NOTE ON PRICES
Wine producers and their distributors are asked to supply the recommended retail price for each wine tasted. Where applicable, we run recommended retail prices for both Australia and New Zealand. Prices may vary depending on the outlet. If a wine is not distributed in one or other of the countries, the local price will not be given. However, it may be possible to order through an overseas distributor.
Best Buy Wines (June/July 09): $30 and under
Our panel – Max Allen, Peter Bourne, Bob Campbell MW, Peter Forrestal, Huon Hooke and Jeremy Oliver – recommend great-value wines from home and further afield.
2007 Maverick Twins Shiraz, Barossa, A$25
Maverick is one of the Barossa’s new names to watch: with mature vineyards on the Barossa floor and up in the Eden Valley, and an excellent viticultural/winemaking team ensconced in a state-of-the-art winery, the first few vintages have been exemplary. This shiraz, a blend of fruit from Maverick’s warmer and cooler vineyard sites (hence the ‘twins’ moniker), is full of rich, ripe purple fruit, but despite the opulent density, there’s also a freshness and liveliness that stops it from being heavy or cloying. MA
2006 McGuigan Shortlist Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, A$27
After five years with Neil McGuigan at the helm, we are starting to see the fruit of his long-term planning with impressive reds from the Barossa, Langhorne Creek and Coonawarra coming from James Evers and the team at Lyndoch in the Barossa. This single-vineyard Coonawarra cabernet is powerful, rich and concentrated, with blackcurrant and black olive flavours, plush, silky smooth tannins and some complexity. A well-priced red with cellaring potential, excellent with food now. PF
2008 Escarpment The Edge Pinot Noir, Martinborough, A$29/NZ$25
Larry McKenna made the benchmark pinots at Martinborough Vineyards for over 20 years – his new venture, Escarpment, reaping the benefits of his vast experience in the region. The Edge Pinot Noir has fresh aromatics of raspberry and red currant are enlivened with hints of earthy sur bois. The palate is fine and surprisingly complex for what is essentially an un-oaked pinot, which delivers both structure and flesh bound by a fine backbone of dusty tannins and enlivened by a twist of bright acidity. PB
2006 Elderton Shiraz, Barossa, A$27
This is the little brother to Elderton’s flagship Command Shiraz, one of the more attractive blockbuster styles in the Barossa. It’s a smooth, nicely balanced red that’s starting to show some savoury complexities from development, with licorice, chocolate and aniseed to the fore. It’s not too oaky nor alcoholic, but is full of honest Barossa flavour, fruit-sweet on the mid-palate and with a lush, silky texture. Just delicious. Drink it now and for the next eight to 10 years. HH
2007 Dog Point Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, A$44/NZ$30
I’m very keen on this wine but buyers beware, it’s not your average Marlborough sauvignon blanc. Barrel fermentation, extensive lees contact and malolactic fermentation have transformed it into a tight, minerally wine retaining plenty of sauvignon blanc character (green capsicum, lemongrass) but with a strong yeasty undercurrent and very subtle oak. The result is a wine with plenty of class that gives a definite nod in the direction of Pouilly Fume. BC
2007 Heathcote Winery Mail Coach Shiraz, Heathcote, A$28
Despite many Heathcote growers ensuring their regional qualities are quashed beneath the raisined and pruney characters of overcooked fruit, well-grown shiraz from this region reveals a penetrative and slightly sour-edged attack on the palate, with musky, meaty and cracked pepper-like complexity. Here is a deep, piercing young shiraz whose core of blackberry, blueberry and dark plum flavours is tightly wound around a spine of fine, grainy tannins. It’s heady, aromatic, savoury and finely balanced. JO