Top 100 Wines: Whites - Light & Fresh
Top 100 Wines: Whites - Light and Fresh
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Australia's sparklings are coming of age, and mid-winter, along with zesty new vintage riesling and sauvignon blanc, is the best time to sip them with oysters and other pristine seafoods.
Yellowglen NV Chardonnay Pinot Noir
Under new technology, twist open seals as well as cork. This bargain sparkler is quite something for the price, drawing on a strong collection of higher-end base wines to come up with a fresh, fragrant fizz with subtle bubbles, lovely citrus and nectarine flavours and a pithy, minerally finish to please any champagne novice.
★★★★
Food: Natural oysters
Various regions
$13
Deviation Road Loftia Vintage 2011 Brut
A lot of passion and Champagne regional experience goes into this wine from Kate Laurie, who has built a sophisticated set of complexities among its core green apple fruit elements — it’s creamy with a superfine bubble and bead, a note of brine, and even a sense of fresh white cheeses. Impressive.
★★★★1/2
Adelaide Hills
Food: Shellfish hors d’oeuvres
$34
Arras Brut Elite
This is the one that changes the game in any debate about the class of Australian fizz, its subtext (Cuvee 601) indicating its predominantly from 2006 base wines spent maturing and developing smart creamy underlayers, pithy minerality and acidity and generous flavours. Brilliant.
★★★★1/2
Tasmania
Food: Celebration
$45
Howard Vineyard Picnic 2013 Sauvignon Blanc
Another take on Hills sauvignon blanc that treks a clever path towards the more lemon and citrus end of the spectrum but not forgetting its telltale passionfruits and lightly scoped tropical fruit salad elements as well, all cast with lovely tangy acidity and a lift of musk-like spice. Excellent value.
★★★★
Food: Chilli salt calamari
Adelaide Hills
$20
Leo Buring 2013 Riesling
This subregional Watervale delight has had many years to build a reputation as well as a clear definition of dry Clare riesling, highlighted in this vintage by blossoms and citrus zest aromas, then juice more in the lemon to grapefruit spectrum than lime with a long, chalk-dry finish. Textbook.
★★★★1/2
Clare Valley
Food: Garfish, grilled
$20
Nepenthe 2013 Sauvignon Blanc
From one of the Hills’ early adopters of sauvignon blanc, this version is so recognisable as a high octane style master, with lantana bush, green grasses, passionfruit and asparagus putting it out there with a sweet passion-pine-lime palate and a fair deal of tropical fruit tang in the finish.
★★★★1/2
Adelaide Hills
Food: Vietnamese noodle and banana flower salad
$19
Lambrook 2014 Sauvignon Blanc
Rather than hit you like a sledgehammer with sweet tropical fruits and passionfruit overload, this sauvignon is more about zip and citrus styling, the palate then hinting at pine-passion-lime splice so you recognise its varietal footprint. Wait then for its brilliant powder-fine mouthfeel, more-ish, fresh, satisfying.
★★★★1/2
Adelaide Hills
Food: Kingfish carpaccio
$20
De Bortoli La Boheme 2013 Act Three
Subtitled pinot gris and friends, this sees riesling, gewurztraminer and pinot blanc all adding their harmonic lines to the lead variety which make for a delightful core of beurre bosc pear, red apple, rose petal fragrance as well as lime juices and a dash of musk. Crisp, crunchy, uplifting.
★★★★
Yarra Valley, Vic
Food: Pork shoulder, pear, rocket parmesan salad
$20
Jim Barry The Lodge Hill 2014 Riesling
Family head Peter Barry is raving already about how the ’14 rieslings are looking, and this lives up to the spruik, buzzing with fresh, tongue-tingling citrus cut, edgy lime-juice acidity, and fine talc and pithy minerals in the mouth feel. Drink now if you’re tuned to the style or age for 10 years.
★★★★1/2
Clare Valley
Food: Lemon wedged baked chicken
$22
Penfolds 2013 Bin 51 Riesling
Serious riesling for the long haul, to age and develop only as riesling can. For now it’s all fine minerals and citrus juice attack both aromatically and in the mouth, tingling acidity, super tangy lime with some perfumed lifts propelled into a long and lingering, talc and chalky, zest and pithy finish.
★★★★1/2
Eden Valley
Food: Fish fillets
$30
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