Lindemans Coonawarra — $55

• Pyrus Cabernet Malbec Merlot 2008
• St George Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
• Limestone Ridge Vineyard Shiraz Cabernet 2008

It was telling at a recent lunch how few people recognised Lindeman’s pedigreed Coonawarra trio. From the heart of the original terra rossa soils along the Riddoch Highway, the three once excited drinkers of top-end wines. Sadly, however, they disappeared into the vast Foster’s machinery. But they remain beautifully polished wines, each with its own personality – the fragrant, elegant Pyrus with its malbec high notes; the pure, varietal, authoritatively structured cabernet, from the St George Vineyard; and the fuller, rounder (but still elegant) shiraz cabernet blend, from the Limestone Ridge Vineyard, with its distinctive vanilla-like, oak-derived undertones.

Ducketts Mill Denmark Riesling 2010 $16
If you’re visiting Denmark, in Western Australia’s Great Southern wine region, be sure to visit the Lewis family’s combined Ducketts Mill cellar door and Denmark Farmhouse shop. Collectively, Ross and Dallas Lewis, with sons Ben and Matt, tend the eight-hectare vineyard, and produce a range of excellent cheeses (made from fresh, local milk), fudge, preserves and ice cream. Their wines are made off site at nearby Harewood Estate by James Kellie. The standout is the pristine and delicious riesling 2010, priced at a bargain basement $16. The family offers its wine and farm products by mail order through www.duckettsmillwines.com.au and www.denmarkfarmhouse.com.au

Capital Wines The Whip Canberra District Riesling 2010 $18
Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Clare Valley Riesling 2010 $20
In a mini riesling shoot out, Jim Barry’s Clare Valley wine, from the Lodge Hill Vineyard (one of the highest in the Clare Valley), gained the upper hand over Capital Wine’s The Whip – sourced from Yass River Vineyard and Lambert’s Tallagandra Vineyard, Gundaroo, and made by Andrew McEwin. The Clare wine shone on all fronts – floral aroma, vibrant lemon-like varietal flavour, fine texture and zingy fresh finish; all the marks of a good riesling. The Whip couldn’t quite match it – pleasant enough and definitely riesling, but didn’t match the purity and vivacity of the Clare wine. It may be a vintage thing as the 2009 was impressive.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Alkoomi Frankland River Riesling 2009 $18
Frankland River, Great Southern, Western Australia
In three days based in Denmark, Western Australia, we covered all too little of the vast Great Southern region and none of Frankland River, one its five sub-regions. The Denmark Liquor store, however, helped fill the gaps with its wide range of local wines, including this lovely dry riesling from Sandy and Rob Hallett’s Alkoomi. It delivers crystal-clear citrus varietal aroma and flavour and fine, delicate, finish – the perfect after work (or travel) refresher.

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2007 $82.50–$100
Margaret River, Western Australia
If $90–$100 retail, or even $82.50 a bottle cellar door seems out there for chardonnay, even a world-class drop like Leeuwin, how about $20 for a generous glass at Leeuwin’s restaurant? It’s worth it for a wine of this calibre – a luxurious drop, big on nectarine-like varietal flavour and backed by the complexity of high quality oak, and all the textural and flavour nuances it brings. Should’ve bought the bottle we decide after four glasses! (Erroneously rated four-stars in my Canberra Times review. This was a production error, the actual rating is five-stars).

Voyager Estate Girt by Sea Cabernet Merlot 2008 $24
Margaret River, Western Australia
Voyager Estate’s ‘Girt by Sea’ is to Margaret River what Majella’s ‘The Musician’ is to Coonawarra – a richly flavoured, finely structured, medium-bodied red built to drink now but without losing regional identity. ‘Girt by Sea’ reveals Margaret River’s greatest winemaking strength – blending cabernet sauvignon and merlot to produce a harmonious red, based on ripe berry aromas and flavours and backed by fine, savoury tannins – a delicious luncheon red. It’s sourced from Voyager’s ‘north block’ vineyard and the vines are up to 15 years old.

