Saltram 1859 Barossa Shiraz 2012 $17–$21 The first 2012 reds coming into the market suggest a high quality vintage, much as we’ve seen of the exceptional whites. Saltram 1859 Barossa Shiraz 2012 shows what’s at the heart of a good vintage – vibrant, juicy fruit flavours. Winemakers will add other layers of flavour to the … Continue reading Wine review — Saltram, Tyrrell’s and Rosemount Estate
Brookland Valley Verse 1 Margaret River Chardonnay 2012 $13–$15 When a company makes cutting edge top-shelf wine, the quality usually flows down to cheaper wines in its portfolio. We can taste this deliciously in Verse1 Chardonnay, little sibling of the far more expensive Brookland Valley Chardonnay and relative of several other classy chardonnays (including Eileen … Continue reading Wine review — Brookland Valley, Two Churches and Bussell
Clonakilla Ceoltoiri 2011 $36 Clonakilla Vineyard, Murrumbateman, NSW It’s a blend of grenache, mourvedre and shiraz. But don’t shut your eyes and think of the Barossa, GSM’s Australian home base. This is Canberra material from a particularly cold, wet vintage that, in theory, should have written off mourvedre – a late-ripening variety that many would … Continue reading Wine review — Clonakilla, Tim Adams, Crossroads, Wilson and Rob Dolan
After the cool, wet, disease-ravaged 2011 and 2012 vintages, the drier, warmer 2013 season saw a return to generally healthy fruit and reasonable yields across the Canberra district. Quality appears to be very good for both reds and whites, with lovely, clean, disease-free fruit arriving at wineries. Hall vigneron, Allan Pankhurst, offers unconditional praise for … Continue reading Canberra vintage report 2013
The release of the 2011 Penfolds Shiraz Mourvedre Bin 2, an old label from the 1960s resurrected in the 1990s, and a “march mataro madness” campaign by Barossa wine merchant David Farmer, begs the question of what this great old variety really is. There’s not a lot of it grown in Australia – in 2008 … Continue reading Mourvedre – venerable survivor
Printhie MCC Shiraz 2011 $36 Printhie Phalaris vineyard, Orange, NSW Some time back, vignerons in Orange, NSW, nominated sauvignon blanc as their hero variety. But Printhie’s Dave Swift puts shiraz and chardonnay at the top of the regional pile. He writes, “These are the varieties that are proving to be the region’s best performers”. Shiraz … Continue reading Wine review — Printhie, Brokenwood, Xanadu and Kate Hill
Schloss Vollrads Auslese Riesling 2009 $38–$40 375ml Oestrich-Winkel, Rheingau, Germany It’s three and a half years old, but young, fresh, vibrant and almost certainly good for another ten years. But why wait? At a recent masked tasting we honed in on the style and origin of the wine with ease, so clear is its identity. … Continue reading Wine review — Schloss Vollrads, Shaw and Smith, Red Knot, Petaluma, Canard-Duchene and Gaelic Cemetery
Depending on how you view wine shows, Canberra region is either blessed or burdened with a disproportionate number of nationally significant events. These include the National Wine Show of Australia, Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, Winewise Championship, Canberra International Riesling Challenge and Canberra Regional Wine Show. The national show, billed as the grand final of Australia’s … Continue reading Winewise championship — Australia’s grand final wine show
On Valentine’s Day, Canberra vignerons took the district’s white darling, riesling, on a date. Not a romantic, love-you, can’t-get-enough-of-you fling, but a forensic examination, under the stark spotlights inside Mount Majura’s squeaky-clean cellar. Critics, show judges and increasing numbers of drinkers love our rieslings. But they’re enjoying mainly youthful, fresh, just-released wines, within months or … Continue reading Canberra riesling — lining up the veterans
Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne 2003$45 Tahbilk vineyard, Nagambie, Victoria Winemaker Alister Purbrick’s late grandfather, Eric, built Tahbilk’s reputation for marsanne, a Rhone Valley white variety. Alister worked alongside his grandfather after graduating as a winemaker, eventually taking the reins. Over time, he finessed the potentially long-lived style, brightening and freshening the fruit in the basic … Continue reading Wine review — Tahbilk, Frankland Estate, Xanadu, Quilty and d’Arenberg