Wynns Coonawarra Estate Alex 88 Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $80 Alexander’s Block, Coonawarra, South Australia Wynns decade-long makeover of its grape growing and winemaking under winemaker Sue Hodder and viticulturist Allen Jenkins, lifted the quality of the company’s wines to probably the highest level since it began in the early 1950s. Managing vineyards in small blocks, … Continue reading Wine review – Wynns, Jim Barry, Stella Bella and Larry Cherubino →

Mount Majura TSG Tempranillo Shiraz Graciano 2013 $32 Mount Majura Vineyard, Canberra District, ACT If you want to see a Canberra winemaker smile, just say, “2013”. After a run of tough vintages, including the particularly shitty 2011, along came the perfect season, from budburst in spring 2012 until harvest in autumn 2013. Conversely, if you … Continue reading Wine review – Mount Majura, Heartland, Mandala, Stoneleigh and Cherubino →

Skillogalee Trevarrick Single Contour Riesling 2012 $52.50 Skillogalee vineyard, Sevenhill, Clare Valley, South Australia Each vintage, Skillogalee’s Dave Palmer makes a number of individual rieslings from various vineyard blocks. Most end up in the blending vat and go to market as the estate riesling. In the exceptional 2012 vintage, however, Palmer bottled a small parcel … Continue reading Wine review – Skillogallee, Ulithorne, All Saints, Peter Lehmann, Domaine Chandon and Lake Breeze →

Logan Apple Tree Flat Mudgee Chardonnay 2013 $10–$13 Mudgee, in the high country about 270 kilometres north-west of Sydney, makes sturdy, tannic reds and surprisingly gentle, tasty chardonnays. Surprising because, in theory, we’d be looking these days for cooler locations for this early ripening variety. But chardonnay arrived there mid nineteenth century and became an … Continue reading Wine review – Logan, Lake Breeze and Domaine Chandon →

Ten Minutes by Tractor McCutcheon Pinot Noir 2012 $75 McCutcheon Vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria A group of us tasted McCutcheon pinot alongside three contrasting styles –Lerida Estate Cullerin Canberra District 2013 ($35, also reviewed today), Tout Pres by Farr Geelong 2011 ($110) and Hurley Vineyard Garamond Mornington Peninsula 2012 ($75). The wines all rated well … Continue reading Wine review – Ten Minutes by Tractor, Lerida Estate, Yalumba, Krinklewood and Veuve Fourny →

Moorilla Muse Tasmania Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2012 $40 Pinot noir remains the great red hope in cool Tasmania. But warmer sites down there produce good cabernet, including Muse, from Moorilla’s St Matthias vineyard in the Tamar Valley. I put it in a masked tasting alongside the superb Vasse Felix Heytesbury 2011 ($90) and respectable, … Continue reading Wine review – Moorilla and Red Knot by Shingleback →

Moorilla Muse Pinot Noir 2012 $48 Moorilla vineyard, Derwent Valley, Tasmania David Walsh bought Moorilla from the Alcorso family in 1995. But it’s only in recent years we’ve seen the wines consistently achieving outstanding quality under winemaker Connor van der Reest. Two new-release pinots demonstrate that quality. Praxis 2013 ($30), from the Matthias vineyard, Tamar … Continue reading Wine review – Moorilla, Brothers in Arms, Quara Estate, Port Phillip Estate, Xanadu and Mount Horrocks →

Long Rail Gully Canberra District Riesling 2013 $17.08–$20 It’s an understatement to say the Parker family hides its light under a bushel. They make some of Canberra’s finest wines, but they don’t make much noise about it. A group of us enjoyed their 2013 riesling at Quarterdeck restaurant, Narooma, during the recent oyster festival – … Continue reading Wine review – Long Rail Gully, Baron Amarillo and Aldi →

Tyrrell’s Vat 9 Shiraz $80–$90 Ashmans property, lower Hunter Valley, NSW Where vignerons in much of eastern Australia struggled in the cold, wet 2011 vintage, Hunter winemakers turned out remarkable shirazes, like Tyrrell’s Vat 9. Always a regional benchmark of the medium bodied, long-lived style, Vat 9 in 2011 shows the extra fruit intensity of … Continue reading Wine review – Tyrrell’s, Rolf Binder, Clonakilla, Eddystone Point and Ravensworth →