Sancerre (Vignerons a Crezancy) 2011 $16.49
For a different take – in fact, the original – on dry sauvignon blanc, try Costco’s French import from the eastern Loire Valley town, Sancerre. Located at 47 degrees north, this cool region makes lean, acidic sauvignons a world away in style from the brash, fleshy, globally loved versions from Marlborough, New Zealand. It’s the difference that matters, so expect lighter body and herbal and savoury rather than capsicum-like flavours. This is a comparatively tame, soft expression of the regional style and slips down easily without becoming the centre of attention.

Curly Flat Lacuna Macedon Ranges Chardonnay 2013 $36
Australian winemakers continue to tweak chardonnay making it, in my view, our great national white specialty – much as shiraz, in all its similar diversity – carries our red-wine banner. Curly Flat’s second label, Lacuna, adds yet another hue to the ever-widening spectrum. Passing a portion of the grapes through rollers and foot crushing another small component adds grip and texture to an otherwise delicate wine, fermented in stainless steel tanks and the beautifully named, air-permeable Flextank cubes. The small amount of oxygen tones down the fruit and adds to this delicious, fresh, crisp wine’s savoury character.

Vinaceous Voodoo Moon Margaret River Malbec 2012 $20–$25
We hear much of Australia’s winemakers but not so much these days of wine merchants buying, blending (and sometimes making) wine for sale under their own labels. Victoria’s Seabrook family and Sydney’s late Harry Brown are great examples of these entrepreneurial merchants – known in France as negociants. Vinaceous, a newcomer to the ranks, combines the skills of marketer, Nick Stacy, and winemaker, Michael Kerrigan. Their small and excellent regional range includes this rich, ripe, aromatic, fruity malbec from Margaret River, Western Australia. The quirky label fits the happy, fruity, easy drinking style of the wine.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 23 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

La Linea Tempranillo 2012 $27
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
If I had to bet the house on one of the so-called “alternative” grape varieties it’d be Spain’s tempranillo. We crush only about 3000 tonnes a year in Australia (equivalent to perhaps 225 thousand dozen bottles) – a mere splash compared to the more familiar varieties we grow. However, despite the small volume, a recent ABS survey unearthed 341 tempranillo producers across the country. A standout among those is Peter Leske and David LeMire’s La Linea. Though consistently fragrant and floral in earlier vintages, the 2012 lifts another notch, especially in its juicy, fleshy, spicy medium-bodied palate – complete with the variety’s wave of tannins drying out the finish.

Hoddles Creek 1er Chardonnay 2012 $40
Hoddles Creek Estate, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Winemaker Franco D’Anna sources grapes for this wine from an east-facing and presumably comparatively cool site on the family vineyards. However, he picks the grapes riper than he does for the estate’s standard label, resulting in a full flavoured still finely texture, elegant style. The wine shows the cool-grown citrusy side of chardonnay, with underlying stone-fruit flavours. It also shows the “struck match” character of fermentation and maturation in oak – a character that overwhelms skinnier wines, but adds seasoning to a wine of this generosity and calibre.

Clairault Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2013 $22
Margaret River, Western Australia
Margaret River’s distinctive white blend tempers sauvignon blanc’s turbo fruitiness with semillon’s backbone and seriousness – a combination greatly enriched by fermenting and maturing a component in oak barrels. The resulting wine remains vivacious and fruity, but not overwhelmingly so, with attractive mid-palate texture and a savoury note. Sealed with a screw cap, the wine should evolve well and remain fresh for four or five years.

Mount Majura Vineyard The Silurian Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2008 $30
Mount Majura vineyard, Canberra District, ACT
Frank van der Loo’s chardonnay-pinot bubbly matured for about five years in bottle. The long contact with spent yeast cells (left over from the secondary fermentation in bottle) added subtly to the wine’s aroma, flavour and texture. However, at almost six years its fresh, delicate, lemon-like chardonnay flavours draw more attention than the yeast-derived characters do. This is a very pleasant aperitif style. It’ll be interesting to see how future vintages evolve, especially in regard to use, or not, of other bubbly-making tricks, such as use of reserve wines in the blend, to build more complexity.

