King Valley overview

15 January 2006People, WineChris Shanahan

Victoria’s King Valley stretches northwards from the sub-Alpine country around Whitlands, at a chilly 800 metres above sea level, gradually descending and comparatively narrow, before fanning out over the hot Oxley plains around Milawa at around 170 metres.

Growing conditions vary greatly in this thirty kilometre long valley. Varying altitudes, rainfall, latitudes, soils and aspects produce a correspondingly wide spectrum of grape and wine flavours.

The mean January temperature at Milawa in the north is 22 degrees Celsius; in the south at Whitlands it’s just 19 degrees. Grapes ripen in early March at Milawa but not until late April at Whitlands.

In short the area produces everything from thumping big, alcoholic fortifieds and reds, to delicate sparkling and white wines.

While the Valley’s winemaking began in the late nineteenth century, most activity remained at the warmer northern end around Milawa until the 1970s.

Milawa owes its prominence on the winemaking map to Brown Bros whose presence, from 1889, sustained the industry in the region and, ultimately, sparked the southward vineyard expansions into the higher, cooler southern end of the valley.

The spread south and upward towards Whitfield, Myrrhee, Whitlands and Cheshunt was driven by growing demand for high-quality table wines. Brown Bros led the way, developing its own high altitude Whitlands vineyard and encouraging local landowners to diversify into grapes.

The first independents — Guy Darling and John Leviny — established vines between Moyhu and Whitfield in the higher, cooler northern sector in 1970. Both sold grapes to Brown Brothers. Indeed, older readers may recall Guy Darling’s Whitfield vineyard name – Koombahla — appearing on Brown Bros labels in the late seventies and eighties, before Darling established his own brand.

During the eighties and nineties, other landowners, including several Italian descended tobacco growers, commenced growing grapes, originally to sell to Brown Brothers or other winemakers.

However, during the recession of the early nineties Brown Brothers reduced its grape intake. This shock, Arnie Pizzini once told me, was the catalyst that forced himself and other growers to adopt a broader, more independent approach to marketing their product.

During the late nineties, driven partly by the export boom, the numbers of independent growers increased, as did the number converting all or part of their production into branded product.

The late nineties, too, saw the arrival of the large independent makers De Bortoli and Miranda, both Griffith based and both Italian descended.

By this time the Valley had acquired a distinctively Italian flavour as the Corsini, Pizzini, Cavedon, Dal Zotto and other families planted indigenous Italian varietals, including sangiovese, arneis, barbera, marzemino, prosecco, barbera, nebbiolo, dolcetto, primitivo (aka, in California and Australia, zinfandel) and verduzzo.

These joined the usual mix of French and German varieties plus a sprinkling from Spain (tempranillo and verdejo), Russia (saperavi) and France’s little known petit manseng and increasingly popular pinot gris.

This diversity of landscapes, climates, grape varieties, growers and makers means that the King Valley gives wine drinkers an exceptional range of taste sensations – subtly different in the case of the mainstream varieties like chardonnay and shiraz but totally removed from our usual fare when we encounter sangiovese, nebbiolo, barbera, verduzzo and the like.

In this instance the principal driver of difference was the Italian connection – the sons and daughters of post-war immigrants. I’ll report back on what this Italian influence offers after a visit to the Valley in a few weeks.

Wine review — Leasingham Bastion, Brookland Valley & Jim Barry

8 January 2006Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Leasingham Bastion Clare Valley Riesling 2005, Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 $10 to $14
What a terrific couple of new releases from Leasingham, the Clare Valley arm of Hardy Wine Company. The white delivers the freshness, delicacy and vitality of Clare riesling with that extra fruit power of the excellent 2005 vintage. It’s just perfect for the remaining warm months. Bastion Cabernet 2003 offers rich, regional chocolaty, minty varietal aromas backed by generous, mouthfilling flavours and the variety’s firm, satisfying tannins. Both of these regional specialties offer good value at $14 but the inevitable specials at $10 to $11 put them in bargain territory – another benefit of the intensely competitive environment.

Brookland Valley Reserve Margaret River Chardonnay 2003 $60-$65
I wonder why this beautiful wine, from the Western edge of the Hardy empire, is priced slightly higher than the company’s flagship Eileen Hardy Chardonnay? That anomaly aside, Brookland Reserve is one to savour drop by drop: the colour, aroma and flavour all show youthful, slow-evolving wine of exceptional dimension – a truly outstanding example of first class fruit warranting wild-yeast, barrel-fermentation and maturation. What might be intrusive inputs on lesser fruit, in this instance projects chardonnay at its opulent, just-one-more-sip best. And it has the structure to evolve with further cellaring.

