Rymill The Surveyor Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $80 Rymill vineyard, northern Coonawarra, South Australia Coonawarra vigneron John Rymill launched his new flagship, The Surveyor, late last year. He dedicated it to his grandfather, John Riddoch Rymill, leader of a surveying expedition to the Antarctica peninsula from 1934 to 1937. Winemaker Sandrine Gimon says, “We picked the … Continue reading Wine review — Rymill, Angove, Tyrrell, Pooley, Bilgavia and De Bortoli →

Ten Minutes by Tractor Wallis Chardonnay 2011 $65 Wallis vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria Wallis chardonnay appealed on the tasting bench then moved to the dinner table where we served it masked to wine-savvy visitors. It provoked an initial “Ah, Chablis” response – recognition of its high acidity and lean structure. But as the wine warmed, … Continue reading Wine review — Ten Minutes by Tractor, Topper’s Mountain, Grey Sands, Oakvale, Helm and Stefano Lubiana →

Printhie Mountain Range Orange Chardonnay 2012 $20 Juicy, just-ripe, nectarine-like varietal flavour underpins Printhie’s new release. Like other very good mid-priced chardonnays, Printhie gets the price:quality ratio right through efficiencies of scale in fruit production, then using a combination of tank and barrel-fermentation to keep production costs at the right level. The very best chardonnays, … Continue reading Wine review — Printhie, Tyrrell’s and St Huberts →

St Erth Geelong Pinot Noir 2011 $14.25–$15 The privately owned Ballande Group, based in New Caledonia, owns the Tisdall Winery, established in 1971 in Echuca, Victoria. The company exports under a number of labels and also owns the St Erth brand, which it sells exclusively to the Woolworths-owned Dan Murphy chain. A Geelong-based winemaker sources … Continue reading Wine review — St Erth, Mount Horrocks and De Bortoli Sacred Hill →

Coolangatta Estate Shoalhaven Coast Savagnin 2012 $25 Coolangatta Estate, located near Nowra, produces wonderful white wines despite constant battles with fungal diseases. Their semillons, in particular, age well and perform consistently well in wine shows. Savagnin, originally misidentified as the Spanish variety albarino in Australia, seems to be another outstanding performer at the site. The … Continue reading Wine review — Coolangatta Estate and Williams Crossing by Curly Flat →