Coriole Sangiovese 2012 $21–$25
Coriole vineyards, McLaren Vale, South Australia
The Lloyd family planted sangiovese at Coriole in 1985, joining Montrose of Mudgee, under Carlo Corino, as an early pioneer of Italian varieties. Corino eventually returned to Italy. But the Lloyds persevered, and recently released their 26th vintage. From the very good 2012 vintage, it’s a little fuller and rounder than usual, though the variety’s savouriness comes through and the fine, firm tannins leave no doubt that it’s sangiovese, and the regional red specialty, shiraz.

Chablis (Bouchot-Ludot) 2011 $15.79
Chablis, France
Chablis – Burgundy’s northernmost sub-region, at around latitude 47 degrees – makes unique and delicious, lean, intense chardonnays, reflecting the very cool climate. The best, like those of Raveneau, can be sublime. But more workmanlike wines, like this Costco import, still capture the unique and loveable regional style. Bouchot-Ludot is very easy to love. And because it’s not at all like an Australian chardonnay, it adds variety to our drinking. Costco’s global buying power allows us to drink it at a bargain price.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
Firsts published 19 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

Penfolds Hyland Cool Climate Adelaide Chardonnay 2012 $18–$23
We could call Thomas Hyland the forgotten Penfolds range – sitting quietly in the shade of the much-hyped bin and icon wines. The chardonnay debuted in 2001, an offshoot of the “white Grange” project that delivered the flagship Yattarna and Adelaide Hills Reserve Bin chardonnays. The style evolved with the times, and in the 2012 vintage we taste a rich but tightly structured wine showing terrific fruit flavour woven in with textures and flavours derived from fermentation and maturation on yeast lees in oak barrels. The on-special price seems to have snuck up a few dollars in the last year, but it still offers good value when under $20.

Frankland Estate Rocky Gully Frankland River Cabernets 2012 $16–$18
Frankland River lies a little to the south, and well to the east of Margaret River, Western Australia’s capital of cabernet blends. Part of the Great Southern zone, Frankland River, while better known for its shiraz and riesling, makes good wine from cabernet and related varieties on some sites. Frankland Estate Rocky Gully provides and affordable, drink-now introduction to the style. It’s medium bodied and built on gentle, ripe-berry varietal flavours with sufficient tannin to give backbone and bite to the dry finish.

Wirra Wirra Lost Watch Adelaide Hills Riesling 2013 $18.05–$22
Wirra Wirra’s Lost Watch, from the cool Adelaide Hills, provides a delicious contrast to the better-known rieslings from the Eden and Clare valleys (located to the north, on the same Mount Lofty Ranges). Our sample moved from the tasting bench to the dinner table on a warm summer’s evening. The wine’s delicate, pleasantly tart acidity, green-apple and lemon-like varietal flavours sat well with fresh prawns and cut through the heavier flavours and oiliness of barbecued salmon. It’s a particularly delicate riesling, with the flavour intensity, acidity and harmony to age well over the next four or five years.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 16 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

Rymill The Surveyor Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $80
Rymill vineyard, northern Coonawarra, South Australia
Coonawarra vigneron John Rymill launched his new flagship, The Surveyor, late last year. He dedicated it to his grandfather, John Riddoch Rymill, leader of a surveying expedition to the Antarctica peninsula from 1934 to 1937. Winemaker Sandrine Gimon says, “We picked the grapes from our established vines, averaging 35 years in age… and the wine matured in new and one year old French oak barriques for 18 months. We then selected the finest five barrels to create 1,400 bottles.” Surveyor justifies the effort as it delivers the unique power and elegance seen in the best Coonawarra cabernets. It’s delightfully aromatic and already shows some complexity, as it combines ripe berries with a dusting of leafiness and beautiful but unobtrusive oak. These are all reflected on the elegant, deeply layered palate, which should evolve for decades in a good cellar. I question only the heavy bottle (just under 2 kg, versus 1.3–1.4 kg for most bottles) and the use of a cork and heavy-duty plastic seal. The latter just seem like annoying, out-dated barriers between wine and drinker. Give me a screw cap, please. (Available at rymill.com.au).

