Muscat is the most decadent way to finish a winter night and I’ve just discovered that in Coonawarra they start with it, too! Campbell’s effortlessly meets both briefs, thanks to its freshness of apricot and marmalade, countered by richness of coffee and honey. $15 at Dan Murphy’s.
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The full monty of premium chardonnay craftsmanship: Upper Yarra fruit, hand harvested, barrel fermented on full solids and stirred on lees for eleven months. To put it another way, all the clever tricks and TLC of the talented Franco d’Anna at a fraction of its true value.
readSteve Webber and Leanne De Bortoli have been flitting around Sardinia, sloshing refreshingly zesty and delightfully textural mediterranean whites. They’ve returned to make a gorgeous rendition of their own, a wine of understated sophistication (much like Leanne, really).
readNo one anticipated a Hoddles Creek second label – it’s first label was already cheaper than everyone else’s second! Shock, horror, here it is, dry grown on twelve year old vines, hand picked, oaked, what a stunner! Light-bodied, elegant, silky and – yes – persistent!
readFrank Potts is Bleasdale’s most refined and aristocratic character, and in 2005 he looked particularly distinguished. Three years later, Frank makes an unlikely comeback, in a new suit, at half the price, having attained that magic moment of maturity when youthful violets, crunchy mulberries, blackcurrants and dark chocolate become sweet leather, freshly tilled earth and […]
readUnder (priced) and over (delivering) strikes again! Infused with regional distinction from Heathcote’s north, low doses of alcohol and oak leave space for concentrated plum, dark cherry and dark chocolate fruit to linger amid finely-tuned tannins.
readThe challenging 2009 vintage disqualified all but one parcel of fruit for The Tally: that which forms the linear vector of its honed backbone. The result is the most focused, precise and restrained Tally, that time may prove to rank among the finest and longest-lived. $73 at Kemeny’s, $80 at WineStar.
readA racy apéritif, as exactingly primary as NV champagne comes. PP is as cool, fresh and vinous as biting into a chardonnay grape from an ultra-cool vineyard – which is precisely as it is, sourced predominantly from the legendary grand cru of Le Mesnil. $65 at www.champagnegallery.com.au and www.princewinestore.com.au.
readSince the old days of The Vicar, Chapel Hill has dreamt of a premium cabernet. Winemaker DJ rockstar Michael Fragos says this block trumps it every time with its richness and varietal definition. Interplay between fruit depth and mineral tannin is captivating – no wonder they call it “gorge”!
readA show-and-tell-tour of Yalumba’s fanatical vineyard monitoring and testing regime last week explained this wine’s ascension to the gods in 2007. A remarkable result for a tough drought year, it sings with fresh, focused red- and blackcurrants, cigar box and textural tannin finesse. $38@Dan’s, $40@Kemeny’s.
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