Hewitson Miss Harry Barossa Valley 2013 $21.85–$25 What would a bunch of hairy chested blokes make of tender, supple, perfumed Miss Harry, served alongside burly reds from Clare Valley and McLaren Vale? The group generally favours big, ripe shiraz with their post-tennis curry. But the lighter coloured Miss Harry overcame early suspicions and several drinkers came back for more. The blend of grenache, mourvedre, shiraz, cinsault and carignan provides perfume, spice, ripe fruit, supple texture and instant gratification. It’s a subtle, medium bodied red in a unique, tender, juicy Barossa style.
Grosset Clare Valley Apiana 2015 $40 Jeffrey Grosset’s Apiana combines semillon with fiano, a very old white variety from Campania, Italy. It was mentioned as early as 1240, write Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz in Wine grapes (2012). They describe the variety as a “rich, waxy, strongly flavoured, fashionable, southern Italian”, cultivated in Australia by Grosset and others “looking for varieties that withstand the heat”. Grosset’s blend provides exciting drinking, with vivid citrus and melon fruit flavours and chewy, smooth texture that could indeed be called “waxy”.
Yalumba Christobel’s Barossa Semillon Sauvignon Blanc $12.35–$15 Had mainland Australia remained a few degrees further south, our vignerons may have had an answer to New Zealand sauvignon blanc, the absolute leader of Australia’s white wine market. Alas, we can’t match what the folks make in cool but sunny Marlborough at 41-degrees south. However, we can offer a bright and zesty alternative with our blends of semillon and sauvignon blanc. Early picked Barossa semillon gives a lively, zesty, citrusy tang to Christobel’s blend, while the mention of “sauvignon blanc” on the label no doubt adds commercial appeal.
Simao and Co Vintage Fortified 2014 Alpine Valleys and Glenrowan, Victoria $48 This is the story of a seventh generation winemaker, six grape varieties, purple feet and a totally slurpy wine inspired by Portugal’s vintage ports. In 2013, winemaker Simon Killeen left the old family business, Stanton and Killeen, and shortly afterwards struck out on his own. Like his late father, Chris Killeen, Simon loved Portuguese port. Inspired by a vintage in the Douro Valley in 2012, he made Simao 2014 by applying traditional Portuguese techniques – including foot-stomping of crushed bunches, stalks and all, and hot fermentation – to shiraz, tinta roriz, alicante bouschet, tinta barroca, durif and touriga nacional. He fortified the wine with neutral brandy spirit. This brought the alcohol content to 20.5 per cent, arrested the fermentation and left around 60 grams per litre of sugar in the finished wine. The result is a ripe and vibrantly fruity wine, made even juicier by its slight sweetness and cut by the racy tang of brandy. It’s in the approachable, elegant style of Portuguese vintage port, but should age gracefully for some decades.
Vickery Riesling 2015 Zander family Quarry and Kosi blocks, Eden Valley, South Australia $23 Last year MD Wines launched Vickery Watervale Riesling 2014, made jointly by former Leo Buring riesling maker, John Vickery, and Phil Lehmann. In 2015 the pair produced two rieslings, one from Watervale (reviewed two weeks back), the other from the Eden Valley. The Eden Valley lies a little further south on the Mount Lofty Ranges than Clare and, being cooler, produces a different style of riesling. The 2015 shows a highly aromatic, floral side of the variety with a strong but delicate, dry palate combining apple- and –citrus-like varietal flavours and powerful acid backbone.
West Cape Howe Two Step Shiraz 2013 WCH Langton vineyard, Mount Barker, Great Southern, Western Australia $24–$28 For good reason shiraz remains Australia’s most widely planted grape variety. Our vignerons harvest around 400 thousand tonnes of it every year, putting it a nose in front of chardonnay’s 380 thousand tonnes, but streets ahead of nearest red rival, cabernet sauvignon’s 220 thousand tonnes. Almost every region has its shiraz, in styles driven largely by climatic differences. In Western Australia’s deep south, West Cape Howe 2013 combines bright, fresh red-berry flavours with the black pepper character seen in cooler climates. There’s a savoury element, too, so it all adds up to an appealing, distinctive expression of our national red specialty.
