In the 40s and 50s, one of Australia’s legendary winemakers made arguably some of our greatest and most enduring wines pairing pinot noir and shiraz. Today, there is a renewed interest in the blend, and makers from the staunchly traditional to the restlessly creative are getting on board.
Cabernet Franc can be rarefied, but it is typically accessible, both in style and cost, and the engaging variety of expressions that are now appearing on top wineslingers shelves is deserving of our attention.
Grüner veltliner has made a significant contribution to the Australian wine landscape in a very brief time. In a tick over a decade, we’ve seen the output grow from a lone wine to 40 plus, and they are all firmly in the quality camp, with makers seeing potential in the grape that could see it emerge as one with especial suitability to some of our cooler viticultural zones. An equation like this inevitably triggers the need for a ‘deep dive’…
Is orange the new white? Well orange isn’t even the current orange, with skin-contact wines made from white grapes – often called ‘orange’ or ‘amber’ wines – presenting in an array of hues, from a resolutely autumnal auburn, through luridly carrot-juice saffron to a decidedly classic green-tinged and crystal-clear appearance. And, as our recent panel…
Gamay is not widely or heavily planted in Australia, but it is quite the buzz variety, with progressive winemakers, both established and newly minted, pursuing the variety with great vigour. There are more plantings coming online over the next few years, with the Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Gippsland, the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and pockets of North-Eastern Victoria, amongst others, all fielding more representatives soon.
With a brief to curate a compelling list of rosé-like wines from our shores, we took a deep dive into the subject… with classically styled rosés mixed in with skin-contact pinot gris, and white blends with a dash of colour from a dose of red grapes. The brief was loose, as we felt that style and application were the most important factors here, rather than some adherence to traditions or origins. If it’s pink-ish and best chilled, then it’s in.
Today, there is an explosion (pun intended) of bottles, with no rules aside from the fundamental principle of finishing primary ferment in bottle… Any extensive tasting of pét-nats will never uncover some sort of universal truth, but rather be a celebration of the expansive diversity of the style. Good enough reason for a deep dive, we think.
Just a blending variety for Champagne they say… pfft! We took deep dive into varietal pinot meunier – yes, that’s pinot meunier as a red wine.
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