Category Archives: Wine

Wine review – Pierre Peters, Pikes, Ross Hill

5 June 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Pierre Peters Cuvee de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Brut NV Champagne $64–$80
Melbourne-based Prince Wine Store imports Pierre Peters’ impressive Champagne and offers it at $80, discounted occasionally to around $64. Few Champagnes at this price offer such stunning quality. Refined, delicate and utterly delicious – with the impressive structure that comes only from prolonged ageing on yeast lees – it’s an all-chardonnay blend from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. This is the heart of Champagne’s chardonnay territory, rated “grand cru”, the region’s highest ranking – and source of great Champagnes such as Krug Clos du Mesnil ($2400) and Salon S ($700). Prince operates stores in Melbourne’s South Melbourne and Essendon, and Zetland, Sydney and sells online at princewinestore.com.au.

Pikes Clare Valley Les Campaneros Shiraz Tempranillo 2014 $17–$20
Winemaker Neil Pike reckons Australia’s old workhorse, shiraz, and Spain’s tempranillo make good companions. Shiraz gives the blend traditional rich flavours and soft tannins, while tempranillo injects vibrant, fresh, ripe-berry character and savoury, drying tannins. Pike made the wine in a drink-now style – meaning lots of juicy, fruity flavours, tannins that give backbone and finish, but not hardness, and a modest alcohol content (for the warm Clare Valley) of 14 per cent.

Ross Hill Lily Orange District Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $20
The Orange region’s cool climate produces comparatively delicate, restrained sauvignon blanc, well removed from the market-leading styles from Marlborough, New Zealand. The Robson family’s new release gives a pure, light, refreshing view of the regional style, with herbal- and citrus-like varietal flavours, a delicate but juicy mid-palate, and zesty, dry finish. Winemaker Phil Kerney says it’s a 50:50 blend from two company vineyards at dramatically different altitudes: Griffin Road at 760 metres, and Wallace Lane at 1018 metres.

Wine review – Best’s, Clonakilla, Ross Hill, Rymill, Ad Hoc

1 June 2016People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Viv Thomson made this magnificent shiraz in 1967 from vines planted by Henry Best in 1866. — Viv Thomson made Bin 0 Claret in 1967 from shiraz vines planted by Henry Best in 1866. Generic labelling as ‘Claret’ was OK back then. So was the use of ‘Hermitage’ as a synonym for shiraz. The magnificent old red was a highlight of Best’s 150th anniversary tasting at Jimmy Watson’s bar, Melbourne, on 8 May 2016. My reviews of two Best’s wines today are based on that tasting. Photo: Chris Shanahan.

Best’s Great Western Foudre Riesling 2015
Best’s Concongella Vineyard, Great Western, Grampians, Victoria
$35
In 2012 as Adam Wadewitz handed over winemaking to Justin Purser, a 2500-litre oak vat showed up in Best’s winery, to the surprise of owner Viv Thomson. As best they could, the winemakers scoured the new, woody flavour from the foudre before filling it with riesling juice for a spontaneous fermentation. The resulting wine put a smile on Thomson’s face, removing any trace of scepticism about the new vessel, and became the first of a new riesling style from Best’s historic Concongella vineyard. Skin contact, spontaneous fermentation, and the use of oak rather than stainless steel adds textural richness and subtle flavours to the riesling, which remains lemony, fresh and delicate. It’s a delicious drink, reminiscent of Alsace riesling in flavour and texture, albeit in a more delicate style.

Best’s Great Western PSV 141 Pinot Noir 2014
Best’s Concongella vineyard 1868 block, Great Western, Grampians, Victoria
$150
In 1866, Henry Best bought Concongella, a Great Western property, and established vines from 1867. In 1920, seven years after Best’s death, William Thomson bought the business, which is today owned by fourth generation Viv Thomson and his wife Chris. Marking Best’s 150^th anniversary in May, Thomson released four remarkable reds including two from a vineyard Best planted in 1868. Within that vineyard, lies a plot of gnarled old pinot meunier vines. And sprinkled among the meunier, are 141 pinot noir vines, believed to be the world’s oldest. Bunches from those vines were sealed and fermented in a vessel for three months before being pressed to barrel for maturation. The result is stunning and potentially long lived – a limpid pinot of great flavour concentration, combining fruit, savour and a firm, fine tannin backbone.