Angove Long Row Riesling 2013 $8–$11
Nanya Vineyard, Riverland, South Australia
For everyday quaffing, Long Row offers true citrus-like riesling varietal aromas and flavours in a round, soft, vibrant and dry style. It comes from Angove’s Nanya vineyard on the hot stretches of the Murray – not ideal conditions for riesling. It’s therefore all the more impressive that Angoves produced such good flavours – probably the result of such long experience in the region. The vines are “heritage” clone, planted by Tom Angove in the early 1970s.

Tyrrell’s Lost Block Chardonnay 2012 $15–$18
Hunter Valley, NSW
Tyrrell’s has its white-wine making peers in the Hunter, but no one makes better wines. Their chardonnay quality trickles down through the range, from the flagship Vat 47, to the bargain-priced Lost Block. At a modest 12.5 per cent alcohol, the wine delivers chardonnay’s stone-fruit and melon varietal flavours on a fine, fresh palate, lifted in texture and flavour by maturation on spent yeast cells.

Pooley Tasmania Pinot Noir 2012 $35
Principally Coal River Valley, Tasmania
The Pooley family planted vines in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley, near Richmond, in 1985. The second and third generations now run the vineyards and make the wines, including this alluring pinot noir. The wine shows a ripe and fruity face of the variety with a balancing undercurrent of savouriness and persistent soft tannins – a lovely match to Debbie Skelton’s lunch a few weeks back. The website (pooleyswines.com.au) says it’s available from Plonk, Fyshwick Markets.

Bilgavia Estate Semillon 2013 $26
Broke Fordwich, Hunter Valley, NSW
Broke Fordwich is a sub-region of the lower Hunter Valley, one valley over from the original heartland around Pokolbin. In general, Broke semillons seem a little rounder and softer than the classic, austere, long-lived versions from Pokolbin – though they remain broadly similar in style in other characteristics. Picked early, they offer fairly low-alcohol (this one’s 11 per cent), lightness and refreshingly lemon-like, vibrant flavours. We enjoyed our bottle with seafood among the gums and cicadas of the south coast.

De Bortoli Villages Pinot Noir 2012 $16–$22
Dixons Creek, Tarrawarra and Woori Yallock, Yarra Valley, Victoria
You’ve been on a long kayak paddle, it’s hot and time for lunch under the lakeside trees – what do you drink? De Bortoli’s light, fruity pinot found its mark by lovely Lake Conjola, lightly chilled (about 15–18 degrees) and served for sobriety’s sake after a long suck on the water bottle. It appealed for its pure varietal aroma, fresh and plump (but not heavy) palate, and smooth, soft texture. It’s real pinot at a realistic price.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 12 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

De Bortoli Villages Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2012 $18–$22
Despite Australia’s love affair with sauvignon blanc – especially those from Marlborough, New Zealand – chardonnay remains by far our biggest locally grown white variety. By volume, it’s second only to shiraz and it’s increasingly viewed as one of our great specialties. Like shiraz, it comes in many styles, driven largely by regional variations in climate, tempered by particular winemaking and viticultural practices. De Bortoli’s Villages chardonnay, for example, shows the elegant fruit character and structure of the cool Yarra Valley, combined with the subtle textural and flavour nuances of fermentation with ambient yeasts in oak casks.

