2012 Blanc de Blancs - Yarra Valley

PROUDLY True Blue: Australian Sparkling Wine

– not imitation Champagne.

AUSSIE SPARKLING NO COPY-CAT CHAMPAGNE

David Ellis

TALK to Dan Buckle, Senior Winemaker at Chandon about bubbly, and you'll very quickly learn that here's a man most passionate about the fact he's making Australian Sparkling Wine – not an imitation Champagne.

And while there may be others refer loosely to Aussie bubblies as "Champagne," he's adamant that his Australian Sparkling Wine is purely and uniquely that, because just as the French boast of their Champagnes reflecting soils made up of their unique chalk deposits covered with a mix of sand, marl, clay and lignite, his Sparkling Wine is reflective of Chardonnay grown on True Blue Australian red volcanic basalt soils, and known as ferrosols.

His latest Sparkling release, a 2012 Blanc de Blancs (a wine made exclusively from white grapes) was crafted entirely from Chardonnay fruit off vineyards in Victoria's cool Upper Yarra Valley and the equally cool Whitlands Plateau of the King Valley. And after tirage and secondary fermentation, Dan gave this one 36 month's ageing on yeast – similar to the important Methode Traditionelle process in France.

Pay $41 to kick off that next celebratory dinner… you'll find the forward limey and apple-fruit flavours and zesty mineral acidity a great match with mussels in a creamy tarragon sauce, or scallops sprinkled with anise-flavoured slightly spicy Thai basil.

for week beginning 7 September 2015

2015 Riverina Wine Show results

Media Release:

2015 RIVERINA WINE SHOW RESULTS ANNOUNCED LAST NIGHT

The 41st annual Riverina Wine Show results were announced on Thursday at a gala dinner in Griffith NSW and as in previous years the entries and winning wines have celebrated the depth of quality and diversity in the Australian wine industry, with the experienced panel of judges - headed by former Wine Director of Rockpool restaurants Sophie Otton - critiquing their way through 56 different wine classes and awarding 10 individual "varietal/style" Trophies to 8 different wine regions!

The big winner of the night was the 2007 McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon (Hunter Valley), which was awarded the 'Ian Bicego Best Still Wine of Show' Trophy. Chair of Judges Sophie Otton said, "The McGuigan Bin 9000 showed the variety's slow, controlled development; the kind that tantalises the senses with its lemony fragrance and glimpses of melted butter and toast complexity. This year's winner absolutely embodied the exhilarating effortlessness and featherweight grace that is Semillon at its best."

As well as strong entry numbers and some great results in the more traditional classes of Semillon, Shiraz and Cabernet, the judges were also "delighted" to see such diversity amongst the 'Other Red Varieties' Class, describing it as "a strong class which proved an exciting category, with expressive and skilfully made examples of Durif, Montepulciano, and Petit Verdot all made locally." 

Coincidentally it is one of the Riverina's strengths, and the perfect place for its cultivation.
Commenting on other wine styles to look out for, Sophie said, "The '2014 Pinot' Class was an unexpected surprise. On the table, the wines awarded silvers and golds demonstrated a superb graduation, from fruit driven freshness and balance, building to increasing dimensions and layers of flavour, with the top gold showing superb multifaceted complexity. 

The '2014 Chardonnay' Class were also outstanding, garnering a stunning cache of silver and gold medals. This demonstrates that Australian Chardonnay has come of age, offering refined and sophisticated styles that sit well above their price point. The class showed remarkable freshness, balance and purity with the best examples revealing a touch of struck match complexity.
Finally, but not surprisingly, the 'Fortified Classes' were exquisite, and it was a privilege to see them in their chameleon-like incarnations."

For a full list of all Trophy winners please see below.

