Thanks so much for all these replies. Lots of good things to look for here. Cheers.
Aus component of my cellar consists of 4 producers:
Tyrell’s
Sami-odi
Tolpuddle
Bass Phillip
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A lot of great options on Kent’s list but I’ll add a few more
Curly Flat and Cobaw Ridge from Macedon, Montalto, Polperro, Garagiste from the Mornington Peninsula for pinot and Chardonnay
Castagna (Shiraz, Sangiovese), Sorrenberg (Gamay, Chardonnay) Savaterre (Chardonnay, Pinot) from Beechworth
Ravensworth From Canberra
Adelina from Clare Valley
Luke Lambert from the Yarra Valley
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I don’t know where you’re located, but Jon Ross and Janey Lopes import some fantastic producers at great prices.
This is the link to their website and hopefully there is a distributor near you or a store for you to buy from.
I had the chance to try some of their wines back in February and was impressed while they also got the seal of approval from some friends that know Aussie wine.
I would also highly suggest people look at the Grenache that is coming from Australia right now. Mark Davidson did a seminar earlier this year that I attended and I was also extremely impressed. Like, really impressed at the quality coming from there now. (without spamming this thread, I am happy to send anyone via DM a substack I wrote earlier this year on it and some other Grenaches I tried and was impressed with)
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I was very impressed by By Farr RP Cote Vineyard Pinot Noir from Geelong.
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Enjoy your trip down under Don. Will be interested in your impressions of the wines that you sample.
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Just in case you get the chance to sample Western Australian wines outside of Margaret River, there are a few good wineries in Pemberton, Mount Barker, Denmark and Porongurup or Great Southern in general. Riesling and shiraz would likely be the main grapes to look for but that’s not to say other grapes don’t do well here.
Names to look out for include:
Picardy (Pemberton, Chardonnay, Pinot, Shiraz)
Dukes, Castle Rock (Porongurup, rieslings from both, shiraz, pinot from CR)
Forest Hill (Denmark, Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet and a recent gewurtz was excellent)
Frankland Estate (Frankland River, rieslings, shiraz)
While these are smaller wineries, they should be generally available in better bottle shops.
Elsewhere, a must try would be Tahbilk Marsanne, both basic and old vines bottlings. They have lots of other wines too and their reds are on the rustic side which I like.
Cheers
Dave
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Good call Dave - what are the Howard Park wines like these days - had some great ones from the nineties and noughties.
Thanks to all of you. I have lots of ideas here going into my trip to Australia. All of these wines look really interesting.
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It’s been about twenty years but had a couple of bottles of E & E Black Pepper Shiraz that were lovely.
On top of all the brilliant Riesling they produce, please try Lambert. Luke Lambert makes some wold class Syrah. Haven’t had his Chardonnay or Nebbiolo, but they have a following. Bivium sells it here and I think Martine’s imports them.
There’s been a huge transformation in Aussie wine, just like here, so there’s a lot of good stuff (although I’m by no means an expert at all, just from the few samples I’ve managed to taste here).
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We don’t drink much red wine, but I would definitely second the recommendation above for the Unico Zelo Fianos (there’s a range from different terroirs). And you may be pleasantly surprised by the bang per buck with Aussie wine compared to US wine. The excellent UZ fianos that I’ve had have all been under US$25.
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I think the UZ Jade and Jasper is probably still under 25, but there are some single vineyards that might be a little more expensive. They also have some funky interesting italian red varietals, but their focus is def Fiano. Owners Laura and Brendan are top people also, and do a lot of great stuff.
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Second Lambert and I’d also add SC Pannell to this list. Steve Pannell’s parents founded Moss Wood in Margaret River where he grew up, but he blazed his own path and worked at Mouton, Dujac, Lafon, Pousse d’Or and GD Vajra before returning home to start his eponymous label. He makes incredible old vine grenache and syrah, as well as one of Australia’s benchmark Nebbiolos, alongside Luke Lambert.
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Have a wonderful trip, Don, and report if you can. Lots of great things here, many wineries I have no knowledge of.
If I get back there, a trip over to Taz will be obligatory. I’ve also not yet been in the Margaret River and should correct that. For Chard, Leeuwin’s Art Series has always carried the ball for me. Penfolds’ Yattarna used to, but not sure if they can still deliver. Found Giaconda’s to be very big in style, though I sorely miss their iconic and idiosyncratic Roussanne.
Adore Grosset Polish Hill. So, so, so dry.
For pinot, my previous enjoyable experiences were centered in the Yarra valley.
Again, above all, go and come safe. Hope you may have time to meet some of our comrades over there.
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Agree with this. There’s some of his Jimmy Watson Trophy winning 13 Syrah on some lists too.
My understanding is that if you want decent wine in this part of the world you should go to New Zealand instead.
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It seems given the number of producers listed in this thread, lots of people would disagree. I would say NZ makes some great wines also.
I had a Tazmanian pinot from Tolpuddle last night that was out of sight good. Not Burgundy but the equal of many from NZ and OZ. There are many pinots and chards from this whole area that are interesting. Not Burgundy but extremely interesting and tasty.
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He’s just trolling. Slow Tuesday. Even @gavin.f know the only things New Zealand makes better than Australia are rugby union players, hobbits, and gadgets for making love to sheep.
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