It’s refreshing to find Central Otago pinot of character and integrity for well under $30. Wild Rock is the second label of Craggy Range, and it’s clear that some of the wizardry of the parent has filtered down to the child. An impressive black fruits and liquorice profile is lifted by violet perfume and structured […]

read

‘D’ is Te Whare Ra’s dry riesling from vines dating from the late seventies and early eighties (ancient by Marlborough standards). Impressively poised and immaculately clean, with a mid-palate generosity that makes for an enticingly approachable alternative to Australia’s more steely dry riesling style. It’s accented with precise granny smith apple, lemon zest and lime […]

read

The tension and focus of the cool 2011 season are on show here in exact, honed white fruits and well-textured grapefruit-pith-like structure. Layers of classy, spicy cashew nut French oak overlay a backdrop of pristine white peach and grapefruit. It lingers long and true, with fruit and oak propelling each other forward, neither dominating. $22 […]

read

Refined and fragrant, John Hancock’s latest syrah tactically includes just two percent of viognier skins and stalks to inject spice, cleverly avoiding the tropical pungency of viognier juice. A beautifully fragrant pepper and violet bouquet announces a seamless palate of fine, textural tannins and lingering elegance of pepper, plum skin and blackberry fruit flavours. $34 […]

read

A refined style of brightness and detail, this is one of Taltarni’s top Heathcote wines yet. The bouquet exudes a succulent dark berry fruit profile, fragranced with violets and notes of sarsaparilla and liquorice. The palate presents a shiraz of impressively concentrated, ripe black fruit and black pastille presence, pulling into a classic Heathcote finish, […]

read

A delightful bouquet at once epitomises the pristine lemon blossom, white peach, grapefruit and fig of Upper Yarra chardonnay and at the same time the beautiful nutmeg and vanilla overlay of sensitively handled French oak. The palate is a spectacular continuation of the same show, strung together by an intricate, silver thread of cool season […]

read

This single vineyard Yarra Valley shiraz is fragranced with an intricate assembly of understated black plum skin, blackberries, black pepper, black cherries and a hint of fresh liquorice straps. The palate captures wonderful density without ever losing control of its elegantly medium-bodied aspirations, a trail of black that is dead straight, immaculately polished and yet […]

read

Coldstream Hills’ foray into south-eastern Tasmania is an impeccably assembled pinot noir of outstanding persistence and a promising future. An enticing bouquet captures beautifully fragrant rose hip aromas amidst blackberry and strawberry fruits and hints of brambles. The palate exemplifies the concentration and expression of southern Tasmanian pinot, with deep-set blackberry and black cherry fruit […]

read

A brilliantly honed Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay with a grand future before it. Its bouquet is desperately, breathtakingly pristine, singing with lemon blossoms on crisp dawn air, freshly picked grapefruit and almost ripe white peaches. The palate is charged with impeccable poise, an exactingly focused vector of white fruits that will uncoil slowly and assuredly […]

read

It is difficult to overstate the significance of the 2010 vintage in the flow of the grand history of Penfolds. Late last year I was privileged to a very rare sneak preview of this vintage at Penfolds’ Rewards of Patience tastings. In assessing almost every vintage of its top red wines spanning seven decades, one […]

read