Illuminati Riparosso Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2011 $9.49–$11.40
We rediscovered Dino Illuminati’s medium-bodied, savoury red at Woolies, Batemans Bay, in early January. A Chateau Shanahan favourite since its Australian debut in 1991, the wine begins with clean, fresh fruit flavours. Then a delicious, teasing, Italian savouriness sets in, distinguishing it from the generally more fruity Australian styles. The Illuminatis make the wine from the local red variety, montepulciano. Dino Illuminati’s grandfather, Nico, established the business in 1890 and Dino took over on his death. Now in his 80s, Dino remains active in the business with his son, Stefano, largely holding the reins.

Mad Fish Gold Turtle Margaret River Chardonnay 2012 $14.25–$15
A mad fish and a gold turtle seem unlikely companions in a wine name. But the wine, from Jeff and Amy Burch’s Howard Park Winery, Margaret River, offers extraordinarily good drinking at a bargain price. Sourced from the Wilyabrup and Karridale sub-regions, Gold Turtle Chardonnay offers bright, fresh nectarine-like varietal flavour with lively acidity and a rich texture derived from a natural fermentation in barrel and extended maturation on yeast lees. The screw cap on wines of this calibre enables reliable cellaring for perhaps five years from vintage. It’s a notably fruitier, rounder style than the more elegant De Bortoli wine reviewed today.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 9 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

Grant Burge Corryton Park Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $50
Burge Corryton Park Vineyard, Barossa, South Australia
Grant Burge’s Corryton Park vineyard sits on a high, cool site near Mount Crawford, in the southern Barossa. The site produces cabernet of outstanding varietal definition and flavour intensity. Grant Burge bought the site in 1999 and, over time, polished the wine to its current very high level. In the very good 2010 vintage, the wine seems saturated with ripe, blackcurrant-like varietal flavours while maintaining the wine’s usual elegant structure. This is exceptionally high-class cabernet with many years cellaring ahead of it.

Seppelt Jaluka Chardonnay 2012 $24–$27
Henty, Victoria
A generation ahead of his time, Karl Seppelt planted a vineyard for the then family company at Drumborg in 1964. It’s a cold site, near Portland in the Henty district, southwestern Victoria. Some say it’s the first landfall north of Antarctica. The vineyard and others in the area grow beautiful chardonnay – high in natural acid, with intense flavours at the cool, grapefruit and melon end of the spectrum. In an outstanding year like 2012, the wine really sings and, given cool cellaring, has the potential to develop well for another five or so years.

Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Chardonnay 2012 $25–$27
Frankland Estate, Frankland River, Western Australia
Frankland River, part of Western Australia’s vast Great Southern area, sits on the south-western edge of the continent. At around 34 degrees south and with little elevation above sea level, the area succeeds with chardonnay (a variety that prefers cool ripening conditions) through the chilling influence of the Southern Ocean. Recent vintages show a lightening and refinement that founders Barrie Smith and Judi Cullam attribute to earlier picking and use of larger oak barrels. The resulting higher natural acidity and textural richness (without oak flavour) produced a particularly pleasing 2012 wine – medium bodied, with ripe, stone-fruit-like varietal flavour, tight structure and vibrant, dry finish.

Coriole Fiano 2013 $25
Coriole vineyard, McLaren Vale, South Australia
Coriole planted the very old southern Italian variety, fiano, in 2001 and released the first wine from it four years later. A number of other Australian producers now make wine from the variety. Our sample bottle appealed to a range of drinkers of varying ages. The flavour reminded me of melon rind, with just enough fruit sweetness to offset the tartness of the rind, and lifted by a fresh, citrus-like character. The wine is fairly full bodied with a pleasingly chewy texture and dry finish.