Jim Barry The McRae Wood Clare Valley Shiraz 2002 $39.95
The unusually cool 2002 vintage produced wines of great concentration and sometimes elegance in South Australia’s warmer regions. While the term ‘elegance’ doesn’t quite fit this opulent 15.5 per cent alcohol red, the benign vintage conditions probably account for the impressive, sweet lift to the aroma and enormously concentrated palate. Although the fashion pendulum is swinging slowly but decisively towards more graceful, supple styles, there’s still widespread support for robust, traditional reds – especially when, like McRae Wood, they combine generosity of fruit with soft, juicy, easy-on-the-gums tannins. It’s a style that comes into its own with the onset of cold weather.

Wynns to re-launch John Riddoch Cabernet and Michael Shiraz

8 January 2006WineChris Shanahan

After a half-decade absence, Wynns Coonawarra flagship reds are to be re-launched in March.

Once headline grabbers and eagerly sought by collectors, Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon and Wynns Michael Shiraz fizzled and faded at the height of the red-wine boom, giving up the game to a flood of new, mostly unknown $50 to $100 hopefuls.

Management’s response was to terminate production of Michael and John Riddoch after the 1998 and 1999 vintages respectively.

However, the stock problem proved intractable and in 2001, following parent company Southcorp’s acquisition of Rosemount, new management slashed the wholesale price and offered rebates to retailers sitting on large back-vintage stocks. The retail price fell from around $100 a bottle to $50 and sales resumed.

These were dark days for a great brand. However, over in Coonawarra, winemaker Sue Hodder and vineyard manager Allen Jenkins continued working on vineyard rejuvenation projects and a fine-tuning of winemaking techniques.

Though production of John Riddoch and Michael had stopped, individual components continued to be made and kept separate — to learn more of progress in the vineyards – prior to blending into the standard Wynns cabernet and shiraz.

y this time, too, Sue and the winemaking team had developed a new vision for the flagship reds, based partly on observations of older vintages. In 1997 a tasting of Wynns Shirazes, embracing the 1953 to 1995 vintages, revealed the lovely elegance and keeping ability of the earliest vintages – wines notably lower in alcohol and oak than the modern wines, especially Michael.

The soon-to-be-released Wynns Michael Shiraz 2003 and John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, tasted in Coonawarra last October, crystallise that vision.

At the Coonawarra tasting, winemaker Sarah Pidgeon emphasised that both came largely from the same old vineyards in Coonawarra but that rejuvenation of the vineyards had resulted in the same ‘dense, dark fruit character but more supple tannins’.

Combine this with slightly earlier picking, hand harvesting of some components and a reduction of the proportion of new oak used in maturation and we have Wynns flagships that are big on elegant Coonawarra fruit yet more velvety and supple in structure than earlier vintages.

While these are earlier to love as young wines than most of the earlier wines, I believe they still have the essential fruit concentration and tannin structure to evolve with long-term cellaring. The low-oak, lower-alcohol wines of the fifties confirm the staying power of this fruit.

This was demonstrated yet again in 2004 with a tasting of all the cabernets from 1954 to 2004.

That tasting and other experiences with the more burly John Riddoch and Michael vintages revealed, too, that the essential elegance of the Coonawarra fruit tended to prevail over time – but that the tannins and oak ought, in general, to be more refined – as they are in the forthcoming 2003’s.

With continuing work on Wynns great old vineyards and in the winery, Sue and the team are on track to produce the truly great, long-lived elegant reds that Coonawarra has, to date, thrown up only occasionally — but often enough to know what can be achieved.

Wines of the calibre of Michael Shiraz 1955 and John Riddoch 1982 remain as unforgettable models. I have no doubt that over time these will be equalled and surpassed by Wynns. With the right commitment from Foster’s, the new owner of Wynns, Coonawarra could lead Australia into the super premium segments of the world markets.

