2012 Rowanston On the Track Heathcote Viognier

It was good to see a straight Viognier in a bottle shop. But this was disappointing. Cheapish, but watery like a watered-down Chardonnay. Pale in colour too. Was I getting confused with Vermentino? As I write this up, I noticed it is a Heathcote wine.  Heathcote is terrific for Rose, but I've yet to come upon another good varietal for the region. 'Winemakers John and Marilyn Frederiksen operate this small family vineyard and winery  on the famous Burke and Wills Track'. It could do with a better label. In plane green and white it looks a little no-brandish. But as I look seriously again, the image is doubled: green for potentially a drop of wine, and that drop shape forming a female's breasts/cleavage: was this intended? I think not, as the colours are not sensuous.

Mirabeau en Provence 2015

Mirabeau en Provence 2015, made by an Australian couple gone France-ward. Syrah and Grenache based, it’s a pale but bronzed pink with a jube-ish smell of vanilla, strawberries, and cream and a dry palate. It has been a gold winner at the International Wine Challenge. On the label, and the cap top, birds flutter over a vine, possibly mimicking common shapes, but normally you’d not want birds with grape vines!

The Lane Vineyard Block 2 Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris

The Lane Vineyard Block 2 Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris. It’s pale in colour, with a hint of pink tinge in its yellowness, a beautiful perfume of barely there musk and pineapple, and subtle sweet pea. There’s a sense of fizz/sugar-spun in the mouth like a waterfall, river run, froth and swirl. It would be a good slow-drinking wine with friends in summer in a hotel garden or by the sea. ‘Drink it in’ says the label. And I think that. At the bottom of that label, there’s a little square of the latter two numbers of the year in silver.

Treasury Wine estates Truvée wines

Treasury Wine estates Truvée wines are created by women. The two very drinkable varieties are the South-Eastern Oz Grenach/Syrah Rosé and Pinot Gris. The Rosé is watery blood in colour, with a mixed perfume of red-ant dreaming, vanilla and red jube, and a long, dry palate of tomato and tart orange. You’re sure to return to the pale, aromatic Pinot Gris with lightly salted nuts on the palate. But the label strikes me as annoyingly lace-doily-ish.  

2015 Ta_Ku Sauvignon Blanc Pink

2015 Ta_Ku Sauvignon Blanc Pink. Thus, it proudly labels itself pink, features a glossed-pink Kiwi, and a tag label proclaiming loudly and anxiously that it is ‘not sweet’ but rather ‘crisp and fresh’. Of the two that I have tried so far, the Tori Tori is the better, with a more sensuous palate.

Coté Mas Sud de France

Coté Mas Sud de France, from Langudedoc or South of France, via winemaker Jean-Claude Mas (you may recognise Paul Mas as a label on cheap French wines in Oz). It’s a mixture of Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Never give up the chance to drink a Grenache Blanc, one of those great delicious grapes around, but not often enough in Oz. However, there are two more Grenache Blanc blends in Northern Rivers’ bottle shops: Fontanet Pays d'Oc Les Terrasses white (Grenache Blanc, Colombard and Sav Blanc) and Torres Viña Sol white of Paralleda and Grenache Blanc.

2016 Two's Company Evans and Tate Sav Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay

Evans and Tate, whose wines I have kept way from because in the past I remember headaches accompanying them, currently have a cheapie 2016 Two's Company of Sav Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. Though I think that a sure-fire recipe for success is single vineyard, single variety (matched to place) and wild ferment, nevertheless I do like Semillon Chardonnay (now truly very difficult to get, even though it was supposedly an Oz wine staple) and this E&T mix which is a good quaffer, much better than a Sav Blanc on its own (unless, of course, it’s Shaw & Smith or Cloudy Bay or the pink Toi Toi Marlbourough Hidden Treasure sauvignon (to which Pinot Noir is added)). (I do also clearly like parentheses.) Though shouldn’t the E&T be called Ménage à Trois?