Toolangi Chardonnay 2014 Toolangi vineyard, Dixon’s Creek, Yarra Valley, Victoria $25.65–$28 Garry and Julie Hounsell planted Toolangi vineyard at Dixon’s Creek, Yarra Valley, in 1995. They hand the fruit over to various winemakers including, for chardonnay, David Bicknell of Oakridge and Willy Lunn of Yering Station. Bicknell makes the higher priced “Estate” chardonnay ($38), while Lunn makes this classy drop, which is also estate grown. It shows the juicy nectarine-like varietal flavour of Yarra chardonnay bubbling through the textures and flavours derived from fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. Taut acidity pulls all the flavours together into one totally enjoyable whole.
Schild Estate Grenache Mourvedre Shiraz 2013 Barossa Valley, South Australia $14.25–$18 Who can resist the sweet, ripe fruit flavours of the Barossa in a favourable vintage like 2013 – a year marked by warm, dry conditions “but without any significant periods of severe heat”, write the Schild family. Their 2014 blend leads with the appealing aromatics and ripe, red-currant-like flavours of grenache. The other varieties come into play on a solid, earthy palate, backed by mourvedre’s rustic tannins and spice and the generous flavour and softness of shiraz. This is an easy wine to love – and the price is right.
Willow Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013 Willow Creek vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria $33.25–$40 Established in 1989, Willow Creek arrived in the comparatively early days of Mornington Peninsula pinot noir. At the time grape growers and winemaker were learning how to manage the variety in the vineyard and winery. The blossoming really began in the 1990s, followed by a great finessing this century, as ever-better fruit arrived in wineries. In Willow Creek 2013, winemaker Geraldine McFaul captured the fruit flavour of of a warm season in a cool climate. The seasonal heat shows in the great ripeness and richness of fruit flavour and firm, grippy tannin structure. This powerful combination should nourish the wine through a long cellaring life.
Tasting Grange 2011, Penfolds Magill Estate, 25 August 2015. Photo: Chris Shanahan
The release of Penfolds wines on 15 October will create a great wave of publicity, intense retail activity and widespread consumer interest, especially in the heady prices.
Are the wines worth their asking prices? Can buyers resell the wines profitably? Or, as has happened so frequently in the past, will auction prices fall below retail levels?
Many people hoard Penfolds wines, whether to drink, gift, resell or, unintentionally, bequeath (what a wake).
However, speculation in wine remains as fraught and risky as any investment; perhaps even more so as wine generates no income – just the hope, often illusory, of a capital gain. Meanwhile the wine risks spoilage, breakage and dinner party raids.
Best then to look at the one great certainty Penfolds provides: the distinctive style, exceptional quality and long-term cellaring potential of the top reds – an quality now shared by the whites, albeit with generally shorter cellaring windows.
Penfolds Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling 2015 $30 From a good Eden Valley vintage comes this floral and lemony riesling. A core of plump fruit gives it immediate appeal. But its intensity, delicacy and strong line of acid suggest long-term cellaring.
Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2014 $40 Ultra-fresh Bin 311 2014 combines melon-rind and grapefruit-like varietal flavours with the texture and the slightly funky, biscuity influence of fermentation and maturation on yeast lees, without obvious oak flavours.
Penfolds Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2014 $100 Spontaneously fermented in mostly new (82 per cent) oak barrels, Reserve Bin A shows a powerful, if oaky, face of chardonnay. Despite the power, oak and yeast-lees character, the wine shows lemon-zest freshness in a bold style.
Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2015 Coal and Derwent Valleys, Tasmania; Adelaide Hills, South Australia $150 Like Hardys with its Eileen Hardy flagship, Penfolds quest for the finest cool-climate chardonnay led it steadily south to Tasmania, which now contributes the majority of fruit. This is profoundly good, oh-so-fine chardonnay. Another bottle please.
Penfolds Bin 23 Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2014 $40 Winemaker Peter Gago takes Bin 23 pinot in a unique direction. It’s gutsy, firm and clearly Penfolds in one respect. But the inclusion of whole bunches, a wild ferment and no filtration gives the wine a deep, earthy, savoury, tannic character well removed from fragrant, pretty-fruit styles. People will either love or hate its idiosyncrasy.
Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Barossa Valley Shiraz 2013 $80 That Marananga, in the western Barossa, is home to some of Penfolds’ favourite shiraz, shows in Bin 150’s irresistible, ripe, juicy fruit flavours. And the fruit comes in layers with plump, ripe tannins, and the uplifting influence of first-class oak.
Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, Barossa Valley, South Australia $80 From a diversity of regions, ranging from warm to cool, Bin 407 shows definitive, ripe varietal flavours of cassis and black olive, with an overlay of sweet oak and the variety’s authoritative, firm tannins.
Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2013 Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Wrattonbully, Coonawarra, South Australia $80 The ripe, alluring aroma that’s neither cabernet nor shiraz, leads to a tremendously vibrant, buoyant palate, seamlessly combining cabernet’s power with shiraz’s subtle, juicy, flesh. Oak lifts the whole wine and firm tannins wash through a great Bin 389, with long-term cellaring potential.
Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2012 Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Robe, Clare Valley, South Australia $100 (Wine of the release) An inviting, sweet, fruity-earthy shiraz aroma leads to a buoyant, lively palate with deep, sweet, red-berry shiraz flavours – caressed by the finest, softest tannins imaginable. This is one of the best ever – a truly great Australian shiraz, destined to evolve for decades.
Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz 2013 $130 One of the best Magills yet, from a warm vintage, retains the distinctive, elegant and medium bodied style. Ripe, plummy, jube-like fruit aromas lead to a warm, lively, seductive palate, where the high-quality oak gives thrust and spice to the lovely fruit.
Penfolds RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz 2013 $175 RWT shows a fragrant, fruity, supple side of Barossa shiraz, supported by high-quality French oak; it contrasts strongly with the power, and American oak influence, of Grange. Luscious fruit flavours, reminiscent of ripe, black cherry, saturate the 2013’s palate, combining lusciously with ripe, soft tannins and an appealing cedar-like character, derived from maturation in French oak barrels.
Penfolds Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 $350 Bin 169 cabernet provides an elegant contrast to the great power of Bin 707. In the warm 2013 season, Bin 169 leads with ripe, blackcurrant-like varietal flavour, with a touch of leafiness. Sweet oak and tannins come in waves, washing through the ripe fruit flavours and giving a uniquely “Penfolds” experience. I would expect Coonawarra’s elegance to emerge as the wine matures over the next few decades.
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully and Coonawarra $500 Bin 707 resembles Grange in its dense, crimson-rimmed colour, distinct barrel-ferment character and unique elements of its aroma. However, these are mere seasonings to a potent cabernet, built on amazingly concentrated fruit, in a matrix with powerful, ripe tannins, partly oak derived. Like Grange, Bin 707 becomes increasingly finer and elegant with very long term cellaring. It’ll be a wonder and a joy to experience the journey of this great vintage.
Penfolds Grange 2011 Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Magill Estate, South Australia $785 From one of the coldest, wettest vintages on record, comes a successful Grange, whose sweet, ripe fruit belies the cold season. The fruit proved flavoursome enough to absorb 17 months’ maturation in new American oak hogsheads. The palate combines fruit, oak and winemaking inputs in typical Grange style. But the vintage character shows in the way the supple, ripe fruit bubbles up through the tannins on a softer, more approachable palate than usual. However, even soft, easy-drinking Grange (1982, for example) ages well, and I’d be surprised if the 2011 isn’t drinking well 30 years from now.
Penfolds supplied these recommended prices ahead of the 15 October release. Expect retailer discounts.
Freeman Nebbiolo 2013 Freeman Altura vineyard, Hilltops, NSW $35 Nebbiolo, the great red variety of Barolo and Barbaresco, Piedmont, provides more disappointments than triumphs. All too often intractable tannins swamp any initial pleasure in the soaring aroma and fruit sweetness. However, in Brian Freeman’s nebbiolo from Young, NSW, deep fruit flavours – reminiscent of dark, sour cherries – maintain a happy balance with the robust tannins. Indeed, this delicious consummation of opposing but equal forces creates an exciting flavour and textural sensation.