Wine review — Shelmerdine, Rolling & Redden Bridge

1 January 2006Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Shelmerdine Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2004 $24-$26
This was the Chateau Shanahan preferred wine of three mid-$20’s 2004 Yarra Valley pinots tasted recently. St Huberts 2004, while pleasant, captured little of pinot’s magic; Giant Steps 2004 presented the dark-berry fruit, power and gaminess of the variety – a very, very good wine on a quality par with the Shelmerdine wine — which edged ahead on a style preference. A tad paler in colour than Giant Steps, Shelmerdine expressed some of pinot’s elusive, seductive perfume, plush fruit flavour and fine acid/tannin backbone. The intensity of fruit flavour and persistent tannins suggest a made-in-the-vineyard approach. Winery telephone number is 03 5433 5188

Rolling Central Ranges Chardonnay 2005 ($15), Climbing Orange Chardonnay 2005 ($20)
Former Rosemount winemaker Philip Shaw sources these lovely wines from the ‘rolling’ hills below 600 metres in the Central Ranges and from the adjoining ‘climbing’ slopes above 600 metres within the Orange appellation. The first is a pure, zesty, expression of chardonnay – strongly flavoured but deliciously crisp and dry. The second introduces the finer fruit character of the higher altitude subtly enhanced in texture, aroma and flavour by barrel fermentation and maturation. Both are polished, subtle, vivacious wines with capacity to evolve with age. Climbing, in particular, should reward a three-year rest in the cellar.
Redden Bridge Wrattonbully The Crossing Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 & Gully Shiraz 2002, both about $30
These are two outstanding single-vineyard wines produced by Greg Koch, a leading grower from Wrattonbully, the large newish wine-region abutting Padthaway to the north and Coonawarra to the South. I’ve tasted the wines during judging at the Limestone Coast Show, with Greg on his own turf and more recently in Canberra. They’ve passed the test every time. The cabernet sauvignon is textbook varietal, with a rare mid-palate richness and a very slight leafy – but not green — character. The shiraz is beautiful – ripe, generous and spicy with soft, fine tannin structure. And the trophy-winning 2003 is even better. Distributed by Winetrust Estates, phone 02 9949 9250

2005 review and a look ahead

1 January 2006WineChris Shanahan

2005 may be seen as a turning point for the Australian wine industry – the year when surplus production, created by an export induced vine planting spree a decade earlier, finally began to take its toll on winemakers and grape growers while providing drinkers with a cornucopia of low priced wine.

The squeeze on margins, while delivering lower retail prices, severely curtailed rewards to wineries, setting back most of those listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and took an even greater toll on grape growers – most conspicuously in recent weeks those with contracts cancelled by McGuigan Simeon Wines.

With the wine surplus likely to drag on for another few years, the good times for drinkers should continue as the industry adjusts through growing export demand, domestic discounting, mergers, rationalisation of brands and winery ownership, grafting to varieties more in demand and, almost certainly, forced sales and liquidations.

The year began auspiciously with Foster’s bid for Southcorp – owner of Penfolds, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Lindemans, Rosemount Estate, Leo Buring, Rouge Homme, Seaview and other familiar wine brands.

Ultimately the bid succeeded and the merging of the two businesses proceeds as the managers bring the Southcorp brands, vineyards, wineries, marketing, accounting, etc. under one roof with Yellowglen, Wolf Blass, Mildara, Ingoldby and others.

In 2006 and beyond investors will see whether or not the promised synergies and savings flow to the bottom line. And wine lovers, ever nervous of ownership changes, will see if some of Australia’s greatest wine brands – built on complex grape-growing and winemaking cultures — continue to deliver.

In other words, will Wynns Coonawarra still taste like Wynns Coonawarra? Will Penfolds still taste like Penfolds?

As an outsider looking in, the first signs are that the grape growing/winemaking cultures behind the prestige brands will survive in the short term.

Of more concern, though, is whether or not the marketing and marketing communication can be brought up to speed with the production/cultural side of these icon brands.

In my opinion, the Foster’s mass brands like Yellowglen bubbly have been effectively marketed. But the recruitment of fast-moving-consumer-goods professionals doesn’t seem to have paid off so well for the premium brands. Why? I think it’s because of a lack of understanding what makes these wines unique. And it shows in the communication.

This presents a huge challenge for the industry. If the aim is to introduce drinkers at home and abroad to our great inter-regional blends and increasingly good and diverse single region specialties, then the big companies must lead.

And their marketers must understand and communicate the regional, varietal and winemaking values that make the wine what it is. This is the core of any premium wine brand – flavour and character, not contrivance, not what a focus group thinks.

