Charles Cimicky Barossa Valley Trumps Shiraz 2010 $14.25–$20
Charles and Jennie Cimicky’s winery and vineyards are at Lyndoch, in the slightly cooler south of the Barossa Valley. Their reds, starting with the inexpensive Trumps shiraz, deliver typical Barossa generosity and softness without going over the top on oak, tannin or alcohol. Delicious, ripe, cherry-like shiraz flavours underpin a deep but limpid and lively wine. Round, soft tannins cut through the fruit giving structure and satisfying, dry, slightly savoury finish. Trumps is a very good, sophisticated regional wine – sensitive winemaking lets the fruit talk. Charles Cimicky says, “It is the variety, region and vineyard that are most important to us”.

Lock & Key Riesling 2012 $14.99
Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Riesling 2012 $24.99
Both wines come from Jason and Alecia Brown’s Moppity Vineyards, one of the oldest in the Hilltops (Young) region. Jason Brown says their planting include “Some of the oldest riesling vines in southern NSW”. For much of its history, Moppity sold fruit to other producers, but Brown launched the current label in 2007. Lock & Key, at just 11 per cent alcohol, makes a tasty, refreshing aperitif. It shows the high acid, intense fruit and delicate structure of the cool vintage. The notably fuller bodied (12.5 per cent alcohol) Moppity vineyard presents a riper, more powerful, though still delicate and fresh face, of riesling.

Shaw and Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2010 $37–$45
The latest Shaw and Smith shiraz sits at the more powerful end of the house style. That is, it’s medium bodied and elegantly structured, as you’d expect in the cool growing climate; but the deep, intense-crimson colour, opulent, seductive aroma and palate-saturating fruit flavours, cut with very good oak, probably outweigh any they’ve made in the past. Winemakers Martin Shaw and Darryl Catlin say the fruit comes from “low yielding vines at Balhannah, the central Adelaide Hills, and Macclesfield, the warmer and drier sub-region to the south”.  The wine should drink and evolve well for a decade or more if well cellared.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 30 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

Mount Horrocks Riesling 2012 $27–$30
Mount Horrocks Watervale vineyard, Clare Valley, South Australia
Stephanie Toole’s 2012 joins a growing list of fabulous Clare rieslings. As they come onto the market over the next few months, they present a rare opportunity to buy superb whites with proven long-term cellaring ability. The usually unexcitable Toole, writes of this wine and her cordon-cut sweet riesling, “these two wines may well prove to be the most impressive in my 20 years at Mount Horrocks”. I’ll review the sweetie another day. But the dry wine reveals the pure, intense lime-like varietal character and delicacy of Watervale, a Clare sub-region. This is an exceptional riesling.

Pizzini Pinot Grigio 2012 $18.50–$21
King Valley, Victoria
There’s a bit of Italian in this delicious pinot grigio from Fred Pizzini and family. They use the Italian name, rather than French “pinot gris” and the wine certainly sits more in the crisp, dry north-eastern Italian style than in the opulent versions from France’s Alsace region. The cool season brought out the variety’s pear-like flavour and the Pizzinis haven’t been afraid to extract a little tannin from the skins – giving the wine structure and a pleasantly tart, very Italian finish.

Shingleback Haycutters Shiraz 2010 $16.20–$17
Haycutters block, Davey Estate vineyard, McLaren Vale, South Australia
The Davey family produces a number of outstanding reds from its extensive vineyard holdings in McLaren Vale. This one leapt off the tasting bench, contrasting strongly in style to the Clonakilla wines reviewed today. We expect bigger reds from McLaren Vale than Canberra and, as well, the 2010 vintage produced more opulent wines than 2011. Haycutters delivers on the expectation. It’s a generous McLaren Vale style – big on fruit and savouriness and showing the strong tannin structure of the vintage. It really is a far better wine than you’d expect at the price.

