Quartier 2024 Pinot Gris

 

This is a quintessential fun summer white wine from the Gjergia family and winemaker Tim Perrin, who produce some stellar Mornington Peninsula wines under the Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate labels, and some terrific drops for everyday drinking under the Quartier label, which uses grower rather than estate fruit. This new release is a ripper; with tangy freshness and vibrancy perhaps more akin to grigio than gris styles, and a very food friendly personality with citrus and stone fruit flavours front and centre. Very good drinking for $30. https://www.portphillipestate.com.au/our-wines/

$30.  

Stockman's Ridge 2022 "Rider" Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Sampling this blind, my first thought was "this tastes like Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux". And while that may sound like cliché, it is a fair summation. The good news is that, at around $30 retail, it offers claret character without the price tag. It is a lovely, savoury and elegant expression of cool-climate cabernet with green hints but excellent balance. The wine spent a couple of weeks on skins before being matured in older oak barrels, and a dash of cabernet franc was added to the final blend. This is from a cool year in the Orange region of Central Western NSW. It is ripe, but astutely judged. Good value drinking. $30. www.stockmansridge.com.au 

Oliver's Taranga 2024 Falanghina

 

Winemaker Corrina Wright is never afraid to push the boundaries; showcasing several alternative varieties in small-batch releases - including Spanish grape mencia - in the Oliver's Taranga range. This is another newcomer making its debut, crafted from an Italian white grape variety that is difficult to say but easy to drink. Vegan friendly and Sustainable Winegrowing Australia-certified, this McLaren Vale white might well emerge as a serious rival to both fiano and vermentino down the track. Pronounced FAH-lahn-GHEE-nah, and native to the Campania region in southern Italy, this has lively, flavoursome orange/tangerine/peach and melon fruit notes, along with nutty and honeyed hints. It finishes with crisp, clean acidity. Perfect with summer salads. $35.  https://www.oliverstaranga.com/

Logan 2022 Orange Ridge of Tears Shiraz

This is one of a pair of stellar 2022 shirazes from Peter Logan at Logan Wines, one from Mudgee and this one from nearby Orange. It perfectly captures the appeal of cool-climate shiraz, being intensely flavoured without the sometimes intrusive weight and power of warmer-climate siblings. The 2022 growing season was one of the coldest on record in Orange, resulting in lower yields but wines of purity and minerality, and, in this case, red berry fruit allied to pepper and spice aromas and flavours. Medium-bodied, but all the better for that, this is immensely food friendly and disturbingly moreish. $60. https://www.loganwines.com.au/