Of course, brand building requires a long-term commitment. And it’s easy to be distracted from that goal when surplus and slashed margins eat away at the rewards.

While the near chaos and deep discounting seen in 2005 appear set to continue for a few years, when the dust settles it’ll be the wines that mean something that survive and attract our dollar.

The best small makers tend to focus on what’s special about their region and vineyard and lead drinkers to it. Let’s hope for the sake of the vast majority of drinkers reliant on bigger companies that the innovation and leadership that’ve built our world-leading industry don’t give way to bureaucratic timidity and me-tooism.

Wine review — Wynns, Taittinger & d’Arenberg

11 December 2005Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2004 $11.40 to $22
Wynns is a magnificent, cellaring red prone to bouts of discounting. Hopefully the $11.40 price offered by 1st Choice last week will come around again somewhere in Canberra. Made by Sue Hodder, the 2004 — benefiting from vineyard rejuvenation and a shortening of time in oak — is fragrant, medium bodied and oozing juicy, Coonawarra berry flavours. Shame on Wynns marketers, though, for lacking the courage to roll it out in screw cap. Hiding behind a ‘test the market’ screen, they’ve limited screw-cap stock to Vintage Cellars. That was fine five years ago as the technology emerged. But it’s now both proven and accepted. Restricting distribution merely deprives many drinkers of the best stock available.

Champagne Taittinger Brut Resérve NV $74.95
With a little more chardonnay in the blend than most NV’s (40 per cent versus about 33 – the remainder pinot noir and pinot meunier), good old Taitts is on the light and cheery side of Champagne, albeit with a rich and creamy mid-palate. Served recently at Chateau Shanahan after a bottle of the intense, pinot-driven Lanson 1996, the guest smile-gauge spun crazily. It could’ve been the second bottle phenomenon. But, no, a sober sip says this is a lovely, delicate aperitif style with the lightness of chardonnay and yummy brioche-like nuances of pinot meunier, the lesser of the two pinots, but indispensable nevertheless.

d’Arenberg McLaren Vale d’Arry’s Original Shiraz Grenache 2003 $15 to $20
d’Arry Osborn, father of present d’Arenberg winemaker, Chester, bottled the first of the famous ‘red stripe’ labels in 1959 and in the following two decades made d’Arenberg ‘Burgundy’ an Aussie favourite. The mellow, soft style appealed when young but also aged well for decades – attributes it retained after dropping the French place name, Burgundy, in favour of varietal labelling. The new release is a robust expression of the style with an appealing earthy richness and smoothness plus, being a year older than many new releases, a satisfying red-wine character that comes only with time. The fruit is so delicious that it carries 15 per cent alcohol with ease.

There’s gold in them thar liquor stores

11 December 2005Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

There’s never been a better time to buy wine. Equally, there’s never been a more confusing time for wine drinkers. For the very glut of producers and labels currently forcing prices down forms an intimidating wall of brands that confounds even professional wine judges.

The diversity of choice and competition-driven low pricing is good, of course. But confusion comes because on any one day at any price you’ll find wines that were made to sell at that price and offer fair value (or, sometimes, poor value) and wines that were made to sell at a much higher price but are now reduced and offer superior quality.

Take, for example the just-released Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2004 (reviewed below). It really does sell for $21 or $22 when not on special. And given its quality, fifty-year pedigree and cellaring ability, that’s a fair price.

Well, it is until you see 1st Choice, Philip, advertising it at $11.40 by the dozen. At that price none of the brands made to sell at $11-$12 a bottle – and found on the shelves away from the red-hot specials — can hold a candle to it.

Unfortunately, Wynns at $11.40 has been and gone between deadlines for this column. But the fact that it happened, and that the market remains tough for producers, almost certainly means that it’ll be back somewhere in the competitive Canberra retail landscape. So, watch for the second coming.

Similarly, really good $17-ish reds – Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2003 and Hardys Oomoo McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004 – have popped up in several retail outlets in recent months at $8.90 a bottle by the dozen.

The former, a multi-region blend, and latter, a straight regional varietal, simply blow the purpose built $9 reds away. These are perennial favourites with retailers, so pile in whenever the numbers come up.

The list of white, red and bubbly bargain goes on. More than ever the astute buyer, cherry picking the best specials, drinks appreciably better wine than the casual or confused buyer grabbing a bottle on the way to dinner or believing that a high price tag is necessarily the best cue to quality.

