While the country has a long history of producing vino—its oldest vines date to 1843 and still produce grapes—there is also a wealth of ambitious producers keen on trying new things. This includes reviving nearly forgotten varietals, turning vineyards into wildlife preserves, experimenting with natural and biodynamic wines and figuring out how to evolve in the face of climate change.  

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“With 65 wine regions spanning a nation with roughly the same land mass as the United States, Australia is one of the wine world’s most diverse and—in this reviewer’s opinion—underrated wine nations,” says Christina Pickard, a Wine Enthusiast writer-at-large who reviews wines from Australia, New Zealand, New York and England. 

While the country is best known for its full-bodied Shiraz and dynamic Chardonnay, Australia offers much more, including other cool-climate varietals like Gamay and Grenache. To celebrate the wealth of wine from the region—and to help make buying them easier—we’ve rounded up a lucky 13 of our favorite bottles. 

“This list demonstrates the country’s astounding diversity of wine styles, from gorgeously complex Margaret River Chardonnay to perfumed McLaren Vale Grenache and world-class Tasmanian bubbles,” Pickard says. “To add to the fun, they’re wines from a mix of small batch, lo-fi producers, medium ones with larger-than-life reputations and large-scale household names. There is truly an Australian wine to suit every palate.” 

Xanadu 2021 Reserve Chardonnay (Margaret River)

A margarita-style Chardonnay if ever there was one, this feels like you’re standing at the edge of the Indian Ocean (less than four miles from where these grapes are grown) on a brisk day, the salty sea air whipping, the sand between your toes, a lemon twist martini in hand. As delicious as it is evocative, it pings in the mouth with a lightly creamy texture and mouthwatering, laser-like, lemon zest acidity that lingers long on the finish, making it impossible to put down. 97 points. Editor’s Choice. — Christina Pickard

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Giaconda 2019 Estate Vineyard Shiraz (Beechworth)

From one of the world’s most underrated fine wine regions, Beechworth, this estate enjoys icon status Down Under, selling out in a matter of minutes. Here in the U.S., it’s still a well-kept secret (for now). While the estate is known more for its Chardonnay, this Shiraz bottling is downright gorgeous. With a perfume worthy of slathering all over oneself, it billows notes of macerated blueberry and red berry fruit, a potpourri dish of dried florals and spices, licorice, chocolate and terra-cotta. It’s silky and slinky, soft around the edges like melted chocolate, but lifted by alpine freshness. Supple, sexy and drinking well now, this could continue to evolve until 2030 or so. 97 points. — C.P.

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Torbreck 2020 RunRig Shiraz-Viognier (Barossa Valley)

Rich, evocative aromas of mulberry, blueberry, coffee bean and hot-cocoa mix lend approachability to what is otherwise a rich, dense wine, packed with flavor, but also with powerful, chalk dust tannins that need serious protein if opening now. Patience will be rewarded, however. Give this a few more years in bottle. 96 points. Cellar Selection. — C.P.

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Cullen 2021 Kevin John Chardonnay (Margaret River)

Vibrant, concentrated aromas of just-sliced pineapple and lemon bounce from the glass of this premium Margaret River Chardonnay, from one of the region’s most long-standing and progressive producers. There’s a gingery, salted rock undertow. The palate shows creaminess and fruit weight but remains juicy and bright thanks to a beautiful thread of vibrant acidity that ends long and citrusy. Delicious now, this could age until 2033, at least. 96 points. — C.P.

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Walsh & Sons 2021 Roi Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River)

There’s a lovely fruity lightness to this, in comparison to the density of some Margaret River Cabs, with an elegant perfume of red currant, bay leaf and savory spice. The succulent, silky fruit washes over the tongue first, the fine, spicy tannins creeping in later. A focused, food-friendly drop that’s deliciously drinkable right now. 95 Points. — C.P.

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Henschke 2008 Hill of Grace Shiraz (Eden Valley)

Because the 2019 vintage was so small, Henschke has offered up a few museum releases of vintages that were similar climactically to ‘19. This is a rare opportunity to taste the evolution of Australia’s most famous single-vineyard wine— and what a sexy one it is. With shades of brick starting at its edges, the heady aromatics of a wine in its second decade of transformation are immediately apparent: spiced macerated cherries and blackberries, mocha, the cracked spines of old books, raw beef and hoisin-glazed mushrooms. It’s silky in the mouth, the tannins still firm and powdery, but softening, curving into the folds of the wine, a spiced meat nuance lingering on the long finish. 99 points. — C.P.

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Brokenwood 2018 Oakey Creek Semillon (Hunter Valley)

This is aging comparatively quickly but it’s showing beautifully. Both vibrant and fruity, and also honeyed and oily, there’s delicate floral, white spice and waxy citrus and peach notes to start. The palate is wonderfully fresh with a long, bright line of lemon acidity that cuts through the viscosity of the mouthfeel. It’s a uniquely Australian style that should hold up for several more years. 94 points. — C.P.

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Ochota Barrels 2022 The Price of Silence Gamay (Adelaide Hills)

Since the untimely death of Taras Ochota, who was one of Australia’s modern winemaker rock stars, his wife, Amber, has taken the reins, and wine quality hasn’t suffered. This small-batch Gamay is oh-so-delicious with enticing plump berry fruit and spice aromas and a spicy, herbal, stony mineral underlay. Piercing acidity and chiseled tannins create linearity and drive. There’s an ease and transparency to this that comes from minimal winemaking, and a drinkability that belies solid winemaking and varietal and site expression. 95 points. Editor’s Choice. — C.P.

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Unico Zelo 2021 Esoterico White (South Australia)

This is a vibrant snap, crackle and pop wine, from its electric orange color to its bombastic, musky aromas of ginger, florals, honeycomb, candied citrus and peach. It doesn’t disappoint in the mouth, with well-placed skins-y tannins and tingly, spicy acidity. There’s a botanical garden feel and an orange peel note to end. For those more adventurous drinkers—and for those seeking highly ethical winemakers—this won’t disappoint. 94 points. — C.P.

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Moorooduc 2018 Pinot Noir (Mornington Peninsula)

Mornington Peninsula is synonymous with Pinot and Moorooduc is one of the region’s top producers. The color of rose petals and bricks, the ’18 vintage is in a lovely place. It’s aromatic and expressive, with potpourri-like aromas of dried red berries, crushed flower petals and spice that knit seamlessly together. They’re underpinned by earthy, autumnal nuances. The ethereal palate comes with a beautiful tang of acidity. It’s framed by ultra-fine, chiseled tannins, which leave room for the delicate red fruit, floral and spice flavors that linger on the lengthy finish. Drink now—2028. 94 points. Editor’s Choice. — C.P.

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Yangarra 2020 Ovitelli Grenache (McLaren Vale)

From one of Australia’s Grenache masters, this is a concentrated-yet-elegant vintage of biodynamic winemaker Pete Fraser’s “egg” wine. Lucid, lifted cran-cherry red fruit is woven with savory herbs, licorice and dried florals, and flecked with minerals. The palate is a tightrope of elegance and power, with tightly wound, talc-textured tannins. Still in its infancy, it has at least another decade left in it. 95 points. — C.P.

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Grosset 2023 Polish Hill Riesling (Clare Valley)

2023 was a cool, late-ripening vintage in the Clare and the resulting wines are elegant and filigreed—approachable now, but with the structure and complexity to age for decades. Delicate aromas of lemon-lime, peach blossom, beeswax and lavender soap open. Like a soft hold of the hand, they lead gently to a pristine palate that’s dry with high-toned fruit and prickly acidity. Texturally it feels both lightly creamy and chalky all at once. 96 points. Cellar Selection. — C.P.

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Clover Hill 2016 Méthode Traditionnelle (Tasmania)

Medium gold in hue, it instantly offers likable aromas of lemon, toast, margarita salt and cashew. They lead to a wonderfully fresh, zippy palate with a chalky texture, tingly, lemony acidity, a softly creamy mousse and persistent bubbles to the long finish. It is a class act from a top Tassie bubbles producer, and at a cracking price to boot. 94 points. — C.P.

$45 Buy Aussie Wine

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But just before the Gouais vines met their unfortunate fate, a staff member surfing the World Wide Web (this was the ’90s, after all) stumbled upon the research of Carole Meredith, a grape geneticist and viticulture professor at the University of California, Davis, who was studying the grape. The variety, as she and her team uncovered had a far more fascinating lineage than previously believed. The humble Gouais Blanc was, in fact, the “mother” grape for at least 81 different varieties, including Chardonnay and Gamay.  

In reading about Meredith’s research, Chambers and his team learned that his vineyard contained one of the only commercial plantings of the grape on the planet. The vineyard team contacted Meredith about their vines and she urged them not to destroy the Gouais Blanc. This series of events helped to usher a period of preservation of a variety on the verge of extinction.

An International Effort to Save Gouais Blanc 

That Gouais Blanc’s historical significance was discovered at all is due in large part to international teamwork.  

Late 20^th-century grape genetics were rudimentary compared to today. In the early 1990s, there were no DNA markers available in grapes, says Meredith, referring to the genetic “fingerprinting” that’s common today. So, she formed an international consortium with 20 other researchers across 10 countries to develop a database of markers. “We knew they would become an invaluable tool to develop a better understanding of grapevine biology,” she says. The consortium collected data on over 300 grape cultivars—some of which were nearly extinct, like Gouais—in order to learn the grapes’ parent relationships and genetic makeup. 

