Cullen Diana Madeline Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 $90
In recent years we’ve seen this wine grow in quality and status under Vanya Cullen, daughter of the late Kevin and Diana Cullen. In recent cabernet tastings it’s consistently ranked amongst the best, distinguishing itself for perfect ripeness, intense flavour, fine tannins and elegant structure. So often cabernets from around the world disappoint with varying degrees of green flavours, hollow palates and hard, green tannins. Cullens avoids all of these shortcomings. With its limpid colour and fine structure, it’s no blockbuster. What it offers is fragrance, flavour intensity, a silky texture and complete harmony. It’s an exceptional wine to savour over the next few decades.

Yalumba Hand Picked Barossa Tempranillo Grenache Viognier 2005 $28
The Chateau Shanahan BS meter spun wildly. What mongrel breed could this be? What synergies might the marriage of Spain’s savoury, tannic tempranillo, France’s aromatic, soft grenache and white, syrupy, apricot-like viognier bring? What, at first glance, might have been strange bedfellows – a blend of winery leftovers, perhaps – turned out to be pure magic and all the more so because it was intentional, the varieties having been fermented together. It has an appealing floral aroma, slick, syrupy, fruity palate (with a telltale touch of apricot) and soft, persistent tannins. This is one of the rare reds that holds its own with very spicy food, thanks to the floral aroma and syrupy fruit.

Katnook Estate Coonawarra Chardonnay 2003 $26-$32
I don’t know whether or not Katnook intentionally holds its chardonnay back for late release.  But it tastes like it. The wine’s beautifully fresh but at the same time shows some of the richness of bottle age. It also lacks the heaviness that we used to see in older Australian chardonnays. That’s partly to do with more delicate fruit handling in conjunction with smarter oak fermentation and maturation. Together these have resulted in fresher, longer-lived chardonnays overall. And that’s been topped off by the introduction of screw caps. In Katnook, the result is a rich, fine-boned chardonnay with fresh, melon-like varietal character with the textural richness and nutty complexity derived from oak maturation.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 $26 to $30
In the early eighties some Coonawarra makers flirted with early-picked cabernet styles. The resulting thin, green wines enjoyed wine-show support for a time before good sense and ripeness once again prevailed. Leconfield hung onto a green component in its cabernets for much of the nineties, so it’s good to report a shift to a more generous, riper, fresher style under winemaker Paul Gordon. Less irrigation, pruning for lower yields and later harvesting account for the riper but elegant berry flavours. And increased skin contact, easy-on-the-new-oak maturation and more aeration combine to present these bright berry flavours wrapped in a satisfying packet of firm, ripe tannins.

Evans & Tate Salisbury Chardonnay 2005 $9-$11
Largely because of generous, fruity, inexpensive wines like Salisbury, chardonnay remains Australia’s favourite bottled wine. AC Nielsen figures reveal that in the year to March, 2006, chardonnay accounted for 16.1 per cent of bottled wine sales with sparkling white in number two position, followed by shiraz, then cabernet sauvignon, then sauvignon blanc in fifth place accounting for 5.8 per cent of sales. While we drink almost three bottles of chardonnay for every one of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay is in mild decline and sauvignon blanc in rapid growth. Sourced from the hot Murray Darling region, Salisbury offers generous, ripe, peachy varietal flavour with a delicious zesty freshness.

Miceli Mornington Peninsula Iolanda Pinot Grigio 2005 $19.95
As Australian and New Zealand winemakers grapple with pinot grigio – a white mutant of the red pinot noir — we’re seeing a diversity of styles driven as much by winemaker input as by region of origin.  What Michael Miceli has shown is that even with high levels of winemaking artifice – oxidation, warm ferment, wild yeast ferment and lees maturation etc – the variety can still assert itself. We’ve seen some beauties in this mould from Miceli in recent years, including this very complex, new-release 2005. It captures the minerally/nashi pear flavour of pinot grigio, somehow enhanced by the patina of winemaking inputs.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Despite a glut sloshing around the world, Australia continues its parochial wine-drinking ways. Indeed, distance — aided by a weak dollar — seems to be a one-way tyranny these days, holding back a potential flood of cheap, surplus foreign wine while allowing the free passage of our own in the other direction.

