Canberra District's top 10 red wines for 2015: Chris Shanahan's selection
In both quality and quantity, shiraz remains Canberra's red champion by a country mile. The three featured in this year's top 10 represent three quite different faces of the medium-bodied regional style.
When we extend our search to neighbouring regions along the Great Divide, we find two delicious cabernet sauvignons from Orange and Hilltops – one for the cellar and a lower priced version to enjoy now.
Complementing mainstream wines, our embrace of so-called alternative varieties adds a couple of delicious Canberra-grown wines to the menu: the Austrian white, gruner veltliner, and Spain's red tempranillo. Hilltops shows its diversity with three Italian red varieties – nebbiolo, and a blend of rondinella and corvina. And Tumbarumba contributes a juicy gamay, the red grape of France's Beaujolais region.
In future years our winemakers will likely offer even greater diversity. A poll I conducted in September revealed 23 Canberra wineries now work with 14 alternative red varieties, while 17 process five alternative whites.
Many more wines might easily have been included in the list but for various reasons could not. These include high quality, small-production wines that simply sold out. While another, gold-medal-winning Lerida Estate Josephine Pinot Noir 2014, made the grade but won't be released until 2016.
The wines in the list come from small producers and are not widely distributed. It's the nature of our local, boutique wine industry. It means in many cases buying direct from the producer – a please weekend activity – or a phone call to find where wines are stocked.
Happy hunting and merry Christmas.
Top 10 reds
1. Freeman Rondinella Corvina Secco 2010
$35
Freeman vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
Brian Freeman's blend emulates the highly distinctive Amarone reds of Valpolicella, Italy, made by co-fermenting fresh-picked and dehydrated rondinella and corvina grapes. Freeman dries part of his rondinella and corvina grapes in a neighbour's prune dehydrator, then ferments it with fresh-picked material. Freeman's 2010 presents very strong, sour-cherry- and port-like flavours, meshed with the distinct aromas and flavours of oak, on a potent and tannic palate that some will love and others will hate.
2. Moppity Vineyards Lock and Key Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
$14-$18
Moppity vineyard, Hilltops, NSW
After much TLC in the vineyard, and several changes of contract winemaker, we are witnessing the best wines yet from Jason and Alecia Brown's Moppity vineyard. This is perhaps best seen when a great vintage like 2013 comes along. For a modest sum, Lock and Key provides a pure, fruity expression of cabernet, with cassis-like flavour, subtle, complementary oak and an elegant structure. You get a lot of wine for the price.
3. Ross Hill Pinnacle Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
$40
Ross Hill Griffin Road vineyard, Orange, NSW
In 2013, The Ridge, a section of the Robson family's Griffin vineyard, produced evenly ripened cabernet of a quality rarely seen in Orange. Winemaker Phil Kerney successfully captured the varietal flavour and richness of those grapes. A deep, vividly coloured wine, Pinnacle shows equally vivid, ripe berry flavours in a deep, sweet palate, cut through with cabernet's assertive, ripe tannins. This is powerful, harmonious and elegant cabernet with good cellaring potential.
4. Ravensworth Charlie Foxtrot Gamay Noir 2014
$30
Johansen vineyard, Tumbarumba, NSW
Earlier this year, winemaker and Food & Wine columnist Bryan Martin eagerly accepted a small parcel of red gamay grapes from the Johansen vineyard, Tumbarumba. With fruity, drink-now Beaujolais in mind, Martin picked the brains of a visiting French winemaker. The Frenchman contacted winemaking mates in Beaujolais and voila, Ravensworth Gamay Noir emerged. Fleshy, fruity and delicious it provides huge drink-now pleasure. It won a gold medal and trophy at the Canberra regional wine show.
5. Mount Majura Vineyard Tempranillo 2014
$45
Mount Majura, Canberra District, ACT
After the deeper, darker 2013 vintage, Mount Majura 2014 reveals a fragrant, fruity side of Canberra-grown tempranillo. The aroma and palate both suggest ripe, red berry characters, which push through the variety's distinctive firm but fine tannins. The bright fruit character gives the wine tremendous drink-now appeal – though the tannins and underlying savouriness should see it evolve for three or four years in bottle.
6. Capital Wines Tempranillo Shiraz 2014
$36
Kyeema vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Capital wines offers two tempranillos – the bright, fruity, irresistible Ambassador 2014 ($25) and this denser, deeper blend of tempranillo and shiraz, sourced from the Kyeema vineyard. The combination works seamlessly. Tempranillo's blueberry-like fruit flavour and firm, fine tannins, remain. But shiraz adds spicy flavours and flesh to the mid palate. It's an elegant and satisfying red, made by veteran Canberra winemaker Andrew McEwin.
7. Ravensworth Nebbiolo 2014
$35
Hilltops, NSW
As Food & Wine contributors Bryan Martin and David Reist launched their book, Tongue and Cheek, in March, guests quaffed Martin's 2014 nebbiolo. The Piedmontese variety makes lighter coloured, highly fragrant reds of great power and elegance, with firm, grippy tannins. Martin's wine sits at the darker end of the nebbiolo scale, with alluring fragrance and a round, soft palate. The tannins do come back and bite in the end, but this is already a friendly and distinctive drink.
8. Collector Reserve Shiraz 2013
$58
Kyeema and Nanima vineyards, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
In a masked tasting of 20 Canberra 2013 vintage shirazes last year, Collector Reserve rated very highly on first tasting, and even higher after a second, closer look. It presents a deeply layered spicy, savoury, fruity, supple side of Canberra shiraz. It's one of the best from district in the great 2013 vintage and has the advantage of being still available. It should cellar extremely well.
9. Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz 2014
$36-$48
Murrumbateman and Hall, Canberra District, NSW
Recently, a comparison was made of O'Riada to Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2014 ($90-$100) and Hilltops Shiraz 2014 ($28-$33). Six tasters enjoyed the solid Hilltops wine, but as the night wore on, the levels in the other two bottles declined rapidly. Ultimately, in vocal opinions, as well as volume consumed, the intense, silky shiraz viognier won the day by a comfortable, but not wide, margin, over the classy, harmonious O'Riada, a gold medal winner at the Canberra regional wine show.
10. Nick O'Leary Shiraz 2014
$30
Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
Nick O'Leary's 2014 shiraz topped its class at this year's Canberra regional wine show. A month later, judges at the NSW Wine Industry Awards named it NSW Wine of the Year. The limpid 2014 offers sweet and alluring red-berry and spice aromas. The vibrant, fresh, medium-bodied palate precisely reflects the aroma, with its spicy, rich, berry fruit flavours. Soft, silky tannins give the wine its smooth texture and gentle finish.
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