Clonakilla O’Riada Shiraz 2011 $35
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
No vintage is either all good or all bad. Though disease destroyed much of Murrumbateman’s shiraz in the cold, wet 2011 season, small quantities survived. And in this co-fermented shiraz and viognier blend, Tim Kirk captures the bright, fresh, spicy character of the cold year. The underlying fruit flavour resembles red berry fruit compote, seasoned with a handful of mixed spice and a light dusting of pepper. The small amount of white viognier in the blend boosts the pleasing, floral aroma and contributes to the silky smooth texture. Fine tannins and lively acidity provide a clean, fresh finish. This is a lighter style to enjoy over the next three or four years.

Clonakilla Shiraz 2011 $25
Hilltops, NSW
Clonakilla Hilltops shiraz, generally a little fuller-bodied and rounder than its Canberra shirazes, also shows the cool-vintage thumbprint. It remains richer than the O’Riada or flagship shiraz viognier, but with less weight than in warmer years. The cherry-like fruit flavour comes dusted with spice and pepper on a medium-bodied, smooth, soft palate. It lacks the length or depth of warmer years, but drinks deliciously now.

Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $25.65–$29
Coonawarra, South Australia
Zema Winery sits in the heart of Coonawarra’s terra rossa soil, on the western edge of the Riddoch Highway. Nick and Matt Zema manage the 61-hectare estate, founded in 1982 by their parents Demetrio and Francesca, with former Lindemans winemaker Greg Clayfield calling the shots in the winery. The 2009 shows a very light touch from the winemaker, allowing us to savour Coonawarra’s juicy, rich berry flavours and naturally elegant structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 26 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

Bremerton Langhorne Creek Coulthard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $22–$27
In a line up of cabernets, including the $60 Voyager Estate below, Bremerton appealed for the volume of flavour it delivered at a realistic price. Langhorne Creek seems to do this with cabernet sauvignon effortlessly and reliably. Bremerton Coulthard shows the regional thumbprint – full body, fleshy mid palate and unmistakeable varietal character. The varietal character has several aspects to it: riper blackcurrant-like flavours, eucalypt and leafy notes typical of Langhorne Creek and firm tannins supporting the fleshy mid palate. Bremerton belongs to the Willson family and eldest daughter, Rebecca, makes the wines.

Beurrot by Kooyong Pinot Gris 2011 $31
Exciting’s not a word usually associated with pinot gris. But this Kooyong 2011 is exciting and certainly one of the best Australian expressions of the variety I’ve tasted. The cool ripening conditions probably contributed the tight acid backbone and intensity of pure, pear-like varietal aroma and flavour. Winemaker Sandro Mosel said he fermented the wine entirely in older barrels without yeast inoculation – meaning ambient yeasts did the hard work. This, and 10 months maturation on the spent yeast cells, contributed to the wine’s rich texture. Grapes came from the Beurrot vineyard and Meres block at Kooyong Estate.

Voyager Estate Margaret River Cabernet Merlot $51.29–$68
In the same tasting as the Bremerton wine reviewed above, Voyager Estate, showed real class – a wine to savour, and with the potential to evolve for many years given good cellaring potential. The wine comes predominantly from two blocks of vines (Old Block and Shining Star) on a gravelly slope of the Stevens Valley.  Cassis-like varietal character underpins the wine, but a cedary element from the French oak and plummy merlot add to its dimension – with a little dusting of cabernet leafiness. The wine continued drinking well for days after our tasting says one of the participants, with the sweet berry flavours pushing through deliciously.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 23 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay 2011 $12.35–$16
What do you drink on a camping trip around the Northern Territory? We recently stocked up on this in Darwin and again in Katherine as the seeming best value white at Woolies Liquor. Even up there we paid just $12.35 and it easily passed the campfire taste test, night after night. It’s a modern style chardonnay, based on bright, fresh fruit, with texture and structure (but not overt woody flavours) derived from oak fermentation and maturation. A multi-region blend, the high quality to price relationship owes much to the parent company’s work on its top-end chardonnays.

Illuminati Riparosso Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2010 $9.49–$11.40*
Our red choice for the NT camping trip comes from the Contraguerra region in the hinterland of Italy’s Abruzzi coast. Like the Koonunga Hill above, we bought it from Woolies Liquor (at around $11 a bottle) and we’d have paid dollars more for an Australian red of comparable quality. Like Australian reds, Riparosso starts with clean, fresh fruit flavour. But a delicious, teasing, Italian savouriness sets in, making it a lovely cook’s tipple and refreshing company for food in general. Woolies imports Riparosso direct from Dino Illuminati, a distinguished Abruzzi vigneron.

