Best Buy Wines (Feb/Mar 2008): $30 and under

The Gourmet Traveller WINE panel – Max Allen, Peter Bourne, Bob Campbell MW, Peter Forrestal, Huon Hooke and Jeremy Oliver – recommend great-value wines from home and further afield.

2007 Tower Estate Semillon, Hunter Valley, A$26
There are two good reasons why you should buy this delicious wine. For a start, like many other producers in the region, the winemakers at Tower have imbued it with a little more texture and richness than you’d find in the classic, lean, tart, delicate Hunter style. There’s some creamy grape-pulp roundness in here among the variety’s light dusting of chalky acidity. Also, it is sealed under screwcap, which will help the wine mature slowly and reliably over many years, developing complex toastiness as it ages. MA

2006 Millbrook Viognier, Western Australia, A$22
I first came across this intense yet delicate and fine viognier while judging at the 2007 Perth Hills Show, where it won the top award: the first time a white had won Wine of the Show in the 11-year history of the event (it beat the 2005 Millbrook Shiraz Viognier.) This is delightfully aromatic with lavender and dried herb aromas, rich and concentrated dried apricot flavours, impressive weight and viscosity yet a vibrant core, tight structure, admirable finesse and a beguiling aftertaste. PF

2006 Yabby Lake Red Claw Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula, A$25
The team at Yabby Lake have piled lots of runs on the board since their inaugural vintage in 2002; their wines’ price and quality rapidly elevating them to the ranks of the “serious”. Their first entry-level wine is a beauty. Enticing aromas of white peach and pink grapefruit dominate the nose with subtle overtones of fresh nougat, wild honey and baked apple. Equally alluring on the palate, stone fruit shines through, with Tod Dexter’s gentle winemaking artifices in the background. The finish is clean, tight and has a final flourish of racy acidity. PB

2006 Lillydale Estate Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, A$26
Lillydale pinots used to be light and rather wispy; this is perhaps the most robust yet, with excellent depth and structure, and loads of flavour and character, making it a bargain at this often-discounted price. It has some meaty, animal complexities on the nose with a twist of smoky oak, while the palate is firm and almost solid, with real muscle that helps it go with food, including meat – a spicy spatchcock dish worked beautifully. It’s a trifle on the oak-driven side but not unbalanced. Drink now and for at least three years. HH

2007 Mt Difficulty Target Gully Riesling, Central Otago, A$32/NZ$25
The 2006 vintage was voted top white wine at the Tri-Nations Wine Challenge, but this is even better. It has greater concentration of lime/citrus, rose petal and mineral flavours than its excellent predecessor but the same exquisite knife-edged acidity. With 40g/litre residual sugar, the wine offers a sweet first impression that quickly transforms to a tingling dry finish. The precious Bannockburn vineyard that produced this wine must some day be recognised as a national treasure. Every vintage is excellent, 2007 the best yet. BC

2006 Tertini and Knight Private Cellar Collection Arneis, Southern Highlands, A$28
This arneis from the Southern Highlands of NSW is proof positive of Australia’s successful search for new regional combinations with recently introduced varieties. Tinged with a hint of gold, this floral young white marries fresh peach, pear and almond-like flavours with nuances of vanilla and butter, and carries mealy, leesy undertones courtesy of partial barrel fermentation. Supported by dusty phenolics, it’s artfully made and integrated with pleasing depth and structure. JO

Article Taken from Gourmet Traveller

Best Buy Wines (Feb/Mar 2008): $30 and under

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