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By the late ’90s, the researchers’ collaboration had begun to pay off. They started to see patterns in the varieties’ lineage and were surprised to discover how many grapes shared a common set of parents, in particular Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc.  

“We, like most other grape genetics researchers, had never heard of Gouais Blanc and had included it in our study because it was one of several hundred varieties historically associated with northeastern France,” Meredith says.  

While believed to have originated in Eastern Europe, Gouais plantings were widespread across northeastern France throughout the Middle Ages. The vines were grown on “the mediocre sites, the better sites being reserved for more noble varieties such as Pinot,” reads the 1999 paper Meredith and five other researchers co-authored. Gouais was “a variety considered so mediocre that it was banned (unsuccessfully) at various times in at least two regions and is no longer planted in France,” the paper stated. Even the name Gouais, which derives from the old French adjective “gou,” is a term of disparagement.  

Affectionately nicknamed the “Casanova of Cultivars,” Gouais is the “mother” of Chardonnay and Gamay, most famously, but also to well-known vinifera varieties like Aligoté, Blaufränkisch, Melon de Bourgogne (the grape used for Muscadet), Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Furmint (the variety used in Hungary’s famed Tokaji wines), as well as over 70 more. 

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Gouais’s undesirability could have been due to the grape’s high-yields, susceptibility to botrytis, high acidity and low sugar content, which often resulted in a low-alcohol wine of neutral character. But for such a downtrodden variety, it sure got around. There are over 50 different aliases for Gouais; it’s known as Weisser Heunisch in Germany and Gwäss, in Switzerland, to name a couple. It once populated almost every corner of Europe, from Portugal to Hungary.  

Gouais Blanc Travels to the Southern Hemisphere 

At the turn of the 20th century, Gouais escaped Europe’s borders and traveled to Australia. The vines landed in Rutherglen, a region famed for its fortified wines. Winemaker Stephen Chambers, Bill Chambers’s son and the sixth generation of his family to make wine, believes that his vineyard obtained the Gouais vines from Rutherglen Viticultural Station, a research institute that experimented with recently imported varieties for suitability. “As part of the program they would have wanted a commercial quantity planted,” Chambers says.  

Once Meredith learned of the Aussie plantings in the late ’90s, she asked Bill Chambers to send sample cuttings to California for DNA fingerprinting, which would further the researchers’ studies on the variety.  

Bill Chambers died in December 2023, but, more than 25 years later, the over 120-year-old Gouais Blanc vines are still going strong in Rutherglen. Utilizing mostly original equipment in the 166-year-old winery, Stephen Chambers, who has been at the winemaking helm since 2001, makes both a still and sparkling wine from Gouais. Occasionally, he’ll produce a wine called “The Family,” which blends Gouais with genetically related Riesling and Gewürztraminer. 

As the climate in northeast Victoria warms, Gouais, once known for its neutral aromas and high acid, is making more flavorful wines. 

When Chambers started working with Gouais in the early 2000s, “it was a very late white which tended to retain its acid and was quite austere as a variety,” he says. “Now it has developed some aromatics and ripens closer to the other white varieties we have in the vineyard, albeit at a lower sugar level; even an occasional acid addition is required.” 

A New-World Companion 

The sole commercial Gouais Blanc producer in wine’s “New World” for over a century, Chambers now finds itself in the company of another Gouais producer, Björnson Vineyard, in the Eola-Amity Hills region of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 2019, it became the first American producer to grow the variety. 

Björnson Vineyards owner Mark Björnson decided to plant the grape out of curiosity after he read about its history but couldn’t find it in the U.S. “I thought it would be interesting to plant some and produce wine,” he says.  

There’s been a learning curve with the grape. Björnson noticed that Gouais ripens later than Pinot Noir and always has a large crop load. Located in a cooler region than Rutherglen, he sees the prominent acidity inherent to Gouais. “It reminds me of a Muscadet,” he says, referring to the Loire wine made from Melon de Bourgogne, one of Gouais’s offspring. “[It has] floral notes on the nose with bright lemon flavor and a long finish. It goes very well with raw oysters.” 

The winery sold just 60 cases of its first Gouais, released in 2022, which was fermented in concrete egg then finished in neutral oak. It will soon release 75 cases of the 2023 vintage, which is fermented in stainless steel, sometime this year. 

Swiss Champions 

While Americans and Australians may get to taste singular domestic examples of this ancestral variety, back in Europe the variety remains mostly a museum curiosity.  

While a smattering of German producers and one Italian, make minuscule quantities of wine from the variety, almost everywhere except Switzerland has forgotten it. That Gouais still grows in the country—no one knows how much, as it might be a row or block scattered here or there—is thanks to preservation initiatives like VinEsch that are targeting the country’s many historic grape varieties.

José Vouillamoz—a Swiss botanist, grape geneticist, co-author of the book Wine Grapes and mentee of Carole Meredith—is leading those efforts. He has been instrumental in raising awareness of Gouais, which was once a major varietal player in Switzerland before phylloxera decimated Europe’s vines in the mid-19th century. 

In 2009, Vouillamoz, with his winemaker friend Josef-Marie Chanton, organized a “World Summit of Gouais” at a ski resort in the Valais region. In an effort to increase awareness of the variety, they hoped to gather all the known producers of the variety in the world. While half a dozen prominent journalists attended the summit, only five producers were present. Chambers couldn’t make it due to the distance, and only one non-Swiss winery accepted the invitation, the German producer Weingut Georg Breuer. While miniscule in scale, the gathering did reinforce Breuer’s convictions to continue growing Gouais, as well as Chanton’s.  

The co-founder of VinEsch with Vouillamoz, Chanton, who is based in Valais, is one of Switzerland’s main Gouais producers. Production size is still tiny (there were just 1,030 bottles produced in the last vintage), but Chanton’s Gouais boasts “nice aromatics and very high acidity,” Vouillamoz says. 

The Ancestral Search Continues  

Over two decades after the genetic importance of Gouais was discovered, scientists are still uncovering significant details about the grape’s history.  

In 2018, geonomics researcher Anthony Borneman and a team of seven other scientists at the Australian Wine and Research Institute (AWRI) embarked on a search for Gouais’s own parentage. Again, the peasant variety proved full of surprises. 

Pinot Noir, it seems, is both parent and partner to Gouais Blanc. “We sequenced the genome of Chardonnay and compared this to the Pinot and Gouais,” Borneman says. “Rather than the usual pattern you would expect for a parent-offspring trio, the data suggested that some inbreeding had occurred in the Chardonnay family tree.” 

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As more discoveries are made about the ancient variety, some grape geneticists herald Gouais as one of the vinifera varieties well-suited to weather the effects of climate change and even to aid in breeding new, hardier varieties. 

“Gouais Blanc has been through many different climates since the Middle Ages; it most likely existed even before,” says Vouillamoz. “This makes it a candidate variety to be the best genetically equipped to cope with climate change. It is also important to maintain it for future breeding. Since Pinot and Gouais Blanc once gave birth to Chardonnay, deliberate crossings of Pinot with Gouais Blanc would allow breeding of siblings, and maybe one of them will be even better than Chardonnay.” 

The Casanova of Cultivars, it seems, isn’t going anywhere. 

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Jones’s ultra-premium Pinots put Gippsland on the map. The price for his first top-tier Reserve bottling was higher than any Pinot in Australia ever. Today, it’s the most expensive Australian wine available in the U.S., priced at upwards of $1,000 USD a bottle.

But for over three decades, Jones was an outlier in a vast region with few producers and a reputation as backwater cousin to the more glamorous Mornington Peninsula and hip Yarra Valley regions. Gippsland’s image is finally beginning to shift; it was described in the 2023 book How to Drink Australian, by U.S. sommeliers Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross, as “one of the most exciting in all of Australia.”

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The buzz is not coming from large corporate producers—they haven’t reached Gippsland (yet)—but from a steadily increasing number of experienced, well-traveled, small-scale producers who have invested their own cash in a region they believe is destined for greatness. It’s just two hours from one of Australia’s major cities, offers plentiful water in a mainly drought-plagued country, has interesting topography and ancient soils beneath land that is still comparatively affordable—honestly, it’s no wonder so many talented winemakers have bet the farm on Gippsland.

“It’s the last frontier in terms of affordable land, some really fantastic sites that haven’t been planted yet,” says Ryan Ponsford of Entropy Wines, whose small label has earned him success Down Under but isn’t yet exported to the U.S. In fact, only a small number of Gippsland wines are available Stateside—but it’s worth direct ordering, when you can.

Following Phillip Jones’s lead, many Gippsland growers and winemakers are focused on Pinot Noir, which, in this part of Australia shows distinctive, bright natural acidity, fine tannins and beautiful aromatics, from primary red fruits and florals to savory black olive and bay leaf; from earthy beetroot to ferrous nuances. Gippsland Pinots can be denser than Mornington or Yarra Pinots, depending on where they’re grown, but they’re equally as elegant.

“The style of Gippsland Pinot is really distinctive, which I think is another really exciting part of the region,” says Ponsford. “When you get a good Gippsland Pinot, you know it’s from Gippsland straight away.”

