TarraWara Estate Yarra Valley J-Block Shiraz 2009 $35
Though fully priced for an unproven wine off very young vines (planted 2007), TarraWarra’s J-Block shiraz offers pure, sexy, drinking pleasure. From the first sniff of the seductive, floral and musk aroma to the last supple, sweet drop in the bottle, it held our attention. A few other tasters sharing the bottle all reacted similarly – a collective “wow” at the aroma, then collective pleasure in the juicy, fruity, very soft palate. It’s a lovely, unique take on Australia’s great red variety – all fragrance, fruit and softness, though with complexity and flavour length. Note this vineyard.

Shingleback Haycutters McLaren Vale Shiraz Viognier 2008 $15–$17
In cooler climates like Canberra’s a dash of the white variety, viognier, co-fermented with shiraz, can add an extra dimension to the aroma, colour and texture of the wine – Clonakilla being our world-renowned local classic. The blend generally works less well in warmer climates, and indeed becomes a distraction when the apricot-like character of viognier takes over. The Davey family’s McLaren Vale version, however, seems to be an exception as the viognier fleshes out the savoury palate without attempting to take over from the shiraz. It’s an attractive, full flavoured early-drinking style.

Rolf Binder Eden Valley Riesling 2011 $18
Rolf Binder and his sister, Christa Deans, make wine at the Veritas Winery, on the outskirts of Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, Rolf looking after the reds and Christa making the lively, delicate, very fruity whites. Christa’s latest riesling tells much about the 2011 vintage – the wet and cool season, in this instance, producing an almost unheard of pH of 2.77, accounting for the particularly spritely, dazzling palate. The wine’s highly aromatic and so fruity there’s an impression of sweetness, despite a very low residual sugar level of about five grams per litre. This is an absolutely beautiful and powerful but fine expression of riesling.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 16 October 2011 in The Canberra Times

Taltarni Shiraz 2008 $30–$39
Heathcote, Victoria
We put this in an office tasting alongside several far more expensive reds, and for me it was the wine to come back to for a couple of glasses – each one as interesting as the first sip. Heathcote reds can be a bit heavy, alcoholic and over the top. But Taltarni, to me, captures the area’s best features – especially, the deep, spicy savouriness behind the sweet, ripe fruit flavour. A touch of mourvedre in the blend probably accounts for some of the spicy, savoury character and fine, persistent tannins.

Yalumba Christobel’s Classic Dry White 2011 $9.49–$16
Barossa Zone, South Australia
The new Christobel’s is a revamped version of wine introduced by Yalumba’s Robert Hill Smith in the 1980s. Behind the vibrant floral label lies a tingly fresh dry white based on the Barossa’s workhorse, semillon. Semillon gives the wine its lemony aroma and flavour; sauvignon blancs adds pungency, zest and a pleasing tropical-fruit note; and savagnin contributes weight and texture. At a modest 11.5 per cent alcohol it’s a terrific all-purpose refresher and food wine.

Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2011 $21–$27
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Ahh, such honesty in winemaker Martin Shaw’s press release, “With the exception of sauvignon blanc our vintage 2011 was a shocker by any standards”, he writes. The cold, wet season completely wiped out his shiraz and 90 per cent of his chardonnay – big losses for a small maker to bear. The cold conditions might have delivered one of those capsicum-like sauvignons, in the Marlborough mould. But the 2011 retains the brand’s tropical-fruit character, albeit more subdued than usual. The racy, fresh, bone-dry palate also introduces a pleasing herbal note.

Ballabourneen Gamay Noir 2011 $25
Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, New South Wales
The late, fruity, bubbly, ebullient Len Evans planted gamay – the Beaujolais region’s equally fruity, ebullient red variety – on his family vineyard at Pokolbin. After Len’s death, Ballabourneen’s Daniel Binet leased the vineyard and now makes a wonderfully, juicy, fruity, succulent red from the gamay grapes. It’s a fruit festival in a bottle, but has sufficient tannin and savouriness to be a real red and great company with food. Serve lightly chilled. Drink a toast to Len.

