Sweet rieslings are the undiscovered gems of the apple isle. Not any more! This is a versatile dessert wine because it hasn’t been ripened until it turns to jam! This makes it fresher and more tangy than most botrytis styles, full of crunchy apple and zesty citrus fruit, perfect with fruit-based desserts.
readFootloose and oak-free, such feisty expression is a tough find at this price. A grenache syrah cinsault blend from Coteaux du Tricastin (the northernmost appellation of France’s southern Rhône), laced with pepper and spice, crunchy black plums, dark berries, finely textured tannins and tangy acidity.
readAt under $10 a crack ($8.45 at Dan’s and $10 at 1st this week) there’s no chardonnay anywhere on planet earth that comes close! Learning from the wizardry of four De B chardonnays above it, Windy is an elegant, mineral-driven style with purity of white peach, lemon zest and even a touch of lees complexity.
readThis Portuguese-inspired rosé crashed into my world on a picnic bench in the middle of a vineyard in Orange. Next time you’re feeling international on a picnic bench, here’s your companion! Gorgeous delicacy of strawberries & cream, lightly textural, subtly sweet; a multitalented crowd-thriller!
readThis is no mere village white Burg, it’s the creation of one of the world’s finest chardonnay craftsmen in the most mineral-charged, long-lived vintage in a decade. 2007 has just landed but get in quick. You think you can catch Keyser Sauzet? My guess is you’ll never hear from him again. Try WineStar.
readAnother name has ascended to join the grand marques of Margaret River. The greatest Heytesbury to date has a thirty year future ahead. With molecular precision, gripping control, chiselled angles and coiled-up tension, it’s a blanket of blackcurrant over a graphite tannin wall. $70 at WineStar, $71.25 at Dan’s.
readA full five years of age on release, the cool edge of King Valley fruit instils this low alcohol blend of cabernet, shiraz and friends with remarkable, bright freshness. A spectacular, textural and exotic concoction of primary blackcurrants, cherries, woodsmoke, anise, tobacco, cedar, capsicum and even old leather.
readWinter has come, so bring on champagnes of weight and intensity. The characteristic juicy, fruit-focused style of small grower producer Gaston Chiquet is just the thing! Unusually pinot meunier dominant, it sings with flavours of nectarines and blueberries, meeting crystalline minerality. Buy taste over hype!
readBarrel fermented sauvignon semillon is the fastest exploding supernova in the Australian wine firmament in recent times. Pour it around the room, stand well back and watch Marlborough tragics go weak at the knees! Energetic, crisp, mineral, textured and cut, is this Australia’s longest lived SBS yet?
readThe hits just keep on rolling out of Margaret River in 2009 and, my goodness, the bargains that can be had! Such varietal and regional precision has ne’er been found for $16 (1st Choice and Dan’s this week). Violet perfume and a medium-bodied blackcurrant palate with superfine tannins and supportive oak.
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