tames the tannins, which purr across the palate, marrying with the juicy meat and wine flavours. Even after eight years, Mitchell’s elegant wine retains cabernet’s signature tannins, sufficiently tamed to enjoy with succulent red meat. It’s a lean, taut, though flavoursome style far removed from the fleshier cabernets we see from, say, Langhorne Creek.

Vin Vale by Shingleback Shiraz 2013 $13–$15
Davey Estate vineyard, Friends and Neighbours vineyard, McLaren Vale, South Australia
Vin Vale is a label exclusive to Coles. They offer it in their Liquorland, Vintage Cellars and 1^st Choice outlets and, at the time of writing, Vintage Cellars at $12.99 (case price) was undercutting 1^st Choice’s $13.30. Down the road, archrival Woolworths offered its equivalent Red Knot Shiraz 2013, from the same producer, at an even cheaper $12.40 as part of a six-bottle buy. From a drinker’s viewpoint, it’s a hoot to see the big guys competing away at least part of the bigger profits exclusive labels are meant to deliver. Vin Vale and Red Knot offer the rich, fruity-savoury delights of McLaren Vale shiraz at a fair price.

Mitchell Riesling 2014 $19–$22
Mitchell vineyard, Watervale, Clare Valley, South Australia
Jane and Andrew Mitchell offer a unique take on riesling, well removed from the majority of styles found on retail shelves. Andrew says, “This is our ‘natural’ wine”, fermented spontaneously to complete dryness with ambient yeasts and with no acid adjustment – a rare achievement in the warm Clare Valley. The spontaneous ferment, and several months’ maturation on spent yeast cells, mutes some of riesling’s aromatic high notes while leaving the intense, citrusy varietal flavour intact. The process also adds a deliciously rich texture to the wine. The result: a rounded mouth-caressing riesling with concentrated flavours and crisp, bone-dry finish.

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2013 $35.20–$40
Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale Clare Valley and Langhorne Creek, South Australia
Bin 28, first made in 1959 from shiraz grown in Penfolds’ Kalimna vineyard in the north-western Barossa, is today a multi-region South Australian blend. While it’s less burly and chunky as a young wine than its forebears, it remains a rich, ripe and satisfying expression of warm-grown shiraz. The 2013 vintage offers particularly lovely, supple fruit flavours, reminiscent of ripe, black, cherries. It’s loaded with ripe, soft tannins which add savoury notes and a satisfying chewy texture. Our bottle remained drinkable for a week after opening, suggesting very good cellaring prospect.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 28 and 29 April 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times.

Mitchell Clare Valley McNicol Riesling 2007 $35–$48
Jane and Andrew Mitchell’s McNicol riesling comes from a high-altitude Clare Valley vineyard. They write, “[it] has never been irrigated and neither herbicides nor pesticides have been used”. They say the vines “work for a living, rather than having it all handed to them” and as a result produce wine that is “simply too powerful to be released in its youth and needs time in the cellar”. The McNicol could well be the most beautiful riesling you ever try: stunningly fresh at eight years, amazingly powerful and varietal, yet mellowed by time, and with a long life still ahead.

Hay Shed Hill Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2014 $18.05–$20
Many Margaret River producers ferment and mature some or all of the components of this signature regional blend in oak barrels. The practice lends body, backbone and texture (and sometimes oak flavours) to their wines. At Hay Shed Hill winemaker Michael Kerrigan opts for a more riesling-like approach, aimed at capturing the pure varietal fruit characters of the two varieties. Fermentation of the finest cut of juice in steel tanks at low temperatures delivers a strikingly pure wine, with pungent varietal character, reminiscent of torn pea shells and fresh-mown grass.

Turkey Flat Butchers Block Shiraz Grenache Mataro 2013 $19
Turkey Flat is one of the Barossa’s must-visit vineyards, with rows of gnarled old vines planted in 1847 and a range of beautifully made estate-grown wines. Butchers Block (owner Christie Schulz’s entry-level red) combines the valley’s three signature red varieties ­­shiraz, grenache and mataro. The proportions vary each season and in 2013 shiraz leads at 48 per cent, followed by grenache (28 per cent) and mataro (24 per cent). They’ve been making this blend for a while now, so it’s a highly polished, harmonious blend presenting the lovely, sweet ripeness of the warm 2013 vintage. Fragrant, gentle, juicy, spicy and soft, it’ll put a smile on any face.

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

Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2012 $71.30–$80
Marananga, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Penfolds’ largely undiscovered Bin 150 demonstrates the power of shiraz grown in Marananga – a Barossa sub-region long favoured by Penfolds’ red wine makers and sometimes referred to as “Grange country”. The fifth vintage of Bin 150, from the mild 2012 season, combines rich, ripe black-cherry-like fruit flavours with deep, delicious savoury characters. Firm, fine tannins cut through the fruit, adding a satisfying textural dimension to a big but remarkably harmonious shiraz built for long-term cellaring.