Best’s Riesling 2011 $20–$25
Rhymney Vineyard, Great Western, Victoria
Surprising for such a young riesling from a cold vintage, Best’s 2011 riesling delivers buckets of upfront floral and citrus fruit aroma and flavour. Although the wine clearly has minerality and fairly high acidity, it’s offset by deep, juicy, sweet fruit flavour and rich, smooth texture. This delicious interplay between high acidity, sweet fruit flavour and rich texture is perhaps what winemaker Adam Wadewitz had in mind when describing it as “a wine with great tension”.

Grosset Nobel Riesling 2011 $45 375ml
Watervale, Clare Valley, South Australia
On the Mosel, German winemakers embrace botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, as part of the humid landscape, an integral force behind their noble sweet rieslings. In the dry Clare Valley the fungus seems more of a curse than an asset as it can wipe out some varieties almost instantly. In the cool, wet 2011 season Jeffrey Grosset surrendered a hectare of riesling to the rot to make his first botrytis riesling since 1999. It’s a beautiful, succulent wine of luscious apricot-like flavours, cut by bracing lime-like acidity, with an ethereal, floating, delicate texture.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 12 October 2011 in The Canberra Times

Handpicked Eduardo Jordan Selection Maipo Valley Carmenere 2008
Until a French vine expert identified it in 1994, Chile’s vignerons remained unaware that many of their vines, misnamed as merlot since the mid 19th century, were in fact carmenere – a variety that disappeared from Bordeaux after the phylloxera infestation. Chile now has a near monopoly on the variety. This medium bodied version combines ripe, red fruit flavours with a tangy touch of capsicum and slightly raw, though not hard, tannins. ‘Handpicked’ offers a range of wines from different winemakers, in this instance Chile’s Eduardo Jordan. The wines are available through selected independent retailers.

Clonakilla Canberra District Viognier 2010 $45
Canberra’s regional wine show becomes a powerful marketing tool for local vignerons when it’s supported by our best makers and best wines. For example, when a wine of this calibre tops its class then wins the trophy for best “other” white variety, there can be no doubting Canberra’s potential to make sublime viognier. The wine’s success puts a halo over the whole district. And what a refined, elegant, classy viognier it is. It has the classic apricot and ginger flavours of the variety, but the silky, fine, rich texture stops short of oiliness. See www.clonakilla.com.au

Yalumba Galway Vintage Barossa Shiraz 2010 $10.42–$16
This is a new incarnation of Yalumba’s ever-popular Galway Shiraz, originally Galway Claret, dating from the 1940s. It’s a long way from the bigger, firmer style admired by Bob Menzies, but retains its delicious Barossa character. It now comes in lightweight glass bottle, and focuses on the ripe, primary, fruity fragrance of Barossa shiraz – generous, round, fleshy, soft and unburdened by too much oak (just three months in older barrels). The recommended price is around $16 but retailer discounting sometimes pushes it under $11 – then it’s a bargain.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 9 October 2011 in The Canberra Times

Cumulus Wines Climbing Pinot Gris 2011 $18–$22
Orange, New South Wales
The difficult, wet and cool 2011 vintage caused much devastation in vineyards across Australia. However, some white varieties, including pinot gris, seem to have benefited from the cool conditions – for example, in the recent local wine show, Mount Majura Vineyard won a gold medal for its 2011. And over in even cooler Orange, Cumulus wines harvested this scrumptious, bronze-tinted drop. Winemaker Debbie Lauritz really captures the character of this often-lacklustre variety – fresh and intense, with pear-like flavour and rich, slightly viscous texture.

