Bleasdale Langhorne Creek “Second Innings” Malbec 2009 $15
Cullen Margaret River Mangan Vineyard Malbec Petit Verdot Merlot 2009 $45

Malbec, Argentina’s signature red variety, barely hits the scale in Australia, account for just two thousand tonnes of our annual 900-thousand-tonne red harvest. But its attractive perfume and generous flavour shines in these two contrasting styles — the first a great bargain from Bleasdale, Langhorne Creek’s oldest winery. There’s no artifice here — just buckets of bright fruit flavour, reminiscent of very ripe mulberry, laced with soft, velvety tannins. The limpid, delightfully aromatic Cullen ripples with delicious berry flavours. It grows in interest with every sip, gradually revealing the taut, elegant structure (partly attributable to petit verdot and merlot in the blend) underlying the bright, supple fruit.

Ten Minutes by Tractor Mornington Peninsula “Judd”, McCutcheon” and “Wallis” Pinot Noirs 2008 $70

Whether you’re interested in the mysteries of “terroir” or simply love a good pinot, these are three extraordinary wines, sourced from individual vineyards, in close proximity to one another, on Mornington’s Main Ridge. They share family characteristics – pale to medium colour, terrific fragrance and intense varietal flavours. They also vary subtly but distinctly in style, covering a spectrum from the refined, delicate “McCutcheon” to the savoury, earthy “Wallis” to the more opulent “Judd”. These are really high-class wines. Once opened the cap never goes back on. See www.tenminutesbytractor.com.au for details of the three vineyards and factors behind the flavour differences.

Chapel Hill McLaren Vale “Il Vescovo” $20

• Sangiovese Rose 2010
• Sangiovese 2009
  

If you’re going to make rose, it’s best to use varieties – like sangiovese, pinot noir and grenache – that tend to make pale coloured wine anyway. This allows a little skin contact, without extracting too much colour, but sufficient to extract a little tannin and extra flavour. Chapel Hill’s 2010 captures sangiovese’s flavour and savouriness and a bracing tweak of tannin to rev up the dry finish. The red is medium bodied with a juicy flavour, reminiscent of bittersweet black cherries. Fine but earthy, savoury tannins offset the underlying sweet fruit and gives a bone-dry finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011

St Hallett Barossa Valley Faith Shiraz 2008 $12.80–$16
St Hallett, now part of Lion Nathan, continues to produce high-quality Barossa wines like the big, juicy, tender Faith shiraz. The grapes going into Faith come from around the Barossa and include components from the cooler Lyndoch Valley, at the Barossa’s southern end, and the elevated Eden Valley, forming the Barossa’s eastern boundary. These components probably add to the vibrancy of the wine’s generous fruit flavours. Maturation for 16 months in mainly older French and American oak barrels softened the wine and added to its texture without injecting overt woody flavours. It’s a full, lively, fruity style to enjoy now.

Jim Barry The Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $15.90–$19
The name salutes the Barry family’s 12-hectare vineyard located at the site of an old cricket ground at Penola, towards the southern end of Coonawarra. While the label reveals no region of origin, the wine does indeed come primarily from the Coonawarra vineyard, combined with a little from the family’s Clare Valley vineyards. Coonawarra really drives the style with its ripe-blackberry varietal flavour and elegant structure. It’s a drink-now style, with sweet mid-palate fruit and soft tannins. The regular price is around $19, but it specials occasionally for less than $16.

De Bortoli Windy Peak Victoria Chardonnay 2009 $11.90–$14.90
This is a terrific example of bright, modern Australian chardonnay, where oak plays a role, but only in support of the fruit. It’s made at De Bortoli’s Yarra Valley winery by Steve Webber (husband of Leanne De Bortoli) using fruit from the Yarra and King Valleys. Steve ferments the juice in both oak and steel tanks – the oak component giving savoury complexity while the tank component provides vibrant, fresh varietal flavours. Further complexity is added by warm fermentation of some components (adding to texture), maturation on yeast lees and partial malolactic fermentation. The result is a soft, fresh white with a bone-dry, savoury finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011

Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling 2007 $22–$34
Barossa Valley, South Australia
Colin Gramp planted the Steingarten vineyard on a high, exposed, stony east-facing slope in 1962. The tiny vineyard struggled but survived and was extended to two hectares early this decade. Even the 48-year-old vines look spindly. But in tandem with fruit from neighbouring vineyards on similar soil, they produce a unique, intensely limey, green-tinted, piquant dry riesling with great ageing potential. It has Chablis-like dryness and minerality but with riesling’s distinctive flavour. This is a great wine.

