The top wine over this set of tastings was the Devils Ridge Polish Hill Riesling 2013
Finding wines like these is exactly what Best Wines Under $20 is all about. Pale brass with green tinges, a nose of citrus blossom and lime. Tightly wound palate serving up limes and minerals, with hints of talc and bath powder. Great restraint here, and a fine acid backbone. Polish Hill finesse, classic Riesling, will improve for years. Made by the Wilsons, don’t know how the guys at Kemenys prized this out of them. 94 points. Back up the ute. $10 at Kemenys.
Devil’s Ridge Block 10 Barossa Valley Shiraz 2011
Here’s a red that also hits our bull’s eye: a rich, soft Barossa Shiraz with lovely sweet fruit and surprising polish (not Polish). Typical of this vintage, the wine has more elegance than most of the macho Barossa Shiraz brigade. The sweet fruit suggests some Grenache in this, but it doesn’t say, nor does it say who made it. Who cares? No one will complain about this at your next BBQ. On second thoughts, I’d only share this with my best mates. 92 points. $10 at Kemenys.
Tomich Hill Hilltop Pinot Noir 2012
I wanted to love this wine, given that it’s handmade from estate grown fruit from a high altitude vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. The colour is light on, almost washed out, the nose is more promising but it comes adrift on the palate: too warm and spicy, with a hot finish. Pinot should be cool. 88 points. NOT at all convinced. $18 at MyCellars. (Halliday likes it much better and gives it 94)
Paxton Biodynamic Single Vineyard Pinot Gris 2013
One of the best Pinot Gris we’ve seen in a while. Ripe pears and stone fruit with a bit of backbone, for a change. A PG with attitude, complexity even, lovely mouth feel (did it spend time on lees?). 92+ points. BUY but drink by Christmas 2014. $17 at WineDirect.
The Lane Prominent Hill Chardonnay 2008
The Lane is a vineyard worth visiting if you ever get to the Adelaide Hills. It has a lovely position high above the surrounding hills and meadows, and the restaurant and bar look inviting. This wine, bought for $14 in the recent sale for BWU$20 subscribers, was a bargain. Nutty, smooth and showing a mature figure, it has that soft, creamy texture that suggests malolactic fermentation. No grapefruit here, thank heavens. 93 points. BUY. $20 at WineDirect.
Hereford Heathcote Shiraz 2012
This is made for Dan M by Tisdall, I think. The 2009 was a winner, the 2010 a good drinking red, but the 2012 is raspberry syrup. Just lots of sweet, rich, ripe fruit. No restraint, no backbone, no line or length discernable here. 80 points. AVOID. (even at the special price of $10 when we bought it). It’s now $14 at Dan M’s.
Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling 2007
Old Rieslings are a special delight, especially when they come at a bargain price. This little beauty is putting on golden hues and the flavour is filling out, without visiting the extremities of hair oil and kerosene. All we get here are faint hints of buttered toast and honey. It’s not as complex as some older Rieslings, and may be easier to like if you’re not used to this style. It’s a lovely wine already but will improve for another 5 years or so. 92+ points. BUY. $15 at WineDirect. As a footnote, I found a page of reviews of this wine when it was one year old here.
Mitchell Clare Valley Riesling 2013
These wines are deceptive, because Andrew Mitchell picks the fruit riper than is the current fashion, and the wines have more guts than the Twiggy style Rieslings our judges are so fond of. This is more of a Sophia Loren style – generous and full of flavour. Enjoy it now or over the next 7 years. The wine is made from 40-year old vines – yes: old vine Riesling. 93 points. BUY. $18 at Kemenys
Heirloom Vineyards Eden Valley Riesling 2012
This is yet another label in the stable of Zar and Elena Brooks – in addition to Dandelion, Zonte’s Footstep and Sister’s Run – and this wine looks like Twiggy on the label (12%) but packs a surprising punch of ripe fruit (like many 2012s). It’s perhaps a little forward, but it’s a benchmark Eden Valley Riesling that you can savour now and for the next 5 years. 94 points. BUY. $20 at WineDirect.
Vinatero Great Southern Riesling 2013
This is a new $15 label for ALDI, and it’s a lovely, restrained Riesling in the Great Southern style (12%), showing less citrus fruit and more fine minerals than those from SA. Good depth and length here, but there is fluffy spot on the middle palate that spoils the line. Picky, maybe, but it became more obvious over a couple of days. 89. Not convinced. $15 at ALDI.
Le Premier Margaret River Chardonnay 2013
A really slick commercial Chardy, round and soft and flavoursome, well-integrated fruit and oak with no rough edges. Great example of that most important quality: drinkability. 91points. BUY but don’t keep it too long. $13 at ALDI. (please Note: there’s some 2012 left online, the 2013 is in ALDI stores)
Devils Ridge Block 21 Hunter Valley Semillon 2012
This is Kemenys own label (as opposed to the Hidden Labels). Sadly, this one is no more revealing so we have no idea who made it. What we can tell you is that this a surprising wine in the sense that it’s just 10% strong yet doesn’t taste of green apples or unripe capsicums. There’s a bright green-brass colour and a touch of lemon on the nose; the palate surprises with a soft and round impact but hints at enough acid to keep the show together for a few years. I suspect a touch of barely noticeable residual sugar may have made this wine more drinkable. 89 points. BUY. $10 at Kemenys.
Hidden Label Hunter Valley Verdelho 2012
Can’t pick the origin of this wine either, but it’s rich and round and choc full of tropical fruit with hints of ripe oranges and apricots. Not typical Verdelho, mind you, and a pretty short finish but a nice enough drink chilled for a hot summer day’s picnic. Would go well with paw paw salads and similar things. Drink sooner not later. 89 points (same as JH, for once). BUY. $11 at Kemenys
Hidden Label Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2013
Gooseberry and cut grass leap from the nose here, and the palate follows through with fresh, zippy gooseberry and grapefruit . Typical savvy from the Awatere Valley, has won a trophy and 3 golds, but we didn’t think it was that special. 91 points. BUY. $11 at Kemenys.