Thus in the year ended June 2005, imports represented just five per cent by volume and eight per cent by value of wine consumed in Australia.

Stripped of our fairly hefty Champagne drinking habit — and the pricey table wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy – the great bulk of imports consumed, I suspect, remain in the under $10 price range, with volumes tapering sharply above $15 a bottle.

Certainly this value area is the key focus for Australia’s two largest liquor retailers, Woolworths and Coles Myer. For both, imports play a profitable role in a tough market. And, increasingly, both import direct from producers, bypassing local wholesalers.

Importing direct is nothing new. At any time in the past one or two enterprising retailers – with an eye to bigger margins – imported direct, while the majority, of necessity, purchased from wholesalers.

In theory, a direct importer might pocket the entire wholesale as well as the retail profit margin. But in seeking an advantage over competitors most have traditionally undercut normal retail prices, effectively splitting the wholesale margin with customers.

With these two retailers sharing almost half of Australia’s take-away liquor sales and fighting tooth and nail to outdo one another, we can safely assume that today a greater proportion of the direct importing advantage is being competed away.

Curious at the increasing profile of direct imports in Woolies and Coles liquor outlets, I recently drove to Melbourne to visit the warring parties. On successive days I visited the Dan Murphy head office (Woolworths ‘big box’ brand) and Coles Myer Liquor Group to look at the overall imports list and, as a case study, to taste each group’s Italian imports.

What they have in common is a competitive urge backed by the resources and expertise to select and buy well – meaning a pretty good value offer for shoppers.

Tony Leon, Dan Murphy boss, an old-time trading retailer and former partner of the late Dan Murphy is still at the helm under Woolies’ ownership. In this no-bull, short-chain-of-command business, premium and imported wine man, Campbell Stott, reports direct to Tony and has support from the experienced former winemaker, Steve Creber.

The three have as good a nose for wine as for business and this translates into a growing portfolio of value wines from France, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Spain and Germany.

The focus is on very good under-$10 wines — increasingly under screw cap at Dan Murphy’s insistence — with a sprinkling of more expensive regional specialties of varying quality and value.

Within a somewhat more complex business structure, Coles’ premium wine and imports man, Jeremy Stockman – long-time retailer and wine show judge – reports to Grant Ramage, a wine experienced recent import from Oddbins, UK.

As Stockman’s selections appear not only in First Choice outlets (Coles’ answer to Dan Murphy) but also in the upmarket Vintage Cellars chain, the top-end section of his Italian range is, in my opinion, stronger and more diverse, and the cheaper wines are all interesting regional specialties.

Moscato d’Asti (Castello di Poggio) 2005 $13.99
Dan Murphy’s import is a lovely example of this unique, low-alcohol white made from moscato grapes grown in the vicinity of Asti, Piedmont. Beautifully, fresh, light and crisp with delicious, sweet grapey flavours, it weighs in at just 5.5 per cent alcohol by volume. Sweet wines might be unfashionable for some in Australia, but Moscato d’Asti is catching on as it ought. It’s a good case for regional specialisation as few Australian attempts at this style capture the light, tingly fresh essential to balance the juicy, sweet grapiness. Reduces to $12.99 in case lots.