Dopf au Moulin Riesling 2010 $13.29–$16
Alsace, France
Dopf, based in the beautiful old village of Riquewihr on the Rhine River, makes a notably fuller, more viscous style of riesling than in its counterparts further north on the German stretches of the Rhine or its tributary, the Mosel. This slightly sweet riesling, imported by Woolworths (available at its Dan Murphy’s or BWS outlets), appeals for its gentle sweetness, smooth texture and unique flavour – recognisably riesling but interestingly different than Australian versions. It’s a good aperitif and also works with spicy food.

Voyager Estate Girt By Sea Cabernet Merlot 2009 $19–$24
Margaret River, Western Australia
As several of Margaret River’s top cabernet blends now push to $100 or so, Girt by Sea delivers an affordable and delightful, drink-now expression of the region’s great red specialty. Blended principally from cabernet and merlot (with a splash each of shiraz and malbec), it’s a rich but elegant, fine-boned red, based on just-ripe, mulberry-like varietal flavour, with an attractive overly of cedar and tobacco-like character that seems to come partly from the oak and partly from the varietal blend.

Coolangatta Estate Tempranillo 2009 $35
Shoalhaven Coast, New South Wales
In the Canberra Regional Show 2011, this wine top scored in its class, winning a gold medal and proceeding to the “other red varieties” trophy taste-off. The Canberra gong added to the gold medal and four trophies won in the 2010 Kiama Regional Wine Show. Like Coolangatta’s wonderful semillons, the tempranillo is estate grown but made in the Hunter Valley by Tyrrell’s – clearly a successful arrangement. This is a fresh, vibrant and medium-bodied tempranillo, seamlessly combining sweet and savoury fruit with soft, persistent tannins.

Ingram Road Chardonnay 2010 $18–$20
Helen’s Hill Vineyard, Coldstream, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Ingram Road is the second label of Helen’s Hill Estate. Like the premium wine, it’s estate grown. Winemaker Scott McCarthy says it’s wild yeast fermented in a mix of new (10 per cent) and older French oak barrels, undergoes a partial, spontaneous, malo-lactic fermentation and matures in barrel for about 10 months. Those winemaking inputs simply add spice and texture to a stunningly fresh, vibrant chardonnay based on delicious, citrus and white-peach varietal flavours.

Barwang Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $13.90–$19.99
Hilltops region, New South Wales
Peter Robertson founded Barwang, the first vineyard near Young, in 1969 but sold the vineyards to McWilliams in 1989. McWilliams extended the plantings and over the years took the Barwang and Hilltops name to drinkers across the country. It’s an important brand for the region because of its reach. If the Hilltops winemaking high ground has been taken over by small makers like Clonakilla and Eden Road, Barwang continues to make excellent wines at fair prices. Their 2009 cabernet is impressive for a red under $20 ¬– packing in absolutely lovely, mulberry-like varietal flavour and retaining cabernet’s distinctive, firm structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 5 October 2011 in The Canberra Times

Ingram Road Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2010 $18
A growing number of high quality cheaper wines highlights Australia’s maturing pinot growing and making skills. In this instance Helens Hill Estate’s second label, Ingram Road, delivers the aroma, flavour and structure of decent pinot at an affordable price. It has floral and cherry-like varietal aromas that flow through to a vibrant, medium bodied palate, supported by fine, firm tannins and completed by earthy and savoury notes. Scott McCarthy makes the wine from estate-grown fruit 0ff 12 and 13-year-old vines. It’s an early drinking style – enjoy any time over the next two or three years.

Kingston Estate Coonawarra Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon $10.45–$15
Bill Moularadellis’s Kingston Estate, based on South Australia’s Murray River, sources grapes from growers across the state. In this wine Bill delivers good cabernet flavour and structure by combining material from Coonawarra and Wrattonbully, just to the north east of Coonawarra. The wine has a youthful, deep colour and buoyant, sweet, ripe blackcurrant aroma. The palate’s full and rich with juicy, sweet blackcurrant flavour and cabernet-like drying astringency. It offers very good value for money, especially when it’s discounted to between $10 and $11. Drink now to two years out.

