Bay of Fires Tasmania

• Pinot Noir 2008 $35–$38
• Chardonnay 2008 $35–$38

Bay of Fires, part of Constellation Wines Australia (formerly BRL Hardy), is profoundly affecting Tasmania’s wine scene. It pays top dollar for the right grapes to growers the length and breadth of Tasmania. And the wines go into sparkling wines made by Ed Carr or table wines made by Fran Austin. These two delicious wines, from the warm 2008 vintage, give a terrific glimpse of the Tasmanian style. The chardonnay is brisk and fine boned – at once rich and restrained with intense grapefruit-like varietal flavour. The pinot is soft and fine with ripe varietal flavour and a unique savouriness – understated but complex and balanced.

Winesave $29.95
Winesave is a small cylinder of compressed, inert, heavier-than-air argon gas. Squirted into an open bottle, the gas blankets the wine, protecting it from air. We road tested Winesave on two bottles of Bay of Fires Pinot Noir, pouring equal amounts daily but protecting only one. At opening: wines identical. Plus one day: triple blind tasting (two glasses of one wine, one of the other) – slight degradation to the unprotected wine; the other bright and fresh. Plus two days: protected wine still fresher, but fading. Plus three days: unprotected wine barely drinkable; protected wine on its last legs. See www.winesave.net.au

Crittenden Estate King Valley Los Hermanos Tributo a Galicia 2009 $27–$29
Earlier this year we learned that all of Australia’s albarino – sourced originally from Galicia, Spain – was savagnin and that in all likelihood even the Spanish had savagnin mixed in with their albarino. We also learned that even Spanish experts couldn’t separate the two vines or the wines made from them. But Australia’s savagnin makers adopted the name change in their stride. In Crittenden’s case they’ve simply removed ‘albarino’ from their Los Hermanos label, added ‘Tributo a Galicia’ and happily publicise the name confusion. The wine is attractively aromatic, tending floral, with a full, juicy, shimmering, dry finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Dog Trap Vineyard Canberra District

• Shiraz 2008 $18
• Tony Shiraz 2008 $27
• Lyn Shiraz 2008 $27

Dog trap wines are grown by Denis Hart and Julian White at Yass and made by Roger Harris and Brian Sinclair at Brindabella Hills, Hall. The three wines come from the same batch of grapes but represent different oak maturation regimes: 12 months in old oak barrels for the standard wine; 15 months in a tank with inner French oak staves of for Tony; and 12 months in American oak barrels for Lynn. To my taste it’s an instance of less being more as the pure, cheaper wine really hits the spot. All three are at the very ripe end of the Canberra style spectrum, so the earlier picked 2009s should be even more vibrant and enjoyable.

De Bortoli

• Windy Peak Victoria Shiraz Viognier 2008 $12–$15
• Estate Grown Yarra Valley Syrah 2008 $24–$30
• Reserve Yarra Valley Syrah 2007 $50

You can pluck a wine from any point in the De Bortoli range and be sure it’ll measure up to the best in its class – from the $7 Sacred Hill, to the $10 Montage to the $15 Windy Peak and up to the $30 Yarra Syrah and $50 Reserve Yarra Syrah.  These three shirazes are lovely examples of a distinctive, elegant, savoury style – contrasting, for example, to soft, round Barossa shiraz – made by Steve Webber in De Bortoli’s Dixon Creek Winery in the Yarra Valley. They offer steps up in flavour concentration, culminating in the fine, taut, tannic, complex Reserve.

Various beautiful Australian rieslings $14–$38
Australia’s beautiful, delicate dry rieslings offer some of the best value Christmas drinking possible. They cover a subtle spectrum of styles, represented in these much-loved examples, all recently savoured at Chateau Shanahan. Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2009 $14–$17. Poverty Hill Eden Valley Riesling 2009 $18–$22. Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling 2009 $20–$25. Knappstein Clare Valley Ackland Vineyard Watervale Riesling 2009 $29–$33. Pipers Brook Tasmania Riesling 2009 $24–$28. Mesh Eden Valley Riesling 2009 $26–$29. Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2009 $27–$30. Taylor’s St Andrews Riesling 2005 $33–$38 (just released, and a very fine example of bottle aged riesling).

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Seppeltsfield Flora Fino DP 117 375ml $22
Until recently this sensationally fresh, zesty, tangy, aromatic wine was labelled as ‘sherry’,  a name now reclaimed by the Spanish. It’s an overlooked gem on the Australian wine scene and a treat to sip, lightly chilled, during hot weather. It’s bone dry savouriness make it a great match to tapas and other savoury foods.