Glenpara Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2006 $25
Barossa and Clare Valleys, South Australia
In 2007 Foster’s sold its historic 185-hectare Seppeltsfield property to a group of investors led by Clare Valley based Kilikanoon Wines. Seppeltsfield now offers table wines under its Glenpara label – in this instance one of those rarest of all beasts, a red with bottle age. The blend of grenache, shiraz and mataro (aka mourvedre) provides juicy, earthy, spicy, soft and satisfying current drinking. The bottle age moves it out of the primary fruit spectrum square into satisfying real-red territory.

Rochford Pinot Gris 2009 $28–$33
Macedon, Victoria
The hot, dry 2009 vintage kept pinot gris yields in Rochford’s Macedon vineyard to less than 2.5 tonnes per hectare. This partly explains the richness of fruit flavour that, in combination with great textural richness, gives an impression of sweetness. Yet the wine carries a barely-detectable five grams a litre of residual sugar. This is true, cool-grown pinot gris – with a light rinse of bronze-pink colour, clear varietal flavour, silky, slightly oily texture and very fresh, lively acidity.

TarraWarra Estate Pinot Noir 2009 $22
Yarra Valley, Victoria and Tumbarumba, New South Wales
Clare Halloran makes very fine, graceful Yarra Valley pinot noir. But faced with a shortage of good grapes in the severe heat and savage bush fires of 2009 she looked beyond TarraWarra for suitable fruit. The resulting one-off blend combines Yarra pinot (55 per cent) with material from a single vineyard in Tumbarumba (45 per cent). It’s in Clare’s pale-coloured but punchy style – delicately perfumed, with deep berry, savoury, gamey varietal flavours and fine but grippy structural tannins. It’s a joy to drink now and should hold for three or four years.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Bress Cider Brut 750ml $20
Harcourt Valley, Central Victoria
Emulating the cider makers of Normandy, Adam Marks and Lynne Jensen, bottle ferment their ciders to a wine-like 10 per cent alcohol. They use the specialty cider varieties Kingston Black and Bulmers Norman, in conjunction with Pink Lady and a touch of Perry pears. Bottle fermentation and maturation adds to the texture and provides fine bubbles. The result is a full flavoured, richly textured cider with delicious, clean apple flavours and clean, fresh lingering finish.

Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2010 $33
Hanlin Hill Vineyard, Clare Valley, South Australia
Petaluma’s sensational 2010 riesling rates among the finest in the brand’s 30-odd year  history. Made by Andrew Hardy, the 2010 seems luxuriously rich and delicious, showing smooth texture as well as the usual shimmering, lemony varietal tang. It’ll almost certainly age well for decades. And from past experience it’s best drinking will be either now, in the early, fruity glow of youth, or many years down the track as it becomes fully mature.

Wolf Blass Yellow Label Riesling 2010 $15–$22
South Australia
The ever-reliable Yellow Label won a gold-medal at the recent Canberra International Riesling Challenge. It’s a lighter, more delicate style than the Petaluma 2010, weighing in at 12.5 per cent alcohol, versus Petaluma’s 13.5 per cent. It’s lightly floral in aroma, with a taut, lemony palate and delicate, dry, refreshing finish. The label gives the origin as “South Australia”. But this suggests only that the makers are keeping their blending options open in what is generally a Barossa-Eden-Clare product. The price varies widely because of retailer discounting.

Rochford Sebastian’s Paddock Pinot Noir 2008 $54–$60
Macedon Ranges, Victoria
Rochford is a Yarra based maker with 24 hectares of vines near Lansfield, in the Macedon Ranges, and 14 hectares in the Yarra (before its recent purchase of the Briary Hill vineyard). The wine reveals a wide spectrum of pinot aromas and flavours, from ripe, red berries to a slight stalkiness to earthy and savoury notes. The palate’s generous and complex and showing the assertive, firm tannins of the hot 2008 vintage.

Hewitson Baby Bush Mourvedre 2009 $28
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Dean Hewitson makes Baby Bush from a young mourvedre vineyard he propagated from vines planted in 1853. Like the still-producing 1853 vines, the young vines are unirrigated and untrellised. The 2009 is a beautiful expression of mourvedre, including what Hewitson calls a “rustic” note. I interpret that as an earthy or even slightly animal-like smell that hovers over the vats during fermentation and lingers in the finished wine. It’s not a fault – just a stamp of this highly distinctive variety. It’s full flavoured, vaguely blueberry-like, but juicy and spicy and gripped by fine, lingering tannins.

Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $28
Coonawarra, South Australia
Zema sits in the heart of Coonawarra’s terra rossa soil, on the western side of the Riddoch Highway. Nick and Matt Zema manage the estate, founded in 1982 by their parents Demetrio and Francesca, with former Lindemans winemaker Greg Clayfield calling the shots in the winery. The 2008 cabernet shows the purity and intensity of varietal cabernet flavour that made Coonawarra our cabernet capital. It’s rich and fleshy, with considerable power and concentration, but at the same time elegantly structured. It’ll no doubt age well, but this vintage has an appealing, drink-now lusciousness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Brokenwood Belford Block 8 Semillon 2006 $36
Belford is a sub-set of the Lower Hunter Valley and the Block 8 vineyard lies “not far from the famous ‘Village of Belford’ sign (there isn’t a village)” writes winemaker PJ Charteris. The wine sits at the very delicate end of the Hunter semillon spectrum – still pale and green tinted at four and half years’ age, with light, grassy, herbal aroma and most delicate palate imaginable. Age has added a little richness to the texture, but the wine remains strikingly youthful, fresh and purely varietal. It’s a delight to drink now but has many years, perhaps decades, to evolve in the bottle.

Zonte’s Footstep Langhorne Creek $22

• Lake Doctor Shiraz 2008
• Canto di Lago Sangiovese Barbera 2008
• Avalon Tree Cabernet 2008

The Zonte’s Footstep range, made by Ben Riggs, captures regional varietal flavours from a number of sites in South Australia. Their current releases include this trio from Langhorne Creek in the hot 2008 vintage. While the cabernet lacks the fleshiness often seen from the variety in the region, it has clear varietal flavour, a core of sweet fruit and a firm, tight tannin structure. The earthier, slightly plumper shiraz also has fine, firm trying tannins. And the Canto di Lagos blend combines the vibrant summer-berry flavours of barbera with the savoury, drying tannins of sangiovese.

Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2010 $15–$17
Don’t like riesling? Think it’s sweet? Time then to try this bone-dry, mouth-watering version from Jim Barry. It’s from Watervale, the Clare Valley’s southernmost sub-region, source of many of Australia’s greatest, long-lived dry rieslings. The wine’s pale but delivers big volumes of distinctive lime-like varietal aroma. The same brisk, lime-like flavours come through on the dry, fresh palate, leaving a clean, lingering aftertaste. There’s a lot of flavour packed into the bottle for a modest amount of money. And while it drinks well now as a delicate aperitif, it’ll take on weight and develop juicy, honeyed flavours with bottle age.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Dal Zotto Pucino Prosecco NV $18.50
King Valley Victoria
Prosecco’s Italian home is the Valdobbiadene district, near Conegliano in the Veneto region. The variety makes light, delicate aperitif-style sparkling wines, usually tank fermented (Charmat method) and served as young and fresh as possible. Otto Dal Zotto, born in Valdobbiadene, released his first Australian prosecco in 2004 and now offers two versions – the light, delicate, fresh, Charmat-made Pucino NV, with its rush of creamy bubbles; and, with finer bubbles, the more richly textured, but still delicate and fresh, L’Immigrante 2008 ($36). These are terrific all-purpose, unobtrusive but interesting sparklers.

Brokenwood Shiraz 2009 $40
Hunter Valley, New South Wales
This is really a review of two subtly different, just-released Brokenwood 2009 shirazes – beautiful expressions of the unique Hunter style. Both are limpid, earthy and savoury with the region’s fine-boned, soft tannin structure. The $40 wine (from young vines on the Graveyard Vineyard and declassified Graveyard barrels) reveals slightly brighter, fleshier fruit under the savoury tannins. And the $50 wine, from the Verona Vineyard, across the road from Graveyard, offers slightly denser flavours and more savoury bite. Both are irresistible.

Zonte’s Footstep Violet Beauregard Malbec 2009 $22
Langhorne Creek, South Australia
The dozen or so folk behind Zonte’s Footstep, including winemaker Ben Riggs, currently deliver some of the best value mid-priced regional specialties in the market. From a single vineyard at Langhorne Creek, near Lake Alexandrina, this malbec bears the Ben Riggs thumbprint – a vibrant, fresh wine, expressing pure blueberry-like varietal aroma and flavour, with assertive but kind tannins. It’s a lovely, easy-to-drink expression of malbec that lets the fruit and location do the talking. Another glass please.