Trophy winning wines at the 2015 Riverina Wine Show:

1] Best Semillon - sponsored by Braid Logistics Australia

McGuigan 2007 Bin 9000 Semillon (Hunter Valley)

2] Best Chardonnay 1yo – sponsored by Orora

McWilliam's Wines 2014 Appellation Chardonnay (Tumbarumba)

3] Best Chardonnay over 1 yo

McWilliam's Wines 2013 Single Vineyard Chardonnay (Tumbarumba)

4] Best Shiraz

Blue Pyrenees Estate 2013 Reserve Shiraz (Pyrenees)

5] Best Cabernet Sauvignon - sponsored by Patrick Portlink

Jacob's Creek 2013 Bungalow Lane Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa)

6] Best Dry Red, other varieties

Santolin Wines 2014 Individual Vineyard Pinot Noir (Yarra Valley)

7] Best Dry Red Blend - sponsored by Classic Oak

Cellarmasters 2013 Langhorne Creek Area Red Blend (Langhorne Creek)

8] Best Durif - sponsored by the AEB Group

McWilliam's Wines 2013 Hanwood '1914' Durif (Riverina)

9] Best Fortified, Sweet Style – sponsored by Tarac Technologies

Morris Wines Cellar Reserve Grand Tokay (Rutherglen)

10] Best Fortified, Australian Fortified Red Style – sponsored by Collotype Labels

Pfeiffer Wines 2013 Christopher's VP (Rutherglen)

And the "Best of…" Trophies went to…

11] Best Still Wine from Riverina Fruit - sponsored by the Wine Grapes Marketing Board

McWilliam's Wines 2013 Hanwood '1914' Durif (Riverina)

12] Best Popular Premium red wine 

Casella Family Brands 2013 Beyond Horizons Cabernet Sauvignon (SE Australia)

13] Best Dry Red 

Blue Pyrenees Estate 2013 Reserve Shiraz (Pyrenees)

14] Best Dry White

McGuigan 2007 Bin 9000 Semillon (Hunter Valley)

15] Best Still Wine of Show - the Ian Bicego Trophy

McGuigan 2007 Bin 9000 Semillon (Hunter Valley)

Special Awards …

The Sean Hampel Award for Best Shiraz from Riverina Fruit

Nugan Estate 2014 3rd Generation Shiraz (Riverina)

Most Successful Exhibitor of Still Wines made from Local Fruit - sponsored by A & G

Calabria Family Wines (Riverina)

Most Successful Exhibitor - sponsored by the Port of Melbourne

Moppity Vineyards (Hilltops)

Briar Ridge 2015 Fiano - Hunter Valley

PASTA dishes and seafoods will partner
nicely with this Hunter Valley Fiano.

ONE TO NOTE: THE Hunter Valley's Briar Ridge Wines has released a 2015 Fiano, a Southern Italian varietal that in Australia has been mostly made until now in warmer regions such as McLaren Vale, Riverland, the Clare Valley and the Adelaide Hills.

Winemaker Gwyn Olsen brought in fruit from the Hunter's Howards Vineyard for this new-direction wine, a drop with an interestingly lively palate of ginger spice, cumquat and hazelnut to the fore and a quite lovely zestiness.  And while an enjoyable buy-now, drink-now wine, Gwyn says it's showing all signs of developing further complexity over the next five years; pay $28 and enjoy with pasta dishes or seafoods.

for week beginning 31 August 2015

Eden Hall 2015 Gruner Veltliner - Eden Valley

ONE to match up with a Wiener Schnitzel,
the national dish of its homeland Austria.

JUST THE DROP WITH WIENER SCHNITZEL

David Ellis

EDEN Valley in the Barossa may be one of our smaller winemaking regions, but even so is home to some exceptional makers, and at the same time some equally exceptional histories to many of their properties.

Among them is Eden Hall that dates back to the 1840s, was planted to wine grapes in the early 1900s, saw these ripped out 70 years later in favour of sheep grazing, and went back to winemaking again in the 1990s (while still keeping some sheep.)