Mt Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2009 $30
Stephanie Toole’s Mount Horrocks, from the Clare Valley’s Watervale sub-region, shows young riesling’s amazing lime-like briskness. It’s rich, purely varietal, bone dry, light and delicate. It’s a wonderfully refreshing style that can be enjoyed on its own, with delicate food as an aperitif or, thanks to its fruitiness and zesty acidity, with spicy Asian food.

Stefano Lubiana Tasmania Chardonnay 2005 $39
Steve and Monique Lubiana’s vineyard, on the Derwent River, is in one of Australia’s great chardonnay-growing hot spots. The climate, combined with attention to detail in the vineyard and winery, produces wines of extraordinary intensity and finesse. The natural, fresh acid, intense flavour and a few years bottle age make this one of the most complex and enjoyable chardonnays on the market. And the price is modest given the TLC behind it. See www.slw.com.au

Clonakilla O’Riada Canberra District Shiraz 2008 $35
This delicious, fine-boned shiraz viognier is an offshoot of Clonakilla’s $75 flagship shiraz viognier. The wine comprises about 40 per cent of components ‘declassified’ from the flagship blend plus material from three local growers favoured by winemaker Tim Kirk: Phil Williams of Hall and Long Rail Gully and Quarry Hill Vineyard of Murrumbateman. At a few dinners where it was served alongside other Canberra wines the O’Riada glass was the one that I returned to again and again. It’s outstanding and a great joy to drink.

Curly Flat Macedon Ranges Pinot Noir 2006 $46
Each vintage Phillip and Jenny Moraghan produce numerous barrels of pinot from their estate-grown fruit. Over time they separate the barrels into ‘Curly Flat’ and ‘Williams Crossing’ components. At $24 Williams Crossing is to my taste the best value pinot in Australia. But Curly Flat is the flagship – a pinot of real substance and dimension with the ability to develop beautifully for years in the bottle. I’ve consistently awarded the 2006 gold medal scores in the Macedon regional show and have confirmed those impressions over several bottles at Chateau Shanahan.

Hewitson Barossa Old Garden Mourvedre 2007 $70
The international language of top-quality wine focuses on vineyard location. It’s a concept inherent in every estate-grown wine and, increasingly, in offerings like this highly distinctive Dean-Hewitson-made red. Back in 1853 Friedrich Koch planted mourvedre vines on a sandy site at what we now call Rowland Flat, in the southern Barossa Valley. Koch’s descendents still hand prune and harvest those venerable old vines (each an individual bush) and the fruit goes to ‘Old Garden’. It’s a magnificent, powerful-but-elegant red that’s seamlessly absorbed its maturation in new French oak barrels. This is a national treasure.

Mt William Winery Macedon Ranges Blanc de Blancs 2001  $35
This ultra-fine, elegant, marvellously fresh all-chardonnay wine earned gold medals at the last three annual Macedon regional wine shows. Macedon’s extremely cool growing conditions delivers a delicate flavour and structure found in very few Australian regions. It’s a delightful aperitif style and now beginning to show some pleasant bottle aged character. See www.mtwilliamwinery.com.au

Red Hill Estate Mornington Peninsula Blanc de Noirs 2006 $35
Made entirely of red grapes, Red Hill’s Blanc de Noirs shows the slightest stain of colour in its otherwise lemon-gold hue. There’s a touch of strawberry in the aroma and flavour of this gentle, very fine, dry bubbly. It’s fuller bodied than the Mt William, and has the backbone and savouriness of the red varieties, albeit in a fine and delicate way. See www.redhillestate.com.au

Brown Brothers Patricia Pinot Noir Chardonnay Pinot Meunier 2004 $56
Patricia comes from the cold Whitlands vineyard on a plateau above the southern end of Victoria’s King Valley. It’s cold enough to produce the intense but delicate flavours essential for top-end bubbly. This is juicy and fresh but very delicate, with a special textural richness and roundness probably attributable to the use of pinot meunier, a relative of pinot noir.

Bay of Fires Tasmania Arras Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2002 $50–$65
Made by Ed Carr, this is as fine, flavoursome and delicate a bubbly as Australia makes. Ed’s quest for bubbly perfection took him from the mainland to Tasmania, where fruit sourcing is drifting from the north to the cooler southern regions. The wine is to be rebadged as ‘House of Arras’ in the new year. The Bay of Fires and Arras brands belong to Constellation Wine Estates, formerly BRL Hardy.

Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champagne NV $85
Louis Roederer, still in family hands, shows why real Champagne remains the benchmark. It has the assertive pinot flavour and structure more typical of a vintage Champagne, with a unique and lovely elegance, freshness and lightness – courtesy of the chardonnay component. There’s nothing hit and miss about this. It gets back to great grapes from the company’s highly rated vineyards, skilled winemaking and blending – including the use of two-to-five-year-old reserve wines – and a minimum three years’ maturation in bottle.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Craigow Tasmania

• Riesling 2005 $28
• Sauvignon Blanc $25
• Gewurztraminer 2005 $23
• Dessert Riesling 2008 375ml $19

Today we’re taking a little stroll through Tasmania, beginning with this delightful, maturing, dry riesling discovered at the excellent Smolt restaurant of Salamanca Square, Hobart. We followed up with a visit to Craigow’s cellar door in the Coal River Valley, about half an hour’s drive from Hobart. Other classy wines from the estate, founded in 1989 by Dr Barry Edwards, are the light, fresh and zesty sauvignon blanc 2009, the purely-varietal, sweet Dessert Riesling 2008 with its bracing, fresh acidity and the most delicate gewürztraminer imaginable – its sweetness offset, again, by remarkably fresh acidity. See www.craigow.com.au

Kelvedon Estate East Coast Tasmania

• Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $22
• Pinot Noir 2008 $28

In 1829 Jack Cotton’s great, great grandfather established a 200-hectare farm, just south of Swansea on Tasmania’s east coast. In 1998 Jack planted one hectare of pinot, within spitting distance of the sea, on the now 2,200-hectare sheep property. In 2006 he established 0.9 hectares of sauvignon blanc near the original vines; and in 2000 and 2001 planted a separate, slightly more elevated site, to 2.5 hectares each of chardonnay and pinot noir, contracted to Constellation Wine Estate’s Bay of Fires operation. And he’ll be adding another two-hectares this year. The wines are first rate: the pinot ripe and generous but finely structured; and the sauvignon, light, herbal zesty and mouth-wateringly fresh. Order through kelvedonestate@bigpond.com

Spring Vale Vineyard Freycinet Coast Tasmania

• Melrose Pinot Noir Pinot Meunier 2009 $22
• Pinot Noir 2007 $40,
• Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $24
• Pinot Gris 2009 $28

William Lyne took up a land grant at Cranbrook, north Swansea, in 1826. Since 1986 Rodney and Lyn Lyne have planted 6.6 hectares of grapes on the property and 2007 purchased a neighbouring property ‘Melrose’ and its vines. The Lyne’s daughter Kirsten and her husband, David Cush, make the wines on site. The ‘ Melrose’ expresses a deliciously fresh, fleshy drink-now version of the two pinots; but the 2007 pinot is a far more serious wine – penetratingly varietal in aroma and flavour with a fine, taut acid and tannin structure. The richly textured, finely structured sauvignon offers ripe, tropical flavours. And the very dry pinot gris offers pear-like varietal flavour and savouriness www.springvalewines.com

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Lock and Key Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $10–$15
Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $16–$20
In 2004 Jason and Alecia Brown bought the 78-hectare Moppity Vineyard from the receivers. Established in 1973, and the second oldest in Hilltops, the vineyard was mature but run down. After much TLC it’s now showing just how good the fruit is as the Browns turn all their efforts to production for their two labels – Lock and Key and Moppity Vineyards. The cabernets are rich but elegant –Lock and Key, on the lighter, leafy side but still with delicious berry fruit flavours and firm tannins offers tremendous value; Moppity is riper, with more body and depth.

Lock and Key Hilltops Shiraz 2008 $10–$15
Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Shiraz 2008 $16–$20
Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Reserve Shiraz 2007 $45–$50
Shiraz is unquestionably the signature variety for the Hilltops region as it makes juicy, soft, medium bodied wines that are easy to love. The wines are transforming perceptions of who does what best in Australia. And the Browns, with their significant plantings, are showing that a regional specialty can offer sensational value as well as distinctive qualities. The medium bodied Lock and Key is as good a red as you’ll ever find for the money; Moppity Vineyards ramps up the fruit concentration, but is still refined and elegant; and the Reserve shows the greater power, savouriness and firm tannins of the 2007 vintage.

Gallagher Brut Rose 2008 $25 and Duet Sparkling 2008 $25
Winemaker Greg Gallagher brought to Canberra a couple of decades’ sparkling-winemaking experience – valuable know-how extending from vineyard management to making and maturing base wines, blending the components before bottling and then getting the bottle fermentation and maturation right. Greg’s know-how shows in these two very appealing bottle fermented sparklers – a delicate, blushing rose, blended from 65 per cent pinot and 35 per cent chardonnay, with its fresh tease of red fruits and fine, dry finish; and Duet, an aperitif style pinot chardonnay blend, sourced from Greg’s Murrumbateman vineyard.

