Wine review – Ballinaclash, Grove Estate, Moppity Vineyards, Vintner’s Daughter

28 March 2017People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Ballinaclash Sub Tuum Hilltops Shiraz 2014 $25 Sub Tuum Shiraz comes from Peter and Cathy Mullany’s 16-hectare Ballinaclash vineyard near Young. The wine – made by Chris Derrez and Lucy Madox of Madrez Wine Services, Orange – won gold at last year’s Canberra and Region Wine Show. Medium bodied, vibrant and fresh it shows the … Continue reading Wine review – Ballinaclash, Grove Estate, Moppity Vineyards, Vintner’s Daughter →

Canberra’s sensational 2015 reds

11 October 2016People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Canberra’s 2015 vintage produced sensational reds, perhaps the best in the district’s history. The quality – now in the glass for all to enjoy – justifies the superlatives sprinkled around like water at harvest time last year. At Lerida Estate, Lake George, Malcolm Burdett says, “It’s the best ever. Better than the 2013”. Greg Gallagher, … Continue reading Canberra’s sensational 2015 reds →

Oops, by gum, another Canberra brewer

27 April 2016Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Clonakilla winemaker Tim Kirk once told me the quickest way to humility was through humiliation (according to St Augustine). And so, eating humble pie, this column belatedly introduces the Tortured Gum Brewery of Hume. The brewer launched in 2013, a year before BentSpoke, two years before Pact Beer Co and three years ahead of Capital … Continue reading Oops, by gum, another Canberra brewer →

Canberra vintage 2016 – two good years in a row

13 April 2016People, Vineyard, WineChris Shanahan

Canberra vignerons rarely see two consecutive high quantity, high quality vintages as they have in 2015 and 2016. But just how good 2016 quality is depends on who you ask. Ken Helm of Helms Wine, Murrumbateman, writes, “The 2016 vintage was the earliest and hottest season on record, but looks like equaling the great 2015, … Continue reading Canberra vintage 2016 – two good years in a row →

Canberra wine 2015 – a great vintage and a sense of adventure

2 December 2015WineChris Shanahan

By New Year 2015 Canberra’s widely scattered vineyards, ranging in altitude from around 550 metres to 860 metres, held big, healthy crops. Vignerons crossed their fingers, hoping for the weather to hold. And it did, despite rain, warm weather and subsequent threat of bunch rot for a brief period in January. From budburst in spring … Continue reading Canberra wine 2015 – a great vintage and a sense of adventure →

Top 20 Canberra and region wines of 2015

2 December 2015Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Riesling and shiraz remain Canberra’s trump cards by a country mile, so they feature prominently in my 2015 selections. While each comes in a regional style, the wines selected represent various hues along that style spectrum. When we extend our search to neighbouring regions along the Great Divide, the palate of mainstream varieties opens considerably. … Continue reading Top 20 Canberra and region wines of 2015 →

Reviewed: Penfolds new Max Schubert Cabernet Shiraz 2012

26 August 2015Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

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 … Continue reading Reviewed: Penfolds new Max Schubert Cabernet Shiraz 2012 →

Exceptional vintage revealed in Canberra, Tumbarumba 2015 wines

19 August 2015People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Ravensworth Charlie Foxtrot Gamay Noir 2014 Johansen vineyard, Tumbarumba, NSW $30 Earlier this year winemaker Bryan Martin eagerly accepted a small parcel of red gamay grapes from the Johansen vineyard, Tumbarumba. With fruity, drink-now Beaujolais in mind, Martin picked the brains of a visiting French winemaker. The Frenchman contacted winemaking mates in Beaujolais. And before … Continue reading Exceptional vintage revealed in Canberra, Tumbarumba 2015 wines →

1853 vineyard Aussie mourvedre, viognier’s new face and Aldi’s Mosel bargain

9 August 2015People, Vineyard, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Hewitson Old Garden Barossa Valley Mourvedre 2012 $88 “In 1853 Friedrich Koch planted this mourvedre vineyard in the heart of the Barossa Valley in the area now known as Rowland Flat. Nurtured in deep sand over a bed of limestone the vines flourished. By the 1880s the local vignerons had already acknowledged the vineyard as … Continue reading 1853 vineyard Aussie mourvedre, viognier’s new face and Aldi’s Mosel bargain →

2015: Canberra’s big, beautiful vintage

1 April 2015People, Vineyard, WineChris Shanahan

One of Canberra’s earliest, biggest, shortest and potentially most beautiful vintages peaked in late March. By month’s end, only a rump of cooler, higher vineyards, late-ripening varieties and grapes destined for dessert wines remained to be picked. Late on Saturday 21 March, Murrumbateman winemaker Ken Helm rang the old cellar-door bell, signalling vintage end. He’d … Continue reading 2015: Canberra’s big, beautiful vintage →

Chris Shanahan

Australian wine & beer judge, writer and connoisseur

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