Pinning Gippsland down geographically, however, is a difficult task. Spanning more than 300 miles along Australia’s southeastern coastline and sandwiched between the Great Dividing Range to the north and the Bass Strait to the south, there are at least 10 different soil types across the three unofficial subregions, West, South and East Gippsland. The latter is farthest from Melbourne with drought conditions during much of the year, so it plays home to just a handful of wineries, like Nicholson River, Lightfoot and McAlister Vineyards. Much of the growth is happening in the West and South.

Closest to Melbourne and bordering the Yarra Valley, the wineries of West Gippsland nestle in the valleys of the gorgeous Strzelecki ranges. Its gravel and red volcanic loamy soils nurture vines from cutting edge, lo-fi producers like Moondarra, Momento Mori, Patrick Sullivan and William Downie. The latter, whose ultra-sensitive wine growing approach (and who until recently farmed the vineyards by horse and plough) predates Australia’s natural wine movement, is the only producer focused solely on Pinot Noir. With decades of winemaking experience around Victoria and 15 years in Gippsland, Downie is one of the region’s most longstanding champions and has mentored many newer producers.

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Another of the region’s more established producers is Marcus Satchell, who, with his wife, Lisa Sartori, founded Dirty Three Wines. Satchell grew up in South Gippsland and claims to know every vineyard in the region. He takes advantage of the region’s lush rolling hills, extreme maritime climate (it’s one of the coolest on mainland Australia) and unique soil mixture of red clay, volcanic basalt and granitic sandy loam to craft a large range of wines, including an electric Riesling and several tasty bubbles. But the stars are a trio of beautifully aromatic and downright sexy Pinots called Dirt One, Two and Three, from single sites around South Gippsland.

“The potential in South Gippsland is massive,” says Satchell. “It’s only a matter of time before a bigger company sees that and invests here.”

“For now, it’s the little guys—producers like Dirty Three, along with Fleet Wines, Caledonia Australis and The Wine Farm—who are realizing that potential. “

And of course, there’s South Gippsland’s most famous producer, Bass Phillip. Jones sold the winery in 2020 to a group of investors who included Jean-Marie Fourrier of Burgundy’s Domaine Fourrier. Fourrier has taken the chief winemaker title and assures fans that Bass Phillip’s world-class Pinots aren’t going anywhere.

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“Everyone was spitting the wine out so professionally, making it look effortless,” he says. “And here I was dribbling all over myself, making a mess just trying to spit it out.”

For Ricciardo, one of Formula 1’s most popular drivers, wine has become a welcome distraction from the grueling and hectic season. Last year, his collection featured three wines: a Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Ric Red, a blend marketed as Ricciardo’s “secret sauce.”

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As the years have rolled on, Ricciardo has become more and more fascinated with winemaking, calling it “an artform.”

“It might sound silly, but it really reminds me of our sport,” he says. “There are levels to everything, and when you want to perfect something, the fine details are what matter.”

Ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix—the second race of the season—Wine Enthusiast sat down with Ricciardo to talk about his collection, how he juggles his on-and-off-track responsibilities and how he fits wine into his in-season diet.

When you first started this collaboration three years ago, you said you were hoping to learn a lot about winemaking. So, what have you learned?

Well, I’ve learned that I still use very interesting words to describe what I’m tasting or feeling. I wouldn’t say my wine grammar has perfected itself yet.

Is that so? What are some ways you describe a wine’s flavor profile?

Like an explosion in my mouth! “Tingles” is another good one. Or fireworks in my mouth. That makes it sound a bit like Pop Rocks. Remember those?

But seriously, I’ve learned a lot. I got to go to the winery in South Australia and see and experience everything with [St. Hugo chief winemaker] Pete Munro, witness how much of an operation it all is. I’ve learned to understand what I’m tasting and how my palate reacts to certain things—describing what I feel as it enters the palate, the midpalate and then towards the finish. Pete has taught me a lot, the way he guides me through it.

Could I do a full course on my own yet? Probably not. But I’ve made a lot of progress since year one.

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You’ve said one goal of this project is to highlight Australian wines. What would you say makes them so unique?

I first got into wine probably from my dad—he would drink a lot of Australian Shiraz. That deep, dark, red fruit—very full and heavy. To me, that is a strong, powerful Australian wine that speaks to our hot climates and our arid soils. Our tough landscape. That’s kind of how I always pictured it.

But we obviously do other stuff. We have amazing Pinots and those types of things. But my image was always the harsh, dry climate producing bold, tough wines.

Athletes, especially race car drivers, are always watching their diets. How do you incorporate wine into the season?

When I got into this, I was cautious of giving people the impression that I’m drinking two glasses every night. I’m still an athlete. But there are moments. If we’ve had three races in a row, we might get two weekends off. That first weekend, I can chill out a bit, catch up with friends, enjoy some wine with dinner. And the general way of drinking wine—for me, at least—is to sip and enjoy. It’s not something you typically drink to get, you know, hammered. Even if it’s a couple glasses, I know I’m going to wake up the next day and be fine to train if I need to.

Oh, and if I had a good race—I might enjoy a glass to celebrate that, too.

Speaking of celebrations, you’re obviously famous for the “shoey”—drinking Champagne out of your own race boot when you earn a podium. You’ve mentioned before that you wouldn’t dream of drinking your own wines like that.

Yeah, the thought of knocking it back doesn’t seem like an enjoyable way to consume wine. Plus, I’m bound to miss my mouth, so I’d be covered and stained in red. Fortunately, it’s the sparkling type we have on the podiums.

You’re about to embark on the longest season in F1’s history, with 24 total races. How do you find time to also focus on your wine business?

I would call it a positive distraction. It’s a long season, and I don’t want to go to bed thinking about racing every night. On race weeks, sure, that’s where I spend all my energy. But back from the track, Monday through Wednesday, I want to switch off and decompress. Having another interest like wine is quite positive for me, and it also keeps my switch on and engaged—I’m learning something new.

From a racing perspective, your team looked pretty good in pre-season testing. What are your expectations for the year ahead?

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If we could score points, we’d be really happy. I think we’re probably borderline of that, at the moment… We have a lot of new people on the team, and I see us growing together and getting stronger as the year goes on.

And hopefully you can turn those new teammates into fans of your wine, too.

Oh, yeah—I’ve definitely handed out a few bottles, even to other drivers. [Finnish driver] Valtteri Bottas is really into his wine. I gave him some of my Cab Sav last year and he enjoyed it. I think Pierre Gasly, being French, definitely enjoys wine, so I gave him a few bottles. It’s nice to share it.

You’re turning the whole paddock into fans.

Yeah, and when people give you feedback—say that they enjoy what you’re producing—it’s a nice reward. That’s what I enjoy the most.

The post Formula 1’s Daniel Ricciardo on Wine, Racing and the Year Ahead appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

And what is the Australian wine industry doing about it? Australia’s multipronged climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts are some of the most progressive in the world. Whether they’ll prove impactful enough is the million-dollar question. But the efforts covered here—just a few of many—offer hope for a rapidly changing future.

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Fire

Australia is a global leader when it comes to fire management. No stranger to bushfires, the country’s indigenous Aboriginal communities have for tens of thousands of years implemented the practice of controlled burns, in which small, prescribed fires are set in the cool months in order to reduce the number of uncontrolled bushfires in the hot season. Since the devastating bushfires of 2019 in particular, the practice is becoming more widespread with modern winegrowers. But extreme heat and drought are also more widespread, and an increase in bushfires, therefore, seems inevitable. For the wine industry, this means battling smoke taint, which, when detected in the final wine, renders it undrinkable. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) has been conducting research into smoke taint for over 20 years.

“Researchers in Australia have formed the base for much of the grape smoke exposure research done today,” says Oregon State University Associate Professor of Enology Elizabeth Tomasino, who has been collaborating with AWRI on smoke taint research work in America’s Pacific Northwest. “Unfortunately, they have had to deal with this issue longer than we have, but in that extra time they have helped the West Coast be in a much better place than if we had started from scratch.”

The AWRI, in collaboration with Professor of Oenology Kerry Wilkinson from the University of Adelaide and other industry partners, has looked at a range of vineyard techniques like protective coatings applied to vines in order to shield from smoke impact and winery techniques like carbon products for fining juice and wine to remove taint. They’re also zeroing in on understanding how much smoke exposure in grapes results in smoky wine, depending on the variety.

Water

Where Australian wine leads on the fire adaption front, its approach to water management has also come a long way. While winegrowers along Australia’s southeast coast—the location of the vast majority of Australia’s 65 wine regions—are reeling from three soggy years of record-breaking rainfall and floods, water is still considered a precious commodity Down Under, particularly in Australia’s warmest wine regions in South Australia and inland Victoria, like Barossa and Clare Valleys, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Riverland and Riverina. Today, across Australian agriculture, water is strictly allocated. But some wine regions have always been ahead of the conservation curve. McLaren Vale, just south of Adelaide, was the first wine region in Australia to self-impose water restrictions. It irrigates 50% of the region’s vines with recycled, treated wastewater—more than 6,000 megaliters’ worth—through a water supply scheme that’s been in place since 1999 and that remains the largest recycled water network in Australia.

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Much of this water goes toward irrigation, a necessity in many of Australia’s driest regions. Irrigation technology is improving this practice. The majority of growers across Australia now use “pressure compensating” under-vine drip irrigation lines as opposed to water-wasting overhead irrigation sprayers. Soil moisture monitoring systems allow viticulturists to turn on the taps at the touch of a button on their phones or computers, and new data-driven software programs inform them exactly when and how much to irrigate. This micromanagement of water usage allows growers to take just what they need, with no wastage. A 2023 study by Dr. Vinay Pagay from the University of Adelaide showed that data-driven irrigation schedules increase water use efficiency by up to 41% in Cabernet Sauvignon crops grown in well-draining Terra Rossa soils, when compared to conventional methods.