And now it's released what's believed to be the Valley's first-ever Gruner Veltliner, a wine whose homeland is Austria, is made to a lesser degree in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and is fast becoming popular in the USA and here in Australia.

And Eden Hall had a trump card up their sleeve when it came to making their pioneering drop: one of their winemakers, Christa Deans spent time in Austria working in wineries there and getting to learn all she could about Gruner Veltliner.

Hers is a ripper drop with a rich palate of nectarine and white peach fruit flavours and back notes of citrus and grapefruit and a mineral finish. A naturally food-friendly wine with anything from chicken dishes to seafoods, vegetarian and even light red meats, it's a perfect match with Wiener Schnitzel… which after all is the national dish of Austria from which this variety originated. Eden Hall's Gruner Veltliner is $35 a bottle online with discounts for six or more: check out www.edenhall.com.au

for week beginning 31 August 2015

One to note: 2012 Girt by Sea label Cabernet Merlot - Voyager Estate

AN unexpected attention-grabber to enjoy with
lamb shanks cooked in a red wine sauce.

ONE TO NOTE: VOYAGER Estate in Western Australia's Margaret River in 2012 had one of its warmest summers, earliest vintages, and highest fruit yields ever, and despite some challenges these threw up at winemakers, it's released an exceptionally smooth and moreish 2012 Girt by Sea label Cabernet Merlot.

Something of an unexpected attention-grabber, this most pleasant drop has layers of dark cherry and blackcurrant fruit flavours, hints of vanilla, spice and nougat, fine-grained tannins and nicely integrated French and American oak. At $28, a great match with barbecued steak, or lamb shanks cooked in a red wine sauce.

for week beginning 24 August 2015

2015 Watervale Riesling - South Australia’s Clare Valley

ENJOY FOOD FRIENDLY WATERVALE RIESLING

David Ellis

A DROP to match with anything from seafood to
Asia, chicken, pork or vegetarian dishes.

ALTHOUGH they've been making wines in South Australia's Clare Valley since the 1850s, one little village that's particularly renowned for its Rieslings is Watervale – which all these years on, still has a population of under 250.

Jim Barry Wines is virtually synonymous with Watervale and premium Rieslings, and their now-released 2015 Watervale Riesling is another example of why the team there has such a well-deserved reputation, albeit 2015 wasn't exactly kind to them in many respects weather-wise.

We're talking about rain – firstly a lack of it, and then absolutely plenty of it, combined with unwanted extreme heat. In five months from early August 2014 to early January 2015, the Clare Valley got a mere 67mm, just enough as Peter Barry put it, "to wash the dust off the vines."  Then in three weeks of January down it came… 100mm of it, combined with that extreme heat in February.

'

But remarkably the vines came through well, and the 2015 Jim Barry Watervale is a great Riesling, with mouth-filling ginger and lime fruit flavours, crispy apple-like acidity and a nice varietal creaminess. Pay $18 and with Riesling being one of the most food-friendly of wines, match this one with anything from seafood to Asian, chicken, pork or vegetarian dishes.

for week beginning 24 August 2015

One to note: Tim Adams Clare Valley Pinot Gris

A PUNT that paid off makes for a great-matching
wine with Asian cuisine and seafoods.

#wine

ONE TO NOTE: THE CLARE Valley’s Tim Adams took a big punt when he planted his first Pinot Gris after enjoying an Alsace Pinot Gris with an old mate, and afterwards thinking the variety might do well on a couple of sites he had in mind in Clare.

And that punt certainly more than paid off, for today Tim Adams’ is amongst the top-sellers of premium Australian Pinot Gris, Tim making his from fruit off his own and select other Clare Valley vineyards.

This 2015 is all about mouth-filling flavours of pear, leatherwood honey and peach, off-set with a subtle citrus zest, fruity sweetness on the middle palate, and cleansing acidity. Nicely priced at $22 for a wine of this quality, it’s a natural to enjoy with Asian cuisine, seafoods and salads.