Saltram 1859 Barossa Shiraz 2012 $17–$21
The first 2012 reds coming into the market suggest a high quality vintage, much as we’ve seen of the exceptional whites. Saltram 1859 Barossa Shiraz 2012 shows what’s at the heart of a good vintage – vibrant, juicy fruit flavours. Winemakers will add other layers of flavour to the very best wines and release them over the next five years. But for this Barossa shiraz delivers lovely drinking right now. The makers used more stainless steel than oak in its production, thus capturing the vibrant, fleshy fruit flavours of the vintage. Soft tannins add to the fleshy texture and drink-now appeal.

Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Moon Mountain Chardonnay 2012 $16–$20
A Chateau Shanahan favourite for a couple of decades, Moon Mountain provides sophisticated chardonnay drinking (and medium-term cellarability) at a fair price. Good Hunter fruit’s at the heart of the wine. But over the last 40 years, the Tyrrell family and winemaker Andrew Spinaze perfected the art of chardonnay making. Thus that delicious fruit comes in a matrix of aromas, flavours and textures derived from winemaking techniques. Grape solids in the fermentation, maturation on yeast lees (and lees stirring) in new and older French oak barrels all add to the drinking pleasure.

Rosemount Estate South Australia Chardonnay 2012 $10–$15
The union of Rosemount Estate and Southcorp Wines early last decade almost destroyed the Rosemount brand globally. A new iteration of the once-ubiquitous diamond-label chardonnay offers fair drinking at its on-special price – a fresh, medium bodied style with a light touch of leesy complexity. But if you find fully priced Rosemount alongside Tyrrell’s Moon Mountain (reviewed above) on special, pay the extra dollar and enjoy the substantially better, more satisfying Tyrrell wine.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 19 May 2013 in the Canberra Times

Grant Burge Meshach 2008 $124–$180
Filsell and other vineyards, Barossa Valley
On a visit to Canberra in April, Barossa winemaker Grant Burge said warm climate shiraz seemed to be off the radar of many wine judges and some wine shows. This appears to be a fashion statement, he said, and completely out of touch with the market, where sales of McLaren Vale and Barossa shiraz continue to grow. The disparity between the perceptions of consumers and judges illustrates the wonderfully contrasting styles of shiraz we now make in Australia – from the spicy, peppery, fine-boned versions from cool areas to the inky deep styles from warmer climates. Burge’s flagship red, Meshach, stands as one of the very best of the inky deep Barossa style. It’s a big, beautifully balanced wine, saturated with ripe varietal flavour and cut through with soft fruit and oak tannins. It’s built for long-term cellaring.

Thomas Vineyard Selection DJV Shiraz 2011 $27–30
Lindemans Ben Ean Vineyard, Hunter Valley, NSW
What a contrast there is between this silky,medium bodied shiraz and the fruit-saturated power of Grant Burge Meshach, also reviewed today. Our national red hero, shiraz, shows many faces, including this idiosyncratic one from Hunter Valley shiraz and semillon specialist, Andrew Thomas. DJV delivers clean, fresh, vibrant fruit flavours, in the modern style, coupled with the Hunter’s traditional, savoury, earthy undertones. Soft, fine tannins and medium body give DJV an elegance seldom seen in warm climate reds. Thomas says he co-fermented the shiraz with 12 per cent semillon verjuice, which contributed much to the lighter, drink-now character of the wine.

Tyrrell’s Old Winery Chardonnay 2012 $10.45–12.99
Hunter Valley, NSW
Old Winery, first made in 1979 and fine-tuned ever since, rates among Australia’s best budget chardonnays. It combines liveliness and freshness with chardonnay’s full flavour and a rich, smooth texture. The appealing, ripe, varietal flavour comes from good fruit. And the rich, smooth texture, says Bruce Tyrrell, comes from “all the techniques of solids in the ferment and lees stirring but on a larger scale in a tank rather than a small barrel”.

Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling 2012 $24.60–$32
Eden Valley, South Australia
The Steingarten vineyard, planted by Orlando’s Colin Gramp in 1962, lends it name (and contributes part of the fruit) to Jacob’s Creek’s flagship riesling. I enjoyed a pre-release sample of the wine in January; and a recent taste confirms it as one of the best from a great year. It’s delicate and intense at the same time with exhilarating acidity and pure, lime-lemon varietal flavour. Stock up when it’s on special and put a little aside. Past vintages have aged well for decades – for example, the comparably outstanding 2002 vintage still looks young and fresh.

Dandelion Vineyards Menagerie of the Barossa
Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2011 $21–27.50
Gomersal, southern Barossa Valley, South Australia
The cold, wet 2011 vintage hit the Barossa Valley particularly hard, wiping out huge tracts of vineyards. Dandelion’s blend, then, came as a delightful surprise – a tender, juicy, seductive drop that made the bottle seem too small. It’s a blend of grenache (85 per cent), shiraz (10 per cent) and mataro (aka mourvedre or monastrell). The back label hints at how winemaker Elena Brooks and the Dandelion crew saved the day, “handpicking selected bunches” (that is, avoiding the rotten ones) of the three varieties for co-fermentation and ultimate success. What a more-ish wine this is.

Brown Brothers Victoria Tempranillo 2012 $12–$18
King Valley and Heathcote, Victoria
Brown Brothers test new wine styles by making small quantities in its kindergarten winery, then putting them on tasting and sale at its extraordinarily busy cellar door. If visitors like a wine, they ramp up production, as they did with this lovely tempranillo. They source this Spanish variety from their own vineyards at Banksdale, King Valley, and Heathcote. The 2012 delivers attractive ripe, plummy fruit flavours on a dry, savoury, medium bodied palate.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 15 May 2013 in The Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Bussell JG Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2011 $24
Barossa winemaker Grant Burge says he created the Margaret River brand, Bussell, and a New Zealand brand, Drift, to meet demand for wine styles he couldn’t make in the Barossa. He also says, “They have to be exceptional to work” – and Bussell JG cabernet merlot is. Made for Burge at Clairault Wines, the wine delivers drink-now Margaret River elegance and richness at a fair price. It’s sweetly perfumed, with a floral edge as well as the slightly leafy character of cool-grown cabernet. These characters come through as well on the delicious, soft, medium bodied palate.

Thomas Two of a Kind Hunter McLaren Vale Shiraz 2011 $24
Hunter winemaker Andrew Thomas makes a range of beautiful, cellarable Hunter shirazes as well as this drink-now blend. Thomas says it comprises 57 per cent Hunter shiraz, the rest McLaren Vale shiraz. He ferments the two components separately, but blends them before maturing them in oak barriques for two years. The result is an harmonious, smooth red, combining the fleshy richness of McLaren Vale with the savoury, earthy character of the Hunter. It’s medium bodied, but richly fruity, with fine, soft tannins.

Brown Brothers Victoria Chardonnay 2012 $17.90
Brown Brothers source fruit for this wine primarily from their high-altitude Banksdale Vineyard in the King Valley – a significantly cooler site than their original site on the Oxley Plains, a few kilometres to the north. The cool growing conditions produce rich, varietal flavours reminiscent of white peach and a touch of melon rind. These flavours underpin a vibrant, full-bodied dry white, with the rich textured derived from fermentation and maturation in oak, and a refreshing bite of acidity. While the oak subtly influences the aroma and flavour, its influence is more in the texture and structure of the wine.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
Firsts published 12 May 2013 in The Canberra Times

Brookland Valley Verse 1 Margaret River Chardonnay 2012 $13–$15
When a company makes cutting edge top-shelf wine, the quality usually flows down to cheaper wines in its portfolio. We can taste this deliciously in Verse1 Chardonnay, little sibling of the far more expensive Brookland Valley Chardonnay and relative of several other classy chardonnays (including Eileen Hardy Chardonnay) in the Accolade Wine Group. We bought our bottle for just under $13 during a recent visit to Wollongong; and came back for seconds. What a delight it is – crisp, fresh, smoothly textured and packed with juicy nectarine-like varietal flavour. It’s widely distributed, often discounted a safe bet every time.