It’s a win-win for wineries, who often see an uptick in grape quality. “We are aiming to grow the highest quality wine with the least amount of water,” says Nigel Blieschke, chief viticulturist for Torbreck in Barossa. He has utilized irrigation technology for the past three years on the estate’s 1994-planted Descendant vineyard, where shallow soils make dry farming more difficult. Blieschke is also trialing thermal imaging cameras to help schedule irrigation, another potential tool in a winegrower’s watersaving belt.

One of the most highly effective and natural water savers, however, lies in the soil. Increasing organic matter like mulch, compost and cover crops in vineyards significantly increases water retention, so growers can water less.

Earth

Even beyond water conservation, improving soil health is crucial to climate change mitigation: There is now widespread momentum from wineries large and small to examine the dirt beneath their feet. Programs like EcoVineyards, funded by Wine Australia, the industry’s national organizing body, help growers set concrete goals to enhance biodiversity, reduce the need for herbicides through biocontrols like predatory insects and increase the use of mulch and cover crops. Added bonus: These practices supercharge a vine’s ability to sequester carbon by absorbing CO2 via green material and depositing that carbon into the soil through its root system. Australian agritech company Loam has developed a new technology to enhance this process—a microbial seed coating designed to increase a plant’s natural carbon-storing abilities. Sue Hodder, who has been senior winemaker at historic Coonawarra Estate, Wynns, for 25 years, started trialing the technology in 2021. “We now plan to increase the population of these beneficial microbes to increase soil carbon and health,” she says.

Vanya Cullen, of biodynamic winery Cullen in Western Australia’s Margaret River region, takes carbon capture to another level. Among Cullen’s many exemplary climate initiatives, it lays claim to being the first winery in Australia to enroll in a carbon neutral program, achieving carbon neutral status in 2006 and becoming carbon positive in 2019, when the estate sequestered more carbon in its soils than the entire business emitted. “We are only just starting to understand what happens with carbon sequestration,” says Cullen. “Land management and how we manage our soils is a very important part of mitigating climate change.”

Air

An Emissions Reduction Roadmap is among Wine Australia’s many recent climate initiatives— including a 2020 Wine Climate Atlas, which provides detailed climate projections for the short-, medium- and long-term, out to 2100, for all 65 wine regions, helping producers to better predict future weather patterns. The ultimate goal is to reduce carbon emissions across the country’s wine industry by 42% before 2030. To do this they’ll provide practical steps for growers, winemakers and supply chain members toward reduction. The ambitious project was unveiled in June 2023 at CO23, Australia’s very first Carbon Mitigation Conference, which highlighted many of the nation’s new climate initiatives under one roof, in an effort to help both the local and global industry better prepare for our ever-changing environmental conditions. The canary is calling.

This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today!

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The post In Australia, Winemakers Are on the Forefront of Mitigating Climate Change appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

It is in this landscape that some of the nation’s smallest inland wine regions, including Macedon Ranges, Beechworth, Grampians and Heathcote, have achieved global renown. Acclaim hasn’t come because of corporate investment—there’s very little of that in these parts—but due to a handful of small-scale, multigenerational wine families who carry with them a deep love for and connection to their land.

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Macedon Ranges

Welcome to Australia’s coolest mainland wine growing region. Despite its location just 30 miles north of Melbourne, Macedon feels like a hidden treasure. The sprawling region’s dramatic granite hills, native forests, extinct volcanoes and slate and gravel soils are home to over 40 vineyards, at elevations ranging between 984–2,624 feet and with coastal influence from the south.

Macedon originally gained its reputation as a sparkling wine region, but today its trademark is vibrant, long-lived Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Wineries like Curly Flat, in central Macedon, and Cobaw Ridge, on its 2,000-foot-high granite perch in the Cobaw Ranges, have been instrumental in carving this reputation with sensitive farming and beautifully textural Chardonnay and spicy, chiseled Pinot Noir.

But Bindi is arguably its most precious gem. On a slope south of Mount Macedon surrounded by towering eucalyptus, Michael Dhillon crafts Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that are, like the man behind them, profound, understated and refreshingly truthful.

On his mother’s side, Dhillon’s family goes back seven generations in the region. His parents bought the 420 acres where his home is still located in the 1950s to farm sheep.

“Dad had the notion of planting vines here in the mid-’70s but was advised by a consultant at the time, ‘Don’t do it; it’s not a very good site.’ So, he didn’t.” Ten years later, the local council encouraged farmers to diversify as a way to deter encroaching urban development, and Dhillon’s Indian-born father, Darshan “Bill” Dhillon, received the opposite advice. “They said, ‘Oh, what a fantastic spot for a vineyard! You should do this,’” Michael Dhillon recalls.

Today, just 17 acres of vineyards are planted on ancient soils that differ in age by 475 million years from top to bottom—the oldest being quartz over siltstone and sandstone, the youngest being volcanic brown soils, both over clay.

Though his father passed in 2013, Dhillon continues the legacy. In 2014 and 2016 respectively, Dhillon close-planted two new vineyards, Darshan and Block 8. He now makes six separate Pinots in an approach as close to Grand Cru Burgundy as Australia has perhaps ever come. The Pinots are often cellared for many years before release.

“We have seven vintages of Darshan sitting that we haven’t sold. What have we learned? The more you wait, the more you receive,” says Dhillon.

Dhillon’s humility, thirst for knowledge and community-mindedness has made him one of Australian wine’s most respected figures. But Dhillon’s main focus is in stewarding the land he inherited, through his fastidious (uncertified) organic farming, done predominantly by hand to allow for greater attention to his viticultural decision-making.

“You have to honor the place. The land that tells the story now through our wines was opened, cultivated, cleared and managed for tens of thousands of years in a meaningful, thoughtful way beyond what we could ever understand … we’re just starting to get an inkling of it.”

Beechworth

Tucked into the foothills of the Australian Alps in northeast Victoria, Beechworth is a beautifully preserved historic town that, like many in Victoria, tells a story of mid-19th-century colonial occupation, a Gold Rush and a booming wine industry that went bust by the early 20th century. After nearly 80 years, Beechworth’s wine scene was revived in 1982 and 1985 respectively by two pint-sized but now-iconic wineries: Giaconda, known for its opulent, cellar-worthy Chardonnays, and Sorrenberg, famed for elegant, silky Chardonnay, Gamay and Cabernet blends.

A third producer, Julian Castagna, arrived in Beechworth a decade later, but both his farming and his wines have been equally game changing.

In 1996, Castagna decided to leave his career as a Sydney-based filmmaker behind. “If I was going to change my life, I needed to have a chance at making a world-class wine,” he says.

Beechworth was a still-unknown (and therefore affordable) territory. So, Castagna moved his wife and two young boys into a trailer 1,640 feet above sea level in the Beechworth foothills. The whole family chipped in planting Shiraz and Viognier vines, building a winery and their future home. Never one to follow the grain, Castagna became the first in Australia to commercially plant Sangiovese—a tribute to his Italian heritage. He also became one of the first Aussies to farm biodynamically in the early 2000s, as a way to build up the topsoil in his rocky granite, quartz-filled vineyard.

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“They thought I was this crazy hippie from Sydney,” he laughs.

But Castagna persisted, encouraging many others Down Under to farm biodynamically, too. Meanwhile, the wines went from good to great: The “Genesis” Syrah-Viognier is floral, textural, ethereal—more Côte Rôtie than Barossa Shiraz; the “La Chiave” Sangiovese is reminiscent of Brunello di Montalcino while treading its own path. The evergrowing range now includes Nebbiolo, Roussanne, Chardonnay, a serious rosé and one of the best Chenin Blancs in Australia. There’s a second, equally lovely, label made from younger vines called Adam’s Rib, which is made by Castagna’s eldest son, Adam, a winemaker himself now.

Two and a half decades in, Castagna’s caravan days are over. But his passion for Beechworth, and the distinctive wines that can be coaxed from it, hasn’t waned.

Grampians

The craggy, sandstone mountain peaks of the Grampians and the Pyrenees ranges, in western Victoria, are a nature lover’s paradise, with some of Australia’s most spectacular waterfalls and hiking trails. The influence of both the mountains and the Southern Ocean results in radiant, cool-climate wines from leading producers like Mount Langi Ghiran, and from talented young gun winemakers who purchase Grampians fruit like Rory Lane of The Story and Ben Haines. The region is known for Pinot Noir but equally for Riesling, sparkling wines (red and white), Cabernet and Shiraz.

Although somewhat under the radar, Grampians is one of Australia’s most historic regions, due in large part to two well-known wineries, Seppelt and Best’s, which remained open throughout the Great Depression, when most wineries shuttered.

Best’s and Seppelt (originally called Great Western Vineyard) were planted to vines one year apart by brothers Henry and Joseph Best, respectively. Of the two, Best’s has remained out of corporate hands. Since the vines were first planted in 1868, Best’s has been owned by just two families. In 1920, upon Henry’s death, Best’s was bought by neighboring vigneron Frederick P. Thomson. The Thomson legacy continues today with Frederick’s grandson Viv, who has clocked over 60 consecutive vintages and remains one of Australia’s longest working winemakers. His sons, Ben and Hamish, run the winery and vineyard day-to-day, toiling away at everything from sales and marketing to tractor maintenance.