Fox Creek JSM McLaren Vale Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc $21.85–$24
This is an original and clever blend, based on shiraz but using the two cabernet varieties to add different dimensions. First impression is of a highly aromatic red with buckets of slurpy, sweet, juicy fruit on the mid palate. The aromatic high notes come, presumably, from the cabernet franc component. And the big, soft palate and soft tannins start with shiraz. However, two cabernets affect the palate, too – cabernet sauvignon tightening up the structure with its solid tannin and adding mint and chocolate notes. The cabernet franc adds a lively, racy element. It’ll probably never be better than it is now in its exuberant youth.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 2 October 2011 in The Canberra Times

Eperosa LRC 2009 $35
Light Regional Council Greenock Vineyard, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Some time back Barossa viticulturist Brett Grocke turned to winemaking, determined to capture distinctive characters from “favourite sites throughout the Barossa and Eden Valleys”, he writes. In LRC we taste a unique, generous, elegant, spicy and savoury shiraz that could, at first sip, pass as a Canberra wine. Indeed, one of our blind tasters placed it there. The production of 400 bottles comes from a single row of vines (“144 shiraz, a few riesling, one mataro and a lone unidentified stranger”), a remnant of a larger vineyard, saved from a housing sub-division only by being on land owned by the Light Regional Council.

Eperosa Elevation Shiraz 2009 $30
Bruce and Ros Mibus “Stonehut” vineyard, Eden Valley, South Australia
Brett Grocke sources “Elevation” from just eight rows of the Stonehut vineyard, “on the hillside which contained the most balanced vines”, he writes. Like LRC reviewed alongside, he matures it in aged French oak casks, giving the wine the mellowing micro-oxidative effects of oak without inserting strong woody flavours. Presumably the elevated site’s cooler than the LRC site. But the wine appears riper and fuller, driven by delicious ripe-berry varietal characters, supported by soft, fine persistent tannins. Only 1,600 bottles produced. Both wines are available at www.eperosa.com.au

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2008 $13.15–$18.49
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
What do we get in sparkling wine at this price, compared to cheaper or more expensive wines? Cheaper wines tend to be neutral in flavour, but fresh and lively. More expensive wines offer greater flavour intensity, finesse and delicacy. Jacob’s Creek Reserve sits in between, offering the discernible flavour and texture of chardonnay and pinot noir, sourced from the cool Adelaide Hills, with a touch of bottle-aged character. This equals great value in the coming silly season, especially as the discounters give the price a haircut.

d’Arenberg The Custodian Grenache 2009 $18.05–$20
McLaren Vale, South Australia
McLaren Vale’s d’Arenberg now produces several reds from grenache, one of the region’s great and proven varieties. In a couple of weeks we’ll be reviewing the new top-end versions ($99 each), but today let’s taste the excellent, affordable Custodian, from the very good 2009 vintage. The colour’s limpid and bright and the aroma leans more to varietal spice and earth than it does to the sometimes “confection” notes of the variety. The palate’s rich, without heaviness or fleshiness, its flavours reflecting the spicy and savoury aroma. Soft, slightly rustic tannins complete the picture of a savoury wine built for drinking over the next ten or so years.

Juniper Crossing Tempranillo 2010 $20–$22
Fergusson Valley, Western Australia
Mark Messenger’s tempranillo, from the Fergusson Valley, north of Margaret River, presents a big, ripe, jammy version of this Spanish red variety. The pure, ripe blackberry-jam-like aroma leads to equally ripe, blackberry-like flavours, on a solid, rich palate. The sweet impression of fruit dissipates, however, as the variety’s awesome tannins close in, giving a strong, dry, savoury, firm finish. It’s definitely a red to enjoy with protein-rich food – and yet another variation on a promising variety being worked on by many Australian vignerons.