Two Churches Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010 $12–$17
In the late nineties I created the Two Churches brand for the Coles Liquor Group. Peter Lehmann made the wine and Barbara Harkness, creator of the Yellow Tail label, designed the package. The name came from a fanciful folk tale, archived in the National Library, of a schism that resulted in two Lutheran churches existing within one small Barossa village. About 15 years on, I feel sufficiently removed from the brand to say the 2010 vintage, purchased at a Liquorland store, offers attractive, soft Barossa drinking. When it’s at is full $17 a bottle, you can drink better for the price. But on special at $12–$14, it’s a good buy.

Bussell “Grace” Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2012 $20–$22
As the winemakers of Bordeaux and Margaret River demonstrate, semillon makes sauvignon blanc interesting. In this blend – made at Clairault Wines, Margaret River, for Grant Burge – semillon comprises one fifth of the total. This adds savouriness, backbone and length to the fruity, vivacious palate. Fermentation in oak of a small portion of the blend adds to its mid-plate richness and texture, without injecting oak flavour. Barossa winemaker Grant Burge says he created the Margaret River brand, Bussell, and a New Zealand brand, Drift, to meet demand for wine styles he couldn’t make in the Barossa.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 5 May 2013 in The Canberra Times

Lerida Estate Shiraz Viognier $49.50
Lake George, Canberra District, NSW
Lerida’s elegant, restrained 2010 shiraz viognier follows the more opulent highly acclaimed 2009 vintage. The two wines share a regional spiciness, medium body and fine, smooth texture. But in the 2010 an appealing black pepper character, an endearing element in many cool-grown shirazes, adds to a general spiciness seasoning the ripe, supple fruit. A spine of fine but firm tannins adds structure to the soft and silky texture of the palate. The wine is a blend of 95 per cent shiraz and five per cent viognier grown and made at Lerida Estate Lake George.

Lerida Estate Pinot Noir 2011 $26.50
Lake George, Canberra District NSW
I review two pinots today – this savoury, “serious” style from Lake George and a simpler, fruity one from Tasmania. Lerida’s shows the quite firm tannic backbone and rich texture of pinot built for complexity off low-yielding fruit. But it also reveals the character of a very cool growing season. This shows in the light body and reliance on structure and texture more than on fruit flavour. There may be latent fruit, waiting to emerge with bottle age. Or, on the other hand it may just be dilute because of the season, leaving a pleasantly savoury red without the depth and length we see in better seasons.

Clonakilla Chardonnay 2012 $36–$40
Revee Estate, Tumbarumba, and Murrumbateman, NSW
Prepare for more excitement as the oak-fermented and –matured 2012 chardonnays come onto the market – just as the flow of lovely 2012 rieslings tapers off. Tim Kirk’s version combines fruit from Steve Morrison’s Revee Estate, Tumbarumba, with a barrel each from the Clonakilla and Chris Joshua vineyards, Murrumbateman. The Tumbarumba component really shapes the wine, giving the intense, grapefruit-like varietal flavour and taut, acidic backbone. All the usual winemaking tricks around barrel fermentation, lees stirring and maturation add greatly to the texture and appeal of this beautiful wine. The alcohol’s a refreshingly low 12 per cent.

