For a wine that’s supposed to be all about easy-going fun, prosecco can be a seriously divisive topic – upsetting snobs, alienating sommeliers, and becoming the source of a bitter trade dispute between Australia and Italy. Despite these controversies, Australian prosecco is currently thriving – and with retail shelves groaning under the weight of so many options, we felt a Deep Dive into the subject was in order.
There’s a little more complexity to the vinous colour spectrum than a simple white–pink–red continuum. A surprisingly large number of wines that look fundamentally red actually contain some quantity of white grape material – whether that’s a small pinch to lift the aromatics, or a larger portion to lighten the body and change the texture. With so much white grape material hiding in plain sight in bottles of red wine all over Australia, across an array of styles from ultra-traditional to cutting-edge, we thought a Deep Dive into the subject was called for.
The Adelaide Hills is an outlier when compared to other South Australian wine regions. With its mosaic of elevations, aspects, and soil types, it’s also a region that defies quick-and-easy categorisations. How pinot noir came to be the region’s red wine calling card is a story of vinous rebirth, investment from the establishment, and a group of determined young winemakers ready to rattle some cages – which is why we felt a Deep Dive into its pinot noirs was called for.
Tasmania’s cool-climate pinot noirs have been hot property in Australia’s wine scene for some time now, with demand recently reaching a fever pitch. While the island’s potential for pinot noir was at first mostly explored through the lens of sparkling wine, in the last decade and a half winegrowers and makers have arrived at the island in droves for its potential to create world-class red wines from pinot. Australian wine drinkers have gotten the memo, too, and have created a robust market for pinot noirs from the Apple Isle. With so much interest in the topic, we thought a Deep Dive was called for.
There are few varieties that are as adored and reviled as sauvignon blanc. From varying degrees of oak, both old and new, to employing skin contact, a little or a whole lot, Australian sauvignon blanc is not easy to categorise, with the sheer diversity of styles taking an alternative approach dazzling in its scope and quite thrilling for its quality. With the landscape having changed radically since our last look at the topic, we felt that another Deep Dive into the subject was required.
Now grown in well over 20 Australian regions, vermentino has become a readily recognised name for more curious consumers, so we thought it timely to check in to see exactly where vermentino is at with a Deep Dive. We gathered every Australian varietal vermentino we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines.
The southern Italian grape fiano has had a relatively meteoric rise in Australia. We gathered every Australian varietal fiano we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind.
With summer unfurling before us, it’s an apt time to cast our eyes across the Australian pink wine landscape. And when we say pink, the Pantone swatch book of rosé veers from the pale and coppery to the distinctly ruddy, and from a range of varieties that could include… well, anything. We gathered every Australian rosé that we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most.
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