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It is all to easy to overlook the tried and trusted - reliably wonderful wines like this Hunter Valley treasure - while frantically searching for the next big thing in the world of wine. This is a classic aged Hunter wine from a family producer that has long been at the forefront when it comes to quality semillon. Released at five years of age, this is still remarkably fresh with citrus aromas alongside hay and honeyed notes - and a similar pattern continues through to the palate. It will cellar beautifully for several more years as evidenced by tastes of the beautifully soft 2005 and the less acidic (from a very hot year) 2003. Concentrated, with attractive mineral/wet pebble characters, this is just starting to show some nutty nuances. Absolutely lovely. $65.
The economic reality is that many other countries can produce good wines more cheaply than we can in Australia. This is a case in point: a terrific savoury quaffing Spanish red blend that won't break the bank. Bright and lively, but also well put together, this is a soft, ripe red with plenty of flavour and excellent balance. It doesn't merit detailed tasting notes - it is a "midweek" wine best enjoyed with family and friends but none the less enjoyable for that. Imported by Fourth Wave Wines. $13.
My wine writing colleague Lester Jesberg has commented that this wine is throwback to the days of the great Leasingham Bin wines of four decades ago. I've never had the pleasure of tasting those wines, but this is certainly a red of remarkable quality and intensity. It's a rich, full-blooded wine, for sure, with co-fermented Clare Valley cabernet sauvignon and malbec dancing a tantalising tongue tango with some new French oak. Expect dark cassis and violet aromas and powerful dark fruit on the palate with impeccable tannin structure. A beautifully constructed wine, like a bodybuilder, tight-knit but flexible, and an absolute bargain for $35. www.timadamswines.com.au.
Andrew Thomas, the "maverick" Hunter Valley winemaker (as he was recently described in Decanter magazine), has just released four absolutely outstanding individual site shirazes from the 2010 vintage, and as his his wines traditionally sell out quickly it would pay to move smartly to secure supply. The DJV ($35) is a lighter, more elegant drink-now style, with the superb Motel Block and long-term Kiss Shiraz both excellent at $50. This, however, was the wine I though offered the best value - a bright and intense very modern Hunter shiraz, silky smooth, long and savoury, approachable but cellar worthy with plenty of weight and structure. Formidably good gear, this: a light-heavyweight that packs a considerable punch. $35. www.thomaswines.com.au
Fragrant, elegant, taut and precise, this is a Clare Valley riesling that is perky and racy in its youth but will comfortably cellar for a decade or more. A backbone of searingly crisp acidity is the key to this wine's appeal, with a floral, sweet talcum pwder aromas leading on to searingly freah lime citrus and mineral/flinty notes notes in a wine of formidable structure. If you like your rieslings fragrant, pristine, bone dry and disciplined you won't go wrong here. $33. www.mounthorrocks.com.
For the past four years now, this stunning chardonnay has featured among my wine of the year selections. It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for and this offers quality with a capital Q. Vanya Cullen has the Midas touch with her biodynamically grown fruit, using basket pressing in the winery for a more gentle approach. This comes from a slightly warmer year in Margaret River than the 09 but remains a wine of elegance and complexity. There are the citrus and mineral characters you'd expect to find on the palate, but also oyster shell notes, gentle spices, hints of rich cashew nuts, integrated French oak and structural complexity aided by partial malolactic fermentation. This is a masterpiece of wine architecture - everything is in balance. $105. www.cullenwines.com.au.
This is the Tasmanian wine, made in tiny quantities unfortunately, that shocked the wine world by winning the Jimmy Watson Trophy at the 2011 Royal Melbourne Wine Show. It’s a beauty, as you’d expect, classic cool-climate shiraz with bright and spicy red
berry/cherry fruit; hints of cloves, bay leaves and white pepper. It’s an intense wine in the Rhone style, beautifully composed, with herbal earthiness and supple tannins. A triumph from Nick Glaetzer, whose family knows a thing or two about shiraz, but almost impossible to find as demand hugely exceeded supply. $46.