Clonakilla Viognier Nouveau 2016
Clonakilla V and L 2 Block, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$25–$28
Clonakilla goes against the trend with its popular, fresh, easy drinking viognier – a variety given to heaviness on the palate and slow sales. Winemaker Tim Kirk says to keep Nouveau light and fresh he makes it as he does riesling – gently separating the juice from the skins, using a whole-bunch press and fermenting it cool in stainless steel tanks. The process keeps the wine fresh and bright and captures the variety’s distinctive ginger- and apricot-like flavours. The rich texture and grippy finish add to the wine’s distinctive character. It’s a style to drink fresh each vintage.

Ross Hill Maya and Max Chardonnay 2015
Orange, NSW
$20
Oak barrels are in indispensable part of chardonnay making. But using oak barrels adds to the expense – not just in the cost of oak, but also in the extra labour required. Winemaker Phil Kerney builds a complex chardonnay and contains price by using a combination of oak barrels and stainless steel tanks. Maya and Max combines bright fresh, nectarine-like varietal flavour with smooth texture and a funky note from the barrel-fermented material.

Rymill The Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Coonawarra, South Australia
$17–$23
From the Rymill family’s extensive Coonawarra holdings, winemaker Sandrine Gimon makes a range of cabernet styles, including the fresh, fruity, drink-now Dark Horse. The aroma and palate show great vitality in Coonawarra’s distinctive ripe, red-berry varietal style. The elegant palate appeals for its juicy, fresh fruit flavour, which is offset by fine, grippy cabernet tannins.

Ad Hoc Avant Gardening Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec 2014
Riversdale vineyard, Frankland River, Western Australia
$17.95–$21
Though comparable in price, Larry Cherubino’s Avant Gardening heads down an entirely different path to Sandrine Gimon’s Rymill Dark Horse cabernet reviewed today. The wines share some of the bright, fresh, aromatic berry character of young cabernet. But there the similarities end. Gimon’s wine remains on the fresh, fruity path, while Cherubino’s goes to darker, grittier places. Malbec no doubt plays its part in Avant Gardening’s deeper colour and firmer tannins. But the different origins – South Australia’s Coonawarra versus the West’s Frankland River – also influence the wines.

Wine review – St Hallett, Chapel Hill, Jacob’s Creek

29 May 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

St Hallett Western Front Barossa Shiraz 2015 $14.30–$18
Japanese-owned Lion owns the Barossa’s St Hallett Winery and produces several outstanding regional shirazes. Western Front, made for Woolworths (Dan Murphy, BWS, Woolworths Liquor), sits in price between St Hallett Faith Shiraz ($17) and Gamekeepers Shiraz ($12) – two widely distributed St Hallett wines often discounted by retailers. Unlike its namesake, Western Front is designed never to be fought over. The name itself provides camouflage against direct price comparison for the simple reason that no one else stocks it. That’s a prime motive behind exclusive labels. The wine, however, provides absolutely delicious, ripe, juicy flavours with typically soft, easy Barossa tannins.

Chapel Hill The Vicar McLaren Vale Shiraz 2013 $61.75–$75
Only a very small proportion of all wines are suited for long-term keeping – whether for a memento of a special occasion, personal drinking pleasure or as a gift to a wine lover. Chapel Hill The Vicar offers that potential at a fair price considering its exceptional quality. The deep, crimson-rimmed colour suggests a wine of substance – an impression confirmed by the aroma and multi-layered palate. Powerful, fruity and savoury flavours mix with strong but smooth tannins in a harmonious wine that keeps luring the drinker back for another mouthful, despite its youth and power.