Shelmerdine Lusatia Park Chardonnay 2008 $48
A Block, Lusatia Park Vineyard, Woori Yallock, Yarra Valley, Victoria
The ever-greater dissection of vineyards in our amazingly varied regions contrasts with the pervasive international stereotype of cheap, simple Australian wine. In this wine the Shelmerdine family, aided by De Bortoli’s winemaking, demonstrates the marvellous qualities of fruit from a single block on its highest, coolest Yarra Valley vineyard. At three years’ the wine’s colour remains a pale but brilliant gold-tinted lemon. The aroma and flavour rest on grapefruit and white-peach characters, deeply integrated with flavours and textures derived from fermentation and maturation in older French oak barrels. One bottle isn’t enough.

First published 28 September 2011 in The Canberra Times
Copyright © 2011 Chris Shanahan

Eldridge Estate Mornington Peninsula North Patch Chardonnay 2010 $30
Winemaker David Lloyd writes that he and wife Wendy produce just 800 cases of wine a year from their Mornington Peninsula estate – including this beguiling chardonnay. David supports the new ABC (always buy chardonnay) – a club bound to thrive were all chardonnays this good. The wine’s a lovely, bright, green-tinted lemon colour with the juicy, fine, citrus and white peach flavours of cool-grown chardonnay. The fruit’s at centre stage, but it’s supported by the subtle aromas, flavours and textured derived from fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. It’s available at www.eldridge-estate.com.au

Rosedale Wines Chook Shed Barossa Shiraz 2009 $12
Rosedale sources fruit from its vineyard on the south-western rim of the Barossa Valley, stretching from Greenock to Sandy Creek. It takes only a sniff and mouthful of Chook Shed to see these are good vineyards, managed by Syd Kyloh, and that winemaker Matt Reynolds, knows what he’s doing. This is a generous, plump red, offering ripe, sweet-cherry varietal aroma and flavour, with a touch of earthiness and spice and typically soft Barossa tannins. This is our first encounter with Rosedale and we’re very impressed as it offers true regional, varietal character and great drinkability at a modest price.

d’Arenberg McLaren Vale

• The Stump Jump Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2010 $8.95–$11.95
• D’Arry’s Original Shiraz Grenache 2009 $14.99–$20

d’Arenberg’s Stump Jump reds, including this earthy, rustic, firm blend of grenache, shiraz and mataro, often find themselves in the retail price war cross hairs. We particularly like this blend. It offers good value when fully priced and becomes a bargain when it’s discounted below $10. d’Arry’s Original, combining shiraz and grenache, without mourvedre, provides more fragrant, softer drinking – in this vintage featuring aromatic high notes of grenache, back by richer, earthier shiraz. d’Arry Osborn introduced the blend 40 odd years ago, labelled, at the time as ‘burgundy’. The style ages very well despite its easy drinkability now.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 25 September 2011 in The Canberra Times

Beurrot by Kooyong Pinot Gris 2010 $27–$30
Meres Block and Beurrot vineyards, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Today’s reviews include two really good, very different expressions of pinot gris, a variety that all too often produces non-descript wines. The first, made by Sandro Mosele, demonstrates the combined power of great fruit and assertive, but skilled, winemaking inputs. Mosele says he whole-bunch pressed the fruit, then moved the juice to old oak barrels for spontaneous fermentation, followed by maturation on yeast lees for 10 months. This approach added a distinct patina of aromas and flavours, including a “struck match” aroma and a considerable boost to the natural viscosity of the variety. These add great appeal to the intense pear and stone fruit varietal flavour.

Toi Toi Brookdale Reserve Pinot Gris 2010 $17.09–$19
Brookdale Vineyard, Omaka Valley, Marlborough New Zealand
Toi Toi’s pinot gris focuses on pure, fresh varietal flavour, enriched by a modest amount of residual grape sugar and textural richness derived from maturation on yeast lees. To preserve the varietal character, winemaker Chris Young fermented only the free-run portion of the juice at low temperatures in steel tanks, using a selection of yeast strains. This produced a, fresh, highly aromatic, richly textured off dry white, featuring pear-like varietal flavour.