Valpolicella Classico Superiore Vigne Nuova (Musella) 2003 $19.99
Watch for the specials on this as importer Coles Myer offers it considerably cheaper through First Estate and Vintage Cellars on occasion. It’s another Italian regional specialty made in Valpolicella, a little to the west of Verona, using the native red corvina veronese, rondinella and molinara grape varieties. This is a modern expression of the style – very bright and fresh with lovely perfume, medium bodied, juicy but tight palate, with a touch of new oak, and tart, dry finish. Valpolicella can be wishy-washy. But this one’s terrific – with the fruit and structure to accompany savoury food.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ‘Riparosso’ (Illuminati) 2004 $8 to $11
Just to show that Australia doesn’t have a monopoly on value, here’s a savoury favourite from Italy. I confess to having sourced Riparosso for Farmer Bros in 1991 and, after their demise, introducing it to the Coles Myer group in 1995.  They continue to offer Riparosso – often misspelled as Riparossa in press ads — through Vintage Cellars, Liquorland and First Choice. It’s made in Abruzzi, on the Adriatic coast by the Illuminati family using the local Montepulciano grape. Family patriarch, Dino, elevated this variety to new heights and now his son, Stefano, continues to fine-tune Riparosso lifting it to new heights in the sensational 2004 vintage.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Helm Canberra District Pinot Noir 2005 $28
Tasted Ken Helm’s 2006 riesling just before bottling early this week. It’s a lovely, intensely flavoured, finely structured drop. Watch this space for a full review when it’s released in September. Ken’s little surprise, though, was this Pinot Noir, sourced from Frank Van Der Loo’s Mount Majura vineyard. With a little help from Edgar Riek and the late Andre Simone’s Burgundy writings Ken makes a tasty debut into the difficult world of pinot making. It’s attractively perfumed, with delicious fruit and the variety’s silky texture – a very attractive drop for current drinking.

De Bortoli Gulf Station Yarra Valley Chardonnay & Pinot Noir 2005 $18
Family-owned De Bortoli appears to be thriving in the current tough market and a fair bit of that success surely rests on the exceptional value for money offered across a wide range of wine styles. This Gulf Station pair delivers Yarra Valley style and quality at a modest price — made even more modest by occasional retailer discounting. While built on elegant, cool climate varietal flavours, both wines offer a few little winemaking extras that add greatly to the appeal. Both are made by Steve ‘Wally’ Webber, the same man behind De Bortoli’s premium Yarra Valley wines.

Jr. Jones Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir and Chardonnay 2005 $16.95
These make an interesting contrast to the more savoury, similarly price Yarra wines reviewed above. Vigneron Rob Frewer says these are grown and made to achieve the comparatively low price point of this high-production-cost region. They say that the proof of the chardy is in the sipping. And both wines hold up to the taste test. The chardonnay is pure citrus and melon varietal with the fine structure of the region and yeast-maturation-derived textural richness. The pinot is fragrant and pure and medium bodied with solid texture and fine, drying acid/tannin grip. See jonesroad.com.au for stockists.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Ravensworth Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2005 $30
Winemaker Bryan Martin works at Clonakilla Wines, Murrumbateman, helping Tim Kirk with the Clonakilla products and making his own wines under the Ravensworth label. Bryan’s first Ravensworth Shiraz Viognier blend improves significantly on the very good straight shirazes of recent years. It’s a seamless, seductive drop squarely in the highly aromatic, savoury, refined style pioneered by Clonakilla and glimpsed in several others from the Murrumbateman and Hall sub regions. Ravensworth is another significant wine for Canberra, cementing shiraz as the district’s great specialty. It’s wine of this calibre that’ll put Canberra on the map. Available from Bryan via ravensworthwines.com.au

Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2004 $48 to $50
Since tasting this in a twenty-vintage line up last year Eileen 2004 went on to blitz the Australian show circuit – blowing the judges away as surely as it did the tasters at our vertical line up. It’s the first Eileen to come screw cap sealed, guaranteeing current freshness and a steady evolution in bottle. With some benchmark chardonnays pushing to $100 a bottle and beyond, Eileen looks undervalued, given its quality and pedigree. Made by Tom Newton, it’s a blend from Tasmania (fifty per cent), Hoddles Creek (Yarra Valley) and Tumbarumba. This is opulent but restrained, complex chardonnay of the highest order.