The historic winery, with its ancient red gum slabs and hand-dug underground cellar, is perfectly preserved and open to the public, as is Henry Best’s homestead and the Concongella Vineyards, which house the Nursery Block, a three-acre slice of history considered to have the most extensive pre-phylloxera plantings in Australia and possibly the world. Around 40 varieties are planted, including what is thought to be the first Pinot Meunier planted in Australia in 1868, and Dolcetto that is believed to be the oldest ungrafted vines of this variety in the world. There are also eight varieties that are so rare they remain unidentified and predominantly made into white and red field blends.

“I describe the old vines like my father. They’ve got loads of character, but their production rate is pretty small,” laughs Hamish Thomson.

The wines in Best’s vast range are stellar examples of cool-climate Australia: The “LSV” Shiraz is succulent, floral and spicy, and the “Foudre Ferment” Riesling is honeyed and highly textural. They both walk a tightrope between modern and traditional.

Heathcote

Recent years have seen an influx of plantings in Heathcote, the fruit destined for labels of varying sizes. The Chalmers family, who own one of Australia’s most expansive vine nurseries, chose north Heathcote to plant a fruit salad vineyard of 24 (mostly Italian) varieties in 2009.

Heathcote’s north and south are quite different, due to the region’s long skinny shape. The former is warmer and drier, the latter, cooler and wetter. But it’s Heathcote’s soil that is most distinctive. The almost incomprehensibly old, iron-rich basalt soils are what drew modern pioneers Ron and Elva Laughton of Jasper Hill to the region in 1982.

“Dad came here because Heathcote has this lovely Cambrian-era soil,” says Emily McNally, the Laughtons’ daughter, who now makes the wines with her father. “It’s a bit hard to comprehend. We’re talking older than dinosaurs—650 million years old. It’s not just a little bit of topsoil either. It’s deep.”

The Laughtons purchased two vineyards in central Heathcote, planted in 1975 and 1976 on hillsides at 1,000 feet elevation. They named them after their daughters: Georgia’s Paddock and Emily’s Paddock, and gradually expanded the plantings. The unirrigated vineyards, planted on their own roots, are farmed with organic principles.

“We’ve always been organic and always will be,” says McNally. “We do this to sleep well.”

Today, Jasper Hill makes a Nebbiolo and a minerally, waxy-textured Riesling. But the Laughtons are best known for their single vineyard Shiraz, one from each paddock. The heavy soils, long sunshine hours and increasingly short winters make for powerful, concentrated wines with a distinctive texture, flavor and tannin profile. The best vintages age gracefully for 25 years.

“We make big wines,” says McNally. “But I like to think they’re balanced and elegant.”

This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today!

The post Australia’s Cool-Climate Regions Are Redefining Wine Down Under appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

It’s an interesting backdrop to Australia Day, a national holiday that takes place on January 26th. Held on the same day that Great Britain’s First Fleet landed in Sydney in 1788, the nation’s national holiday sees flag-waving, fireworks displays and other patriotic revelries. It is also, however, considered a day of mourning by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who call it Invasion Day. They point to the 26th of January as the start of European colonization and the destruction of their culture and people. Recent polls show a steep increase in the number of Aussies who believe the date should be moved.

These things and more are in our minds as we consider Australia’s exceptional wine scene. It is a country that is simultaneously staggeringly old and refreshingly new. Its soils are the oldest on earth; its indigenous culture stretches back, continuously, longer than any other. Its vines—the most elderly of which dates back to 1843—are some of the oldest still-producing grapevines on the planet.

A Brief History of Australian Wine

For a population ten times smaller than that of the United States, Australia lays claim to an outsized number of now-indispensable inventions, like the refrigerator (1856), the electronic pacemaker (1926), wi-fi (1992), Google Maps (2003) and, perhaps most life-changing of all, bag-in-box wine.

Invented by winemaker Thomas Angove in 1964, the plastic wine bladder-in-a-box (also known as a “cask” or a “goon bag” Down Under) may be inherently Aussie. There’s even a drinking game, Goon of Fortune, created for it, often played on Australia Day. The nation’s history with the fermented grape stretches back far longer.

Australia’s Indigenous peoples have been fermenting drinks Down Under for millennia. But wine cultivation dates back to that very first ship in 1788, which brought vine cuttings to Sydney Harbor. By the early to mid-1800s, regions like Hunter Valley in New South Wales; Swan Valley in Western Australia; Yarra Valley, Geelong and Rutherglen in Victoria; and McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and Barossa, Eden and Clare Valleys in South Australia were established. Australia’s early wines were mostly fortified—much of it shipped back to England, but plenty drunk domestically, too—along with sweet “moselle” (Riesling) in the early 20th century.

Tastes changed in the mid-20th century to dry table wines, particularly American oak-aged reds from varieties like Cabernet and Shiraz. The pendulum swung towards cool climate wines in the ‘80s when drinkers discovered rich, textural Chardonnay and savory, eucalyptus-flecked Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River in Western Australia; bright, lemony, green-edged Sauvignon Blanc from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia; traditional method sparklers from Tasmania; elegant, red-fruited Pinot Noir from Mornington Peninsula in Victoria; and, ever the outlier, inimitable, long-lived Hunter Valley Semillon.

It swung back yet again towards the end of the ‘90s to full-figured, spicy, now-mostly-French-oak-aged Shiraz and muscular GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro) blends from Barossa and McLaren Vale and plump, minty Coonawarra Cabs.

Then came organics, biodynamics and the natural wine movement in the early 21st century. This relatively hands-off—if sometimes overtly faulty—winemaking approach had a particularly big impact on the wine industry, which many previously criticized as veering too technical, thereby producing squeaky clean but soulless, overly tricked-up wines. (The influence of Australia’s wine show system—traditionally run by its agricultural societies and a deeply engrained part of Aussie wine culture—on the nation’s styles cannot be overstated.)

The Modern Australian Wine Scene

Recent years have seen the pendulum, at last, swing towards center. Sure, a sea of cookie cutter commercial wines from large-scale producers still get pumped into the market each year. And natural wine, with all its vagaries, isn’t going anywhere. But many of Australia’s most exciting producers have found that sweet spot in the middle.

They’re armed with the experience and knowledge to know when to utilize modern wine science and technology to help them farm with less chemical inputs and make stable, fault-free wine, but they also know when to sit back and let nature take its course.

It’s why Aussie wine has never been more exciting; why there can be found wines of extraordinary character, site expression and downright deliciousness across all 65 wine regions in Australia from hundreds of different grape varieties. Whether it be for Australia Day or any other occasion, there is an Aussie wine for every palate. Dive in.

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The 12 Best Australian Wines

Best Hidden Gem: Lambert 2019 Nebbiolo (Yarra Valley)

97 Points Wine Enthusiast

Renowned for his seductive Syrah and Chardonnay, artisanal producer Luke Lambert is turning his focus exclusively to Nebbiolo. He has succeeded in producing one of the finest expressions of this notoriously fussy variety outside its native Piedmont. Elegant, pure and complex, there’s an unforced beauty in the fresh wild strawberries and raspberries, florals, white pepper and mineral characters. Fabulously crunchy acidity and powdery, fine tannins structure a silky texture. With a sense of place, varietal character and major food friendliness, this still-young beauty could be drunk now but should cellar gracefully for at least until 2032. Editor’s Choice —Christina Pickard

$ Varies Wine-Searcher

Best Wine from an Indigenous-Owned Winery: Mt Yengo 2021 Pinot Gris (Adelaide Hills)

88 Points Wine Enthusiast

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$23 Liquorland

Best Bordeaux Blend from a Biodynamic Rockstar: Cullen 2019 Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot (Margaret River)

96 Points Wine Enthusiast

The wines from this iconic, biodynamic estate always sing of their place. 2019 was a cooler-than-average vintage but one that’s winning over this reviewer for the wines’ aromatics and elegance. Layered and highly characterful, the nose is floral, like West Aussie wildflowers, and a bit meaty, like the pan scrapings from a roast. The fruit comes in compote form, like freshly canned rhubarb, plum and currant. There’s an earthy, savory spine like beet juice, olive brine and cedar shavings. A cool eucalyptus edge adds to the vintage charm. Chiseled, sappy tannins are powerful but leave ample room for flavor. Exceptional quality at an attainable price, this drinks well now with decanter and protein at hand, or could cellar beautifully for a decade at least. Editor’s Choice —C.P.

$41.99 Wine.com

Best Bang for Your Buck: Chambers Rosewood Vineyards NV Muscat (Rutherglen)

93 Points Wine Enthusiast

Chambers is a benchmark producer of the Rutherglen style and this late-picked Muscat offers a burnt-orange-sunset hue in the glass, with a green rim. Evoking enticing aromas of orange marmalade, honey, medjool dates and almond blossom, the palate continues along similar lines. Unctuous and intensely sweet, there’s just enough acidity keep this from syrup territory. It would benefit enormously from a creamy, salty cheese pairing. #8 Enthusiast 100 2021 —C.P.