Yarrh Riesling 2009 $20
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, New South Wales
This was a star of the recent National Wine Show, earning gold in the new class for individual-vineyard wines. Its cellar mate from the 2010 vintage won bronze. They’re a strong pair, but the still available 2009 has the edge. The extra bottle age really brings out the pure, citrus-like varietal flavour and the natural acidity gives it a racy, refreshing finish. Winemaker Fiona Wholohan writes “riesling is one of the wines we are now very much concentrating on.

Tupari Pinot Gris 2010 $30
Awatere Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand
Tupari vineyard sits at 150–200 metres above sea level in the Awatere Valley,  to the southwest of Marlborough’s better known Wairau Valley. The site’s cool growing season, abundant sunlight and large diurnal temperature range seem to suit pinot gris as this one’s stunning. It’s a big, generous, but vital wine, high in alcohol, richly textured and dripping with vivid, pear-like varietal flavour. Despite its size, the natural high acidity keeps it fresh and invites another sip.

Riposte Dagger Pinot Noir 2010 $20
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
This is the youngest and simplest of three very good pinots recommended here today as medium-bodied company for your Christmas lunch — each a step up in quality from the other. Despite the modest (for pinot) price, Dagger, made by Tim Knappstein, pushes most of the pinot buttons, relying on good fruit rather than winemaker artifice to do the job. We might expect a fruit festival from such a youngster. But it’s richly textured, savoury and has the backbone of a good pinot. Cellaring? No need; lap it up now.

Holm Oak Pinot Noir 2009 $32
Tamar Valley, Tasmania
Rebecca Wilson’s estate-grown and made pinot brings greater intensity of flavour and complexity into the picture. There’s high-toned, red-berry pinot fragrance and flavour. But there’s more grip and structure here than we see in the Riposte wine, as well as the first gamey, earthy notes that just one year in bottle brings. There’s a kiss of oak, but it’s not intrusive. And soft but ample tannins, layered with the fruit flavour, put Holm Oak well into the real-red spectrum.

Stoniers Reserve Pinot Noir 2008 $40–$50
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Cool Mornington, tempered by Westernport Bay to the east and Port Phillip Bay to the west, is home to perhaps more top-end pinot producers than any other Australian region. Stoniers, founded by Brian Stonier, but now owned by Lion Nathan, sits with the region’s best – a status earned over three vigorous, hard-working decades. The deceptively pale 2008, made from some of the oldest vineyards around the winery, delivers powerful, luxurious flavours within a fine-boned, taut structure. This is full-bore, fine-boned pinot to sip and savour and has the depth and complexity to cellar well for many years.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Brown Brothers Patricia Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut 2005 $40–$50
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. Patricia 2005 is juicy and fresh but very delicate, with the varietal fruit flavour at the core and the patina of flavours derived from extended maturation on yeast lees way off in the background, as it ought to be. This is a class act, a mile ahead of many non-vintage Champagnes, and therefore worthy of the price. This vintage won the best-sparkling-wine trophy at the National Wine Show.

Jacob’s Creek

• Chardonnay Pinot Noir NV Brut Cuvee $7.99–$12.99
• Reserve Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2007 $14–$18

The Jacob’s Creek bubblies sit at the top of the quality heap in their price brackets. And because the big retailers chop the prices mercilessly to drive trade, what you pay can vary enormously. But even fully priced they offer very good value for money. Brut Cuvee delivers fresh, lively varietal fruit flavours and is as good as you’ll get for the money. Reserve, though, pushes quality to another level, reflecting the delicacy and purity of chardonnay and pinot noir from the cool Adelaide Hills. Maturation on yeast lees adds a textural richness to the delicate fruit flavours.

Dal Zotto King Valley

• Pucino Prosecco NV $18.50
• L’Immigrante Prosecco 2008 $36

For a lighter, more savoury sparkling experience try prosecco, either imported from Italy or one of the local versions. Prosecco’s Italian home is the Valdobbiadene district, near Conegliano in the Veneto region. The variety makes light, delicate aperitif-style sparkling wines, usually tank fermented (Charmat method) and served as young and fresh as possible. Otto Dal Zotto, born in Valdobbiadene, released his first Australian prosecco in 2004 and now offers two versions – the light, delicate, fresh, Charmat-made Pucino NV, with its rush of creamy bubbles; and, with finer bubbles, the more richly textured, but still delicate and fresh, L’Immigrante 2008 ($36).

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Bay of Fires Tasmania Pinot Noir $35
East Coast, Coal River Valley and Derwent Valley, Tasmania
For a glimpse of Tasmania’s winemaking future, grab a bottle of this beautiful, silk-smooth, trophy-winning pinot before the price heads north. It’s part of Constellation Wine’s portfolio and made at their Bay of Fires Winery, Pipers River. Winemaker Fran Austin sourced fruit for the wine from a variety of clones grown on several vineyards on Tasmania’s East Coast, Coal River Valley and Derwent Valley. Fran’s been tweaking the wine for about a decade, and in that time we’ve seen it evolve from a nice drop to jaw-dropping good. It joins a growing number of distinguished wines destined to make Tassie Australia’s pinot capital. Added gold and trophy to its credits at the recent National Wine Show.