Josef Chromy Pepik Pinot Noir 2011 $19–$22
Tasmania
The Landing restaurant, Newcastle, offers a decent selection of wine by the glass. The wine list, prepared by Hunter vigneron Andrew Margan, features many of the best modern Hunter wines, including the exceptional Meerea Park Terracotta Semillon 2006. Even this was available by the glass – and we indulged (though it’s sold out now says winemaker Garth Eather).  But the list also carries a thoughtful selection of regional varietals from across Australia, including Josef Chromy’s pretty Tasmanian pinot. It’s a bright, fresh, fruity red made to slurp down now – a true regional specialty, revealing a happy, smiling face of pinot that could only ever come from cool-grown grapes.

d’Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz 2010 $18–$20
McLaren Vale, South Australia
The waitress in Agosti Restaurant, Newcastle, approved of our choice – two glasses of Tyrrell’s Brokenback Shiraz. “What do you think of it?” asks my friend, cautiously. “It’s rough”, I reply, “not fresh”. We ask the waitress, “how long’s it been open”. “Less than a week, mate”, she replies and brings out a fresh bottle – of d’Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz. We wonder what happened to the Tyrrell’s. But as we’re in a rush, we accept the unquestioning offer of free wine. It’s a classic McLaren Vale shiraz – fruity and savoury and supported by mouth coating but soft, ripe tannins. It’s delicious and satisfying and sends us off chuckling in disbelief, “less than a week”

Riddoch Shiraz 2010 $15–$20
Coonawarra, South Australia
This is a Woolworths’ controlled brand, available through its Dan Murphy, BWS and Woolworths Liquor stores and its direct marketing brand, Cellarmasters. Through its Pinnacle Liquor Group, Woolworths is now a major wine producer, though the company employed the services of Katnook Estate Coonawarra winemaker, Wayne Stehbens, in putting this attractive red together. This is medium bodied, spicy shiraz made for early drinking. The price varies from around $15 on special to $20 among the various Woolies retail brands.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 1 May 2013 in The Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Clonakilla Ceoltoiri 2011 $36
Clonakilla Vineyard, Murrumbateman, NSW
It’s a blend of grenache, mourvedre and shiraz. But don’t shut your eyes and think of the Barossa, GSM’s Australian home base. This is Canberra material from a particularly cold, wet vintage that, in theory, should have written off mourvedre – a late-ripening variety that many would say just couldn’t work in Canberra, even in a warm year. So much for theory. And cheers for John Kirk’s skill in the vineyard and son, Tim’s, in the winery. Reflecting the season, Ceoltoiri (Irish for “musicians”), offers an harmonious, fine, medium bodied expression of this classic Rhone Valley blend. Tim Kirk calls it his Chateauneuf-du-Pape. However, few wines bearing that much-abused name show the fruit purity and high-toned spicy and peppery notes of Ceoltoiri; nor the lusciously textured mid palate. It has the prettiness and delicacy of Clonakilla’s other 2011 reds, but “some real grunt in the [mourvedre] tannins”, says Kirk. It’s due for release in the first week of May.

Tim Adams Cabernet Malbec 2008 $22.80–$29
Fairfield, Jenners, Sheoak and Maynard vineyards
Clare Valley, South Australia
Tim Adams learned winemaking under Mick Knappstein, creator of Leasingham Bin 56 Clare Valley Cabernet Malbec, a very exciting wine of its era. Adams reintroduces the excitement with this lovely blend. Like his other reds, it shows the finessing of his winemaking approach over the last few decades – capturing ripe, varietally expressive fruit and ripe tannins and supporting the wine with oak maturation, without the oak intruding on the fruit flavour. It’s a lovely, juicy mouthful of a wine, built on the blackcurrant-like flavour of cabernet, with the faintest hint of leafiness and assertive but soft tannins.

Crossroads Winemakers Selection Syrah 2010 $40
Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
Even back in 1984, during my first wine tour of New Zealand, the best reds I encountered came from what some makers called the Ngatarawa triangle – an area of gravel soils along the old Ngaruroro riverbed in Hawkes Bay. In 2001, vignerons designated 800 hectares of this riverbed as the Gimblett Gravels – source of many beautiful, fine-boned syrahs. Crossroads demonstrates the beauty of the style with its vivid crimson colour, heady, berry-and-spice perfume and intense, supple, medium-bodied palate. It’s a pinot lovers’ shiraz of a very high order. It’s distributed in Canberra and NSW by Young and Rashleigh (youngandrashleigh.com).

