By Christine Salins.
McGuigan Reserve Black
“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized,” said the late great André Simon, a French-born wine merchant and connoisseur who was prominent in the English wine trade prior to his death in 1970.
If the recent Lifeline Book Fair hadn’t been so brutally cut short, chances are you could have picked up a few of his books. A prolific writer on wine, he wrote an extraordinary number of books – more than 100 in fact.
Who wouldn’t agree with Simon that a glass of red makes every day more civilized?
McGuigan Wines 2020 Reserve Black Red Blend, $15: With generous flavours of blueberries, blackberries and cherries, this bright, easy-drinking wine is good value at the price. From a really good vintage in South Australia, it’s deliciously smooth with soft tannins and hints of black pepper and sweet spice. Enjoy it with pizza, pasta, roasts and steaks – anything really.
St Hallett 2019 Blackwell Shiraz
Yalumba 2018 Sanctum Cabernet Sauvignon, $25: In a blind tasting you’d swear this wine was twice the price. When you learn that it comes from the Menzies Estate Vineyard in Coonawarra, it’s not surprising that it’s such a knockout. Menzies is Yalumba’s premium Cabernet Sauvignon estate, located in the inner sanctum of Coonawarra where the famous terra rossa soil over limestone grows rich, full-bodied Cabernet. Opulent and elegant with notes of chocolate, vanilla and spice, this one has a beautiful balance of oak, rounded out with hints of savoury.
Dalfarras 2019 Sangiovese, $19.70: A bright and lively Sangiovese like this goes down such a treat with Italian dishes – there’s always such a synergy between Italian varietals and Italian food. Aromatic with soft, earthy flavours and plum, cherry and spice notes, it would also go nicely with barbecued dishes and chargrilled seafood.
Dalfarras 2019 Nero d’Avola, $19.70: Another one in the fresh, easy-drinking Dalfarras range from Victoria’s historic Chateau Tahbilk winery, this one has been described by the winemaking Purbrick family as “a bit like Chambord with spice”. Nero d’Avola is a Sicilian variety, medium-bodied with generous sweet tannins and a savoury edge. Like Sangiovese, it has a great affinity with food. We enjoyed this with a hearty roast beef.
Yalumba
Yalumba 2015 FDR1A Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, $50: This is one of Yalumba’s exceptional wines, an example of Yalumba’s commitment to, and mastery of, the quintessential Australian Cabernet Shiraz blend. It first released this wine more than 40 years ago, which tells you something about how it has resonated with dedicated wine lovers. Sourced from the Eden Valley high country, a cooler part of the Barossa, it has violet and cherry aromas, complex notes of spice, cedar and anise, and long fine tannins. You could put this away for a decade or more, but it’s also drinking really beautifully now.
St Hallett 2019 Higher Earth, $60: This fine drop is also from South Australia’s Eden Valley with a similarly expressive elegance and finesse. Like the St Hallett 2021 Blockhead Shiraz Nouveau which we reviewed some time ago, Higher Earth is St Hallett’s contemporary take on Shiraz, as opposed to the more traditional Blackwell Shiraz style. 2019 was a very dry vintage and the lower yields produced rich, concentrated fruit, the Higher Earth wine balancing it with chalky tannins, intense violet and cherry notes, and a deliciously long finish.
St Hallett 2019 Blackwell Shiraz, $55: Unlike Higher Earth, St Hallett’s chief winemaker, Helen McCarthy, can’t push the boundaries too much with this one, as it is known and loved as a tribute to Stuart Blackwell, St Hallett’s winemaker for more than three decades. Northern Barossa fruit is used to produce this rich, sophisticated wine with cherry and plum notes and complex flavours of chocolate and spice. Fermented in American oak, it’s a beautiful wine that will reward careful cellaring. Otherwise enjoy it with the highest quality steak you can buy.