Howard Park Porongurup Riesling 2010 $30
Porongurup, Great Southern, Western Australia
This year Howard Park added a second riesling to its range from Great Southern. The wine, tasted at the Denmark winery and again in Canberra, comes from a pair of 25-year old vineyards in the Porongurup sub-region. In its purity and intensity it’s comparable in some ways to the standard blend (also $30 and principally from Denmark). But there’s an extra dimension and length of flavour to the new wine suggesting that the two will diverge as time emphasise their now subtle differences.

Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2008 $50
Margaret River, Western Australia
The inherent fruit flavour in Margaret River chardonnay is, I suspect, delicate, not powerful; and the greatest examples coming out of the area now reflect this. Cullens is a great example of capturing that delicacy without sacrificing complexity. And next door at Vasse Felix winemaker Virginia Wilcock crafts Heytesbury to a comparable level. It’s all wild-yeast fermented in 70 per cent new oak and matured on yeast lees. While this adds a funky note, and some spicy oak character, the core flavour is intensely, vividly varietal and of great freshness – thanks in part to blocking the malolactic fermentation and maintaining acidity.

Shaw Vineyard Estate Premium Riesling 2009 $22
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, New South Wales
Graeme Shaw’s modestly priced 2009 provides quite a contrast to all the bright new 2010 rieslings arriving on market. It’s remarkable what that extra year in bottle does. Age is already giving the pure riesling varietal aroma an interesting toasty note. And the toastiness comes through in the flavour, too. The texture is slightly thicker than in the younger wines and there’s a little grip in the still fresh and lively palate. The flavour shift and extra weight the wine now has moves it away from the aperitif style – something you might enjoy with a rich terrine.

Heartland Shiraz 2008 $17
Langhorne Creek and Limestone Coast, South Australia
Ben Glaetzer’s Heartland wines are consistently seductive and beautifully made. I’ve never been disappointed. Even in the difficult, hot 2008 vintage, Glaetzer captures shiraz’s clear varietal flavour, generous flavour and soft tannins. And even though it’s fairly big wine it’s tremendously vital and fruity, but not heavy. It’s a blend of about two-thirds Langhorne Creek shiraz and one third from the Limestone Coast, a little to the south. It’s matured in three to five year old barrels, hence the red-wine mellowness without overt oakiness.

Shingleback Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $24.95
McLaren Vale, South Australia
The drought affected 2007 vintage produced small crops across much of southeastern Australia. The resulting wines tend to show a strong tannin structure, but in general they’re better than the heat-affected 2008s. Shingleback, from the cooler southern end of McLaren Vale shows the flavour concentration of the vintage. But for such a warm area the wine’s not blocky and big. It’s fragrant and varietal, showing a touch of the Vale’s chocolate character. The palate’s generous and ripe and fine tannins give an elegance to the structure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Howard Park Great Southern Museum Riesling 2006 $35
Today’s selections are all exceptional wines – special treats to savour over the festive season. First off the rank is this museum release from Howard Park Wines at Denmark, in Western Australia’s Great Southern Region – one of Australia’s great specialty riesling producing areas. And in Howard Park 2006 we experience riesling’s fine, mouth-watering lime-like varietal flavour, subtly overlaid with the toasty depth of bottle age. A screw cap ensures the wine remains vividly fresh as well as delivering mature aromas and flavours. 2006 was the 21st release of this highly regarded wine.

TarraWarra Estate Reserve Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2008 $60
Don’t be put off by the pale colour. This is a sensational, seductive pinot that builds in power and interest as you sip through the bottle. The aroma is all pinot – high toned and pure, combing red berry notes with an underlying gaminess. The palate starts fine boned and delicate, with juicy fruit flavours and soft tannins. But with every glass the flavour volume expands, the texture seems more luxurious and the authoritative structure of the tannins adds to the satisfying drinking experience. It’s really an ideal red wine for Australian Christmas as it’s deeply, excitingly flavoursome, vibrant and not at all heavy.

Ten Minutes by Tractor Mornington Peninsula McCutcheon Chardonnay 2008 $55
McCutcheon is one of two single-vineyard chardonnays, from Mornington’s Main Ridge, produced at Ten Minutes by Tractor. It’s a great example of modern Australian cool-climate chardonnay making. The grapes are hand harvested and whole-bunch pressed, ensuring minimal pick of tannins from the skins. The process preserves the purity of varietal flavour and gives the wine delicacy, despite the intense flavours. Fermentation and maturation in oak barrels (33 per cent new) builds texture and subtle flavours around the core of fruit, creating a brilliant, fresh wine of great complexity. The wine has sufficient body and richness to carry rich Christmas seafood like prawns and lobster.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010