The new age of Burgundy has landed. Tight, clean, fruit-focused and, yes, screw-capped! Subtle Austrian oak lets fruit speak in tones of grapefruit, lime, white nectarine and guava. Good fruit concentration, length, well-gauged acidity and gentle minerality make it an attractive aperitif style. $40 at Nicks.
readArticles
This wine has awoken in perfect time for its release, revealing a length, line and clarity that define a remarkable pedigree of dry grown 1920s vines. It rides on rails of super fine, firm tannins and vibrant acidity, projecting its pure black plum, dark cherry and pepper fruit far into the future.
readOf a long line of 2010 Hunter Shirazes recently, First Creek ranked in the top four for its definition of black cherry and plum fruit, finely poised structure of textural tannins and nuances of violets and pepper. Exactingly crafted and seamlessly constructed, it’s poised for a long life.
readThere’s been great rejoicing and dancing in the streets at the arrival of the Yarra Valley 2010 pinots and I am jubilantly leading the parade! This wine, however, is one for the end of the day when things get more serious. Restrained, focused, pure, perfumed, textural, poised. Wait. $28 at Dan’s.
readScoop. Those McWilliams boys are on to something new again, and I was the first person in the world to be shown. “Freestyle winemaking,” in their words (trans. “minimal intervention”). Silky, perfumed, textural, persistent & concentrated. How do they do it for $19 at Grays Online, $20 at Cracka?
readSpring has come and it’s time to unscrew something new and intriguing. Beautifully textured, refreshingly dry and clean, enduringly persistent and captivatingly mouth-filling, this citrus-driven style with grapefruit pith, guava and nashi pear flavour is just the thing with sushi, sashimi and Vietnamese fusion.
readDave Bicknell trumps into the “low alcohol chardonnay is underripe” controversy with a gloriously complex and beautifully textural Yarra Valley style that clocks in at a breathtaking 11.7%. All the genius of Oakridge including natural old barrel ferment and lees ageing. Game over. $16 at Dan’s.
readSuperman chard. Clark Kent personality of exuberant, quaffing, ripe white peach, honeydew, pink grapefruit and guava. Superman talents of honed, taut, single vineyard unwooded chardonnay of high altitude nerves. A multitalented superhero that will confidently leap all manner of cuisines. $11 at www.mikepresswines.com.au
readVolnay is distinctive for its dried herb and pepper flavours, ironstone complexity and firm, coiled-up, gravel-like tannins. This is no exception, but here there is outstanding red cherry fruit presence, fine-wound acidity and well-gauged Austrian oak, allowing its fruit to speak in soft but articulate tones.
readEmmanuel and Charles-Henry Fourny craft wines of great purity from their old, organic vines in the premier cru village of Vertus at the southern end of Champagne’s Cote des Blancs. Beach-fresh, linear and very fine, with white peach, crunchy apple, taut lemon fruit and salty minerality.
read