Let’s be honest, robust reds aren’t everyone’s bag.
The wine world is increasingly prizing diversity and subtlety.

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If there’s a word to sum up our food and wine tastes of the past decade it has to be “experimentation.”

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Sales of this sassy little Spanish white blend have gone ballistic in Oz over the past year and it’s not hard to see why. It’s tangy and textural, with a dry, structured finish of impressive control. More generous and fruity in the warm, dry 2011 season, it’s taken on notes of passionfruit, greengage plum, nashi […]

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This is the wine that stopped the Victorian judges (and the rest of us) in their tracks at the Barossa Wine Show this year. Ian Hongell has been learning clever tricks from Kym Schroeter (Penfolds) and other chardonnay luminaries, crafting a wine that utilises funky barrels and solidsy ferment to create delightful struck flint and […]

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Bilancia has managed to retain delicate poise in a gris of impressive exoticism of starfruit, nashi pear and ginger. A softly textured lemon blossom palate is built around well-considered, gently phenolic structure that heightens mouthfeel and definition. A well-crafted wine for food. $20 at Ki WiNZ.

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This vintage walks a tightrope between elegant restraint and fleshy fruit presence, and pulls it off with particular prowess. A brilliant colour of luminescent, medium purple heralds vibrant layers of violets, stewed plum and black pepper from start to finish, pulled in by tightly textured, gravelly tannins and taut acidity. Give it time to integrate […]

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The cool 2011 vintage exemplifies the rule that off-dry rieslings are all about acidity, making this a particularly long-lived Prima. More than a year after release, it’s still as pristine, primary, zesty and succulent as ever. Racy lemon zest and spicy kaffir lime notes are the theme here, with a wonderful tension between succulent sweetness […]

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Wine Taste is the first place you’ll read about new release wines, but occasionally I make purposeful exceptions. Once released in June, this wine sells so fast that it’s now released in April. I first tasted it in July but I’ve held off on the announcement because only now is it ready to go. Margaret […]

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In sheer precision, slow-evolving endurance and breath-taking longevity, Contours has got to be one of the best value white wines in the known universe. Having long since celebrated its fifth birthday, it retains a refreshingly youthful pale straw-green hue. Its primary lime and lemon are barely beginning to evolve to preserved lemon and toast. A […]

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This is the first time in Wine Taste history that any wine under $45 has achieved such a breathtaking score. After a line of more than forty new release Eden Valley rieslings from the spectacular 2012 vintage, it is preposterous to imagine that anything from the lesser 2007 season could compare, let alone trump all […]

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