Madfish ‘Gold Turtle’ Frankland River Shiraz 2004 $17 to $21
Madfish is Howard Park’s budget label — in the relative sense anyway, since the standard wines cost $35-odd. Since the introduction of Madfish, smart consumers have lapped up its outstanding value-for-money offerings.  And now the introduction of a straight Frankland River shiraz to the line (replacing the Margaret River-Great Southern-Blackwood Valley blend) raises hopes that this, too, will be caught up in the retail price wars – and the chance of the odd bargain at $15. It’s a terrific, vibrant red featuring pure, intense ripe-cherry aroma and dense, intensely fruity, silky textured palate with a pleasing savoury edge. It’s a classy and elegant red at the price.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Lenton Brae Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005 $19
The Tomlinson family operates this small, much loved — and very vocal on wine-tax-issues –winery, located at Willyabrup in the heart of Margaret River. It makes one of the region’s more serious Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blends, opting for the subtle use of barrel fermentation to add complexity to what is, more often than not, a simple, zesty all fruit style. The barrel influence adds considerable textural richness and subtle aroma and flavour nuances to the rich-semillon, herbal-tangy-sauvignon blend. The price is at the lower end of the oaked versions of this regional style and therefore good value if you want something with character.

Domain Day Viognier 2004 $25, Pinot Noir 2004, Sangiovese 2004, Saperavi 2004 $28
After a long stint at Orlando Wines, for several years as chief winemaker, Robin Day established his own vineyards at Mount Crawford in the elevated, cool southeastern extremity of the Barossa. Robin’s 30-year viticultural and winemaking experience shows in the superior quality of wines he makes from traditional varieties and the more exotic viognier, sangiovese, saperavi, lagrein, garganega and sagrantino. The latest releases, all from the difficult and hot 2004 vintage, deliver great individuality from the rich but refined viognier, to the lighter but well structured pinot, to the bright and fruity but savoury sangiovese, to the mouthfilling, exotic saperavi – a native of Georgia, Russia. See domaindaywines.com

Coriole McLaren Vale Sangiovese 2004 $17 to $20
Mark Lloyd’s Coriole, McLaren, was one of the first Australian wineries to work with the Italian variety sangiovese – probably best known to Australian drinkers as the principal variety in Chianti. Recent vintages, to my taste, have been amongst the best to come from the property as deliver a great intensity of clean fruit flavour as well as the tight, fine, tannic structure of the variety. There are parallels with shiraz in the big volumes of flavour – but an utter contrast in structure. Where shiraz tends to be round and soft, sangiovese starts fruity, then descends to a teasing, dry, savoury, earthy finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 $19 to  $25
Two years ago I was fortunate to taste the entire sequence of Wynns Coonawarra cabernet’s from Ian Hickinbotham’s inaugural 1954 vintage (still drinking well) through to barrel samples of the 2003 and 2004 vintages. Clearly the wine has an extraordinary pedigree. And, fittingly, we see in the fiftieth vintage, the just released 2003, all the familiar hallmarks of varietal purity, flavour depth and complexity. But it also shows the more velvety tannins and increasing finesse of recent vintages under the stewardship of Sue Hodder. It’s an excellent cellaring wine and already it’s being offered around town at a ridiculous $18.99. You can’t go wrong.

Kingston Estate South Australia Shiraz 2005 $10 to $13
Kingston Estate is a significant, privately owned producer located on the Murray River, South Australia, but sourcing grapes widely from the State’s premium growing areas. This 2005 shiraz, for example is a blend from the Adelaide Plains and Clare Valley. The combination delivers pleasingly fresh, ripe varietal flavours of considerable depth and richness for a wine at this price. Eight months in oak added some sympathetic woody flavours but, more importantly, it aided the mellow, red-wine structure. This is an outstanding budget red from Bill Moularadellis, second-generation proprietor of Kingston Estate.