$15.99 Wine.com

Best Way to Taste Australian Wine History: Seppeltsfield 1921 Para Shiraz-Grenache (Barossa Valley)

100 Points Wine Enthusiast

Released every year since 1878, this is thought to be the world’s only single vintage wine with such unbroken lineage. A deep umber hue, it envelops the senses with endless layers of aroma and flavor that conjure snapshots of the past: the dried leather pungency of a tannery; the equal parts polish and dust of cracked-spine books lining glossy mahogany shelves of an old library; smoked chestnuts; dark chocolate, and date cake. Texturally it’s like drinking satin, unctuous but not cloying (it’s astoundingly fresh actually). The alcohol creeps in later but is overwhelmed by richness of flavor and a finish that lasts for full minutes. Picture it gently siphoned from its 100-year slumber in the ancient barrel halls of Seppeltsfield’s Centennial Cellar—which is exactly what happens each time an order is placed. There’s been a hefty price hike recently, but for a once-in-a-lifetime treasure such as this, it’s justified. —C.P.

$3,000 Langton's

Best Aromatic Wine: Stargazer 2019 Tupelo White (Tasmania)

93 Points Wine Enthusiast

Tasmania is Australia’s coolest climate winegrowing region, and this small-batch label from winemaker Samantha Connew deftly expresses the region’s capacity for elegant and refreshing wines. Tupelo is made of 57% Pinot Gris, 32% Riesling and 11% Gewürztraminer. The blend is a lithe expression of each variety. Delicate notes of rose water, orange and honey-flecked pear are accompanied by a light spritz when first opened, offering a lovely texture and crystalline acidity. This is a thirst-quenching drop that would pair perfectly with a wide range of Southeast Asian cuisine. —C.P.

$34.99 Wine Library

Best Australian Riesling: Frankland Estate 2019 Estate Grown Dry Riesling (Frankland River)

95 Points Wine Enthusiast

This is a wonderfully complex and delicious Riesling that’s also an outstanding value. It offers depth of flavor in the form of fresh lemon, scrubby wild lavender, kerosene and crushed gravel. It’s slinky and slippery, with vibrancy, juiciness and a long, lemony finish. An expression of a unique place; all at once accessible and ageworthy. Drink now–2032. Editor’s Choice —C.P.

$ Varies Wine-Searcher

Best Pet Nat from an Obscure Grape Variety: Delinquente 2021 Tuff Nutt Bianco d’Alessano Sparkling (Riverland)

92 Points Wine Enthusiast

This artisanal Riverland producer’s motto, “embrace the weirdness” perfectly suits this cloudy pét-nat. Made from the obscure Puglian variety, Bianco d’Alessano, it opens with a heady combo of aromas like pineapple chunks, honeysuckle and ginger spice. The pithy palate is less zingy than the nose suggests but there’s prickly bubbles, crunchy acidity and a finish of citrus and pineapple rind. It makes for great porch-pounding summer sipping. —C.P.

$29.99 Vivino

Best Grenache from a Historic Producer: Angove 2019 Warboys Vineyard Grenache (McLaren Vale)

95 Points Wine Enthusiast

One of this organic-biodynamic producer’s finest wines to date, this is from coastal vineyards over 50 years in age and pressed in an antique wooden basket press. It’s a tightrope of complexity and drinkability. The brambly blueberry fruit is backed by a potpourri dish of florals, dried herbs and spices, and there’s a warm pavement nuance. The palate is elegant and refined with a linear structure. There’s fabulous acidity, particularly for Grenache, and taut, powdery tannins. Drink now and up to around 2037. Editor’s Choice—C.P.

$ Varies Wine-Searcher

Best Game-Changing, Cool Climate Shiraz: Clonakilla 2019 Shiraz-Viognier (Canberra District)

97 Points Wine Enthusiast

Clonakilla’s Shiraz-Viognier was one of the first of its kind, ushering in a new era of more delicately aromatic and succulent Shiraz Down Under. It remains a benchmark of the style. The color of cherry juice, it’s beautifully perfumed, with aromas of rose petals and white pepper atop earthier, meatier notes. Warm stone undertones back fresh squeezed raspberry, cherry and cranberry juice. In the mouth there’s a succulence to the brambly fruit that comes like the pop of a fresh red berry in the mouth. Crunchy acidity and the raspy power of sappy, fine tannins add structure and complexity. This is finely crafted and distinctly cool climate Aussie wine that drinks well now but is capable of aging until 2037 at least. #7 Enthusiast 100 2022 —C.P.

$119.99 Wine.com

Best Bottle to Make You Change Your Mind About Aussie Chardonnay: Bindi 2019 Kostas Rind Chardonnay (Victoria)

95 Points Wine Enthusiast

Sensitive and highly experienced winegrower Michael Dhillon turns out a Chardonnay of both delicacy and concentration that makes you feel like you’re on vacation. There’s a perfume of honeysuckle and jasmine lacing citrus and stone fruit, and a creamy, flinty underbelly. In the mouth it’s slippery yet linear with purity of fruit and bright acidity. It’s not overly rich nor is it skeletal; neither achingly cool nor old school traditional. It simply expresses the land from which it came, and for that is a complex and beautiful wine. Drink now–2030. —C.P.

$74.20 Vivino

Best Celebratory Bottle: Clover Hill 2015 Cuvée Exceptionnelle Blanc De Blancs Sparkling (Tasmania)

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All products featured here are independently selected by our team, which is comprised of experienced writers and wine tasters and overseen by editorial professionals at Wine Enthusiast headquarters. All ratings and reviews are performed blind in a controlled setting and reflect the parameters of our 100-point scale. Wine Enthusiast does not accept payment to conduct any product review, though we may earn a commission on purchases made through links on this site. Prices were accurate at the time of publication.

The post The Best Australian Wines to Drink Right Now appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

Yet, few Aussies can point to Riverland on the map. That’s because the vast majority of this hot, dry region’s grapes, which are irrigated from the mighty Murray River, is sold in bulk to large wine companies for low prices. It’s been that way since the end of World War I, when a soldier resettlement scheme resulted in vine plantings of varieties like Palomino and Grenache for the production of fortified wines. Then, in the middle of the last century, table wines took off, and Riverland became the main source of sweet, white “Moselle” wines sold in bag-in-box form from varieties like Gordo and Sultana. Riverland ultimately cemented its bulk-wine business model at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st when Australia earned a global reputation for cheap and cheerful wines from French varieties like Shiraz and Chardonnay.

Even Riverland’s name has been obliterated. Most wines that comprise some or all of the region’s fruit are labeled under that vaguest of geographical indications (GIs): Southeastern Australia.

Times, however, are changing. Despite recently experiencing one of its wettest springs that threatened the Riverland with flooding, the overall trend is toward a hotter and drier Australia, with water from the Murray River increasingly restricted. Economically, the Australian wine industry is recovering from the 2021 loss of its largest export market, China, due to trade disputes. It leaves a region like the Riverland in a complicated position. Many growers face tumbling fruit prices and uncertainty over whether buyers will even materialize, as large wine companies tighten purse strings and regroup. The timing is right for a rethink—both about Riverland’s bulk business model and about sustainable farming practices.

Reimagining the Riverland seems like a great challenge—one that is really important to the health of the entire industry.

A growing number of producers are doing just that, crafting shockingly fresh, vibrant wines from organically farmed, drought-resistant Sicilian, Spanish and Portuguese varieties that suit the Riverland’s climate, while simultaneously preserving the region’s oldest vines. They’re reimagining their region and proving that quantity and quality can reside together. And they are listing the Riverland name loudly and proudly on their labels.

Ricca Terra

Perhaps no individual has changed the image of Riverland more than Ashley Ratcliff, who, with his wife, Holly, bought a 20-acre vineyard in the region in 2003. “It was the only place I could really afford to start,” says Ratcliff, who was working for large wine companies like Pernot Ricard and Yalumba in the Barossa. “There was no real grand plan or anything. It was just, well, let’s try the Riverland and see what happens.”

Drought was already a long-standing issue Down Under. “Climate change was just starting to grab some attention,” says Ratcliff. “So, I went to Southern Italy—in particular Sicily—and Southern France, and I realized that so many of these varieties were available in Australia, but no one was planting them. And I thought, well, why don’t we try it? What have we got to lose?”

Ratcliff set to work grubbing up the Sultana, Ruby Cabernet and Chardonnay planted on his vineyards and replanted the fertile, red earth-over-limestone soils to so-called alternative varieties like those he’d seen in southern Europe.

“We started with Nero d’Avola and Vermentino,” he says. Varieties like Montepulciano, Fiano, Tinta Barroca and Touriga Nacional followed. Unusually for the region, Ratcliff farmed his vines with organic principles from day one, scrapping mechanical pruning and harvesting in favor of a more hands-on, labor-intensive approach.

Today, Ratcliff’s farm is planted to 46 different grape varieties across 10 vineyard sites covering 200 acres. The fruit is sold to around 40 winemakers across Australia, including many of the nation’s most progressive small-batch producers.

Even more unusual for the Riverland, the Ratcliffs also make their own wines under their Ricca Terra brand (with sub-labels 22 Degree Halo and Terra Do Ria, the latter of which celebrates single vineyard Portuguese varieties). They’re colorfully labeled and affordably priced bottlings of everything from a single-varietal Arinto, Souzão and even Lambrusco.

The Ratcliffs envision these varieties as Riverland’s future, but they’re also passionate about preserving the past. Their label, Soldier’s Land, which consists of a Riesling, Shiraz and two Grenaches, comes from vines planted almost a century ago by returning war soldiers. Partial proceeds from the label’s sales goes to the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL), an organization that supports military veterans. But the project also serves to rescue some of the Riverland’s few remaining historic vines from being ripped out.

