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This one could be a real game changer. While many Australian merlots are bland and monochromatic, this debut wine from Ruckus Estate is a very different beast. There is some great fruit here, along with quite prominent oak (50% new), and the overall package might change your mind about merlot in Australia as this could easily be mistaken for right bank Bordeaux. Impressive. New clones planted in Wrattonbully and great work from consultant winemaker Sue Bell are the key here, with all the bells-and-whistles (joke) wine making including partial whole bunch, open ferments, indigenous yeasts etc. This is dark and inky but at the same time subtle and beguiling. I'll be looking out for the second release. $50. www.ruckusestate.com/
From an impressive range of wines from Austrian Heidi Schrock, who is based at Rust in the Burgenland, this is an outstanding beerenauslese dessert wine that is sweet but impeccably poised. The Schrock family has been growing grapes since the late 18th century and the family's south-facing vineyards form an amphitheatre around Lake Neusiedl. This is a 50-50 blend of riesling and pinot blanc, largely botrytised, with a delicate floral nose that leads on to a cumquat marmalade palate with 95 grams of residual sugar and a crisp acid finish. This is more than just a "pudding wine", however, with Schrock keen that wine lovers should try pairing her sweet wines with savoury dishes. This would go well with spicy Thai seafood dishes with a high chilli and ginger quotient. $60 for 375ml. Imported by World Wine Estates www.worldwineestates.com.au
If you enjoy red wines than sing softly rather than shriek, then you've come to the right place. This is a quite splendid cool-climate shiraz made by Alex Retief from fruit grown on his family's biodynamic vineyard in the Gundagai region, previously better known for a sculpture of a dog on a box rather than vinous excellence. This, however, should make you sit up and pay attention. It is a melodious wine of great subtlety, with dark cherry and white spice notes canoodling contentedly. There is plenty of length and plenty of flavour (and only 11.5% alcohol) but all the elements are seamless. Quite simply a lovely drink. $28. www.aretief.com.au
Grace Farm is a relative newcomer in Margaret River. The first vines were only planted in 2006 and the initial wines were released in 2010. Young vines or not, this is an absolutely outstanding chardonnay with an impressive purity and intensity to it. The fruit is grown in vineyards that are farmed organically, although not certified, and this was hand-picked and fermented using indigenous yeasts. French oak barriques have added structural interest without intruding on the brightness, while stone fruit and citrus notes co-existing amicably along with fresh, brisk acidity. A really lovely wine to drink - and absurdly good value. We paired it with roast loin of pork. $30. www.gracefarm.com.au.
This is like a very good football referee. It speaks softly but commands great respect. Michael Kerrigan makes a very wide range of wines at Hay Shed Hill in Margaret River and while cabernet franc may seem an unlikely choice as a stand-alone variety, it really shines in this incarnation. There is real concentration and varietal character here, making this perhaps the "go to" label for anyone interested in what is mostly used a blending component in Australia, and virtually everywhere else except Chinon in the Loire Valley. This is a wine of both restrained power and finesse (none of your airy fairy franc lightness here) and it is extremely food friendly, too. $35.
www.hayshedhill.com.au.
The Pawn is the wine label of Tom Keelan, former vineyard manager and still significant other at Bremerton in Langhorne Creek, along with some of his wine industry colleagues. It is a new name to me, introduced by his Tasmanian distributor Joe Holyman, and all three wines I tried, this, a sangiovese and a tempranillo, shone. As you might have guessed, the focus is mainly on alternative varieties and this Adelaide Hills take on the aromatic Austrian grape gruner veltliner sings with all the silvery tone of a diva soprano. It offers both refreshment and textural interest with orange blossom fragrance, apple and pear notes and hints of white spice. There is brisk minerality and some assertive acid. Fun and interesting. $27. www.thepawn.com.au.
At a time when many Barossa producers are charging several hundred dollars a bottle for their flagship reds it is remarkable that St Hallett's Old Block Shiraz still has an RRP of just $100. It is an outstanding wine in its own right, cellar-worthy for sure, but also a tad more suave and elegant than several of its more brash, robust contemporaries. This is a stylish wine that's made from both Barossa and cooler-climate Eden Valley fruit. Matured in French oak, its has both power and restraint. From a great vintage, this supple and savoury wine weighs in at an eminently sensible 13.7% alcohol and is designed for sipping and savouring, perhaps when matched with a venison casserole. $100. www.sthallett.com.au.