Jacob’s Creek Classic Chardonnay 2015 $7.50–$12
It’s late, you’ve been driving all day and there’s nowhere to eat in the small town but the local club. Choose a simple dish like steak and salad and you’ll be well nourished, if not excited. But what wine do you drink from a choice of unfamiliar club labels or Jacob’s Creek? The made-up labels seldom please. But Jacob’s Creek wines generally do the job nicely at a fair price. A recent encounter with Classic Chardonnay at a south coast club provided clear and melon- and peach-like varietal fruit flavour on a smooth, dry, medium-bodied palate.

Wine review – Eldridge Estate, Bremerton, Billecart-Salmon, Murrumbateman Winery, Arrogant Frog, Sandalford

25 May 2016People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Eldridge Estate Pinot Noir 2014 – wine of the week
Eldridge Estate vineyard, Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
$60
David Lloyd’s wines demonstrate the power of growing grape varieties in the right climate, then mastering vineyard management and winemaking. His 3.8-hectare vineyard, at around 200-metres altitude and 38 degrees south, provides the cool growing and ripening conditions suited to pinot noir. Water on three sides (Port Phillip Bay, Bass Straight and Westernport Bay) further moderates the climate. Lloyd’s 2014, made from six pinot clones, gives us a pure yet savoury expression of the variety. Delicate perfume, vibrant varietal fruit flavours, savouriness and fine, grippy tannins make a complete pinot – one to savour and marvel at.

Bremerton Selkirk Shiraz 2013
Langhorne Creek, South Australia
$19–$22
Langhorne Creek lies to the south east of McLaren Vale. Its warm climate, moderated by cool breezes from nearby Lake Alexandrina, produces rich, fleshy, but not heavy crowd-pleasing reds. The region’s pleasing wine styles, comparatively high yields and water availability attracted massive, broad-acre investments during the nineties. Though much of the grape crop goes to anonymous multi-region blends, the locals continue to make a mark with rich, satisfying reds like Bremerton Selkirk shiraz, made by Rebecca Willson whose family owns 120-hectares of vines in the region.

Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV
Champagne, France
$66.50–$80
A distinctive richness and delicacy sets Billecart-Salmon apart from the too many ho-hum non-vintage Champagnes. It always surprises because it’s so consistently outstanding. In our latest encounter, at Chairman and Yip, it accompanied some of the best oysters we’ve ever enjoyed: briny, juicy, plump and deliciously chewy. Billecart mingled happily with the tangy flavours, thanks in part to Champagne’s high acidity. But there’s more to it. A bit of pinot meunier in the pinot noir-chardonnay blend plumps out the palate and gives a fresh, fruity taste. Yet it remains delicate and dry, with the unique structure and harmony resulting from prolonged ageing on yeast lees.

Murrumbateman Winery Shiraz 2014
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$30
Bobbie Makin and Jennifer Lawrence are the new young team running one of Canberra’s oldest wineries (established 1973). The brand’s been keeping a low profile for some years but we can expect to see more activity now as the pair make wine using grapes from their own and neighbouring vineyards. Then wine shows Canberra’s bright berry fruit flavours and medium body, albeit with a more than typical lick of tannin, some of it oak derived, drying out the finish.

Arrogant Frog Croak Rotie Shiraz 2014
Aude Valley, Languedoc, France
$7.90–$13
French winemaker Jean-Claude Mas launched Arrogant Frog in 2005 and now claims global sales of five million bottles annually – with over million of those sold in Australia through its importer, Woolworths. The brand includes two whites, a rose and two reds in addition to Croak Rotie reviewed today. For a modest price you get a flawless, screw-cap sealed shiraz–viognier blend of medium body and fresh fruit flavour. It’s taut rather than fleshy and finishes dry with slightly tough tannins.

Sandalford Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2015
Sandalford vineyard, Margaret River, Western Australia
$22–$35
You could pay much more for a chardonnay as good as this. And the quality’s explained by what’s gone into the wine: grapes from mature vines, free-run juice (the finest cut), and fermentation and maturation in a mix of new and older French oak barrels. A full-flavoured but fine-boned chardonnay, it shows juicy, nectarine-like varietal flavour, rich, barrel-derived texture and very fresh, zesty finish.