Hidden Label Pemberton Chardonnay 2013
If you’re looking for a good drinking Chardy for the rest of this year, here’s a good candidate: everything fits nicely together here, the lychees and the stone fruit and the nuts, and it’s all wrapped in a smooth package, round and soft, no grapefruit here. 92 points. BUY. $13 at Kemenys.
abel’s tempest Tasmania Chardonnay 2011
Another wine we wanted to like more than we did (we loved the Pinot Noir). It has a trophy and 3 golds to its account, and it gets a terrific wrap from JH + 95 points. We found the wine elegant and the stone fruit quite delicate. The problem is the oak, classy as it is, which sits on the wine like a jacket that’s a couple of sizes too big. If you don’t mind obvious oak, that’s no problem. We don’t, and we’re not sure that the wine can absorb it over the next couple of years, given it’s already 3 years old. 91 points. BUY (it’s still pretty good value). $15 at Kemenys.
Footnote: 91 happens to be the score this wine received in James Halliday’s 2013 Chardonnay Challenge from a bunch of judges. M
Chalk Hill Sidetrack Shiraz Grenache 2011
Another smooth talker from the much-maligned 2011 vintage in McLaren Vale. The Grenache gives the wine a real lift – what a great combo, and why has it taken our winemakers so long to support these two dancing partners? Medium bodied (14%), easy-drinking red. 91 points. BUY. $15 at WineDirect.
Kemenys still has the bigger Sidetrack 2010 for sale at $15. Gets 94 points from JH.
AIRDE 450 Clare Valley Shiraz 2012
This is a $10 label from ALDI and this one’s bargain. No idea who made it, but it’s a seductive, fragrant, soft Shiraz that offers lovely sweet red fruits in a medium body. There’s real finesse here that hints at cool climate Shiraz, and ALDI tells us this is made from fruit grown at 450m and polished with French oak. 92 points. BARGAIN BUY. $10 at ALDI
Hidden Label Central Victoria Shiraz Mourvedre 2012
Another great combo that was undervalued for so long (Mourvèdre used to be called Mataro but we’ve gone all posh these days). This is McPherson Basilisk Shiraz Mourvedre under a hidden label. The McPherson family has vineyards in the Goulburn Valley next to the winery, and by the Murray River. JH’s Wine Companion says Alistair Purbrick from Thabilk.
This red is a lad from the country, of robust build and direct manner. He’s still young and a bit rough around the edges, but we suspect these will soften over the next few years. If you want to drink it soon, make sure you have a heart steak or roast with it. 89+ points. BUY with reservations. $14 at Kemenys.
AIRDE.450 Clare Valley Riesling 2013 Not in the same class as the Devils Ridge Riesling above, but a decent clean Riesling for the money. The fruit is a bit at this stage, but the wine has the line and length to improve for a few years. 91 points. BUY. $10 at ALDI.
Kingston Estate Winemaker Barrel Select Petit Verdot 2010
These guys are smart winemakers from the Riverland who’ve diversified. This looks like a one-off, with just 560 dozen made. Petit Verdot is one of the 5 varieties used in the classified reds of Bordeaux, along with Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot and Malbec. Verdot has fallen from favour, and has a reputation as a tough customer.
Here, the variety has produced a big, solid kind of wine that will probably age well but lacks charm at the moment. There’s plenty of flavour here, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a bit one-dimensional. That’s most likely why it’s usually blended with other varieties. Interesting if you want to get to know the less common varieties. 88 points. Not convinced. $15 at ALDI.
Richard Hamilton Hutt Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Soft, sweet fragrant fruit here at first, then some volatile acidity reared its head (and it got worse over the next 2 days). VA is caused by wine coming in contact with oxygen, which encourages bacteria to make acetic acid (the acid in vinegar). In small doses, it gives red wines a lift, and Max Schubert was known to like a bit of VA in his Granges for that reason. In slightly larger doses, VA gives wines a slightly edgy, gassy quality, but people have very different levels of sensitivity to this (mine is very high). In larger quantities it will send wine on its way to becoming vinegar, and then it’s hard to miss. Anyhow, I don’t think it’s fair to review the sample I tried. Halliday gives the wine 94 points. $15 at WineDirect
Joseph Drouhin Morgon 2010
Morgon is one of a handful of Grand Crus in Beaujolais, and some say that these wines can resemble the Burgundies to the north in a good vintage. Don’t believe it for a moment. All Beaujolais is made from Gamay, and even the best are best drunk within 18 months to 2 years of vintage. This wine was fading like the light after sunset.
Forester Cabernet Merlot 2009
We like to check that our recommendations pan out, and we raved about this wine as a good example of Margaret River Cabernet Merlot ($16 at the time). It wasn’t a complex wine then, and it isn’t now, but it’s a smooth talker in an elegant suit. Very easy to get along with – better with lamb than with beer coz it’s elegant. The 2011 is $17 at Dan M’s, but I don’t think it’s worth buying (88).
Chalkboard Hunter Valley Semillon 2013
The 2012 Chalkboard Hunter Valley Semillon won 2 trophies, surprising even its maker Tyrrells. We thought there was too much green apple and unripe fruit and enough acid to cut your throat with. The 2013 is a lot better: less green and aggressive, more drinkable and much easier to like. It was in a 2 for $20 deal which made it a good buy as well. 89 points. BUY. $11 at Vintage Cellars.
Kim