But what consumer research has consistently shown is that really knowledgeable buyers make up a tiny minority of the wine drinking population and that, faced with such wide choice, most drinkers don’t know where to start.

So how do you identify the gold dust?

If you’re not immersed in wine lore, it’ll take some effort. But it’s possible if you seek advice from wine reviews or a couple of good reference books – and crosscheck these with the weekly press and Internet specials. The effort will be rewarded as it will give you the choice of drinking the quality you’re used to at a lower price or stepping up the quality ladder without paying more.

While favourable reviews from trusted critics make a reliable guide, they’re not always at hand may not cover all of the styles you’re interested in.

It’s therefore useful to invest in two reference books, both of which are updated each year: James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2006 ($29.95) and The Penguin Good Wine Guide ($??) by Huon Hooke and Ralph Kyte-Powell.

You could use one or the other. But the combination gives you Halliday’s form guide to 2001 wineries plus Hooke and Kyte-Powell’s wine-by-wine ratings. Armed with these and a list of specials you’ll be on the money.

WINE REVIEWS

Wine review — Yalumba, Helm & Peter Lehmann

4 December 2005Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Yalumba ‘Y’ Series South Australia Riesling 2005 $9 to $12
Despite the humble price, ‘Y’ comes from the Barossa and the Eden Valley, key riesling areas. And in the hands of the Yalumba team, you can always count on the flavour and freshness being there. With 52 points out of 60 and a silver medal at the National Show, it outscored many much higher priced 2005 vintage wines. Over time, those wines may overtake ‘Y’. But for current drinking when you want tonnes of fruity aroma and flavour combined with zippy freshness, this is where the value lies. It should continue to drink well over the next two or three years.

Helm Canberra District Premium Riesling $ $33
Ken Helm’s been talking the riesling talk for decades. Now, deservedly, he’s walking the walk with this stunningly good wine. It’s the product of years of incremental adjustments to a winemaking regime applied to the very best grapes from Al Lustenberger’s fastidiously managed Murrumbateman vineyard. All it took was thirty years’ hard work, fuelled by vision, and a benign 2005 growing season that seems to have brought out the best in the variety. This is a wine with a seriously long future: it has the classic citrus and mineral aromatics and taut, intense, steely-yet-delicate palate of classic riesling. This is a great achievement for Ken and a very significant wine for the Canberra district, too. Cellar door phone number is 6227 5953.

Peter Lehmann Eden Valley Riesling 2005 $13 to $16
More often than not the very best rieslings reveal more as they age. This was reflected in the recent Barossa wine show results and at the National in Canberra. Amongst the 2005 vintage contenders, the flagship rieslings generally rated behind cheaper commercial releases. But, over time, we are sure to see those delicate, steely flagships surge ahead. Meanwhile, as these mature, there’s huge drinking pleasure in the more revealing, slightly cheaper rieslings like this triple-gold-medal winner from Peter Lehmann. With lovely aromatics, delicious fruit and taut, ultra-fresh, dry finish, it’s a stunning summer drink. Sensational at the price and has good cellaring potential.

Riesling sizzles at the National Wine Show

4 December 2005Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

The sheer delicious pleasure of drinking riesling, young or old, and the efficacy of screw caps for both early drinking and cellaring wines came through at the recent National Wine Show exhibitors’ tasting.

Faced with 1400 wines and just four hours’ tasting time, quick forays into chardonnay, cabernet and shiraz turned to a dedicated look at the 119 rieslings entered across seven classes. Better a leisurely taste of one variety than snippets of everything – especially with such rich pickings on offer.

While the older wines, which we’ll get to later, tell us a lot about the future direction of many younger wines, the current release 2005’s present the best buying opportunities. It was a great vintage.

But very young rieslings are notoriously difficult to judge. Almost invariably at wine shows simpler commercial wines outscore the long-lived classics. Then, as the years roll by, the best wines blossom – providing huge drinking pleasure and raking in gold medals.

In the National’s premium 2005 riesling class, for example, Yalumba’s inexpensive ‘Y’ riesling with 52/60 points outscored its cellar mates – the slightly more expensive Pewsey Vale (51) and the company flagships, Heggies (46.5) and The Contours (44).

Similarly, Leo Buring’s flagship, Leo Buring Leonay DW 117 – a glorious, if austere drop, at 45.5 points languished behind its cellar mates, Buring Clare Valley on 46.5 and Buring Eden Valley on 49.5.