Zork SPK closures unimpressive

Both of the Gallagher sparklers are sealed with Zork’s new SPK plastic closure and can be resealed after opening. However, we were unimpressed by the new ‘award winning’ seal: we found the plastic security strip difficult to remove; we were thoroughly drenched after one seal refused to budge then came away explosively, spurting half the contents over our tasting bench (and us)t; and it’s inelegant, looking more suited to cheap bubbly than high quality wines like Greg Gallaghers.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 209

Draytons Vineyard Reserve Pokolbin Shiraz 2007 $30
This is one of those beautiful old school Hunter reds – medium bodied, gentle, supple and soft but savoury and earthy, too. It’s sourced from two old Drayton family vineyards at Pokolbin, a sub-district of the Hunter Valley – the 40-year old Bull Paddock Block and 110-year-plus Old Flat Shiraz Block. The grapes were hand picked, fermented in small, open vats and matured in a mix of new French oak and older French and American barriques. While the oak supports the wine, it doesn’t get in the way of the pure fruit flavour from those venerable old vineyards. It’s a gem.

Vineyard Reserve Pokolbin Chardonnay 2009 $30
Try this and you’ll see why judges at the 2009 Hunter Valley Wine Show gave it a gold medal and trophy. Winemaker Will Rickard-Bell captured the vibrant, pure, succulent, nectarine-like varietal flavour and added subtle background flavours and texture with careful oak treatment: fermentation of half the blend in new French barrels and the balance in steel tanks, followed by a few months in older barrels. Will says it’s sourced from a very small plot of vines planted to the Penfolds clone back in 1965 – making it one of Australia’s oldest chardonnay vineyards. See www.draytons.com.au

Yalumba Langhorne Creek Vermentino 2009 $14.95
Running With Bulls Barossa Tempranillo 2009 $18.95
The ability of vermentino, an Italian white variety, to withstand heat and drought makes it a good candidate for Australian vineyards. There’s a fair bit of it being planted now. But the true test will be whether we enjoy the wines it makes. This one has a fresh passionfruit-like aroma and flavour, reminiscent of ripe sauvignon blanc, but seems a bit coarse and hard on the palate. Spain’s tempranillo is another comparative newcomer to Australia with potential to become mainstream, thanks to its flesh fruit flavour and firm, but not hard, tannins. Yalumba’s is a ‘bistro’ version of the style – zesty, fruity and ready to drink now.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Penfolds Cellar Reserve McLaren Vale Tempranillo 2007 $50
Littore Family Wines Tempranillo 2008 $9.95
Is one worth ten times the price of the other? No, but they’re a world apart. The Littore wine, from the Moorabool Valley, near Geelong, expresses juicy, pure, blueberry-like varietal flavours in a simple, glug-it-down way. The Penfolds wine is more solid, savoury and multi-layered. I liked it after a sip or two earlier this year; wrote it off as too oaky in a masked tasting with other tempranillos at Mount Majura Winery a few months later; and recently savoured every drop of an entire bottle. Sure, there’s abundant oak. But it adds a savoury edge and structure to a complex wine built for the cellar.

Cobaw Ridge White Label Organic Chardonnay 2008 $27
Cobaw Ridge Macedon Ranges Lagrein 2006 $40
Alan and Nelly Cooper’s five-hectare vineyard sits at 610 metres above sea level in Victoria’s very cool Macedon region. The cool site showed in the brisk, concentrated wine flavours during a recent visit. The unoaked white label chardonnay is tangy and intense with dazzling, refreshing acidity. The barrel-fermented 2007 ($35) is sensationally complex and rich, yet restrained and elegant. The 2006 pinot ($48) is fragrant and delicious; but the taut tannins means its best lies ahead. The peppery shiraz 2007 ($40) is very Rhone-like. And the Lagrein 2007 $40 steals the show as a plush but tannic and pleasantly tart expression of this Sudtirol variety.