Toi Toi Clutha Pinot Noir 2010 $16.15–$18
Central Otago, New Zealand
Central Otago’s reputation for pinot noir stems largely from higher priced classics like Felton Road. But the growing production of this cool region at 45 degrees south means not every drop wins a place on the top shelf. Toi Toi, made intentionally for this modest (for pinot) price, offers terrific value. The colour’s pale (not unusual for pinot) but the palate presents convincing, and delicious, red-berry varietal flavour, supported by fine, firm tannins and brisk acidity. It’s a drink-now style.

Massale by Kooyong Pinot Noir 2010 $25.95–$30
Haven and Ballewindi Vineyards, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Massale offers a significant step up in pinot quality without a massive price increase. The colour’s perhaps half a tone deeper than Toi Toi pinot, with a vibrant crimson hue at the rim. The aroma suggests ripe, black cherry with savoury and earthy notes. The vibrant, juicy palate reflects these flavours in a savoury way that only pinot achieves. Fine fruit and oak tannins permeate the fruit, providing structure and convincing red-wine finish.

Brothers in Arms No. 6 Shiraz Cabernet 2006 $17–$24
Adams Family Vineyard, Langhorne Creek, South Australia
Whether by design or slow sales, the Adams family still offers the 2006 vintage of their generous shiraz-cabernet blend – when most retail red-wines come from 2009 or 2010. The extra age softens and completes the wine for current drinking. There’s a touch of Langhorne Creek’s “eucalyptus” in the aroma – but, more importantly, oodles of fleshy fruit and soft tannins. The wine’s subject to bouts of discounting and offers great value at the lower end of the price range, and not so good at the higher end.

Eperosa Totality Mataro Shiraz 2009 $25
Rosedale and Moppa Springs, Barossa Valley, South Australia
There’s a wonderful movement flourishing in the Barossa, where talented young winemakers with good local knowledge source wine from small, high quality vineyards. Eperosa’s Brett Grocke writes, “We source wine grapes from our favourite sites throughout the Barossa and Eden Valleys”. In this instance, spicy, firm mataro (75 per cent) from Rosedale joins plump, soft shiraz (25 per cent) from Moppa Springs. It’s a big, fine-boned, beautifully proportioned red revealing an irresistibly delicious face of the Barossa. Only 800 bottles made; available at www.eperosa.com.au

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 21 September 2011 in The Canberra Times

Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Shiraz 2008 $14.25–$18
The Rathbone Wine Group owns some of Australia’s great regional brands – Yering Station Yarra Valley, Parker Coonawarra Estate, Xanadu Margaret River and Mount Langi Ghiran Grampians. Winemaker, Dan Buckle, and viticulturist, Damien Sheehan, look after production at the Langi Ghiran operation, producing the sensational “The Langi” shiraz and this budget blend from the Grampians, Swan Hill and Bendigo. It’s a clever blend, keeping the price down by using cheaper, warm-grown, grapes, but retaining the lovely savouriness and spiciness of the cooler regions. That savoury, spiciness cuts through a rich, fruity palate. Should drink well for three or four years.

Tim Smith Eden Valley Riesling 2011 $25
The first wine we’ve seen in the Eden Valley’s new proprietary bottle comes from Tim Smith, former Yalumba winemaker. Smith says the wine comes from a low-yielding vineyard, planted in 1922 at 450 metres above sea level. The cool, wet 2011 vintage presented huge challenges for grape growers with widespread crop loss and difficulties in ripening red varieties in some areas. However, we’re seeing some exciting whites with intense flavours, delicacy and higher than normal acidity. Smith’s is one of the good examples – an aromatic riesling, with just a touch of floral, but leaning more to lemon varietal character and rich but very delicate palate.