Long Rail Gully Riesling 2015 Long Rail Gully vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW $22 The Parker family established the 22-hectare Long Rail Gully vineyard, one of Canberra’s largest, in 1998. They originally sold fruit to Hardys, but these days they make wine for their own and other labels, and continue selling grapes to several local winemakers. The consistently outstanding wines, made by Richard Parker, son of founders Garry and Barbara Parker, remain very modestly priced for whatever reason. The 2015 shows the floral-and-lemony aromatics of riesling, with a delicate and delicious palate, featuring lovely lime-like varietal flavour and lingering, ultra-fresh dry finish.
Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay 2014 Vasse Felix vineyard, Margaret River, Western Australia $20.90–$28 Each vintage Vasse Felix winemaker Virginia Willcock makes many batches of chardonnay – all fermented and matured for nine-months in a mix of new and older oak barrels. She grades the barrels and from them blends three wines – the flagship Heytesbury ($75), a “quintessential” Margaret River chardonnay ($37) and “Filius” ($28), so-called son of quintessential. This is an exciting wine for the price as it captures the dazzling richness and freshness of Margaret River chardonnay, complete with the aroma, flavour and textural seasonings introduced by high-quality oak barrels. This is a brilliant chardonnay for the price.
Little Yering Shiraz Viognier 2013 Yarra Valley, Victoria $18 Little Yering “spent its childhood in French oak”, declares the back label. I can report 12-months solitary confinement did nothing to restrain its youthful exuberance. Indeed the wine cartwheels pure, fruity enthusiasm across the palate, spreading the vibrant red-berry and spice deliciousness of Yarra Valley shiraz. Some of the vigour and thrust no doubt comes from the small portion of the white viognier in the blend; and the fine, spicy, soft tannins perhaps derive from oak as well as the fruit. It’s a pretty and yummy medium-bodied red to enjoy now. Long Rail Gully Shiraz 2014 Long Rail Gully vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW $25 Long Rail Gully 2014 sits towards the lighter-coloured end of Canberra’s medium-bodied shiraz spectrum. Consistent with the lighter colour, the aroma reveals a cool-grown, spicy, even peppery, side of shiraz. Spicy-pepper flavours carry through on the palate, in tandem with lively, fresh fruit flavours. Spicy, fine tannins cut through the fine, smooth palate giving length to the dry finish.
Ulithorne Immortelle 2013 Corsica, France $34 Immortelle’s official French appellation, “Indication Geographique Protegee Ile de Beaute” translates to country wine of the island of beauty (Corsica). And, indeed this medium bodied red combines the local grape varieties minustellu, niellucciu and carcaghjolo neru with syrah. Ulithorne’s Rose Kentish made the wine in conjunction with Corsican friends. The result: a crimson-rimmed red of medium hue with delightful floral and herb-garden aroma. The bright, fresh, medium-bodied palate precisely reflects the aroma, combining sweet underlying fruit with herbs and fine, grippy, savoury tannins.
Angove Long Row Riesling 2015 $8–$11 Long Row riesling’s low price and drab label convey little of the very good wine quality. In the benign 2015 vintage the wine shows both the floral and citrus side of the riesling grape, in a delicious, round, juicy, drink-now, dry style. It comes from Angove’s Nanya vineyard on the hot stretches of the Murray River. While this is hardly a textbook site for the riesling grape, the family knows how to coax the best out of those vines, planted by Tom Angove back in the early 1970s.
Xanadu Fusion Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 $18.05–$20 A spin-off of all the top-end cabernet coming out of Margaret River, is the emergence of high quality drink-now versions at more modest prices. Xanadu, maker of a couple of seriously good cabernets, now offers Fusion – a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot. It’s a lot of wine for around $20 and really good representative of the elegant Margaret River style. The emphasis is on bright, fresh, ripe, berry-like flavours, with the minty and herbal notes typical of cabernet-related varieties. Fine tannins give the wine proper cabernet structure, but in an approachable drink-now style.
Mount Langhi Ghiran The Divide Grampians Shiraz 2013 $16 The Rathbone Wine Group’s Mount Langhi Ghiran specialises in the unique, peppery, savoury shirazes of Victoria’s Grampians region. In the best vintages, its flagship, The Langi Shiraz ($110), equals any red made in Australia, in its own idiosyncratic style. The more affordable Billi Bill Shiraz ($17) and Cliff Edge ($25) provide variations on the regional theme. And now “The Divide” shiraz, provides more good drinking – and evidence of the power Woolworths holds over such a small, but significant Victorian brand. This fruity, silky, savoury, spicy shiraz is available at Woolworths-owned Dan Murphys and Mount Langhi Ghiran cellar door.
Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2015 Grosset Polish Hill vineyard, Clare Valley, South Australia $55 Geoffrey Grosset’s thirty-fifth Polish Hill riesling harvest arrived early. The vintage, “Was mild and early. Starting February 8th following a very mild December and even cooler than average January, vintage was not only the most compressed, but also the earliest in thirty-five years”, writes Grosset. The cool season produced small, thick-skinned berries, yielding an equivalent of two bottles per vine, he says. Those small berries produced a riesling of extraordinary concentration, but in the most delicate, refined way imaginable – characteristics suggested by the lovely aroma and confirmed by the powerful, fine, luscious, absolutely bone-dry palate. This is as good as Australian riesling gets at present – though Tasmania may one day throw down a challenge, albeit in a different style.
Yarrh Sangiovese 2013 Yarrh vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW $27 Neil McGregor and Fiona Wholohan planted Yarrh’s first sangiovese in 2001 and in 2004 made their first wine from it. The success of the variety, prompted them to graft over another half-hectare, which is due to come into production in 2016. Wholohan makes the wines to a consistent medium-bodied, savoury style with the body rising or falling in line with vintage conditions. The almost sold out 2012, for example, shows the lighter body of a cool year; while the 2013 shows the extra depth and richness of a great season. Wholohan aptly describes the fruit flavour as sour-cherry-like. This is cut with firm, tight, earthy tannins, reminiscent of the lighter wines of Tuscany’s Chianti region, the home of sangiovese.
McKellar Ridge Riesling 2015 Briar Hill vineyard, Wallaroo, Canberra District, NSW $25 Brian and Janet Johnston make McKellar Ridge riesling from fruit grown on Phil and Judy Thompson’s Briar Hill vineyard at Wallaroo. Their 2015 vintage earned the top gold medal in its class before going on to win trophies as best riesling and best boutique wine in the NSW Small Winemakers Show. The wine shows the lemony thrust and bite of very young Canberra riesling, softened by a very small dose of residual grape sugar, which gives flesh but not sweetness to the palate.
Tselepos Agiorgitiko 2013 Nemea, Peloponnisos, Greece $33 Melbourne’s Hellenic Republic restaurant (434 Lygon Street, East Brunswick) offers an all-Greek wine list, including many of their own imports. Having little experience of Greek wine, we deferred to the sommelier, who steered us to this enjoyable red, made from the agiorgitiko grape, grown at Nemea, in the northwest Peloponnisos. Medium bodied and fragrant, it offered bright, ripe-berry flavours on an initially supple palate, cut with rustic, savoury tannins that worked well with the food. For stockists contact cclarkson@dejavuwines.com.au.
Windowrie The Mill Verdelho 2015 Central Ranges, NSW $17–$18 In the late eighties and early nineties, The O’Dea family planted hundreds of hectares of their extensive Windowrie property to vines. Initially, they sold to other makers but now make significant volumes on site for their own label. Fruit sourcing now extends along the large Central Ranges zones, and includes this appealing dry white, made from Madeira’s verdelho grape. A fairly full-bodied style, it offers pleasantly tart, flavours, reminiscent of melon-rind. These give a twist to the dry finish and make the wine distinct from our more familiar varieties.
Hay Shed Hill Cabernet Merlot 2013 Hay Shed Hill vineyard, Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia $20–$22 In this reasonably priced red, winemaker Michael Kerrigan gives us the varietal purity and power of Margaret River cabernet sauvignon and merlot. The fruit wells up richly on the palate, yielding cabernet’s cassis, merlot’s chocolate and the minty-leafy character seen in both varieties. Well-balanced oak helps fill out the generous mid palate and contributes to the firm, dry finish we expect of these varieties.