Cape Mentelle Wallcliffe Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008 $40
Margaret River, Western Australia
Sauvignon blanc on its own can be a happy fruit bomb – all tits and feathers, so to speak. But with semillon in the mix (and barrel fermentation) a wine of real depth and personality sometimes emerges, as we see in this distinctive Cape Mentelle wine. Inspired by similar Bordeaux blends, it reveals pungent, herbal high notes of sauvignon blanc and cool-grown semillon and a zesty, light palate with the deep textural richness of barrel-fermented semillon. It’s sourced from Cape Mentelle’s old Wallcliffe Vineyard.

d’Arenberg The Derelict Vineyard Grenache 2007 $30
McLaren Vale, South Australia
With strong demand for his grenache-based wines, d’Arenberg’s Chester Osborn resurrected a long-neglected vineyard that had become a horse paddock. The wine from it is strong, earthy and rustic in the distinctive d’Arenberg mould – none of the musky, confection notes seen in some Australian grenaches. Rather, it’s medium coloured but full bodied with deep earthy, savoury flavours and quite a strong bite of tannin, characteristic of the drought vintage. The style ages well.

Punt Road Airlie Bank Shiraz Viognier $18
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Could this be the story of the little wine that trounced the champs? Kate Goodman’s alluring, $18 shiraz viognier blend won a gold medal in the 2009 Yarra Valley Wine Show, then took on all comers, regardless of price, to seize the best-shiraz trophy. A year on, Airlie Bank still seduces with its high-toned perfume, sweet fruit and gentle, fine tannins. It’s a style to drink and enjoy now, no cellaring required.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

McHenry Hohnen Rolling Stone Margaret River 2008 $36.85
Grant Burge Corryton Park Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $34.95
These are two sensational but utterly contrasting cabernet blends from individual vineyards in the Barossa and Margaret River. The limpid, medium-bodied McHenry Hohnen wine comprises one quarter each of malbec, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot. This is all about heady fragrance, bright fruit flavours, graceful structure and seamless blending of four varieties – delicious to the last drop. Grant Burge’s cabernet (with a touch of merlot and petit verdot) comes from the Corryton Park Vineyard, near Mt Crawford, Southern Barossa. It’s plush with ripe blackberry-like varietal flavours, wrapped in luxurious, silk-smooth tannins – a solid and juicy but elegant wine, just entering its prime drinking years.

Bleasdale Bremerview Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2008 $16–18
Rolf Binder Hales Barossa Valley Shiraz 2009 $18–$22
Australian shiraz comes in all shapes and sizes, depending principally on the climate it’s grown in. Bleasdale, made by the Potts family at Langhorne Creek, near Lake Alexandrina, is medium bodied with exuberant aromas and flavours, reminiscent of ripe mulberries. It’s soft, easy to drink and very good value for money. Rolf Binder’s Barossa wine offers denser flavours, more like very ripe black cherry, with abundant but soft and smooth tannins. Binder (owner of Veritas Winery) makes the wine for the Coles-owned Vintage Cellars and 1st Choice stores.

Knappstein Clare Valley Handpicked Riesling 2010 $15–$20
Knappstein Clare Valley 8:8:18 Riesling 2009 $21–$23
In Canberra’s International Riesling Challenge, seventy per cent of the dry Clare rieslings from the 2010 vintage won medals, a powerful accolade for the season. Knappstein’s Hand Picked 2010, made by Julian Langworthy, impresses for its pure, floral and citrus varietal aroma and generous but soft, delicate and very fresh palate. It’s a delicious, versatile dry white and offers outstanding value when it’s discounted to $15. It can be cellared for four or five years. The off-dry 8:8:18 from the 2009 vintage, though, isn’t as successful. It’s a little too developed in flavour and lacks the razor sharp acidity this style needs.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Shelmerdine Riesling 2010 $24
Heathcote, Victoria
Really fine riesling is just that – delicate and finely textured with not a trace of hardness derived from skin contact. Shelmerdine is as finely textured as they come, thanks to hand harvesting and whole-bunch pressing. The gentle handling technique also allows the fruit flavour to flourish. In the warm 2010 vintage this means big, lovely wafts of orange-blossom varietal aroma and flavour. Coming from the cooler southern end of Heathcote, the wine also has the acid spine to carry the flavour, brighten the fruit and leave a lingering freshness.

