It’s preposterous to think that less than $20 will buy you a chunk of Frankland River’s chalky minerality and its cool lemon blossom, lime juice and apple fruit. Kissed by icy winds off the southern ocean; fine backbone and great length and longevity. Available from the Evans & Tate cellar door.
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Hanwood’s secret is a cascade of fruit from McWilliam’s extensive vineyard networks. A whopping 40% of cool climate fruit from top regions (Yarra, Tumbarumba, etc) ensures that this stone fruit-focused style remains fresh, zesty and citrusy. $7 at Kemeny’s, $8 at 1st Choice & Dan’s – crazy!
readDavid Jones’ flagship is sailing high in this enticingly complex, deep and alluring wine of mixed spice and exoticity. A fine thread of black pepper laces black cherry and plum fruit to signature, seamless, textural Eagle tannins. Dark choc oak supports a finish of profound length and style.
readThe Champagne Guide 2012 is just weeks away, and the 2002 vintage is one of its darlings, set to be the greatest and longest-lived of the decade. L-P nailed it with this brilliantly delicate and poised wine of fresh lemon, white summer fruits and salty minerality. $80 at WineStar, $110 at Dan’s.
readTom Carson is a rockstar of Victorian chardonnay, pinot and shiraz, and never have his wines shown more poise, oak restraint and delicacy of fragrance than they do now. Cherry blossom perfume, pristine red cherry fruits and a structure at once silky and firm. $48 at Kemeny’s, $50 at WineStar & Dan’s.
readSurrounded by some of Heathcote’s most famous vineyards, this site was in barrel before any of them were even harvested, giving this wine an elegance and a detailed expression of the black fruits, pepper, anise, sarsaparilla, acid profile and finely honed tannin structure of the region. $41 at Dan’s.
readWho would have imagined that one of Barolo’s most legendary red wine masters could craft Arneis of such textbook precision? Subtle grapefruit, quince and guava ride on a textural, mineral palate, enhanced through ageing on lees, without any hint of phenolic heaviness, bitterness or hardness.
readFrom one of Marlborough’s most consistently outstanding pinot producers, this wine balances beautifully fragrant red cherry fruit with well-gauged French oak. It’s primary, perfumed and structured and only needs time for fruit and wood to harmonise. $37 at Dan’s.
readThe 2008 vintage was a washout for Hunter reds, so the 2009s have landed a year earlier to plug the gap, but don’t hurry with this one because it needs a decade for its black plum, leather and spice to uncoil. Its firm, poised, textural tannins set it off to be one of the longer-lived […]
readA blend of nebbiolo and friends from a vintage that produced a refined acid profile in Piedmont. Fresh, pure and restrained, with a bouquet of rose hip and a palate of lingering pomegranate, redcurrants and a hint of tomato skin. Mouthfilling texture and minerality elevate it to a higher plane.
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