Clonakilla Shiraz 2012 $28–$30
Hilltops, NSW
Heavy rain towards the end of February 2012 destroyed large volumes of ripe, or near ripe grapes in Canberra and surrounding districts. Clonakilla lost much of its Canberra fruit in the event. But, says Tim Kirk, they harvested most of their fruit from the Hilltops region (around Young, NSW), the day before the 200mm deluge arrived. The result is a delightfully rich red combining ripe, dark-cherry flavours with the spice and touch of black pepper we see from cooler areas. The wine’s medium bodied and shows the Clonakilla signature of great harmony and silky, juicy mid palate, though not with the length or intensity of the top wines. It’s due for release in the first week of May.

Wilson DJW Riesling 2012 $23.95
Wilson DJW vineyard, Polish Hill River, Clare Valley, South Australia
This comes from a 2.2-hectare vineyard planted by Daniel Wilson in 1997 on a fertile section of his father’s vineyard. The fertile site produced large vines, large bunches and bigger flavours than other parts of the vineyard, prompting the decision to bottle it separately. In 2012 the citrus and tropical fruit aroma gush from the glass and flood the palate deliciously. While big and juicy it retains a fine structure, zingy acidity and a modest alcohol content of 12.5 per cent. I enjoyed this on its release last August and even more at Easter over dinner at Starfish Deli, Batemans Bay.

Rob Dolan True Colours Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2012 $22
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Former Port Adelaide Ruckman, Rob “Sticks” Dolan, turned to footy to winemaking. He worked for Yarra Ridge, St Huberts and Bailey’s and was later helped build the Sticks and Punt Road in the Yarra Valley. For his new venture Dolan says he sources fruit “from growers who have stuck by me for almost 20 years”. The new range is excellent, delivering rich but elegant wines at a fair price. I liked the pinot noir and this fragrant cabernet blend in particular. Cabernet leafiness provides a refreshing seasoning to the ripe, vibrant berry flavour and fine, persistent tannins give a satisfying red-wine finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 24 April 2013 in The Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

d’Arenberg Footbolt McLaren Vale Shiraz 2010 $18–$20
The wine bears the name of Footbolt, a racehorse whose success helped Joseph Osborn purchase d’Arenberg’s first vineyard in 1912. Osborn’s descendants, d’Arry and son, Chester, continue to run the business. The Footbolt remains one of Australia’s big-value wines. It offers robust McLaren Vale shiraz flavour and savouriness, supported by mouth coating but soft, ripe tannins. It’s exceptionally rich and satisfying at this price and has the depth to age well for five to ten years if well cellared. We recently enjoyed this by the glass at Agosti Restaurant, on the Newcastle waterfront.

Riddoch Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $14.95–$20
This is a Woolworths’ controlled brand, available through its Dan Murphy, BWS and Woolworths Liquor outlets. Through its Barossa-based Cellarmaster subsidiary, Woolworths is now a major wine producer, though the company employed the services of Katnook Estate Coonawarra winemaker, Wayne Stehbens, in putting this attractive red together. It has the deep colour, rich flavours and ripe tannins of the outstanding 2010 vintage – a varietally pure, elegantly structured Coonawarra style. It’s medium bodied and made for early drinking. The price varies from around $15 on special to $20 among the various Woolies retail brands.

