In the world of Aussie merlot, you have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince. With Wine Taste, I deal with the frogs and leave you with Big Willy! Vibrant blackberries and mulberries meet nuances of tobacco, lingering with finely supple tannins and tangy red cherry acidity.
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With fairytale purity of black fruits, mixed spice and dark chocolate oak, this is a Clare shiraz of restraint and concentration. Vibrant, approachable and low in alcohol, it’s blessed with textural finesse, persistence, stamina and a happily-ever-after finish.
readMore dashing that Catherine Middleton on a catwalk in a see-through dress, Peglidis has ascended to a position among the most dazzling rieslings of the vintage. Deep-set minerality and tremendous structure and driving persistence speak with articulacy and clarity of this electrifying vineyard.
readPrince Phillip is your companion for distinguished dining. A chardonnay of intellect, restraint and texture, with a lees- and solids-derived complexity to its finely poised grapefruit. Subtle vanilla and almond notes thanks to seamlessly integrated French oak. $27 at Dan Murphy’s.
readMore dignified than the groom’s grandmother, this noble riesling is built around finely structured citrus fruit. Excellent minerality and acid definition provide an air of stateliness to its luscious honey, apricot and mixed spice flavours.
readPipeclay Terrace is one of the most heroic vineyards in the adventure wonderland of Central Otago. The 2009 has just hit our shores and it’s fission-hot. Exotic spice, star anise and cinnamon are perfectly poised amidst shudderingly pure cherry fruits and a gorgeous violet perfume.
readTake off your shoes, this label has commanded respect over three centuries. Best’s is in the midst of an epiphany right now, making wines equal with its, well, best! Ultra-fine graphite tannins, elegant plum and berry fruits and sensational persistence make Bin 0 ravishing both now and later.
readAndrew ‘Thommo’ Thomas is the most inventive of the Hunter’s new wave and it is Braemore vineyard that produces his masterpiece. The magical essence of this Hunter ‘grand cru’ turf is on full display in the purity and complexity of the smashing 2005 vintage.
readThe wine cognoscenti are drinking riesling like it’s going out of fashion, not that it’s ever really been in fashion – stupendous! Forget the teeny price, this is a monumental white wine, glittering with lemon juice and granny smith apples and rippling with minerality.
readFear not, you need not pronounce the name to drink the wine! Chianti Classico, step aside! The distinguished Roufina appellation in Italy’s famous Chianti is a wild place where cool nightime mountain air descends to caress crunchy, vibrant red fruit flavours from sangiovese grapes.
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