“We go and save these old vines, give the grower $1,000 a ton not to grub up, rather than $300 a ton to sell to big wine company,” says Ratcliff. “There’s going to be a lot pulled out over the next couple of years, which is going to be a tragedy, but we’re doing our bit to try save them.”

Starrs Reach

The straddle between past, present and future is evident with another grower in the region: Sheridan Alm of Starrs Reach Vineyard. Alm’s family have farmed along the Murray River for six generations. In true Riverland fashion, Starrs Reach vines sprawl across 545 acres. The family also farms 200 acres of almond trees.

The large scale of Starrs Reach makes Alm’s commitment to quality and sustainability all the more impressive. Yields are kept low, as are vineyard inputs.

“To put it bluntly, we try and do as little as possible in the vineyard. And the hot, dry climate of the Riverland gives us a head start, allowing low inputs and minimal intervention,” Alm says.

To increase biodiversity, she and her team have planted over 4,000 native plants in and around the vineyard to act as ground cover, the benefits of which are numerous, including an increase in water retention, beneficial native insects and soil structure. Seventy percent of the farm’s energy is powered by its solar panels.

Alm has also tackled water management—a constant issue in Riverland. She and her family helped found the Yatco Wetland Landcare Group to restore and utilize the third largest wetland in the South Australian Murray Darling Basin, located near their vineyards. The project has generated an annual water saving of three gigaliters (around 800 million gallons), and has seen a reduction in European carp, allowing native fish species as well as other native aquatic life to repopulate.

Alm has undertaken a mighty task. The rewards of her work can feel painfully slow. But her gaze is always toward the future.

“Having over 80 hectares of Murray River Floodplain and Mallee Highland Vegetation to care for is no small job,” Alm says. “Managing pest plants and animals and righting past wrongs by working with, not against, the natural assets of our land is key but does not yield immediate results.”

Million Suns

Giles Cooke MW, winemaker and managing director at Thistledown Wines, is known particularly for his Grenache from some of South Australia’s most expressive vineyard sites. Thistledown has been a customer of Starrs Reach for years, but 2022 saw the first bottling of a second label, Million Suns—a collaboration between the brand and the Riverland vineyard, in part, as Cooke puts it, “to emphasize the tangible work that is being done in a region that was previously only known for mass market wines.”

“When we started at Thistledown [in 2011], Grenache was virtually being given away,” says Cooke. “And reimagining the Riverland seems like a great challenge—one that is really important to the health of the entire industry.”

Producers like Thistledown have, arguably, had the greatest influence in altering Riverland’s public image. The majority of producers buying Riverland fruit from progressive growers like Ratcliffe and Alm are small in scale, but large in visibility, often crafting fun, creatively named and labeled wines that find their way onto social media feeds and into Australia’s most hip bars and restaurants. The wines are affordable enough to be poured by the glass, but not so cheap they’re destined for the bargain bin.

Delinquente

Perhaps no one demonstrates this better than Con-Greg Grigoriou at Delinquente Wine Co. Firmly rooted in the Riverland, Grigoriou’s grandparents on both sides settled in the region in the 1950s during a wave of southern European immigration. Farming runs in the family, although Grigoriou initially wanted nothing to do with his father’s organically farmed vineyard and cooperative winery. It was natural wine that made him change his mind.

“I got into wine more from a drinking point of view, particularly minimal intervention and natural wines, which really appealed to me. So, getting into winemaking, I was coming at it from that angle. Trying to create something that’s small-batch and really interesting, honest and expressive.”

While Grigoriou works from a winemaking facility in Adelaide, he purchases organically farmed fruit from two Riverland-based grape growing families who, he says, have an even longer history in the region than his family.

Delinquente labels feature edgy, eye-catching illustrations of characters with face tattoos and names like Screaming Betty, Roxanne the Razor and Weeping Juan. Varieties run the gamut from Nero d’Avola to Arinto as well as the only Bianco d’Alessano planting in Australia. There’s also a trio of cloudy Pet Nats and a slightly more premium sublabel simply called Hell. The wines are electric, wild, low alcohol and remarkably fresh, considering their hot-climate origins.

Unico Zelo

Another trailblazing producer, Unico Zelo, also began in 2014. Winemaker Brendan Carter founded the B-Corp certified winery and distillery with his wife, Laura. Despite the winery’s base in the Adelaide Hills, 125 miles from Riverland, Unico Zelo is closely associated with the region. Many of the brand’s wines are made from Riverland fruit. The Carters have long been fascinated by this historic region.

“As an industry, we’re often so focused on the colder fringe of winemaking, that we forget the intrigue and challenge of the warmer geographical fringes of winemaking,” says Carter. “It’s that curiosity that drives us to craft wine from the Riverland.”

The Carters champion the drought-resistant varieties grown by Ratcliff and a few others via their brightly labeled wines like Fresh A.F., a blend of Nero d’Avola and Zibibbo and their Jade and Jasper Fiano. These varieties, the Carters believe, are key to Riverland’s future.

“I’d rather plant in the ground today what it takes 50 years for an ill-fit variety to match—without the expense of time, energy, effort or natural resources to get there.” says Carter.

This article originally appeared in the Best of Year 2022 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today!

The post Australia’s Riverland Rethinks Its Bulk Wine Model appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

But this full-bodied style, found mainly in warm South Australian regions like Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek, is only one chapter of the Australian Shiraz story. Syrah, as it’s known in the rest of the world, is produced by an estimated four out of five Oz wineries, in nearly all its 65 distinct winemaking regions.

From spicy, medium-weight, cool-climate expressions to gluggable, Pinot-esque bottles, modern Aussie Shiraz comes in a multitude of shapes and sizes.

What’s in a Name?

Australia is home to the oldest producing pre-phylloxera Shiraz/Syrah vines on the planet, with some dating to the 1840s. The Barossa Valley in South Australia may today be synonymous with Shiraz, but the variety has an equally long history in regions across Victoria and New South Wales.

While the origins of both the vines and the term itself are murky, it’s widely accepted that Shiraz cuttings were brought from France’s Northern Rhône to Australian shores in 1832. The variety was thought to have been misspelled in records as “scyras,” which morphed into Shiraz.

Until the mid-1900s, Shiraz was used across Australia for cheap table wines and a uniquely Aussie sparkling red still in production today. It was also a base for fortified wines sold mainly for medicinal purposes.

The Penfold family made the latter at its namesake winery, established in 1844. But it was the world-famous Penfolds Grange, which emerged in the 1950s, that launched Shiraz into an era of powerful, full-bodied, ageworthy dry bottlings. That style still reigns.

Today, however, the number of Shiraz wines that fall outside this category is vast, albeit made mainly by small- to medium-sized independent producers. The French term Syrah has made its way onto an increasing number of bottles to distinguish cool-climate or light-leaning wines from the more traditionally full-figured Aussie Shiraz.

Victoria

The state of Victoria boasts more wine regions and wineries than anywhere in Australia. Terroirs and winemaking approaches largely vary, but a cool-climate freshness and linear quality ties the wines together.

In Victoria’s northeast, at the foothills of the Victorian Alps, a small region called Beechworth is proving to be one of Australia’s most exciting Shiraz regions. Here, finessed bottlings are crafted by small, quality-focused producers like Giaconda from volcanic, mineral-rich soils composed of granite or old sandstone and gravel over clay.

“[Beechworth’s] warm days and cool nights make Syrah sing,” says Julian Castagna, a biodynamic winegrower who makes varietal Syrah, as well as a blend with Sangiovese, a sparkler and a rosé. All are ethereally elegant, beautiful examples of this variety, “if what you like is Syrah with the soul of Pinot Noir,” he says.

In Central Victoria, the ancient, iron-oxide-rich red soils of the Heathcote region make for more intensely colored and concentrated Shiraz, but the cool southerly winds mean freshness and a chiseled tannin structure that allows the wines to age for decades. Jasper Hill makes classic single-vineyard examples, while producers like Syrahmi and Bertrand Bespoke craft more contemporary versions.

Shiraz—in sparkling and still form—thrives in the historic and mountainous Grampians region and Great Western subregion, in Victoria’s far west, particularly in the hands of longstanding producers like Seppelt, Best’s and Mount Langi Ghiran. Here, the variety takes on a distinctive black pepper, eucalyptus and clove character.

Just outside Melbourne, the Yarra Valley is a melting pot of a region that includes historic producers like Yarra Yerring and Yeringberg and a gaggle of young, boundary-pushing winemakers. The latter experimented in the early 2000s with carbonic maceration. While the pendulum is swinging back toward the center, the use of whole bunches and whole berries in fermentation gives Shiraz a vibrancy that, combined with crunchy natural acidity, distinguishes it greatly from the bolder, richer styles.

One whole-bunch proponent is Gary Mills, who launched the label Jamsheed to focus on single-vineyard Syrah and aromatic white wines from around Victoria.

“Jamsheed launched in 2003 when the vanguard of Aus Shiraz was all about full-on power,” says Mills. “Not only are these wines I have no interest in drinking, I witnessed a lot of vineyards being pushed into overdrive to make these styles of wine when they were not suited to do so, and all they ended up achieving was brown muck.”