So if the judges reward the second best wines, what are we to make of it? My interpretation is that it’s partly human fallibility – especially when faced with a long line up of delicate, high acid wines; and, partly as a consequence of this, wines of greater fragrance and upfront fruitiness tend to win the day.

And in great years like 2005 a silver medal winning Yalumba Y at $9 to $12 provides really delicious drinking. But you only have to taste older vintages of Heggies and The Contours where, ultimately, quality lies. Indeed, the 2003 Heggies won a gold medal and trophy at the National while The Contours won gold medals for the 2001 and 1999 vintages.

By the way, the top two rieslings in the 2005 premium class are the exceptions that prove the rule: Peter Lehmann Reserve Riesling 2005 (55.5 points, gold medal) is a stayer but struck me as much fuller and richer than normal. The 2003 and 2001 also won gold in another classes.

And Jacob’s Creek Steingarten 2005 (56 points, gold and trophy) is stylistically different from earlier vintages. Normally austere and slow evolving, the 2005, says winemaker Bernard Hickin, was intentionally made to be fuller and riper with an eye on the American market.

In the museum class Steingarten 1997 won gold. But at the exhibitors’ tasting all three of the cork-sealed bottles available tasted different while the screw-capped gold medallists – Pewsey Vale The Contours 1999, Richmond Grove Watervale 1999 and Richmond Grove Watervale 1998 – showed a beautiful combination of maturity and freshness.

Those Richmond Groves, by the way, are perhaps the white bargain of Australian wine. They’re delicious when young, age beautifully and sell for as little $12.90. Unfortunately the lovely gold-medal winning 2005 (small volume commercial classes) won’t be released until September next year. But it’s worth noting as a must-buy.

While the Clare and Eden Valleys almost monopolised the gold medal spots, Houghtons staked a claim for Frankland River, Western Australia, with its minerally and dry 2002 vintage.

WINE REVIEWS

Yalumba ‘Y’ Series South Australia Riesling 2005 $9 to $12
Despite the humble price, ‘Y’ comes from the Barossa and the Eden Valley, key riesling areas. And in the hands of the Yalumba team, you can always count on the flavour and freshness being there. With 52 points out of 60 and a silver medal at the National Show, it outscored many much higher priced 2005 vintage wines. Over time, those wines may overtake ‘Y’. But for current drinking when you want tonnes of fruity aroma and flavour combined with zippy freshness, this is where the value lies. It should continue to drink well over the next two or three years.

Wine review — Domaine Day, Glug & McWilliams Hanwood

27 November 2005Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Domaine Day Eden Valley Garganega 2005, $19.95
Former Chief Winemaker of Orlando, Robin Day, believes he is the first in Australia to plant garganega, the white grape of Soave, in Italy’s Veneto region. I had to visit Wellington, New Zealand, to taste the wine but have since enjoyed it twice in Australia, most recently at the Glug launch in Canberra last week. Apart from providing a bit of dinner party one-up-man-ship, the wine offers a delicious new spectrum of flavours in the full, racy, tropical-fruit direction. It’s pronounced “gar—gan-e-gar” and no matter how you say it, it’s available from the cellar door, phone number is 08 8524 6224.

Glug Fleurieu Peninsular ‘Our Little Devil’ Petit Verdot 2005, $6.99
Petit verdot, one of the varieties blended with cabernet sauvignon in Bordeaux, tends to make very deeply coloured, high tannin wines. Indeed, most seem a little too tannic. But the variety clearly likes Fleurieu’s maritime climate as Little Devil – made in the Veritas Winery by Barossa winemaker, Kym Teusner — offers loads of upfront sweet, ripe fruit to carry the tannin. It’s a medium bodied, tasty quaffer offering much more interest than any other I can think of at this price. Available at glug.com.au

McWilliams Hanwood Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005, $8-$12
Consumption of sauvignon blanc and blends of it with semillon have been growing prodigiously for several years. According to McWilliams sales of semillon sauvignon blanc blends in the $9 to $15 price range increased by 34 per cent in the year to September — hence the arrival of this new hopeful under the Hanwood label. With a recommended retail price of $12 it slots into that fast-growing category. But in the real world we’ll probably see it at $7.99 and that price it gives excellent value with its rich lemony, semillon flavour and zesty, herbal sauvignon blanc lift.