AUSSIE WINES Flashcards
PIPERS BROOK
Ninth Island Chardonnay Pinot Noir NV $18
Crisp, clean, light and refreshing.
CLOVER HILL BRUT
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier
2013
$26
aged in small French barrels to add texture. The wine spends 4 years on the lees. Creamy, rich, and textured.
JANSZ PREMIUM ROSE
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier
NV
$22
Started in the 1980s as a joint venture between Roederer and Heemskerk Wines, Jansz has always led the charge for high-quality Tasmanian wine. They only produce sparkling wine and have coined the phrase “Method Tasmanoise” to espouse the stylistic singularity of champagne method wine from here.
ASHBROOK ESTATE VERDEHLO MARGARET RIVER (West) 2017 $15
Lime, nectarine, herbs, citrus driven, minerality, salty (Pinot Grigio)
Light, zippy, crisp and clean, this wine showcases the naturally high acidity of Verdehlo, a grape better known for its presence in Portugal, particularly on the island of Madeira. This feels coastal in style and would be good for someone looking for a simple crushable light-bodied white.
VINTELOPER RIESLING ADELAIDE HILLS/CLARE VALLEY (Southern) 2017 $19
Key lime pie, cucumber, high acid, citrus, floral, saline, mineral, bone-dry.
This producer lost 95% of their vineyard land and their winery in the brush fires. They thought they were finished, but through an outpouring of support, they have begun to rebuild. And thank goodness because their wines are delicious. The Riesling is limey, herbaceous, cucumber-y, and a perfect counterpoint to oysters. In fact, they recommend “drinking Riesling from an oyster shell after you’ve just slammed a freshly shucked, creamy and salty Pacific oyster.”
RICCA TERRA Daisy Chain Muscat Blanc / Fiano New South Wales / Riverland Australia 2018
This is a medium-bodied, highly aromatic, floral white wine that smells sweet but is dry and fruity on the palate. The wine finishes slightly bitter – a nod to the white Italian grape varieties.
Aromatic, Floral, Citrus Oil, Citrus Blossom, Candied Orange, Candied Lemon, Sea Salt, slight bitter finish, Almond
VOYAGER ESTATE SAVIGNON BLANC / SEMILLON MARGARET RIVER (West) 2018 $16
Highly aromatic, little oak, pyrazine (bell pepper), tropical fruit
Ripe aromas of citrus, passion fruit, and guava are clear indicators that this is classic Sauvignon Blanc. This shows the ripeness of Western Australia and would be a great fit for someone who likes a little more tropical flavor in their Sauvignon Blanc like a California or New Zealand style.
BEN HAINES MARSANNE (Rhone grape) ‘WARRAMUNDA VOLTA BRACKETS’ YARRA VALLEY (Victoria - SE) 2016 $18
Stone fruit, orchard fruit, peach, little bitterness, med-bodied, lite spice (oak), (White Burgundy)
Marsanne is a grape commonly encountered in the Rhone Valley of France. Typically it’s med-full bodied with peachy and ripe citrusy flavors and a distinctly floral / bitter background. Here, the wine takes on 10% new oak adding some texture but retaining the classic varietal characteristics.
STELLA BELLA CHARDONNAY MARGARET RIVER (West) 2017 $20
Light creamy, citrus, jasmine, floral, 33% new oak
This Chardonnay is grown organically and goes through a wild fermentation, then ages in a portion of new oak. The wine shows the proper balance of freshness, citrus, and jasmine floral qualities while providing a familiar creamy texture from the oak. It feels properly balanced at a poised 12.9% alcohol.
KOERNER PIGATO (Skin Fermented)
CLARE VALLEY (Southern)
2019
$19
Tea, orange blossom, unfixed, unfiltered, tannins!
This wine spends 3 weeks on the skins and shows flavors of peach, tea, orange blossom and sea salt. A delicious skin-contacted white wine that speaks to the coastal heritage of this Italian white grape.
SMALLFRY CINSAULT / GRENACHE ‘ECLECTIK VIOLET’ BAROSSA (South Aus) 2019 $18
(Natural Red) Bright, raspberry, herbaceous, punchy, fruity, juicy, rose petal
Smallfry is in a state in Barossa making beautiful non interventionalist wines with a focus on purity and freshness. The wine is hazy in the glass, but redolent in fruit and immensely quaffable. This is not a funky natty wine, but a wine that shows the potential elegance of wine made hands-off.
TIM SMITH GRENACHE ‘BUGALUGS’ BAROSSA (South Aus) 2019 $16
Red fruit, cherry, strawberry, plum, lite floral, lite spice, modern style, elegant, restrained, soft (Beaujolais)
Textbook Grenache without sappy alcohol or tons of new oak. The wine expresses the aromatic capacity of Pinot Noir but with a more exotic profile. Soft but fresh, this is a gulpable wine. Unfined, unfiltered, only matured in old oak, and only 238 cases produced.
RIPOSTE PINOT NOIR ‘THE SABER’ ADELAIDE HILLS (Southern Aus) 2017 $20
New World, strawberry, cherry, light baking spice (oak), sleek, polished, full
This is the Pinot noir perfect for people who usually drink something like a Russian River style from Sonoma in California. Juicy, ripe, soft red fruits with spiced fragrance and flavor from a portion of new oak. The wine is flashy and delicious.
KOERNER SANGIOVESE ‘LA KORSE’ CLARE VALLEY (Southern Aus) 2019 $19
Dusty tannins, rosemary
Medium-bodied and showing varietal signatures of herb de Provence and leather, classic to Sangiovese but with the fruit density clearly belonging to Australia. The wine ages in concrete eggs to preserve the natural freshness and typically only about 1,000 bottles of these varietal bottling from the Koerner brothers are produced.
BRASH HIGGINS CABERNET FRANC ‘FRNC’ SOMMERVILLE VINEYARD, McCLAREN VALE (Southern Aus) 2017 $24
Med-body, savory, soft tannins, raspberry, tomato leaf, bell pepper (pyrazine) (Rt bank Burgundy)
Made by Brad Hickey, an ex-pat from Chicago, these wines show the potential for savory southern hemisphere wines. Always naturally fermented, unfined and unfiltered, the Cabernet Franc shows textbook notes of violet, graphite, turned earth, and charred chili’s all wrapped up in a medium-bodied, slightly firm wine. He claims the wine smells exactly like the vineyard after an autumn rain.