Coriole McLaren Vale Fiano $25, Sangiovese $22, Barbera $32, Adelaide Hills Nebbiolo $32
Mark Lloyd pioneered the Italian red variety, sangiovese, in the eighties; now offers fiano, barbera and nebbiolo as well; and has a sagrantino up his sleeve for the new year.  The white fiano, a Roman variety, is fragrant in a generally vinous sort of way, with a full, richly textured, pleasantly grippy palate. Barbera, a red from the north presents vibrant summer-berry flavours with a structure built on acid rather than tannin. Sangiovese is the opposite, being savoury with the quite firm tannins that go well with char grilled red meats. The deceptively pale and perfumed nebbiolo, too, packs a load of firm, lingering tannins.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Best’s Great Western Riesling 2009 $22, Bin 1 Shiraz 2008 $25, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $25
Best’s, founded by Henry Best in 1866, was acquired by Frederick Thomson in 1913 and is today run by Ben Thomson, the family’s fifth generation in the business. It’s a must visit for its wonderful old vineyards, dating to 1868, cellars from the same era and first-class regional wines – like this reasonably priced trio.  The fresh, crisp, riesling separates itself from the Clare classics by its taut acidity – a real plus for an aperitif style. The shiraz in the juicy pepper and spice, savoury cool-climate style and ready to enjoy now; and the cabernet surprising ripe and full with reassuring firm tannins.

Jeir Creek Canberra District Botrytris Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2008 375ml $25
Tim Kirk built Canberra’s shiraz reputation. Ken Helm blazed the riesling trail. And at Jeir Creek, Murrumbateman, Rob and Kay Howell developed as their flagship a luscious, oak matured, botrytised semillon sauvignon blanc. Originally it contained grapes from Canberra and Bredbo. But now it’s all from Canberra, principally Jeir Creek, but with some material from nearby vineyards. The new release shows the vibrance and fruitiness of the outstanding 2008 vintage, albeit in a finely structured style with plenty of acid to offset the plush, fruity sweetness. It’s just the thing with stinky, runny cheeses. I’m already thinking of the Silo cheese room and next truffle season.

Clonakilla Canberra District O’Riada Shiraz 2008 $35, Shiraz Viognier 2008 $75
Clonakilla’s Tim Kirk recently hosted a dinner at Senso, pairing Jan Gundlach’s food with five pairs of Canberra shiraz: Lerida Estate Shiraz Viognier and Long Rail Gully Shiraz 2008; Ravensworth Shiraz Viognier 2007 and Kyeema Estate Reserve Shiraz 2007; Nick O’Leary Shiraz 2008 and Clonakilla O’Riada Shiraz 2008; Collector Reserve Shiraz 2008 and Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2008; and the 2006 and 2008 vintages of Clonakilla Syrah. My favourite of the Clonakillas to drink on the night was the elegant, ethereal O’Riada; but the best is yet to come from the opulent, savoury shiraz viognier. The other wines performed well, too. I’ll review them here soon.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

McWilliams ‘Elizabeth’ Hunter Semillon 2004 $12-$17
Crème de Cassis de Dijon 500ml $15
Why risk the run of bland, sweet roses when you can render any dry white or bubbly pink – as well as tasty, fruity and bitter-sweet – with a splash of cassis?  The drier and more austere the wine the better as the tartness offsets the cassis sweetness – just as lemon juice tempers oily fish or lime juices spruces up the fruit salad. A good Aussie candidate is young Hunter semillon as it’s normally acidic, bone dry and low in alcohol. The blend is named Kir, after a former mayor of Dijon. Introduce Champagne, preferably an acidic style like Lanson NV, and you have Kir Royale.

Oyster Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008 $17–$23
Stone Dwellers Strathbogie Ranges Pinot Noir 2008 $22–$25
In the mid to late nineties broad acre plantings of pinot, destined for red, not sparkling wine, began to appear in Marlborough. A decade on we’re seeing some terrific wines, some dead set serious, others, like Oyster Bay, offering pleasant, medium bodied expressions of this appealing grape variety. Pinot could become the region’s red equivalent of its globe-conquering sauvignon blanc. In Australia, too, we’re making ever better pinot, like this substantial Strathbogie Ranges version from the Plunkett and Fowles families. This is a far more serious effort – a real red, but still with the fragrance, suppleness, juicy depth and fine tannin structure of good pinot.

Holm Oak Tasmania Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $25
From a 12-hectare vineyard on the Tamar River, Holm Oak sauvignon blanc delivers stunningly fresh, herbal varietal flavours. It provides a light and subtle contrast to Marlborough’s turbo versions. And despite the lightness, there’s a juicy texture, derived from maturation on yeast lees, fleshing out the mid palate. Like the wines from Marlborough it’s a good example of how growing the variety in an appropriately cool climate delivers the right flavour and structure. The vineyard was planted in 1983 by Ian and Robyn Wilson. Their daughter Rebecca, a qualified winemaker, and her partner Tim Duffy now lease the vineyard and make the wines.  www.homoakvineyards.com.au

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009