Wine review – Peter Lehmann, Zind-Humbrecht, Mount Trio

22 May 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Peter Lehmann Clancy’s Barossa Red Blend 2013 $11.40–$15
In the wine industry, new ownership or new marketing staff typically spells packaging changes, with the hope of increased sales. It seldom works, especially where the marketer shows little understanding of a brand’s underlying values. It came as no surprise therefore to see Peter Lehmann’s new owner, the Casella family, blast the publicity trumpets for its repackaging of the entry-level Clancy’s label. It seems to me, though, that the Barossa story comes second to the Banjo Patterson Clancy’s theme. However, the medium-bodied, soft wine behind the label offers easy drinking and fair value.

Zind-Humbrecht Terroirs d’Alsace Riesling 2011 $35–$46
On a cool night at Chairman and Yip’s new Barton home, a riesling from France’s Alsace region provided an interesting contrast to Australian styles. At five years the cork-sealed wine showed the deep gold colour of bottle age, but was otherwise fresh and lively with no sign of oxidation or cork taint. Typical of Alsace riesling, the wine’s distinctive, strong, ripe flavour came on a richly textured, slightly viscous palate with a firm, dry bite to the finish. It’s a unique and enjoyable style, suited to the Chairman’s richer dishes, but a little strong for the more delicate ones.

Mount Trio Porongurup Shiraz 2014 $22
The Porongurup range, a half-hour’s drive north of Albany, Western Australia, provides slightly cooler growing conditions than low lying areas in the vicinity – though both share the tug-of-war between hot continental air and cooler sea air to the south. The cooler conditions produce another subtle shade of wine flavours for the vast Great Southern region. Although Mount Trio shiraz weighs in at a hefty 14.5 per cent alcohol, it’s lively and fresh, laden with ripe-berry flavours and not as heavy on the palate as the alcohol level suggests. Bright fruit, smooth texture and soft tannins make for easy current drinking.

Wine review – Jim Barry, Hentley Farm, Tahbilk, Mount Trio, Xanadu

18 May 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2016 – wine of the week
Florita vineyard, Watervale, Clare Valley, South Australia
$13.90–$18
The first of the 2016 wines reviewed here comes from the Barry family’s historic Florita vineyard at Watervale, the Clare Valley’s southernmost sub-region. The late Jim Barry bought Florita from Lindemans in 1986. It had been source of many great, long-lived Lindemans and Leo Buring rieslings made by John Vickery from the 1960s. The new wine shows remarkable floral and citrus-like perfume – characters reflected on a fruity, brisk and thrilling dry palate. A modest outlay gives you a lot of drinking pleasure.

Hentley Farm The Stray Mongrel Red 2014
Hentley Farm vineyard, Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$26–$30
The Stray Mongrel combines two traditional Barossa red varieties, grenache and shiraz, with zinfandel. The stray in the pack is an early ripening, dark and tannic variety, originally from Croatia (where the oldest of its several names is tribidrag) but better known as Puglia’s primitivo or California’s zinfandel. The wine packs a lot of flavour and character, revealing the lively fruit and aroma of grenache, richness of shiraz and the distinctive grippy, drying tannins of the zinfandel. It’s quirky variation on a traditional Barossa theme.

Hentley Farm The Old Legend Grenache 2015
Hentley Farm vineyard, Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$62–$65
Whether in France’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape or the Barossa Valley, grenache generally finds itself blended with other varieties, notably shiraz and mourvedre. On its own it tends to give a strong confection-like character reminiscent of bubble gum. But we now see a number of excellent straight grenaches, including Hentley Farm’s, made by Andrew Quinn. Owner Keith Hentschke believes earlier picking, and a 60–90 maceration of the wine on skins, dumbs down the fruit a little. The result is a bright red wine, harmonising fruit with savoury, spicy and earthy characters. A backbone of fine tannins gives a satisfying grip to the finish.

Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Tahbilk vineyard, Nagambie Lakes, Victoria
$17.10–$24
Tahbilk’s long-lived, medium bodied cabernet comes with a mother load of sturdy, grippy tannins that permeate the underlying fruit flavours. Though the sweetness of the underlying minty- and blackcurrant-like varietal flavours offsets the tannin, it remains a wine to tame with age or by serving with high-protein food. Pink, juicy lamb, for example, will strip away the tannin and expose the really lovely fruit at its heart. It offers exceptional quality for the price and has a proven ability to evolve deliciously over many years given cool, stable cellaring conditions.

Mount Trio Pinot Noir 2014
Mount Trio vineyard, Porongurup, Western Australia
$20–$22
The Porongurups Range is a granite knob rising from the landscape about half an hour’s drive north of Albany, Western Australia. In the late 19980s, husband and wife Gavin Berry and Gill Graham and partners planted vines there, some of the first in this particularly cool part of the vast Great Southern region. The couple’s pinot captures much of the aromatic, flavour and textural charm of the variety. Delicious, sweet fruit, a touch of savour, and a backbone of fine tannin lift this above many pinots in this price range.

Xanadu Stevens Road Chardonnay
Xanadu Stevens Road vineyard, Margaret River, Western Australia
$56–$70
Xanadu, the western arm of Rathbone Wine Group, makes several excellent chardonnays, ranging in price from the $14.40–$18 Next of Kin, through the $29.60–$37 Xanadu, to the $56–$70 Reserve and Stevens Road wines. Stevens Road comes from the best rows in a vineyard of that name. Quality is further refined by using only the best barrels in the final blend. Mouth watering and juicy, with dazzling acid cutting through grapefruit- and nectarine-like varietal flavours, it’s a wine to revel in now, though bottle age may add new layers to it.

Wine review – Wily Trout, Mount Trio, d’Arenberg

15 May 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Wily Trout Vineyard Canberra District Pinot Noir 2015 $30
Until recently Susan and Robert Bruce’s Wily Trout vineyard lived in the shadow of Poacher’s Pantry, the couple’s successful food outlet located on the same site. However, their son Will now runs the vineyard and oversees winemaking at Eden Road winery. He’s determined to lift the quality and profile of the wines, and plans a few surprises too – including a hop-infused sauvignon blanc, made jointly with BentSpoke brewery. Bruce’s 2015 pinot shows a fresh and fruity face of the variety, with smooth texture and fine, mouth-drying tannins. It’s not a pinotphiles pinot, but a lovely, moreish drink indeed.

Mount Trio Porongurup Riesling 2015 $22
The Porongurups Range is a granite knob rising from the landscape about half an hour’s drive north of Albany, Western Australia. In 1989, husband and wife Gavin Berry and Gill Graham and partners planted vines there, some of the first in this particularly cool part of the vast Great Southern region. The small operation made just 266 dozen bottles of this delicious riesling in the 2015 vintage. Riesling from the region can be shy when young, but this one leads with assertive, citrus-like varietal aromas and flavours. However, the palate remains delicate and bone-dry with tingly, refreshing acidity.

d’Arenberg McLaren Vale Footbolt Shiraz 2013 $13.95–$18
Time and again at tastings, bottles of McLaren Vale shiraz empty well ahead of their more delicate, cool-climate peers. People praise the latter, but drain the former. Why? It seems nothing pleases the senses more than a deep, dark red, rippling with earthy, ripe fruit flavours, backed by savour and tannin. Pleasingly, the pleasure remains in reach as even the modestly price d’Arenberg Footbolt delivers the true Vale experience. It’s ripe, rich, fruity, savoury and satisfyingly grippy, without being heavy or porty.

