You don’t have to be a wine lover to love a bottle of wine for Christmas. And with Australian regions now offering such a diversity of styles, a gift of regional, varietal wine ticks so many boxes: it’s lovingly grown and made by people with a passion for what they’re doing; it can be shared … Continue reading Christmas wine gifts — regional vignettes
Canberra’s National Wine Show bills itself as the grand final of the Australian circuit. But to deserve the mantle it needs to re-invent itself. In reality, it’s just another capital city show, more notable for what’s not in the tasting line up than what is. Its strength is the high standard of judging and the … Continue reading National Show shouldn’t ignore gaps in its ranks
Best’s Great Western Riesling 2009 $22, Bin 1 Shiraz 2008 $25, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $25 Best’s, founded by Henry Best in 1866, was acquired by Frederick Thomson in 1913 and is today run by Ben Thomson, the family’s fifth generation in the business. It’s a must visit for its wonderful old vineyards, dating to 1868, … Continue reading Wine review — Best’s Great Western, Jeir Creek and Clonakilla
McWilliams ‘Elizabeth’ Hunter Semillon 2004 $12-$17 Crème de Cassis de Dijon 500ml $15 Why risk the run of bland, sweet roses when you can render any dry white or bubbly pink – as well as tasty, fruity and bitter-sweet – with a splash of cassis? The drier and more austere the wine the better as … Continue reading Wine review — McWilliams Mount Pleasant, Oyster Bay, Stone Dwellers and Holm Oak
Majella Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $33 Like Canberra, Coonawarra suffered severe crop losses in the frosts of late 2006. As a result, says Majella’s Brian Lynn, there’s only a tiny quantity of the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – one of the most appealing cabernets you’ll ever taste. It has an extraordinary high-toned fragrance and a buoyant … Continue reading Wine review — Majella, Helm, Brindabella Hills, Lake George Vineyard and Shaw Vineyard Estate
In 1989 the CSIRO bought a woolly pup from Galacia, Spain. But it learned this only twenty years later. What the CSIRO believed to be the white variety, albarino, turned out to be savagnin. By then Australian vignerons had about 150-hectares of ‘albarino’ in the ground, all of it sourced ultimately from the original CSIRO … Continue reading Albarino update
Once again judges at the recent Canberra Regional Wine Show praised the strength of Canberra’s shiraz and riesling. What the commentary didn’t reveal though is the statistical dominance of shiraz from the neighbouring Hilltops region. Hilltops fielded just nine of the forty-seven wines in the two shiraz classes but won seven medals – an extraordinary … Continue reading Canberra show needs its benchmarks
Disaster Bay Pambula River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2009 $20 In 2000 Dean O’Reilly planted about a hectare of vines on his parents Pambula River farm. The site was too cool for the Bordeaux red varieties, but the whites, semillon and sauvignon blanc, perform well. Dean crushes the grapes on site then transports the juice to … Continue reading Wine review — Disaster Bay, Peter Lehmann, Murdoch Hill and Toolangi
As reported last week Cowra’s wine output recently halved as demand for its grapes evaporated. In response, a dozen independent growers formed Cowra Winemakers to promote the area’s soft, fruity, easy-drinking, inexpensive wines. Like South Australia’s Langhorne Creek and Wrattonbully regions, Cowra’s broad-acre developments fed largely into multi-regional blends. As a result Cowra became perhaps … Continue reading Cowra boutique wines — part 2 of 2
A recent database published by Winetitles, Adelaide, lists 2320 Australian vignerons, mostly small and sprinkled across southern Australia. As a judge at the recent Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, I was struck by the diversity of styles and high quality now offered by these small makers. Indeed we judged at such a leisurely pace (for a … Continue reading Winewise awards — a view from the judge’s bench