Bremerton Langhorne Creek Selkirk Shiraz 2010 $20.89–22
Craig and Mignonne Willson set up in Langhorne Creek, on the Bremer River floodplain, in 1985. Their daughters, Rebecca and Lucy (winemaking and marketing, respectively), direct the business. The wines, all estate grown and made, are consistently outstanding, as well as being reasonably priced. They generally present the clear varietal flavours and fleshy, juicy mid palate that makes Langhorne Creek a popular grape source for big company multi-region blends. Bremerton’s pure regional shiraz delivers ripe, plummy, slightly spicy varietal flavour and a succulent, lovable palate, with soft, easy finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 16 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

Shelmerdine Heathcote Shiraz 2009 $23.75–$33
Shelmerdine Vineyard, Heathcote, Victoria
The Shelmerdine family established Mitchelton, just across the Goulburn River from historic Tahbilk. They moved on from there decades back and later established vineyards in the Yarra Valley and Heathcote, one of Australia’s new hot spots for shiraz. This wine comes from the family’s Merindoc and Willoughby Bridge vineyards, at opposite ends of Heathcote. It’s a medium bodied, shiraz featuring the region’s unique combination of bright fruit and savoury flavours. The elegant palate finishes with Heathcote’s signature fine but firm tannins – a farewell tweak that goes so well with food.

John Duval Plexus Marsanne Roussanne Viognier 2011 $26–$30
Barossa and Eden Valleys, South Australia
With Plexus, a blend of three Rhone Valley grape varieties, former Penfolds chief winemaker John Duval says he wants “to build structure and texture, rather than just acid crispness”.  Duval recognises that since the warm Barossa can never compete in crispness with wines from cooler areas, then he should take another path. The result in this partially barrel fermented and matured white is pretty much as Duval says – richly textured and soft, but fresh, with subtle and savoury fruit flavours seasoned with leesy notes from the time in barrel. It’s a little lighter bodied than 2010, the firs vintage. But that’s what you’d expect from the cool 2011 season.

Helm Premium Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $52
Lustenberger Vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Canberra can and does make decent cabernet. But critics, myself included, don’t always assert, as Helm says we do, that it can’t ripen here. Clearly it can in the right conditions. Very pleasant wines from Long Rail Gully, Pankhurst, McKellar Ridge and Helm show that it does. Our criticism is more that to date Canberra hasn’t produced a single great cabernet, and that the quality of the average cabernet is pretty average. However, Helm and daughter Stephanie plan to change that – evidenced by steady improvements in their Premium wine, sourced from neighbour Al Lustenberger’s vineyard. The 2009, to be released in December, shows intense, ripe cabernet varietal flavours and elegant structure. The oak flavours and tannins, however, intrude a little on the fruit. But this is a minor blemish in a very good wine.

Thorn Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2010 $16–$20
Barossa, South Australia
Thorn Clarke, one of the biggest private winemakers in the Barossa, owns a little under 300 hectares of vineyards in the Eden and Barossa Valleys. They produce a range of wines, but enjoy a particularly strong following for the two reds released under the Shotfire range – this straight shiraz and a cabernet blend. For a reasonable amount of money, the shiraz gives us a lot to like: rich, ripe, earthy, savoury varietal flavours, mixed in with mouth-drying, soft tannins – and a sympathetic, vanilla-like character derived from oak maturation.

Ross Hill Pinnacle Series Chardonnay 2011 $30–$35
Ross Hill Griffin Road home block vineyard, Orange, NSW
Ross Hill is collaboration between Terri and Peter Robson and Greg and Kim Jones. The Robsons planted vines at Orange in the mid nineties and in 2008 joined forces with the Joneses to establish a winery and plant more vineyards. This chardonnay comes from the original Robson vineyard. It shows the lean, tight structure of the cold season. But under the lean, acidic structure lie delicious grapefruit and white peach-like varietal flavours. The rich texture and “struck match” character derived from maturation on yeast lees add to the wine’s appeal. The wine should evolve well for another five years or so in a good cellar.