A.C. Byrne and Co McLaren Vale Shiraz 2013 $9.99 German grocer Aldi continues to ginger up the Australian retail wine market with perfectly targeted private labels, including the AC Byrne and Co brand. The company doesn’t bother with the expensive, pointy tip of the wine pyramid. Instead, it supplies the fat middle bit where most wine drinkers spend their money. Aldi buying director, Jason Bowyer, shows a nose for quality in big value wines like this McLaren Vale shiraz. For $10 you get a rich, fruity and smooth expression of one of Australia’s most satisfying regional-varietal combinations.
Crozes-Hermitage (E. Guigal) 2010 $34–$38 Melbourne’s impressive Cookie bar (Curtin Building, 252 Swanston Street) offers Guigal’s maturing red by the glass – a wonderful, warming treat on a cold winter’s day. It’s also available at the River Restaurant, Moruya, and in some retail outlets. Its continuing availability, and low price for a wine of this age and provenance, point to a distributor clearance of slow-moving stock. It delivers the medium-bodied, warm, earthy, savoury flavours of shiraz grown in this northern Rhone Valley appellation. Wines of Crozes-Hermitage sit below those of Cote-Rotie and Hermitage in the northern Rhone pecking order.
Paringa Estate Peninsula Range Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay 2013 $25 Leading Mornington producer, Paringa Estate, offers three chardonnays: Peninsula Range 2013 ($25), Estate 2013 ($35) and The Paringa 2011 ($50). The wines reveal varying hues of the estate’s chardonnay and winemaking, with discernible quality increases, albeit not directly in proportion to price. The entry-level wine therefore provides wonderful drinking and an impressive display of modern Australian chardonnay making. Fermentation and maturation in oak barrels added texture and interest to the dazzling-fresh, cool-grown, citrusy varietal flavours.
Mayford Tempranillo 2014 Mayford vineyard, Porepunkah, Alpine Valleys, Victoria $38 Though planted throughout Australia and used by about 340 winemakers, Spain’s tempranillo remains a niche variety. Our vignerons harvest just four to five thousand tonnes of it annually, depending on vintage conditions – about one tenth the volume of pinot noir, or one hundredth of shiraz. However, it makes instantly appealing red wines in a spectrum of styles. At a recent “Tempra Neo” tasting featuring six producers, Mayford stood out as the most complete red. Its ripe blueberry-like varietal flavour came packaged in strong, savoury tannins that gave a chewy, satisfying richness to the palate and an assertive, dry finish.
Mount Majura Vineyard Tempranillo 2014 Mount Majura, Canberra District, ACT $45 After the deeper, darker 2013 vintage, Mount Majura 2014 reveals a fragrant, fruity side of tempranillo. The aroma and palate both suggest ripe, red berry characters, which push through the variety’s distinctive firm but fine tannins. The bright fruit character gives the wine tremendous drink-now appeal – though the tannins and underlying savouriness should see it evolve for three or four years in bottle. At the “tempra neo” event promoting the variety, winemaker Frank van de Loo said “tempranillo is very sensitive to site and vintage”. The latter explains the notable variation between last year’s wine and the new release.
La Linea Tempranillo 2014 Adelaide Hills, South Australia $27 David Le Mire and Peter Leske source tempranillo from a range of sites in the Adelaide Hills. In 2014 their blend offers a notably aromatic, lively, buoyant expression of the variety. Intense, delicious fruit flavours, combined with fresh acidity and fine-boned tannins, make this elegant, medium-bodied wine very appealing now. Tempranillo’s savoury side might show through with bottle age. But I doubt it will ever appeal more than it does now in its fresh and fruity youth.
Running With Bulls Tempranillo 2014 Barossa Valley, South Australia $18–$24 The Yalumba group’s Running with Bulls rated as the bargain of 16 Spanish and Australian tempranillos tasted at a “tempra neo” event in late August. Yalumba began working with the variety in 1999 and until recently produced two tempranillos under this label – one from the Barossa, the other from Wrattonbully, hundreds of kilometres to the south, near Coonawarra. The new release shows a pleasingly ripe, fleshy face of the variety with an abundance of caressing, soft tannins, typical of the Barossa Valley.