Wine review – Mount Tumbarumba, Wily Trout, McKellar Ridge, Oakridge, West Cape Howe

11 May 2016People, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Mount Tumbarumba On the Fly Pinot Noir 2013 (wine of the week)
Mt Tumbarumba vineyard, Tumbarumba, NSW
$25
In the early 90s Richard Cottam and Elvie Yates planted chardonnay and pinot noir vines on Cottam family land in Tumbarumba. Though working full time in Canberra, they managed the vineyard and found buyers for the fruit over the next few decades. But as a Sunday night meal in the Tumbarumba Pub revealed, they recently created their own label – and had the very good sense to choose Canberra’s Alex McKay as winemaker. The barmaid obliged our request for a local pinot, and even the world’s biggest T-bone couldn’t distract from its delicate beauty. McKay’s winemaking captured the aromas and flavours of the lovely fruit. But it also contributed texture, tannin structure and delicious stemmy, savoury notes that held our interest to the last drop. See mounttumbarumba.com.au for stockists.

Wily Trout Shiraz 2014
Wily Trout vineyard, Spring Range, Canberra District, NSW
$30
The born-again Wily Trout wines reveal the enthusiasm of second generation grape grower Will Bruce, son of founder, Robert Bruce. Just as his father did, Will manages the vineyard, but takes a more hands-on approach to the wines, which are made under his supervision at Eden Road, Murrumbateman. This silver medal winner from the Canberra Regional Show has the medium colour and body typical of Canberra shiraz. Bright, fresh, ripe-berry fruit flavour, with a spicy note, and soft, fine tannins provide really appealing current drinking.

Wily Trout Chardonnay 2014
Wily Trout vineyard, Spring Range, Canberra District, NSW
$25
Canberra makes decent chardonnay but, with occasional exceptions such as Lark Hill, long ago surrendered the high ground to cooler districts. Indeed, several Canberra makers acknowledge this by sourcing chardonnay from higher, cooler, Tumbarumba. Wily Trout continues with the variety, making an oak-fermented version. The wine offers ripe, stone-fruit-like varietal flavours on a soft and slightly spicy palate, with a touch of oak flavour apparent in the finish.

McKellar Ridge Pinot Noir 2014
Pankhurst and Quarry Hill vineyards, Canberra District, NSW and ACT
$28–$30
Pinot noir’s growing popularity in Australia rests mainly on the cool Australian and New Zealand regions making the cutting edge stuff and, in the volume market, on Marlborough New Zealand. Canberra winemakers love the variety, too. Some grow it locally, while others prefer to bring grapes in from cooler Tumbarumba to our south. Brian and Janet Johnston’s version comes from the Pankhurst vineyard, Hall, and Quarry Hill, Murrumbateman. The wine offers ripe varietal aromas and flavours on a medium-bodied palate, with drink-now soft tannins and smooth texture.

Oakridge 864 Single Block Pinot Noir 2014
B-block, Lusatia Park vineyard, Yarra Valley, Victoria
$78
Most leading pinot noir makers include greater or lesser amounts of whole bunches in their ferments, thus bringing stems into the picture. Stems provide tannins, which can add to a wine’s silky texture (provided they’re ripe), and introduce subtle stalky aromas and flavours that add complexity to the basic grape character. In 864, winemaker David Bicknell opts to sort bunches for quality, then de-stem them to open fermenters where fermentation begins inside the whole berries. The result is a multi-dimensional pinot, with intense, pure varietal flavours at its heart, but complemented by deeper savoury character. Quite strong though fine tannins give grip and smooth texture to a complete, highly individual pinot noir.

West Cape Howe Riesling 2015
Block 6, Langton vineyard, Mount Barker, Western Australia
$15–$20
Time and again riesling proves its appeal and value to wine drinkers. In this Western Australian version, made by Gavin Berry, we find instant gratification in juicy, slurpy citrus-like varietal flavours. A lemony, acid tang completes this beautifully refreshing, fine, dry white. Berry attributes the wine’s intense flavour and finesse to high-quality grapes, careful juice extraction and a cool, protective fermentation – all aimed at fruit preservation. Riesling of this calibre drinks well from release through another five or six years of bottle age.