Grant Burge Thorn Eden Valley Riesling 2012 $16.15–$23.95
Grant Burge’s 2012 riesling delivers the exceptionally rich fruit flavours of the vintage in a fuller, softer style than many other Eden Valley wines of the same year. Burge rates the 2012 whites as “some of the best I’ve ever made”. He attributes the exceptional fruit quality to mild days, cool nights, good sub-soil moisture, healthy vines and moderate yields. These conditions, says Burge, produced grapes with “very balanced sugar to acid ratios and flavours”. The wine reflects the quality of the grapes with its fully, citrusy varietal flavour, round, smoothly textured palate and backbone of fresh acidity.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 28 April 2013 in The Canberra Times

Angullong The Pretender Central Ranges Savagnin 2012 $22
During the export boom of the late nineties, Orange attracted several broad-acre vine plantings, including the 220-hectare Angullong vineyard. The vineyard straddles the Orange/Central Ranges wine boundary for no other reason other than that part of it lies below the 620 metre altitude mark, Orange’s lower limit. While this ancient variety has the same DNA profile as traminer and gewürztraminer, it’s a distinctly different clone and was planted in Australia in the mistaken belief it was the Spanish variety, albarino. In this instance savagnin makes a vibrant, distinctive, smoothly textured wine with passionfruit-like highlights and savouriness.

Tim Adams Clare Valley Shiraz 2010 $22.80–$29
Tim Adams sourced this mouth-watering shiraz from four Clare Valley vineyards – Irelands, Bayes, Rogers and Senecas, the first three owned by Adams and his wife, Pam Goldsack, the third belonging to Pat Seneca. The fruit from these vineyards was clearly sensational in the 2010 vintage as the wine is simply saturated with juicy, ripe, plummy varietal flavours. It’s round and gentle, but layered with soft tannins. While it may age well for a decade – there’s certainly enough fruit flavour there to suggest so – it’s just so joyously fruity now it’s hard to imagine it ever being a better drink.

Lowe Tinja Mudgee Chardonnay 2012 $20
In the mid nineties, Len Evans called unoaked chardonnay a con – referring to tricked-up wines then replacing fat, woody ones. The truth, it turned out, lay in making better, subtler use of oak. A few small makers nailed this in the eighties and of the big companies, Penfolds and Hardys succeeded by the mid to late nineties, leading a trend that continues to blossom. With Tinja, David Lowe of Mudgee shows his former employer, the late Len Evans, that unoaked chardonnay can indeed be subtle, fine, delicious and unoaked and, at 12.5 per cent, not too alcoholic.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 20 April 2013 in The Canberra Times

Toolangi Estate Pinot Noir 2010 $40
Toolangi Vineyard, Dixon’s Creek, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Garry and Julie Hounsell bought and planted their Dixon Creek vineyard in 1995 but outsource their winemaking – in this instance to one of Australia’s cutting-edge pinot makers, David Bicknell of Oakridge Wines. In short, it’s a classy double act – the beautiful fruit captured in great detail by Bicknell. The wine’s limpid, highly perfumed and over several days on the tasting bench became increasingly lovely to drink. The intense flavour and fine, silky texture make it a pinot to savour, drop by drop. It should age well for another five or six years.

Turkey Flat Butcher’s Block Marsanne Roussanne Viognier 2012 $19.95
Turkey Flat vineyard, Barossa Valley, South Australia
This is exactly the sort of white Barossa makers ought to specialise in. Made from three varieties well suited to warm, dry regions, Butcher’s Block offers texture and savouriness rather than the aromatics and fruitiness cooler regions do better. Christie Schulz polished the style over the years, treating each of the components separately, including skin contact for the viognier, early picking for the marsanne and later picking and whole bunch pressing for the roussanne – with 50 per cent of the blend matured in oak. It’s a full-bodied, richly texture dry white with subtle, underlying nectarine and apricot-like flavours.

Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2012 $42–$45
Predominantly M3 vineyard, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Shaw and Smith settled into a style of chardonnay making some time back – meaning the wines we taste each year reflect seasonal variations rather than changes in winemaking methods. The new release expresses the upfront fruit flavour of the excellent 2012 vintage. I’ve seen this in many rieslings, too – rich, juicy, fruit flavours coupled with a very fine structure and clean, fresh acidity. In M3 chardonnay, these characteristics mingle, as well, with flavour and textural inputs derived from wild yeast fermentation, barrel maturation and partial malolactic fermentation. It’s an impressive wine with potential to evolve in bottle for a few years.

Paddy Borthwick Pinot Noir 2010 $42–$50
Borthwick family vineyard, Wairarapa, New Zealand
In 1996, winemaker Paddy Borthwick established 27 hectares of vines on his family’s farm, located in the Wairarapa region, a little to the northeast of Wellington. His pale coloured pinot noir impresses for its purity of plummy varietal character, smooth, fine, texture and complex savoury notes. It’s a subtle and lovely wine that grows in interest as you work your way through the bottle – as we did over well-matched duck dish at the Dumpling House, Dickson.

Paddy Borthwick Chardonnay 2011 $29–$38
Borthwick family vineyard, Wairarapa, New Zealand
Paddy Borthwick’s chardonnay rests on nectarine and citrus-like varietal character, layered subtly with the flavours and textures derived from barrel fermentation and maturation. These include nutty flavours and a light touch of caramel (from malolactic fermentation). An assertive line of acid pulls all the flavours together, lengthening the dry finish and giving the wine an appealing elegance.

Blackjack Major’s Line Shiraz 2010 $25
Norris Vineyard, Faraday, Bendigo, Victoria
Named for the route Major Thomas Mitchell took through Victoria in 1836, Major’s Line reveals the savouriness and medium body of Bendigo shiraz in a good vintage. The sweet, plummy, spicy fruit flavour sits well with the savoury notes that seem to come from both the American oak and the fruit itself. The sweet fruit and soft, fine tannins means easy drinking now, though the wine has the flavour concentration and structure to cellar for four or five years.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 17 April 2013 in The Canberra Times and goodfood.com.au

Leasingham Bin 7 Clare Valley Riesling 2012 $16.15–$23
It’s a brand without a home. But there’s no denying the juicy, drink-now charm of trophy and gold medal winning Leasingham Bin 7 Riesling. The press release describes Leasingham “as one of the Clare Valley’s oldest wineries, established in 1893”, implying a continuing connection with the brand. In fact, Constellation Wines Australia sold the winery to Clare winemaker Tim Adams and wife Pam Goldsack in January 2011. The newly formed Accolade Wines, with Champ Private Equity and Constellation as shareholders, acquired the Leasingham brand. The brand has no connection, other than by name, with the historic, and now renamed winery.

Blackjack Chortle’s Edge Bendigo Shiraz 2010 $18–$20
Winemaker Ian McKenzie describes 2010 as an “idyllic vintage lodged between the drought years of 2008 and 2009 and the deluges that were to follow in 2011 and 2012”. The benign season created an impressive Chortle’s Edge, Blackjack’s entry level shiraz, sourced from the Turner’s Crossing and Fielder family vineyards, Bendigo. It’s a medium bodied red, with ripe red-berry varietal flavours, overlaid with spiciness and a gently savoury grip – consistent with the regional style. Ian McKenzie and Ken Pollack make it in open fermenters, hand plunging the fruit and maturing the wine in older American oak barriques.

Paddy Borthwick Wairarapa Riesling 2011 $25
New Zealand’s Wairarapa region, a little to the northeast of Wellington, lies at around 41 degrees south, not far north of Marlborough. The sunny but cool location produces fine riesling, more akin to German than mainland Australian style, though not quite as delicate as the Germans. Paddy Borthwick’s 2011 thrilled a few drinkers down the coast over the Easter break with its intense, delicate Germanic aroma and equally intense, finely structured palate. We noted riesling’s familiar lime-like flavours with a touch of green apple (the German element) and a hint of sweetness, nicely balanced by brisk acidity.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 14 April 2013 in The Canberra Times