2002 Hollick Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
87+ points; $23-$25; from Edinburgh Cellars, Norwood Hotel

WITH almost 20 vintages through its winery, Hollick really has this combination nailed. It represents a significant portion of Hollick’s production, and speaks of both varietal and regional character. With trademark mint and leaf, this looks much more cabernet than merlot and right in the Coonawarra style. Merlot adds a lighter fragrant dimension to the wine, with hints of liquorice and berry fruit, a little juniper too. The wood is both complementary and deferential to the fruit aroma that plumps up nicely with some airing, also revealing some deeper earthy notes. On the palate it is elegant and balanced, evenly structured and engaging even in its youth. Acid is crisp and there’s just enough vinousity to roll over a soft finish. It is not a blockbuster or headline grabber but a wine with understated class and style, a testimony to Ian Hollick’s experience and understanding of the region. And it’s worth dropping a dozen in the cellar, as it will evolve nicely for the rest of this decade.

2002 Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier
86 points; $30-$32; from Tanunda Cellars, Cellarbrations Glenside, Melbourne St Cellars

LAKE Breeze has been dishing out great value reds for a while. Greg Follett is working hard to build on foundations laid by his father in preceding decades, a winemaker keen to really engage with the region and take the wines to another level. This is the first release of the Arthur’s Reserve and replaces the old Winemaker’s Reserve wine. It’s a different beast though, with a fairly generous 30 per cent of petit verdot blended into the cabernet. Greg reckons Langhorne cabernet doesn’t need any rounding out from merlot, as it already has enough girth, but the ability of petit verdot to retain natural acidity is a worthy addition to the generous Langhorne red style. This is bursting with fragrant, dark berry fruit and some earthy loam and chocolate. On the palate it’s soft and round with quite elemental red fruits and dense soft tannins. A work in progress, you might say, but a good start and pretty good value, as you’d expect from the Follett family. Only 400 cases were produced; if you miss out their Bernoota blend is also worth a look.
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2002 Houghton Pemberton Chardonnay
92 points; $29-$31; from Sip ‘n Save St Peters, East End Cellars

LINE up 20 or so Aussie chardonnays and you’ll get pretty much every type of wine, from simple, sweet and fruity to savoury flavours worked hard in the winery. Often a chardonnay smells attractive with rich fruit only to disappoint in the mouth, lacking presence, structure and poise; a trick wine, if you like. By comparison, this Houghton builds expectation with aromas of intense grapefruit citrus fruit layered with honey, gently grilled nuts and woody spice – and then the palate really takes off with a zesty, intense core of fruit building through the middle into a long searing finish. Really impressive and precisely judged layers of complexity peel away with subtle, bready lees flavour and gunflint dancing around the edges. This wine really delivers where many fail. It has a completeness and integration that is all too rare in many Aussie chardonnay wines. A sizzling backbone of acid cruises through dense, rich fruit, drawing the finish tight and long. Houghton is a West Australian icon quickly associated with its popular “white burgundy”, though this regional range seems to sneak below the radar on our side of the Nullaboor. It’s a wine worth searching out, particularly if you’re partial to real white Burgundy. A class act.
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2004 Tim Adams Riesling
93+ points; $19-$20; from Royal Oak Hotel

TIM Adams has a good feel for the Clare Valley, evidenced by the balance and reliability across the range of his wines, year in, year out. The 2004 Riesling is a blend of four parcels of fruit from the Watervale, Sevenhill and Clare township areas, evidenced by an array of complex, layered riesling characters from exuberant aromatics to the steely, austere end of the spectrum. This wine sailed to the front of a pretty decent line-up of ’04 rieslings and I rate it as one of Tim Adams’ best. It is fine and measured with terrific pure riesling character, quite lifted and floral with an element of bath powder and lime citrus also. On the palate it’s more of the same; fresh, fine, pure riesling with good concentration in a racy package and right on the sweet/sour edge. This ’04 is a beautifully crafted, finely structured wine with a long, dry finish. The mouthwatering acidity and steely backbone complete an impressive package. It is terrific drinking now and will age gracefully for many years in a good cellar. Have it with oysters over summer.
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