AceHighWine

After shooting to global prominence on the back of its Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough has slowly been building up its wine repertoire with pinot noir starting to show much promise. Produced by Marlborough’s Seresin Estate, this is one of the region’s most impressive pinots I’ve tasted in recent times. A blend of hand-picked and hand-sorted fruit from three different Marlborough vineyards, this smells funky and feral like the Mucky Duck Bush Band doing a set of James Brown, Meters and Sly and the Family Stone covers. Couple with more than just a smattering of raspberry and black cherry aromas, this is unmistakably pinot. The palate sees the aforementioned band members red-level the intensity as waves of sour cherry and red fruit latch on to palate with the assistance of fine, astringent tannins: the reverb-soaked finish is long-lasting and cause for rapturous applause. It’s all there and it makes you want to drink more and more - and that’s before you factor the nigh-on laughable asking price. Coupled with an excellent sauvignon blanc, MoMo is a relatively new Marlborough brand value-hunting wine drinkers should keep an eye on, possibly two if you can spare them… 18.5 www.seresin.co.nz

Things have been a’changing at Capel Vale. There’s been a uniform lift in the quality of wine across the board, the introduction of the exceptional “Debut” range and the winery’s logo has been given a modern, fresh new look that mirrors the brand’s own tale: moving forwards whilst still respecting its history. A story also embodied by this wine, drawing on the Pratten family’s old-vine holdings in the state’s cool Mt Barker region. While masochists might enjoy the brute force of high-powered riesling and its cutlasses of lively acidity, I’m enjoying tasting riesling later rather than sooner as it lets the wine settle down a tad and give those subtle palate nuances more of a chance to shine. In this case, it’s a gently acidic mouthful of clear-cut lemon and lime flavours delivered with elegance, poise and softness. Everything is looking remarkably balanced and the wine finishes dry and clean with a burst of lime and citrus succulence. Refreshingly cleansing and seemingly tailor-made for this God-awful hot spell being suffered by us good West Australians - I wish I had more bottles of this in the fridge over the past eight weeks. 17. www.capelvale.com

Please don’t let the slightlty OTT Dutch Tilt in the above photo put you off this wine, this is incredible gerwurtz that is both highly gluggable yet fascinating to drink in the same mouthful. Tasted blind, the wine’s floral and fragrant honeyed apricot aromas were very Moscato-like and tipped off the rest of the senses to prepare for a wine of massive sweetness, but it turned out to be a surprising false alarm as the viscous, perfectly judged green-gold goodness splashed against the mouth. While I’ve jotted down some descriptors such as mango, spice, pineapple and lychees, the bulk of my tasting notes are a pathetic, blithering mass of sycophantic superlatives like “amazing texture”, “gorgeous texture”, “seductively soft” and even “magical”. The wine finishes with an intense burst of flavour and a lingering sense of succulence that bodes poorly for a bottle lasting too long once opened. Phenomenal gerwurtz and along with the excellent ‘04 Vinoptima offering, this has inspired me to try to find some extra dollars in my meagre wine budget to splurge on a little more Kiwi gerwurtz. 18.5 www.wairauriverwines.com

Technically, the early ‘07 vintage wasn’t supposed to be a great one for riesling, but so far the evidence has been to the contrary, as evidenced by this release from the Great Southern’s oldest winery and newly-appointed winemaker John Durham’s willingness to let work in the vineyard rather than the winery shine brightest in his maiden Plantagenet riesling.

Spears of lime with bursts of cumquat and mandarin shoot from the front of the mouth to the back, helped by a rush of elegant yet sturdy acidity that gives this wine a wonderful approachability in its youth while still leaving enough in the tank for a spell in the cellar. Finishes clean, dry and succulent with astonishing length and persistence. This is a wine with great focus and intensity - the kind you’d need as a little kid to win one of those childhood competitions to see who could hold their breath underwater the longest, though you won’t need to go to that kind of effort as this riesling is likely to leave you breathless. And like a lot of Great Southern riesling, wonderful value at the price - when the price of it starts to go up, we’ll all be sorry… 18+ www.plantagenetwines.com

Now this is some good gear - really good gear. A soft and approachable beauty that shows varietal correctness and a sense of regionality for a tad more than what you pay for a main at most neighbourhood BYO Italian eateries. If you’re going out with a group for a meal, better bring a couple of bottles of this as the first will be empty before you’ve had time to go back for your second. Alluringly spicy to smell with clove and bay leaf pushing their way to the front of the bouquet garni pack. Fine tannins glide slowly through the mouth, leaving trails of blackcurrant, vanilla, earth and spice in their wake. The oak manifest itself on the back palate with glimpses of toasty, vanillin lovability and the finish is soft and lingering. The product of fruit sourced from a band of 12 Margaret River vineyards, this is a good wine by all accounts, but factor in the price and we’ve got a true blue Margaret River bargain on our hands. Drink now, now, now. 17.5+ www.ringbolt.com

Showing signs of the warm vintage that took place in the Peninsula in ‘06, this wine is crammed full of pretty red fruit flavours with attractive cherry and strawberry edges, all flanked by sandy tannins. Fashioned on the bigger, Australian fruit-forward pinot noir model, this is a very attractive drink-now or short-term cellaring prospect. Good stuff from this Burgundian influenced producer. As an aside, when this wine’s identity was unmasked on tasting night, the price I was given for this belter was a measly $18 and I excitedly thought I had unearthed a serious challenger for Hoddles Creek’s title for Australia’s best value pinot. However, further research has revealed a higher - yet still completely justifiable - asking price. 17.5 www.kooyong.com

The sum total of one parcel shiraz, one small parcel viognier, the excellent 2005 vintage and the benefit of Petaluma experience, this is further proof why shiraz loves the kiss of cool climate goodness. Seductively fragrant, a core of vanilla-daubed blackberry sings out to the senses. First the nose, and then the mouth meekly follows… An elegant and finely-textured wine, powdery tannins form the perfect canvas for those glorious yet soft plum flavours to shine, ably assisted by some musky viognier notes. Everything about this is great: the tannins, the length, the flavours on the finish, the flavours in the mouth, the way this medium-weight beauty captivates the drinker with each sip… This is a very easy wine to get lost in during the course of an evening. 17.5 www.bridgewatermill.com.au