Gemtree “Luna Temprana” Tempranillo 2015 McLaren Vale, South Australia $18 Mike Brown marches to the biodynamic calendar and writes, “We called the wine Luna Temprana as “temprana” is youthful and early and “luna” denotes the wine’s growth via the lunar cycle”. He makes specifically for early drinking, meaning it’s all about fruit, unadorned by winemaking inputs. The fresh, musk-like fruit really sings at present, though the variety’s savoury tannins give a solid grip to the finish.
Tar and Roses Tempranillo 2014 Heathcote, Victoria $19–$24 Don Lewis and Narelle King write, “Our aim is to preserve fruit characters through the production process to the finished wine. It’s these fruit characters that underpin our style”. However, the pair like to build on the fruit flavour, particularly through maturation in oak barrels. They preserve fruit character by fermenting with selected yeast strains, adjusting acidity and controlling temperatures of the ferment and the cap of skins. The result is a solid tempranillo combining pure fruit character with the flavour and tannins of oak. The currently noticeable oak flavours will likely submerge into the wine after a little bottle age.
Parker Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 North-western Coonawarra, South Australia $18.90–$24 Our wine of the week earned its place for sheer flavour, value and fidelity to the Coonawarra regional style. The winery now belongs to WD Wines, an energetic business that also owns the Hesketh and St John’s Road brands. Jonathon Hesketh and Phil Lehmann, drive the businesses – Hesketh in charge of marketing and Lehmann making wine. In the excellent 2013 vintage, Lehmann captured the ripe, full flavours of the cabernet grape, complete with the mid-palate flesh that can be missing in cooler years. His approach for this wine, made to meet a particular retail price, emphasises Coonawarra’s cassis-like varietal flavours (OK, there’s a touch of mint), with sufficient tannin to give true cabernet structure and authority. This is a lot of wine for the price.
Yalumba Galway Vintage Shiraz 2013 Barossa Valley, South Australia $10.45–$18 Yalumba Galway “Claret” once counted among Australia’s great reds, built for the cellar. It raised important eyebrows, including the only ones that counted in 1965, when, at an Adelaide lunch, Prime Minister Bob Menzies declared the 1961 vintage to be, “the finest Australian red I have ever tasted”. But time, markets and marketing diluted the Galway name. Today it stands in the crowded drink-now segment, offering generous and loveable – if not eyebrow-raising – quality. Galway 2013 delivers the appealing flavours of Barossa shiraz – ripe and generous fruit, with soft, easy tannins.
Giant Steps Tarraford Vineyard Chardonnay 2014 Tarraford vineyard, Yarra Valley, Victoria $45 Pulp Kitchen on a cold Saturday night, and the rich, earthy food calls for, and gets, equivalent wines: a taut, elegant, savoury 2007 pinot noir from the great Burgundy vineyard, Clos de la Roche, made by the highly regarded Olivier Bernstein. However, we begin with an outstanding Australian chardonnay, inspired by Burgundy’s originals. From a cooler Yarra sub-region, it reveals all the brightness and intensity of modern Australian chardonnay, boosted by the delicious inputs of barrel fermentation and maturation.
Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2013 Curly Flat vineyard, Macedon Ranges, Victoria $50–$56 Curly Flat’s pinots invariably rate well on release and develop nicely with bottle age, and little wonder given Phillip Moraghan’s attention to detail in the vineyard and winery. Tasted alongside the leaner, savoury, maturing, richly textured 2011, the new 2013 appeared ripe, fruity and soft. But with air and patience over a few days of tasting, the wine’s deeper, savoury flavours emerged, along with the silky texture and substantial tannins essential in top-shelf pinots. Right now, the 2011 provides more satisfying, mature drinking, but the 2013 has great potential, which it should begin to reveal in as little as one year.
Skuttlebutt Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 Margaret River, Western Australia $16.15–$18 The back label gushes fruity descriptors: citrus zest, passionfruit, gooseberry, ripe melon and ripe peach flesh, with a sting of “savoury nettles” thrown in. On the other hand, we can settle for “very fruity”, because it is, with the unbeatable freshness of a young wine, barely away from the bosom of mother vine. Suck it down joyously now. You can never get closer to the freshly fermented grape than this.