Chalmers Fiano 2009 $27
Euston, New South Wales
The Chalmers family specialises in alternative varieties, grown on their vineyard in the Murray-Darling region at Euston, New South Wales. Their partially oak-fermented fiano (a native of Avellino, Campania, Italy), offers unique flavours and a texture aptly described by the Chalmers as “bees-waxy”. The wine shows citrus-like flavours, waxy texture, savouriness and a racy, dry finish. It’s unique and well removed from the typical plump Australian white style.

Chalmers Lagrein 2006 $27
Euston, New South Wales
Italy’s Lagrein variety, grown mainly in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, makes deeply coloured tannic reds. Even at four and half years, Chalmers version retains its blazing crimson colour. And the palate comes jammed with juicy, ripe berry flavours, in a matrix with abundant, silk smooth, savoury tannins. What a sexy, seductive and different wine it is. It’s matured only in older oak barrels, gaining the benefits of maturation without intrusive oak flavours.

Cape Mentelle Shiraz 2008 $40
Margaret River, Western Australia
Cape Mentelle’s shiraz sits in the “needs time, be patient” category. Its spicy, savoury fruit seems all bound up in taut, lean tannins – pleasant enough, but a great contrast to, say, the gentle fruitiness of a Hilltops shiraz, or the deep tender depth of the Barossa. Winemaker Robert Mann says it’s sourced from the company’s Wallcliffe and Trinders vineyards and a 38-year-old vines at Wilyabrup. He matures in large old vats initially, then transfers it small oak casks, about 30 per cent of them new. The wine should show its best after about five years bottle age.

Mitchell McNicol Shiraz 2002 $40
Clare Valley, South Australia
No misprint – this really is an eight-year old shiraz, safely sealed under screw cap, from one of Clare Valley’s great makers. The McNicol, named for Andrew Mitchell’s grape growing dad, Peter McNicol Mitchell, shows the special lift, fragrance and complexity of bottle age. At the same time it retains vibrance and freshness. It shows the elegant structure of the cool 2002 vintage, supple underlying fruit and firm but fine drying tannins. Mitchell Peppertree Shiraz 2007 ($28) shows the more robust tannins of the drought year, with fruit to carry it through years of cellaring.

Zonte’s Footstep Baron Von Nemesis Shiraz 2008 $22
Barossa Valley, South Australia
A gang of enthusiasts behind Zonte’s Footstep, working under the slogan “the truth is out there in the vineyard, but the proof is in this bottle”, produce a terrific range of regional varietals. This one, from the Baron Von Nemesis vineyard, southern Barossa, presents a comparatively elegant face of Barossa shiraz – bright and fresh, with instant, drink-now appeal and a farewell kiss of fine tannins.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Formby and Adams Leading Horse Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $17–$19
Langhorne Creek, near Lake Alexandrina, boasts two enduring wine dynasties – the Potts family at Bleasdale, founded 1850, and the Adams family at the Metala Vineyard, established 1891 by William Formby. Guy Adams, Formby’s great-great-grandson, is the fifth generation on the property. Guy’s 2007 cabernet shows the characteristics of the mild, very dry vintage. The varietal aroma and flavour are crystal clear. But the palate’s tight and firm, without Langhorne Creek’s characteristic fleshiness. However, the kernel of fruit handles the tannin easily, creating a terrific style to enjoy with high protein dishes, especially grilled or roasted steak or lamb.

Peter Lehmann Margaret Barossa Semillon 2005 $30
Going against the trend to release ever-younger vintages, Peter Lehmann recently released five absolutely beautiful wines from the 2005 vintage – a riesling, two shirazes, a cabernet and this stunning semillon, named for Peter’s wife, Margaret. Semillon’s an old Barossa workhorse white variety. It can be coarse and fat. But treated properly it makes superb wine. It has become a specialty for Lehmann, through their big volume, cheaper version, and this flagship, sourced from mature Barossa vines. It’s picked early (hence the modest 11.5 per cent alcohol), made protectively and bottle early to preserve the pure, citrusy fruit flavour, then five years’ bottle age adds its own magic.