New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

The wine regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory surround the city of Sydney like a horseshoe. In the warm, humid Hunter Valley, the birthplace of Australian wine, Shiraz is usually medium weight with concentrated berry fruit and hefty helpings of spice and tannin. It lacks the acidity and linearity of the cooler-climate bottlings, but can be beautifully gamey and complex with age.

Historic wineries like Tyrrell’s and Mount Pleasant, along with Brokenwood, all make classic styles while Harkham Wine makes playful yet seriously structured Shiraz with zero added sulfites.

The Great Dividing Range is home to a handful of small, high-elevation wine regions. Of these, the Canberra District, just outside Australia’s capital city of the same name, has emerged as an unlikely but important character in the Shiraz narrative. Its success is down to one man: Tim Kirk of Clonakilla.

“In fact, most grape-growing regions would kill for our dry, coastal climate. The secret is restraint and knowing when to pick to keep the wines in balance.”—Brad Hickey, founder Brash Higgins Wine

Inspired by a trip to the Northern Rhône 30 years ago, Kirk returned home to his family winery, started by his father, John Kirk, in 1971, hoping to craft a Shiraz-Viognier blend in the finessed style he’d tried in France.

“By what seemed to me a providence, Dad had planted Viognier in the vineyard five years earlier with a view to making a white wine,” says Kirk. “It was about to crop for the very first time on our return to Australia in early 1992. I suggested to Dad that instead of making a white, we should try throwing it in to the Shiraz ferments just as I had observed in Côte-Rôtie.”

Clonakilla’s Shiraz Viognier was an instant success, proving that the combo of the varieties, along with Canberra’s extreme continental climate and complex soils of clays and decomposed granite, were capable of the elegance and perfume Kirk had hoped for. It inspired other cool climate producers to strive for similar aromatics, tension and elegance in their Shiraz. It remains a benchmark wine.

Western Australia

Whether in the historic Swan District, Geographe or Margaret River, West Aussie Shiraz can range from medium to full in body, with supple texture, upfront fruit and gentle spice. The warm climate is moderated by cool breezes off the Indian Ocean.

The sprawling and remote Great Southern region in West Australia’s far southwest crafts compelling cool-climate Shiraz. Two of the five distinct subregions, Frankland River and Mount Barker, boast semi-continental climates and make particularly expressive, finely textured versions, laden with savory, earthy spice and florals.

“It was Shiraz that first gave me a glimpse of the Great Southern region’s potential and made us decide to drive from Queensland with all our belongings across the country to settle way out here in the sticks,” says Andrew Hoadley, whose La Violetta wines are some of the most innovative in the country.

Hoadley started his label with one Shiraz in 2008. He now makes over two dozen wines including several Shiraz that differ in style but walk a tightrope of elegance and rusticity, buzzing with energy and a lighter frame that “can be drunk with a chill.”

“Trendy, sure,” says Hoadley. “But also, just what an Aussie summer is screaming out for.” 

South Australia

A gaggle of producers in classic regions like Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale—Standish Wine Company, Ruggabellus and Poppelvej, to name a few—are rethinking their regions’ most famous grape.

“We can’t turn off the sun here,” says Brad Hickey, an American expat who makes wines in McLaren Vale under the label Brash Higgins. “In fact, most grape-growing regions would kill for our dry, coastal climate. The secret is restraint and knowing when to pick to keep the wines in balance.”

Hickey’s hands-off approach to his boldly labeled Shiraz results in a wine that doesn’t hide the power inherent to the region but also highlights the variety’s complex, sweet and sour elements in these parts.

In Barossa, Fraser McKinley’s Sami-Odi label is a love letter to the region’s most special Shiraz sites. McKinley makes a vintage wine from vines as old as 133 years, along with a multi-vintage blend. He’s also planted more than 6,000 Shiraz vines from cuttings off vineyards of local prestige and heritage, and he’ll soon release his first wines under the label Our Hill.

McKinley’s approach is minimal yet exacting. He farms organically, picks early and utilizes whole clusters. He also makes no acid adjustments, which is uncommon in warmer regions like Barossa, and bottles with minimal sulfur additions.

“I’m looking for vitality and fragrance in the final wines,” he says. The Sami Odi Shiraz are full of character, stable, perfumed and drinkable-yet-ageworthy expressions that demonstrate Barossa’s potential to produce elegant wines.

South Australia is also home to the elevated, cool-climate Adelaide Hills region, a hotbed of natural winemaking and experimentation, where producers like Murdoch Hill and Charlotte Dalton, to name a few, craft refreshing Shiraz with moderate alcohol levels and umami nuances like iodine and seaweed atop fresh berry fruit. 

Ten Australian Shiraz Wines to try:

Frankland Estate 2018 Isolation Ridge Single Vineyard Shiraz (Frankland River); $38. This wine comes from the most isolated single-vineyards in the world, and from a fantastic Shiraz vineyard. SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Luke Lambert 2019 Syrah (Yarra Valley); $65. From one of the coolest climates in the Yarra and grown on unusually volcanic soil to boot… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Mayer 2019 Syrah (Yarra Valley); $90. German expat Timo Mayer is one of the natural wine kings of the Yarra Valley, known for his prodigious yet skillful use of whole-bunch fermentation. SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards 2018 Shiraz (McLaren Vale); $35. Corrina Wright and team once again deliver a medium-weight Shiraz that’s both approachable and nuanced. SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Walsh & Sons 2020 Felix Syrah (Margaret River); $35. This pint-size Margaret River winery, known for characterful yet clean minimal-intervention wines with downright adorable labels… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Charlotte Dalton 2019 Love Me Love You Shiraz (Adelaide Hills); $33. Wildly popular in Australia, this modern Shiraz puts deliciousness first without compromising quality. SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Poppelvej 2019 Somewhere Syrah (McLaren Vale); $39. This is a relatively new small-batch label from Danish sommelier-turned-winemaker Uffe Deichmann. Fermented in concrete egg, this Syrah echoes… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Pacha Mama 2019 Shiraz (Heathcote); $30. This is a lovely example of cool-climate Shiraz from the Heathcote region of Victoria. It’s open and lucid, with notes of sun-ripened wild blueberries and strawberries, tree sap, scrubby Aussie herbs and flowers, and a wet-stone nuance.  SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

Best’s 2017 Sparkling Shiraz (Great Western); $35. Best’s makes one of the strongest examples of this uniquely Aussie style, which has been a part of Aussie wine since 1881.  SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

See Saw 2018 Shiraz (Orange); $20. From the high-elevation region of Orange in New South Wales, this organic Shiraz shows the coolness of the climate and the power of the variety.  SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW

This article originally appeared in the December 31, 2021 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today!

The post Australian Shiraz: The Chameleon Grape With a French Pedigree appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

A multitude of grape varieties and expressions of red wines can be found across Australia’s 65 designated wine regions. If you desire streamlined reds that hold tension and ripe fruit flavors in equal measure, look to Pinot Noir and Syrah from cool-climate regions like Tasmania and the Yarra Valley. Maybe you want something a bit more full-bodied and structured yet polished—in steps Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style red blends from Margaret River on the country’s west coast. If hedonistic reds are calling your name, seek out Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and GSM blends from the Barossa Valley and Coonawarra in South Australia.  

From large production pours that offer great value to unique offerings that speak to Australia’s thriving natural wine scene, there’s truly something for everyone. Here are 12 diverse Aussie reds that are worth the discovery. 

Delinquente 2020 Hell Red (Riverland); $29. Made from an unusual blend of Italian and Portuguese grape varieties organically grown in the Riverland, this red is unmistakably natural in style… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Devil’s Corner 2019 Pinot Noir (Tasmania); $19. This distinctly Tassie Pinot offers a bouncy red cherry tone in the fore backed by hints of cinnamon and earthy spice… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Fighting Gully Road 2016 Tempranillo (Beechworth); $32. From the cool climes and interesting soils of Beechworth in Victoria, this is a high-toned, lucid Tempranillo… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Giant Steps 2020 Pinot Noir (Yarra Valley); $35. This Pinot blends fruit from the estate’s four single vineyards. For much of Australia, 2020 was a rollercoaster of a vintage… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Grant Burge 2018 The Holy Trinity G-S-M (Barossa); $58. This longstanding brand is back in the country with one of its best-known labels. A classic G-S-M blend… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Jim Barry 2017 Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra); $15. This is a good example of modern Coonawarra (from a well-known Clare Valley producer) at a great price… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Luke Lambert 2019 Syrah (Yarra Valley); $65. From one of the coolest microclimates in the Yarra and grown on unusually volcanic soil to boot… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Paringa 2019 Shiraz (South Australia); $12. This is rich and ripe but comforting, like a blanket on a cold winter’s night… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Penfolds 2018 RWT Bin 798 Shiraz (Barossa Valley); $150. This wine offers layers of appealing aromas straight off the bat, from black cherry and currant to cedar… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Ringbolt 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River); $20. This Margaret River Cab walks on the riper, richer end of the spectrum. It opens with dark cherries, currants…SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Vasse Felix 2017 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec (Margaret River); $165. The 2017 vintage of this winery’s top-tier red was on the cooler side for Margaret River… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

Yangarra 2019 Ovitelli Grenache (McLaren Vale); $60. From the block next to the renowned High Sands vineyard, Ovitelli skips the oak in favor of 158 days on skins in large ceramic eggs… SEE SCORE AND FULL REVIEW 

The post From Supermarket to Top Shelf, 12 Great Red Wines from Australia appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.