Bishop by Ben Glaetzer 2023

Ben Glaetzer makes several top-notch red wines that reward long-term cellaring, including the Amon-Ra and Anaperenna. This is similarly well crafted shiraz but offers more immediate drinking pleasure with its classic Barossa combo of power and elegance. From a dry, sunny but late vintage, this offers a lot of length and style for a very fair price. It spent 16 months in mainly older French hogshead barrels for structure but finishes beguilingly soft on the palate. The wine is named in honour of Ben's mother Judith [Bishop] - who has the unique distinction of having two wines named after her by her sons. The other is the Glaetzer-Dixon La Judith. This one offers very good buying for $40. www.glaetzer.com. 

Hoddles Creek 2025 Pinot Noir

For several years this was consistently Australia's best sub-$25 pinot noir. But times have changed, the price has gone up and it is now Australia's best sub-$26 pinot noir. Extremely gulpable, but good enough to pair with fine cuisine, we have another winner from the d'Anna family's Upper Yarra Valley property. From an early and warm vintage the winemaking team has managed to still make a very pretty wine. Red berries and dark cherry aromas lead the nose, and there are firm but supple tannins on the palate. This spent time in 30% new, 30% one year old and the balance in two and three year old oak and spent 11 months in barrel before being bottled without filtration or fining. A serious bargain this one. Pair with poultry or mushroom dishes. $26. https://www.hoddlescreekestate.com.au/

Nericon 2025 Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay

 

Looking for a new wine label to try? The Nericon wines from Dee Vine Estate in the New South Wales Riverina deliver a lot of drinking pleasure at a very fair price right across the range. The Nericon vineyard, outside Beelgbangera, has produced wine grapes since the 1950s. This is a good choice for those who like their chardonnays medium bodied with just a hint of oak and lots of food-friendly attributes. Think white peach and nectarine notes on the palate. Fresh fruit plays the lead role across a seasoned palate with French oak in subtle support. You can't go wrong at $16. Pair with poultry dishes. https://www.deevineestate.com/nericon

Burton McMahon 2024 D'Aloisio Vineyard Chardonnay

 

When long-time mates Matt Burton and Dylan McMahon are not making wines for a living they combine to make wines for fun. The Gundog Estate winemaker and his former Seville Estate friend combine to make small-batch chardonnays and pinot noirs from the Yarra Valley. This new release is pretty, precise and persistent, made from grapes grown in Seville in the cool Upper Yarra. It is a very composed wine with plenty to say. Nutty oak plays a support role to the expressive citrus and white peach notes and there is some brisk, food-friendly acidity. We paired with lightly seared tuna. Only 320 dozen were made. 94 points. $60. www.gundgogestate.com.au

Angullong 2023 Fossil Hill Tempranillo

 

Angullong is a family-owned wine producer in the cool-climate region of Orange in the Central West of New South Wales - a location producing increasingly impressive wines across the board. Here we have a Spanish grape variety - most famous for its key role in the great wines of Rioja - crafted in Australia by a Canadian winemaker, Jeff Byrne. Bright and immediately engaging, this offers a nice balance between savoury fruit notes and quality oak. We paired it with chilli con carne and rice, and it proved a most amiable pairing. Outstanding value at $30.  https://www.angullong.com.au/

Ask The Elephant 2025 Pinot Grigio

 

A tenner? You don't get much wine for a tenner nowadays, do you? Well this new brand release from Fourth Wave Wines delivers good everyday drinking across the five wines in the range - with this one my favourite. Ask the Elephant is an offshoot from thes crowd-pleasing Elephant in the Room label - using keywords to make buying easier for novice wine buyers. Friendly is the word in question here and this is certainly a white with wide appeal. Red apple and pear flavours lead the charge with fruit sweetness and nutty hints in support. It sits midway between gris and grigio in style and there are plenty of $25 wines that this puts to shame. The sauvignon blanc in the same range is also pretty cool. Coming to Dan Murphy's and BWS stores soon. $9.99.

Cullen 2024 Diana Madeline

What style of wizardry is this? Tasted blind you could easily mistake this for one of the stellar left bank cabernet-driven red blends of Bordeaux - wines that fetch stratospheric prices. This isn't cheap, but it is bargain compared to other Australian flagships now pushing over $1000 a bottle. This benchmark comes from the earliest, driest, and hottest vintage on record in Margaret River, but the biodynamic, dry-grown vines sailed through the test. Still aromatic, still powerful, still balanced, still elegant. Dark with cassis flavours to the fore, along with nutty/vanilla characters, impressive tannin structure and stupendous length. The blend comprises 90% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 3% malbec, and 2% merlot. Pair with a lamb roast for maximum pleasure. Released this week. I think this is my favourite wine of the year so far. 98 points. $160. https://cullenwines.com.au/

https://cullenwines.com.au/