Wine review – Hungerford Hill, Mount Tumbarumba, Coppabella

8 May 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Sugar pines, planted 1928 at Laurel Hill, near Tumbarumba, source of today's delicious wines — Sugar pines, planted 1928 at Laurel Hill, near Tumbarumba, source of today’s delicious wines

Hungerford Hill Classic Tumbarumba Pinot Noir 2014 $26–$36
An Anzac weekend sweep through Batlow and Tumbarumba turned up several appealing wines. Batlow, of course, makes apple cider, while Tumbarumba, originally planted to vines for sparkling wines, now makes appealing, elegant table wines, too. Tumbarumba’s Café Nest–movie theatre offers fresh local produce, some grown on site, and several local wines by the glass. The selection is negotiable, so we negotiated pinot noir and chardonnay, Tumbarumba’s two specialties. The area’s grape growers sell mainly to out-of-district winemakers, including Hunter-based Hungerford Hill. Theirs is a comparatively, full, ripe style of pinot, though still medium bodied and very gentle on the palate.

Mount Tumbarumba Vineyard On the Fly Chardonnay 2013 $25
Despite living in Canberra and managing the Quarry Hill vineyard, Richard Cottam finds time to tend the Tumbarumba vineyard he established 25 years ago. The two-hectare vineyard, located on a 40-acre block previously owned by his father, and grandfather before that, provided the grapes for this delicious chardonnay, enjoyed at Tumbarumba’s Café Nest. Cottam left the winemaking to Adrian Brayne. The wine shows the bright, intense grapefruit- and nectarine-like varietal flavour of cool-grown chardonnay, set in the rich texture derived from barrel fermentation and maturation. For stockists see mounttumbarumba.com.au.

Coppabella The Crest Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2013 $20–$26
Jason and Alecia Brown’s lovely chardonnay relieved a poor meal at the Tumbarumba Motel. We expected fresh local food and wine by the glass. It’s what the visitor centre promised, and what we’d enjoyed at a winemaker dinner there some years earlier. It wasn’t to be, alas, but the chardonnay and a Hilltops shiraz took our minds off the food. The chardonnay, from the Browns’ 70-hectare Coppabella vineyard, showed the zesty, mouth-watering fruit flavour of the variety grown in this cool climate, and fleshed out by use of oak fermentation and maturation.

Wine review – Clonakilla, Thorn-Clarke, West Cape Howe

1 May 2016Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Clonakilla Canberra District Pinot Noir 2015 $55
Until 2014 Clonakilla blended its pinot away into other wines. But now it stands on its own, albeit in tiny quantities made from 777 and 115 clones Tim Kirk planted recently, and an unidentified clone his father John planted in 1978. The wine shows the ripe flavours and round, delicious fruit of the warm 2015 season. Winemaking influence can be tasted in an underlying earthy character, and felt in the very smooth, slick texture. The overall impression is of richness, ripeness and softness, but not at this stage the soaring perfume and firm, fine backbone we see in the best of the breed.

Thorn-Clarke Sandpiper Barossa Shiraz 2015 $13.95–$19
David Clarke and family own two vineyards in the warm Barossa Valley and two in the adjoining Eden Valley, to the east. The two regions form the Barossa Zone. The warmer Barossa Valley vineyards produce red wines, while the cooler Eden Valley produces both whites and red wines. The entry-level Sandpiper shiraz combines fruit from across the family’s vineyards. The fermentation technique captures the aromatic, fruity character of shiraz in the full-bodied, ripe, juicy style of the warm region. Round, soft tannins add to the texture of a generous, drink-now red.

West Cape Howe Western Australia Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $15.20–$17
In this delicious dry white, winemaker Gavin Berry combines fruit from two Western Australia’s areas: the vast Great Southern district (principally Mount Barker and Frankland River) and Margaret River. Winemaking in stainless steel tanks and early bottling aims to capture the fresh, fruity and distinct character of the two varieties. Herbaceous and tropical fruit flavours of the sauvignon blanc combine happily with the lemongrass-like semillon in a zippy, medium-bodied white made to drink young. Berry writes, “The season was particularly strong for sauvignon blanc. Moderate temperatures near harvest saw the delicate aromatics and fine acid structure preserved in the fruit”.