Thomas Wines Elenay Shiraz 2013 $45
Lower Hunter Valley, NSW
On 18 April, Hunter winemaker Andrew Thomas released six Hunter shirazes from the highly rated 2013 vintage. The range includes several single-vineyard wines and this blend, which we tasted alongside a Tyrrell shiraz from the same vintage. Elenay’s power, ripeness and savouriness, with a lick of oak, contrasted with the more restrained Tyrrell style. We enjoyed both styles, slightly favouring the lighter Tyrrell wine, while really savouring the meatier Elenay. Thomas says the blend comprises “a few amazing barrels that are, for various reasons, ultimately left out of the single vineyard wines. “With tongue in cheek, we affectionately refer to these leftover barrels as the ‘lips’ and ‘arseholes’”, he adds.

Tyrrell’s Semillon 2014 $17–$24
Lower Hunter Valley, NSW
Tyrrell’s recently introduced three wines – chardonnay, semillon and shiraz – under a new “Hunter Valley” label. They’re drink-now expressions of its three regional specialties, priced well below the company’s flagship Vat series equivalents (Vat 47 chardonnay, Vat 1 semillon and Vat 9 shiraz). The semillon, at a modest 11.5 per-cent alcohol, displays typical regional–varietal flavours of citrus and lemongrass on a light, bone-dry palate. Where the Vat 1 generally requires years for the flavour to develop, the new release offers its fruit right now. It’s a very good version of an idiosyncratic wine style that grows on you the more you drink it.

Sapling Yard Shiraz 2013 $25
Four Winds vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
In 2008 Carla Rodeghiero and husband Andrew Bennett planted Sapling Yard vineyard, 25 kilometres north of Braidwood. By this time, Carla, a clinical research associate, had completed her wine science degree at Charles Sturt University. While the couple wait for their vineyard to mature, Carla sources fruit from other growers and makes wine from a shed at Sapling vineyard. “I’m a garagiste”, she says. Her 2013 shiraz looked good in a masked tasting last September and impressed again recently. It’s a lighter style, with varietal flavours of red berries and pepper. Sweet mid-palate fruit and soft, easy tannins give it great drink-now appeal. Available at saplingyard.com.au, Plonk and Ainslie Cellars.

Sapling Yard Riesling 2014 $20
Ironbark vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Carla Rodeghiero bought riesling grapes from the tiny Ironbark vineyard at Murrumbateman and made the wine at her won vineyard, Sapling Yard, 25 kilometres north of Braidwood. She hopes to introduce wines from Sapling Yard vineyard in the near future, but meanwhile sources fruit for her label from Canberra and Tumbarumba. The riesling shows citrus-like varietal flavours on a fresh, crisp, light-bodied palate. Available at saplingyard.com.au, Plonk and Ainslie Cellars.

Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling 2014 $27.55–$30
Eden Valley, South Australia
Penfolds introduced Bin 51 in 1999, but the company’s riesling-making history stretches back many decades, and interweaves with other companies in the Treasury Wine Estates group. Like so many 2014 rieslings, Bin 51 offers a mouthful of ripe, varietal flavour rather than the austerity often seen in youngsters. A racy backbone of acidity adds even more vivacity to the fruit and provides a fresh, zingy, dry finish. All that freshness and fruit means good drinking now, but the wine now has a good cellaring record.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 21 and 22 April 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2014 $18.50–$24
Tyrrell’s new Hunter Valley range – comprising chardonnay, semillon and shiraz – gives us high quality regional specialties at keen prices. They’re already being discounted to $18.50, well below the recommended price of $24 a bottle. The first chardonnay in the range, from the excellent 2014 vintage, offers the Hunter’s generous, round varietal flavours of citrus and melon. Fermentation and maturation in French oak barriques on spent yeast cells gives the wine a pleasing textural richness and subtle spicy, nutty flavours that enhance the fruit. It all adds up to a sophisticated, easy drinking chardonnay.

Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Shiraz 2013 $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 2013 shiraz really captures the idiosyncratic Hunter style: limpid and medium bodied with sweet cut with savoury, spicy flavours, finishing dry and soft.

Chrismont La Zona King Valley Barbera 2012 $26
Although we associate barbera with Piedmont, it apparently bears little relationship to other long-established varieties in the region. This suggests it may be a relative newcomer to the area, say Jancis Robinson and Jose Vouillamoz in Wine Grapes. Meanwhile, the variety adapted readily to Australian conditions, including in Arnie Pizzini’s Chrismont vineyard in Victoria’s King Valley. Like the Italian originals, Pizzini’s shows the variety’s striking purple-rimmed colour. The flavour, reminiscent of summer berries, comes wrapped in earthy, savoury tannins and cut through with a pleasantly tart acidity – another distinctive barbera trait.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 18 and 19 April 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times