Smith and Hooper Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011 $16–$22
Wrattonbully, South Australia
If we have to drink sauvignon blanc, let’s bolster it with semillon, in the dry Bordeaux style. In this example from Robert Hill-Smith’s Yalumba group, the winemakers fermented one fifth of the blend in old oak, leaving this component on the spent yeast cells (lees), and stirring the lees every two weeks. The process builds a rich texture and subtle flavours that, together with the semillon, contribute so much to the drinking pleasure. But sauvignon blanc still exerts its pungent, herbal flavour and zesty acidity.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 12 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

Thorn Clarke Shotfire Barossa Quartage 2010 $15.25–$20
Thorn Clarke’s extensive vineyard holdings in the Barossa wine zone (comprising the Barossa Valley and higher, cooler Eden Valley) contribute grapes to this big value blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec and merlot. It’s an harmonious blend of these Bordeaux varieties and none in particular dominates, although it’s clearly a cabernet driven blend: the varietal character shows in the aroma and structure, but the fleshy mid palate tells of malbec and merlot and presumably it’s the cabernet franc lifting the lovely perfume of the aroma. It has quite a track record now and in the very good 2010 vintage tastes particularly rich and satisfying.

Hahndorf Hill Winery Adelaide Hills Pinot Grigio $25
Pinot grigio disappoints more often than not, but Hahndorf Hill produces the goods regularly and excels in the cool 2012 vintage. The mild ripening conditions brought out the best in the variety, accentuating the pear-like varietal aroma but also adding a herbaceous element reminiscent of sauvignon blanc. That’s only a hint, however, and the pinot grigio stays at the centre of the vibrant, opulent palate. It’s juicy and plush but a strong backbone of acid and grape tannin give it grip and finish. Hahndorf Hill also makes wine from gruner veltliner and blaufrankisch – to be reviewed at another time.

West Cape Howe Book Ends Great Southern Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $22–$26.50
Cape Howe’s big, rich cabernet comes from estate-grown wines at Mount Barker, part of Western Australia’s very large Great Southern region. The area’s more renowned for shiraz than cabernet, but this wine mounts a good argument for the latter. The colour’s deep and crimson rimmed. The aroma’s ripe, showing both cassis and chocolate-like character. The powerful palate delivers more cassis and chocolate, coated in firm, ripe tannins and with an undertone of oak. Although it’s a big wine the structure remains elegant. Winemaker Gavin Berry sources it from three vineyards, including Fox River, planted in the 1970s.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 9 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

John Duval Plexus 2010 $31–$39
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Following the disastrous Southcorp acquisition of Rosemount, former Penfolds chief winemaker, John Duval, struck out on his own. In Duval’s Plexus we taste the plush and lovely combination of Barossa shiraz (52 per cent), grenache (29 per cent) and mourvedre – sourced from old vines (some more than 100 years) in Krondorf, Marananga, Ebenezer, Stockwell and Light Pass. Duval knows the vines and wines of these Barossa sub-regions intimately – and how to make, mature and blend them. Plexus combines the generosity and softness of shiraz, perfume and juiciness of grenache and the spiciness and firm tannins of mourvedre. It’s a symbiotic, seamless combination providing exceptional drinking pleasure now and for another five to ten years in a good cellar.

Helm Classic Dry Riesling 2012 $30
Helm Valley, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Ken Helm calls 2012 the vintage of his lifetime, a credible claim based on the two rieslings reviewed today. Diseased caused by wet conditions destroyed much of the crop. But the clean fruit Helm salvaged from the his own and the neighbouring Lustenberger, Rawlings and Mumberson vineyards achieved ripeness at low sugar levels, with high natural acidity. The 10.3 per cent alcohol Classic Riesling shows intense citrus-like varietal flavour (with perhaps a hint of botrytis influence) cut with an austere, drying acidity. Helm will release the wine in October. By this time the varietal flavour should be asserting itself in harmony with the high acidity.