Wagner Stempel Riesling Trocken Gutswein 2014 Siefersheim, West Rheinhessen, Germany $36 Winemaker Daniel Wagner writes, “There is no doubt this is a vintage of very high quality, which, however, could only be brought in at the cost of tremendous losses through selection”. Wagner’s comment if anything understates his attention to detail in the vineyards, which ultimately produces such racy, delicate, deeply flavoured rieslings. Though full bodied for riesling, Wagner’s 2014 remains delicate, with apple-like flavours, cut through with thrilling acidity. The combination of intense flavour, finesse and high acidity suggest good cellaring prospects – if you can resist the urge to drink it now.
Penfolds The Max Schubert Cabernet Shiraz 2012 Barossa Valley and Coonawarra, South Australia $450 This new red marks Penfolds’ continuing move upmarket under Michael Clarke, chief of parent company Treasury Wine Estates. The wine salutes the late Max Schubert, whose deep purple thumbprint still marks Penfolds reds 64 years after he created Grange. Schubert was a master of the cabernet–shiraz blend, perfected perhaps in the legendary 1962 vintage Bin 60A Coonawarra Cabernet Kalimna shiraz. The new release’s intense crimson rim and opaque red–black colour put it firmly in the mould of the Schubert originals. A blend of Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon (48 per cent), Barossa Valley cabernet (13 per cent) and Barossa Valley shiraz (39 per cent), it currently offers a powerful but smooth matrix of fruit and oak flavours and tannin. Over the decades we can expect the fruit flavour to flourish and the elegant structure of the cabernet to emerge in what should be a great Australian red.
Hay Shed Hill Pitchfork Shiraz 2013 Margaret River, Western Australia $16 Winemaker Michael Kerrigan continues to steer Hay Shed Hill’s Pitchfork wines in a delicious direction. While the recently reviewed cabernet merlot really stands out, his shiraz, too, provides outstanding drinking at the price. Sourced from a number of Margaret River vineyards, the medium-bodied wine delivers juicy, ripe varietal flavour in an elegant, drink-now style, with lovely soft tannins.
Oakridge Over the Shoulder Pinot Gris 2014 Spring Lane vineyard, Coldstream, Yarra Valley, Victoria $18–$22 Winemaker David Bicknell opted to harvest grape early, ensuring fairly high acidity and comparatively low alcohol (12 per cent) for this difficult variety. Fermentation and maturation on grape solids gave the wine a rich texture and the funky notes of sulphur compounds which, in small doses, integrate tastily into overall flavour. But the richly textured palate, combined with lively acidity, is what this wine is all about.
Anderson Reserve Petit Verdot 2008 Rutherglen, Victoria $26 The late budding, late ripening petit verdot grape struggles to ripen in Bordeaux, where it adds colour, spice and tannin to cabernet-based blends. In hot Rutherglen it ripens fully, producing for the Anderson family a deep, vividly coloured red of generous, if jammy-ripe fruit flavours, masses of soft tannins and a heady alcohol level of 14.8 per cent. This rich, solid, smooth winter warmer sells for $26 a bottle at cellar door and andersonwinery.com.au.
Clonakilla O’Riada Shiraz 2014 Murrumbateman and Hall, Canberra District, NSW $36–$48 Winemaker Tim Kirk calls O’Riada “an archetypal Canberra shiraz, full of red fruits and spice”. O’Riada fitted that broad description in our tasting, where we lined it up alongside Kirk’s flagship Shiraz Viognier 2014 ($90–$100) and cheaper Hilltops Shiraz 2014 ($28–$33). Our group of six enjoyed the solid Hilltops wine, but as the night wore on, the levels in the other two bottles declined more rapidly. Ultimately, in vocal opinions, as well as volume consumed, the intense, silky shiraz viognier won the day by a comfortable, but not wide, margin, over the classy, harmonious O’Riada.
Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2013 Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand $113–$120 From the lean, stony soils of Hawkes Bay’s Gimblett Gravels sub-region comes a shiraz mightily removed from the styles we see in generally warmer Australia. The back label says, “The vineyard is hand harvested in several passes late in the growing season and only the best and ripest bunches are selected”. Indeed, ripeness is the issue in this location, meaning part of thrill in drinking Le Sol is the tension between the barely ripe white and black pepper flavours and the riper berry characters. Although medium bodied, it’s a wine of considerable power and flavour intensity, revealing a deep, peppery, savoury face of shiraz.