Lillypilly Riverina Chardonnay 2005 $14 to $16
Lillypilly winemaker/proprietor, Robert Fiumara, is perhaps best known for a range of excellent dessert wines, made and grown in the Riverina region. However, this dry chardonnay really appealed at a recent tasting. It’s well removed from the big, peachy style usually seen from the district and I’m not sure whether that’s in the making or in the fruit from this mild vintage. It certainly has a touch of peach-like varietal flavour. But instead of the usual fatness, there’s a tangy, citrus-like freshness and a pleasantly tart bite in the finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Seppelt Coborra Pinot Gris 2005 $25 to $29
This is a striking and individual pinot gris that appeals as soon as it’s poured. The brilliant pale straw colour promises the great freshness that follows. There’s lots of aroma here with pear-like fruit and a mineral edge. The palate is intense, pear like, and very finely structured for this variety. A taut, steely acid backbone seems to intensify the fruit flavour and carry it right across the palate leaving the mouth really refreshed and looking for the next sip. The fine-ness and intensity probably mean an interesting and slow flavour evolution in the bottle for those with good cellaring conditions.

Seppelt Jaluka Drumborg Chardonnay 2005 $25 to $29
Twenty years after it was planted Drumborg vineyard produced outstanding chardonnay sparkling wine. Another decade on, in the mid nineties, it produced classy chardonnay table wine – sometimes good enough for Penfolds flagship white, Yattarna. Now the vineyard’s fruit stands on its own. This one, made by Emma Wood, has at its heart the restrained, grapefruit-like varietal flavour of very-cool climate chardonnay, supported by lovely inputs of barrel fermentation and contact with yeast lees. It’s a rich but delicate delight to drink now but is of a style to evolve with careful cellaring for five or six years.

Seppelt Chalambar Grampian Bendigo Shiraz 2004 $25 to $29
Seppelt Victorian Shiraz 2004 $13 to $18
Above these two Seppelt reds sit the sublime St Peters and Benno shirazes. These establish a familial style based on richness with cool-climate structure, albeit with a distinct character to each wine. Victorian Shiraz is the often-discounted entry-level wine that invariably surprises new drinkers with its one-more-glass-please drinkability. Chalambar is the resurrection of a hallowed-then-devalued old Seppelt brand. The 2004 is sensational. It has the beautifully, floral perfumed lift of top cool-climate shiraz and all the supple, sweet, palate richness that goes with it. That means opulence without heaviness and enormous drinking pleasure. This is a very impressive wine.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Margaret River Chardonnay 2003 about $90
For around two decades Leeuwin’s Art Series has been the benchmark Australian chardonnay, albeit with a growing number of contenders. From personal experience, it has never disappointed. Indeed, in Langton’s masked classification tastings last year I scored the 2000, 2001 and 2002 vintages, respectively, 18.5, 19 and 18 points out of 20 – and that was lined up with the best Australia has to offer. The just released 2003 was another 19 out of 20 wine at a recent tasting – a superb, if restrained, drop showing all the glories of top-class barrel-fermented and matured chardonnay. The 2003 should continue to drink well for a decade.

Coldstream Hills Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2005 $20 to $26
At a recent masked Chateau Shanahan pinot noir tasting, Coldstream came in second to the $50-a-bottle Wither Hills Pinot reviewed a few weeks back. On a value-for-money basis, then, Coldstream looks the goods, especially if you can twist a retailer’s arm or find it on special. The most reliable of the Aussie, not-too-expensive pinots, Coldstream rises further above the norm in good years like 2005 when sensational fruit seems to lift the texture, structure and complexity to another level. In short, it’s bloody delicious. It’s a real red. It’s a real pinot and it ought to evolve well for another four or five years.

Pirie Tasmania South Riesling 2005 about $22.50
Shocking as it sounds, most of the wine opened at Chateau Shanahan goes down the sink. The ones that really stand out, however, are often invited to dinner, sometimes gracing the table for a night or two. Pirie Riesling 2005 was one of those. It missed a large-scale riesling tasting by days, then, amongst a miscellaneous group of dry whites, stood out for its wonderful delicacy. In the blurb with the sample, winemaker Andrew Pirie rates the 2005 vintage as one of the greats for the West Tamar region. It’s completely irresistible in its own fragrant and refined but intensely flavoured way.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007