Barwang Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $13.90–$19.99
Peter Robertson founded Barwang, the first vineyard near Young, in 1969 but sold the vineyards to McWilliams in 1989. McWilliams extended the plantings and over the years took the Barwang and Hilltops name to drinkers across the country. It’s an important brand for the region because of its reach. If the Hilltops winemaking high ground has been taken over by small makers like Clonakilla and Eden Road, Barwang continues to make really good wines at fair prices. Their 2009 cabernet is really stunning for a red under $20 ¬– packing in absolutely lovely, mulberry-like varietal flavour and retaining cabernet’s distinctive, firm structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 18 September 2011 in The Canberra Times

Tim Gramp Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $21
Gramp Vineyard, Watervale, Clare Valley, South Australia
I’m not sure how a wine this good at this price makes commercial sense. By my reckoning Tim Gramp’s yield of just .076 tonnes to the hectare implies production of just 57 dozen bottles from a hectare of vineyard. But let’s not argue. This is a brilliant, distinctive, drink-now (or over the next five years) cabernet. Fruit aroma pours from the glass – pure and sweet with varietal red berry, mint and herbal notes. These are reflected, too, on the terrifically lively, elegant palate, but coated in juicy, soft tannins, courtesy, says Gramp, of gentle basket pressing.

Grosset Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2011 $32
Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Cross-regional blending is alive and well in Australia – and makes perfect sense when you try Jeff Grosset’s latest release. It combines semillon from the warmer Clare Valley with sauvignon blanc from the higher, cooler, more southerly Adelaide Hills (both on the Mount Lofty Ranges). Semillon tempers the in-your-face fruitiness of sauvignon, adding body and depth to the palate. The focus remains on shimmering, fresh fruit, but more in the lemon-citrus spectrum, with brisk acidity.

Madfish Sideways Chardonnay 2010 $16.70–$22
Yallingup and Karridale, Margaret River, Western Australia
Madfish, part of Jeff and Amy Burch’s Howard Park operation, presents amazingly good regional wines at fair prices. Their pure, vibrant chardonnay is loaded with white peach and melon-rind varietal flavour, backed by the rich texture and subtle complexity added by fermentation and maturation in older oak barrels. While richly flavoured the wine skips lightly over the palate. Amy Burch says she sourced the fruit from Margaret River’s Yallingup and Karridale sub-regions

Maximus Premium GSM Cadenzia 2009 $24.99
McLaren Vale, South Australia
Roland and Shelley Short bought their McLaren Vale vineyard only recently. With the help of winemaker Tim Geddes and a few extra parcels of local grapes, they made this gold-medal-winning blend of grenache (50 per cent), shiraz (35 per cent) and mourvedre (15 per cent). It works particularly well as none of the components dominates. While the sometimes musk-like grenache boosts the aroma, it’s from start to finish a deep, earthy, savoury red with a fleshy, juicy mid-palate countering the abundant tannins. It’s available at Canberra Cellars and www.maximuswinesaustralia.com.au

Turkey Flat Grenache 2009 $25
Turkey Flat Vineyard, Tanunda, Barossa Valley, South Australia
The Maximus wine reviewed today showcases grenache harmonising with shiraz and mourvedre. In Turkey Flat, grenache sings solo – hitting the musk and floral aromatic high notes of the vintage. On the palate, a piquant spiciness cuts through the sweet, fleshy fruitiness, with soft tannins completing the red wine tune. Turkey Flat owners Pete and Christie Schulz say they make the wines from low-yielding 90 year-old vines, pruned into a goblet shape. Have a look at them next time you’re in the Barossa.

Yering Station Pinot Noir 2010 $31.35–$38
Upper and lower Yarra Valley, Victoria
Yering Station was planted to vines in 1838 by the Ryrie brothers, a branch of the family that set up first at Braidwood and Michelago. Today it’s part of the Rathbone Wine Group, alongside Mount Langi Ghiran Grampians, Parker Coonawarra Estate and Xanadu Margaret River. Yering Station 2010’s red-berry, savoury, subtly stalky varietal flavours underpin a lively, elegant pinot. It grows more interesting with every mouthful – a medium bodied, elegant wine with a fine but firm structure. It should evolve very well over time in the cellar.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011
First published 14 September 2011 in The Canberra Times