De Bortoli La Boheme Act Four Syrah Gamay 2012$18–20
Dixons and Steels Creek, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Winemaker Steve Webber says he and wife, Leanne De Bortoli, found inspiration for Act Four while drinking the fruity reds of Ardeche in Paris bistros. Our encounter with the couple’s Yarra Valley version was more an outdoor rashy and croc affair, after a few hours’ kayaking on Lake Conjola. Lightly chilled, Act Four appealed for its fruity perfume and vibrant, juicy, supple, refreshing palate. Presumably much of the perfume came from gamay, the red grape of France’s region. It works well with the slightly fuller, spicy character of shiraz.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 5 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

Zeppelin Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 $17–$22
For a modest price, Zeppelin delivers the full, ripe flavours and soft tannins of an outstanding Barossa Valley vintage. A touch of spice and savouriness adds interest to this very appealing early-drinking red. Zeppelin is a brand of Echelon Wine Partners, a marketing and distribution company owned by the McWilliam family. McWillams very wisely chose Kym Teusner as their Barossa winemaker. Teusner says he sourced the grapes from “a single low-yielding vineyard in the Angaston foothills” and used traditional methods, including fermentation in open vats, pressing with a basket press and maturation in older oak vessels.

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2013 $12–$18
The 2012 vintage won a trophy at last year’s Royal Sydney Wine show and I’d be surprised if the 2013 doesn’t win a gold medal or two during the year. It’s a finely structured, fresh, tasty, modern chardonnay. Sourced from the cool Adelaide Hills, barrel fermented and matured (giving complexity and rich texture) and widely distributed, it’s a wine we can find even in out of the way places, and at a keen price. We bought ours from Woolworths Liquor, Batemans Bay – at a bargain two bottles for $24. You’d have to pay a lot more for a better chardonnay.

De Bortoli La Boheme Act One Yarra Valley Riesling 2013 $20
Leanne De Bortoli and husband Steve Webber’s La Boheme range includes this delicious white, made from riesling (89 per cent) plus gewurtztraminer and pinot gris. While delicate riesling drives the aromatics and citrus-like flavour, gewürztraminer adds a light but distinctive lychee-like and, with pinot gris, a slippery texture not seen in riesling on its own. It all adds up to pleasing aromas and flavours, great freshness and a satisfying feeling in the mouth. De Bortoli and Webber attribute recent improvements in their riesling-vineyard management to young winemaker Sarah Fagan.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 2 February 2014 in the Canberra Times

Mount Majura Shiraz 2011 $32
Mount Majura Vineyard, Canberra District, ACT
No vintage is all good or all bad. Even Canberra’s cold, wet, disease-ravaged 2011 season produced highlights, including Mount Majura’s superb shiraz – a winner of one gold, one trophy and three silver medals. Sure, it shows the peppery character of the cool season. But pepper simply joins the spice rack in a highly aromatic, beautifully fresh shiraz, underpinned by sensuous, ripe berry flavours and a supple, silky, fine-boned structure. Winemaker Frank van de Loo reveals the secret to success, writing “Disease pressure was high and our pickers spent far longer than usual, ensuring that only clean fruit entered the winery. Quality of these reduced yields was very high, with wonderful aromatics and natural acidity”.

Grosset Springvale Riesling 2013 $39
Watervale, Clare Valley, South Australia
Two of Jeffrey Grosset’s trio of 2013 rieslings reveal different faces of the Clare Valley’s sub-regions – Watervale and Polish Hill River. The third, Alea, demonstrates the easy-drinking pleasure of crisp, off-dry riesling – though I suspect this style will be better from much cooler regions, like Tasmania (or Germany’s Mosel and Rein Rivers). Grosset’s Springvale, from Watervale, starred in a pre-Christmas riesling tasting, appealing for its juicy, limey, delicacy – a wine of enormous appeal now, both with years of cellaring ahead. In a New Year tasting, Grosset Polish Hill appealed for its intensity and steely backbone – a wine for the long haul.

Airlie Bank Cabernet Merlot 2010 $10
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Punt Road’s budget cabernet merlot blend provides good summer drinking for $10. Medium bodied, modestly alcoholic at 12.5 per cent and with varietal flavours reminiscent of blackcurrant (with undertones of leaf and herb), it doesn’t overwhelm in the heat and, in fact, drinks best lightly chilled to around 15 degrees. I see it as a luncheon wine or a terrific “throwing juice” when the petanque set comes out.

