Led by a sensational Grange vintage, Penfolds will release its 2016 collection across Australia on Thursday 20 October. The predictably impressive line up, includes many highlights: Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2015, Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2014, Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2014, Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2014, Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2014, RWT Barossa … Continue reading Sensational 2012 Grange leads Penfolds 2016 releases
Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – wine of the week Moss Wood vineyard, Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia $95–$125 Moss Wood cabernet rates among Australia’s greatest wines. It’s of a quality Hemingway surely had in mind when he wrote, “Wine is one of the most civilised things in the world and one of the most … Continue reading Wine review – Moss Wood, Grove Estate, Lerida Estate, Mr Riggs, Mount Monster, Greywacke
Canberra winemaker Hamish Young, formerly of Eden Road Wines, this week launched four wines under his new label, Mada Wines. Young doesn’t own a vineyard or winery, but sourced grapes from local growers and made the wines alongside his old mate Nick O’Leary at Affleck Wines. Word of the new wines scampered through the trade … Continue reading New from Canberra – Mada Wines
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 … Continue reading Wine review – Wily Trout, Mount Trio, d’Arenberg
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 … Continue reading Wine review – Mount Tumbarumba, Wily Trout, McKellar Ridge, Oakridge, West Cape Howe
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 … Continue reading Wine review – Clonakilla, Thorn-Clarke, West Cape Howe
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
Robert Stein Riesling 2015 Stein and Mirramar vineyards, Mudgee, NSW $25 With his 2015 vintage, winemaker Jacob Stein takes us away from traditional floral, delicate Australian rieslings. Thirteen per cent alcohol puts it at the bigger end of the variety’s style spectrum. Then spontaneous fermentation on skins of a component, and barrel-fermentation in old oak … Continue reading Wine review – Robert Stein, Cockburn, Domain Day, Irvine, Majella, Van Volxem
Teusner Empress Eden Valley Riesling 2015 $21.90–$23 Bateman Bay’s Starfish Deli very sensibly offers good riesling by the glass. The current tipple, Barossa-based Kym Teusner’s Empress riesling, comes from two Eden Valley vineyards, one of them 50 years old. Teusner takes riesling in a lean, taut direction, sometimes described as “minerally” – well away from … Continue reading Wine reviews – Teusner, Craggy Range, Jacob’s Cree
Tellurian Viognier 2014 Eastern Mount Camel Ranges, Heathcote, Victoria $27 Tellurian Viognier 2014 topped the “other whites varietals and blends” section in February’s Winewise Championship. The Canberra-based championship rates gold-medallists from other Australian wine shows – a sort of best-of-best taste-off, judged in small groups of no more than seven wines. Tullurian topped the viognier … Continue reading Wine review – Tellurian, Josef Chromy, Stockman’s Ridge, Redbank, Saltram, Tim Adams