Australia’s Ten Most Distinctive Wines

Bored by the quenchable, well-made but monotonous landscape presented by chardonnay after chardonnay, cabernet after cabernet? Like me, you may find it a genuine relief to discover that some Australian winemakers are trying to break the mass market mould and are succeeding at it.

Let me introduce you to a swag of outstandingly different Australian wines, made by companies large and small. Some of these wines put a new spin on our more established grape varieties like chardonnay, cabernet and shiraz, while others are made with less common or new varieties such as zinfandel and chambourcin.

Either way, there’s no doubting their personality and character – the very things that tend to be forgotten in the hard-fought mid-market mish-mash of peaches-and-cream chardonnay and shiraz beefed up by as much American oak as their makers can dissolve in it.

Here, for want of a better and less provocative title, are Australia’s Ten Most Distinctive Wines:

Cape Mentelle Zinfandel

Zinfandel is a red variety which is believed to be the one and the same grape as Primitivo from southern Italy, yet it is best known in California. Surprisingly, Cape Mentelle, which has made its Zinfandel since 1981, is still the only Australian winery attempting to fashion a truly Californian version of the wine. Laden with wild, brambly fruits, prunes and spice, it is a bruising, impactful red which rejoices in its heady alcoholic levels, frequently well above 14.5. They don’t come any more individual than this!

Cassegrain Chambourcin

Although other wines made from Chambourcin are edging their way onto the shelves, it’s worth giving credit to Cassegrain for pioneering this recently-developed French hybrid variety in Australia. Cassegrain fashion an earthy, complex medium to full-bodied Chambourcin suited to short or medium term cellaring. Released very young, the wine is typically spicy and peppery.

Clonakilla Shiraz

Although it’s not the first Australian winery to blend the Rhone Valley white grape viognier into its shiraz Yarra Yering is owed that status, Clonakilla is unquestionably using this blend to fashion Australia’s most Cote-Rotie-like shiraz: fleshy, peppery, long and silky-smooth. Grown at Murrumbateman in the Canberra wine district, this is a small production wine of immense quality. The 1995 vintage will be released later this year. Get in early.

Garry Crittenden ‘i’ Series

Several Australian vineyards are touching the water with Italian varieties, but one producer leaves the others in its wake. Made at his Dromana Estate winery Mornington Peninsula from fruit sourced all over Victoria, Garry Crittenden’s ‘i’ range features a deliciously bone-dry Bianco Trebbiano and Sauvignon Blanc, a complex, chewy rose called Rosato, red wines from Dolcetto, Barbera, Granaccia grenache, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, and a long-term Riserva blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera. These are by far the best Italian styles made in Australia and their next release is imminent.

Jim Irvine Grand Merlot Brut

Sparkling burgundy is individual enough, but how about one made from succulent and stupendously concentrated Barossa merlot? Jim Irvine’s is a statuesque, powerful sparkling red with remarkable depth of flavour. Like the best sparkling burgundies, this one will cellar for a very long time.

Nicholson River Estate Chardonnay

What’s so distinctive about chardonnay? If it’s grown and made by Ken Eckersley, it will be different. Eckersley’s vineyard in Victoria’s Gippsland region has to deal with botrytis every year and he gives this wine extended on-lees maturation in oak, with considerable oxidative influence. The result is a golden wine of incredible concentration and evolution, with a taste already suggestive of extended bottle age. The best years, such as 1988 and 1991, are little short of legendary.

Peel Estate Wood-Aged Chenin Blanc

When God invented chenin blanc I’ll bet he didn’t consider what Will Nairn might do to it. Peel Estate’s flagship wine is the Wood-Aged Chenin Blanc, a wine of powerful proportions, richness and creamy texture. Typical greenish and honeyed chenin flavours of exceptional intensity are presented in a big, vanillin oaky framework to create the dimensions of a serious white burgundy, which is precisely how you should treat it.

Primo Estate Joseph Cabernet Merlot Amarone

Joe Grilli is one of our leading winemakers and innovators. This, his most important wine, is made with French varieties seen through Italian eyes. After picking, the grapes are left outside to continue to ripen and dry out. This process fashions different flavours, suggestive of prunes and game, without compromising fruit integrity. It increases sugar concentration and consequently, alcoholic strength and also ripens grape tannins, creating the sort of fine-grained astringency reminiscent of the best wines of Veneto and Tuscany. The wines cellar superbly and the 1994 vintage is a brilliant example.

Veritas Bull’s Blood

Don’t be fooled by the relatively low profile of Veritas or the name and label of this wine. If you’re interested in long-term Barossa wines made from low crops and old vineyards, try out this offering made by second-generation Hungarian migrant, Rolf Binder. Dark, spicy berry fruits are deliberately not over-oaked, fashioning a long, astringent wine of immense character and richness.

Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon

Peter Douglas is pioneering a powerful, over-ripe and extractive Coonawarra red assisted by considerable bleeding off of juice prior to fermentation, enhancing colour, structure and tannin content. While some years can tend towards the porty, the 1993 vintage reveals more softness and approachability. Its fans love its flavour and its individuality; its detractors suggest it more contrived than natural. Given its extreme nature as a winemaking statement, I’m just fascinated to wait and see. Please login to post comment