Zeppelin Grenache 2012 $17–$22
Northern Barossa Valley, South Australia
Young Barossa winemaker, Kym Teusner, made this opulent, juicy red using grenache grapes from 60–80 year old vines, growing between Greenock and Ebenezer in the northern Barossa Valley. Teusner says he used a hands-off approach, fermenting the wine in open fermenters, pumping the juice over the floating cap of skins twice daily, basket pressing the wine and maturing it in older oak barrels for 12–18 months. Teusner’s approach captures the aromatic fruity, spicy character of the variety, with soft tannins and an earthy, savoury note.

Holm Oak Riesling 2012 $20–$25
Tamar Valley, Tasmania
Rebecca Duffy’s riesling reveals cool Tasmanian origins in its delicacy, racy acidity and vein of apple-like flavour cutting through the lime we see in warmer-grown riesling. Duffy says she ferments two batches for later blending. Each component has its own yeast strain – one aromatic, the other “to metabolise malic acid”, presumably to tame the wine’s high natural acidity. The wines nevertheless naturally high acidity seems a key to its great freshness, delicacy and fruitiness at two years’ age.

Lanson Gold Label Champagne 2004 $50–$61.90
Champagne region, France
Woolworths-owned Dan Murphys imports Lanson and before Christmas offered the 2002 vintage for as little as $50 and as much as $61.90 a bottle. We enjoyed it in a pre-Christmas masked tasting, alongside Pol Roger 2002 ($86–$114). The latter won the day by a comfortable margin and joined our Christmas table. But the Lanson nevertheless offered outstanding value, showing the complexities of extended ageing on yeast lees and subsequent bottle ageing. For New Year, we moved onto the 2004 Lanson, a significantly fresher, more fruity beast than the 2002 and a bargain, especially during its bouts on special at Dan Murphys.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 29 January 2014 in the Canberra Times

Lanson Gold Label Brut Vintage Champagne 2002 $50–$61.90
Woolworths-owned Dan Murphys imports Lanson and before Christmas offered it for as little as $50 and as much as $61.90 a bottle. Silly me paid the higher price, but even then I rated it the best value real Champagne of the year. We enjoyed it in a masked tasting alongside Pol Roger 2002 ($86–$114). They’re lovely wines from a great vintage and markedly different in style. We liked the power, acidity, mature flavour and structure of the Lanson. Dan Murphy fine wine manager, Peter Nixon, says the 2004 vintage will soon replace the 2002 at a comparable price.

Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling2013 $19–$23
Clare’s 2013 rieslings, in general, offer fuller, rounder more upfront fruit than the magnificent 2012s. They therefore make excellent summer drinking. At just 11.5 per cent alcohol, Tim Adams 2013, sits lightly on the palate, delivering delicate but full, pristine, lime-like varietal flavour and gentle, refreshing acidity. Adams says he sourced the wine from five Clare Valley vineyards. The wine appeals for its freshness and vivid fruit flavour now, but should evolve in tasty ways for several years if cellared at a cool, constant temperature.

Jim Barry The Barry Bros Clare Valley Shiraz Cabernet 2012 $16–$20
Tom and Sam Barry couldn’t have picked a better vintage for their new, drink-now red – a blend of Clare-grown shiraz and cabernet sauvignon. A big, round, generous mouthful of a wine, it puts all the focus on ripe, fresh fruit flavours, backed by loads of soft tannins. The basic typeset label, the brothers say, salutes “the era [1950s] when our grandparents Jim and Nancy [Barry] bought their first vineyards”. Jim Barry died in 2004 and the business is now run by his son Peter, father of Sam and Tom. The wine suits the hot weather provided it’s cooled slightly to around 18 degrees.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 26 January 2014 in the Canberra Times

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Reserve Shiraz 2012 $22
Moppity vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
Moppity won the most-successful-exhibitor trophy at Canberra regional show, largely on the strength of its Tumbarumba chardonnays and Hilltops shirazes. While isolated show medals mean little, sustained success in different shows invariably points to outstanding quality – a quality confirmed after a few sips of Lock and Key Reserve shiraz. It won silver at the regional show and golds medals in Melbourne, the NSW Small Winemakers show and the National Wine Show of Australia. It’s a delicious wine and a gift at $22. The pepper and spice character of the cool season provides attractive seasoning to the plush, soft, easy-drinking palate. It’s slightly fuller bodied than a typical Canberra shiraz but less full bodied than one from the warmer Barossa.

Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $22
Moppity vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
In both Canberra and Hilltops, shiraz, in general, fares better than cabernet – by a wider margin in Canberra than in the warmer Hilltops region. However, in 2012 Moppity owner Jason Brown achieved excellent quality with both varieties. Brown says the cabernet benefited from intensive work in the vineyard – keeping grape yields to a low two-and-a-half to five tonnes a hectare and “fastidious” canopy management. Whatever he did worked, as this is a lovely cabernet. It’s vibrantly varietal (ripe berry fruit with the slightest leafy note), balanced by sympathetic oak treatment. It also has fruity, mid-palate flesh – enough to give drink-now appeal – but not so much as to take away the overall tight, fairly tannic cabernet experience. A winner of multiple gold medals and trophies. Like the Lock and Key Reserve shiraz, this is the gift at the price. It was a toss up to decide wine of the week.

Pikes Clare Valley The Merle Riesling 2013 $38–$45
Thickett block, Pike Vineyard, Polish Hill River, Clare Valley, South Australia
Clare Valley veteran Neil Pike produces a number of Clare Valley rieslings, led by the flagship, The Merle. Pike sourced the 2013 vintage from the Thicket block within the family’s vineyard in the cool Clare sub-region, Polish Hill River. Merle’s intense acidity seems to magnify the delicious lime-like varietal flavour, thrilling the palate and giving a pure, fresh lingering dry finish. It makes a good refresher on its own, but it also suits fresh oysters, delicate seafood and salads. Most likely it will age for many years, even decades.

Greywacke Chardonnay 2011 $40–$45
Marlborough, New Zealand
Kevin Judd’s latest chardonnay offers power with elegance in its own special style. Judd uses ripe fruit from old vines in New Zealand’s Marlborough region. The wines undergo spontaneous and prolonged fermentation, from ambient yeast, in oak barrels. Judd stirs the wines occasionally as they mature on yeast lees, and allows all components to complete their secondary malolactic fermentation (converting malic to lactic acid – a process that affects flavour and texture, while reducing total acidity). The ripe fruit, full body, comparatively high acidity, and rich texture add up to a unique and irresistible take on chardonnay.

Mount Majura TSG 2012 $32
Mount Majura vineyard, Mount Majura, Canberra District, ACT
Mount Majura’s blend of tempranillo, shiraz and graciano – a silver medallist in last September’s Canberra regional show – offered a great contrast in a recent tasting, wedged between two burly, warm-climate reds. A couple of tasters saw a resemblance to pinot noir – a reasonable analogy in relation to the wine’s medium body. But there the resemblance ended. The aroma and flavour suggested blueberry, liberally seasoned with spice, pepper and an earthy savouriness. And the palate, though fine and elegant, finished with firm, grippy tannins.

T’Gallant Cape Schanck Pinot Grigio 2013 $18–$22
Cool climate Victoria
T’Gallant, part of Treasury Wine Estates, still retains the services of Kevin MCarthy, one of Australia’s pioneers of this variety, known by both its French (pinot gris) and Italian (pinot grigio). McCarthy’s version heads down the racy, lean Italian style. It draws fruit widely, writes McCarthy, “stretching from Heyward to Yea via the Strathbogies, Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Valley”. The result is an unusually pure, well-defined pinot gris. It’s teasing, tart and savoury and a refreshingly low 11.5 per cent alcohol.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2014
First published 22 January 2014 in the Canberra Times