Wines of the week: Seven new Australian wines to try

Australia may have thumped us in the recent Ashes series, but we still have a long ODI and T20 series to get even, which, whether or not you are a cricket fan, is as good an excuse as any for a look at some recently released Aussie wines…

As wine consumers, we should by now have moved far beyond the traditional and sometimes ubiquitous over-oaked Chardonnays and fruit-bomb Shiraz’s that once dominated the supermarket shelves, although the brands are still the overwhelming face of Aussie wines in corner shops. But thoughtful Aussie producers are now creating wines of grace, subtlety and power which are worth seeking out, mainly from more temperate and cooler regions.

In the Frankland River area of the Great Southern region of Western Australia, Larry Cherubino, whose wife Edwina’s English ancestors planted some of the first vines in the area in 1875, creates really individual wines that reflect the local Mediterranean climate (and his own European roots). Try the Cruel Mistress Pinot Noir 2015 (£16.40 Winepoole.co.uk £13.95; six bottles minimum purchase; strictlywine.co.uk) a really luscious, juicy velvety pinot, much more fulsome and structured than most French or Kiwi versions – ideal with pan-fried duck breast or any mushroom dishes. For a really special occasion, seek out his Beautiful South White Blend (£27.74; six bottles minimum order Corkingwines.co.uk; £34.95 six bottles minimum order, Strictlywine.co.uk) – mostly sauvignon blanc, but with a small amount of creamy semillon for texture, aged in oak for a short time: rich and powerful tropical fruits, but with a long, citrusy finish.

Moving some way east to the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, where the climate is cool and misty and the grapes grown at altitude, the well-regarded Nepenthe brand has recently relaunched in the UK, with a new range mainly available on Amazon. Like the Beautiful South sauvignon blend, the Nepenthe Pinnacle Petraea Sauvignon Blanc (£17.68 normally £19.99 Amazon.co.uk) gets added texture and complexity from a little oak ageing, and its fruit purity from being a single-vineyard wine. Ideal, as is recommended, with sushi and oily fish, such as a grilled tuna steak. Nepenthe also has the Altitude Shiraz (£12.99; three bottle minimum order; Amazon.co.uk) where the high-altitude grown grapes bring freshness and elegance to the party of typical cherry fruit and spice shiraz flavours, creating a still punchy but modulated wine that doesn’t overwhelm with its power. While we are talking Adelaide Hills shiraz, another wine which strays even further away from what has been the most expected Aussie way with the grape is the Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2014-15 (2015: £29.99 Ozwines.co.uk; 2014: £24.99 Slurp.co.uk) from a boutique winery run by two cousins and which is closer to a French Rhone syrah: lush, smooth, peppery and full of big, autumnal blackberry flavours.

open image in gallery

Staying in South Australia, the Eden Valley – another cool-climate, high-altitude area – produces the best rieslings in Australia, with concentrated, lime and sometimes tropical fruit flavours that unlike most of their European cousins, are usually properly dry. While McGuigan is a name familiar from those ranks of mass-produced budget wines, the full flavoured Shortlist Eden Valley Riesling (£14.00 Sainsburys.co.uk) is a great introduction to the style and demonstrates they can produce seriously good, serious wines as well; this would be excellent with lightly spiced oriental foods as well as any prime white fish.

What, no oak-aged Chardonnay to recommend? Well, not in this column. Try instead the 16 Little Black Pigs Chardonnay 2016 (£8.99; normally £9.99 Virginwines.co.uk) and confound your expectations of Aussie Chardy: vibrant, light, refreshing, crisp, a great everyday fridge door or party white. And not a bit of oak in sight.