Saddle up, there’s a long trip ahead. Margaret River is galloping through a string of stupendously stunning vintages and this wine is going to go the distance. Built with Bordeaux structure, the blend is tweaked with a touch of each of the usual suspects. Climb up and hang on tight!
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Pinot noir is the epicentre of cool right now and the fashionistas are bathing in it. Stonier’s has stepped straight off the catwalk, drop-dead gorgeous with its sweeping cherry curves and air of rose petal perfume. The ladies will be transfixed and the lads, well…
readAy, caramba! Farewell dried out, oxidised, oaky Rioja. Hola pure, unadulterated fruit! This provocative, unoaked style takes the focus back to the vineyards of just one beautiful little village in Rioja. It’s a brand new day in Spain and you want to be a part of it. No one expects www.thespanishacquisition.com.
readVirginia Willcock infuses this wine with more poise and energy than the Australian ballet. One of the star performers of my World Wine Discovery nights last month, with breathtaking grapefruit and white peach fruit and classy French oak. Insane value at $17 at 1st Choice this week.
readHello Flash Gordon! It takes all the Wonderwoman superpowers of Tash Mooney to conjure a red wine of such heroic precision, complexity and structure. You can snaffle it for $15 at 1st Choice. By George!
readTim Adams is my hero for his monumental gamble to save the Clare’s most historic winery this year, but more so for making some of the best value wine in the land. His riesling transcends a difficult vintage, exploding with crunchy green apples, zesty lime and rippling with minerality.
readHidden in the highest reaches of the Upper Yarra is an idyllic amphitheatre vineyard called Gembrook Hill. At this cool altitude, pinot grows fresh, floral and spicy, producing wines of profound perfume, finely tuned structure and astonishing longevity. 2008 was one of its finest seasons yet.
readDon’t let Penfold’s reds distract you from its tawnies – these rank among the fairest in the land! Club Reserve is the bargain. Five years in old barrels has drawn out complex toffee, mixed spice and dried fig flavours. Join the Club, but pass on the no frills version and sign up for a lifetime […]
readBillecart NV is one of champagne’s most precise house wines and my all time fave of the entry NVs. The house of Billecart is the finest fizz on the shelves this year, not by concentration, power or presence but by the fairy-touch of understated delicacy and crystal-clear fidelity. $70 at WineStar and Kemeny’s.
readShame on you, cheapo grigio! Overcropped, overpriced, overhyped – I’m over you! Thank goodness I still have Ninth Island to turn to. Its crunchy, fresh Tassie fruit and gorgeous fragrance of frangipani and linden blossom will transport you to an island in just one sip. $15 at 1st Choice.
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