Helm Premium Riesling 2012 $48
Lustenberger Vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
The acidity level’s higher in this than in Helm’s Classic (10 grams per litre versus 8.5) but the extra fruit sweetness and intensity, and sheer power of the wine mollifies the acidity. The wine’s bone dry and austere at present, but the underlying fruit flavour, from past experience, will blossom in time – with a notable step up during spring as the wine warms up. I suspect I’ll move to a five-star rating then going on what I’m tasting now. Helm will release the wine in October.

Giesen Gisborne Merlot 2010 $16–$18
Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand
The success of New Zealand sauvignon blanc opened the minds of Australia wine drinkers to the country’s other wines. Chardonnay and pinot noir followed sauvignon blanc, the latter in considerable volume. Then for the cognoscenti came the extraordinary wines of Hawkes Bay’s Gimblett gravels sub-region. Lesser known in Australia, though, are the wines of Gisborne, the world’s easternmost vineyards. Giesen’s merlot shows plummy varietal aroma and earthy flavours on a medium body. An herbaceous, stalky note reveals the cool origins of the fruit.

Yalumba Patchwork Barossa Shiraz 2010 $13.45–$21.95
Barossa, South Australia
The Hill-Smith family’s Yalumba winery at Angaston, sits on a road linking the Barossa Valley to the Eden Valley. The winery sources fruit from both regions, which together are known under Australian law as the Barossa Zone – the appellation on Patchwork’s label. At 13.5 per cent, the alcohol level is modest by Barossa standards. But this is not at the expensive of ripe, plush fruit flavours and juicy, soft ripe tannins ­– both thumbprints of Barossa shiraz. In a recent tasting it looked good against some pretty expensive competition. Watch for the discounts.

Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $40
Parker Estate vineyard, Southern Coonawarra, South Australia
To the casual eye Coonawarra looks uniform and flat, barely changing in elevation in the roughly 15-kilometre drive from the southernmost to northernmost vines. Yet the southern vines ripen weeks later than the northern ones, more than could be accounted for by the miniscule difference in latitude. While the old names of Coonawarra tend to cluster at the northern end, comparative newcomers like Parker Estate (planted 1985 by John Parker but now part of the Rathbone Wine Group) make beautiful wines. Parker 2008 shows Coonawarra’s pure, ripe-berry flavours and elegant structure. Very good oak adds an attractive cedar-like perfume and pulls all the flavour and structural elements together.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 5 September 2012 in The Canberra Times

Waterwheel Bendigo Shiraz 2010 $14.25–$18
The vineyard, now covering more than120 hectares, was established in 1972 and acquired by the Cumming family in 1989. Presumably the scale of production enables continued production at such a reasonable price. It’s deep and brightly coloured and the palate fleshy and rich – dense with ripe, black-cherry fruit flavours, layered with quite solid but not hard tannins. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and undergoes malolactic fermentation (a secondary ferment converting hard malic acid to soft lactic acid) before maturation in new, one and two year old American oak hogsheads.

Brand’s Laira Coonawarra Blockers Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $20.65–$28
Decades ago Eric and Nancy Brand purchased the Laira Vineyard, plum in the heart of Coonawarra’s terra soils. The family later planted more vines on the black soils some distance to the west, though I notice under McWilliams ownership the Laira name seems to apply to the new as well as the old plantings. The wine, however, is very good at the price, providing true Coonawarra varietal flavour and fine structure. It won gold medals at the Limestone Coast and Riverina wine shows ­ – the former being particularly important as Coonawarra lies within the Limestone Coast wine zone.

Hahndorf Hill Winery Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc2012 $23
The cool 2012 vintage ended with a mild ripening period and produced outstanding white wines from what I’ve seen to date. Hahndorf Hill’s sauvignon blanc, a bronze medal winner at Canberra’s Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, shows the rich, pleasing fruit flavours of the vintage. The attractive tropical-fruit character of the aroma flows through to the generous, fleshy, juicy palate. And the high acid of the cool season gives a very fresh, invigorating finish to the wine. Australia struggles with sauvignon blanc, a variety suited to generally cooler climates, but in 2012 we’re likely to see many more high quality wines like this one.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 2 September 2012 in The Canberra Times