Angullong Orange Sauvignon Blanc 2010 $15–$17
Cumulus Wines Climbing Orange Merlot 2009 $21.99
Angullong presents an appealing, subtle, gentle expression of sauvignon blanc, its flavours leaning towards the tropical-fruit-and-passionfruit end of the varietal spectrum. The vibrant, pure fruit flavours come with a soft, refreshing acidity. It provides a pleasing contrast to the more robust, acidic Marlborough styles, and the price is realistic – $15 at cellar door and around $17 retail. And from neighbouring Cumulus Wines, comes this delicious, fine-boned merlot from the outstanding 2009 vintage. It’s bright, plummy and medium bodied – fruity but not plump – finishing with persistent, fine, drying tannins. It’s an elegant, inexpensive red made for early enjoyment.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Brown Brothers Prosecco NV $18
King Valley, Victoria
Italy’s prosecco sparkling wines offer a pleasing light, savoury tartness. They’re usually low in alcohol with a simple, freshness and purity. Like a number of Australian winemakers Brown Brothers embraced the style, planting prosecco vines on its elevated, cool Banksdale Vineyard in Victoria’s King Valley. Their tank-fermented non-vintage style offers crisp, light, pear-like flavours with a little kiss of sweetness in the background. It’s an appealing, unobtrusive appetiser and could sit comfortably with just about any food.

Albarino (Vionta) 2009 $27–$30
Rias Baixas, Spain
Dare to zig as everyone else zags? Try this full, fascinating savoury white from Vilanova de Arousa in Spain’s Salnes Valley. Made from the albarino grape, it delivers a light, tropical-fruit aroma and a full, slightly peachy palate with fresh acidity and textural richness derived from ageing on spent yeast cells. But there’s more – a little grip and bite in the finish, giving a pleasing (or challenging to some) savouriness before the dry finish. Probably a bit overpriced for the quality, but it offers a new tasting experience.

Formby and Adams Cutting Edge Cabernet Shiraz 2007 $17–$19
Langhorne Creek, South Australia
In today’s line up of exotica, Cutting Edge stands out for its true-blue, ripe fruitiness. It’s sourced from the Adams’ family’s historic Metala Vineyard at Langhorne Creek and presents the region’s pure varietal definition and plush mid palate. The cabernet component shows a slight “minty” hint and the shiraz adds a plummy plumpness. A kiss of sweet oak adds to the voluptuous, pure drinking pleasure. One bottle may not be enough.

Rioja Crianza (Solar Viejo) 2007 $27–$30
Rioja, Spain
Like the albarino reviewed today this Rioja red is imported from Spain by the Wingara Wine Group, owners of Katnook Estate, Coonawarra. It’s 100 per cent tempranillo in a contrasting style to Symphonia, from Victoria’s King Valley. Fourteen months in oak and about a year in bottle brings it to an appealing stage of maturity. Rather than the plump, bright fruitiness we’re used to in Australian reds it’s lean and savoury with a fine, firm backbone of tannin, releasing teasing bursts of fruit flavour. It drinks beautifully now and should hold its appeal for another few years.

Symphonia Las Triados Tempranillo 2008
King Valley, Victoria
Peter Read planted Symphonia vineyards to a range of exotic varieties in the 1990s, later selling to Peter and Suzanne Evans. Consulting winemaker Robert Paul (formerly of Montrose, Mudgee) makes the wines, aiming for a “European style with more finesse and less oak, not concentration and power”. This is well down that style path. The colour’s deeper than the Spanish version and the fruit notably plumper and brighter. But there’s no oak interfering and the variety’s naturally firm, savoury tannins provide a good counterfoil to the fruit.

McIvor Estate Sangiovese 2008 $25
Heathcote, Victoria
We love this approach to the Italian red variety, sangiovese, by Gary and Cynthia Harbor, owners of the 5.5 hectare McIvor Estate Vineyard. They’ve allowed the variety to be what it is – not pushing it, or over extracting it and, very importantly, ageing it only in old oak. The result is a red of medium hue with a juicy but savoury mid palate, framed by firm, drying tannins. This is an estate to watch.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010