Score 90 Value Fantastic
Western Australia's far south produces excellent riesling, and Rocky Gully delivers regional quality at a fair price. Reminiscent of green apples, citrus and steel, it's pristine, persistent, firm and dry. (Screw cap; 11.5 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? Drink over five years
Food idea Sushi
Stockists include Blackhearts & Sparrows stores (Vic); Five Way Cellars, Paddington (NSW)
Score 88 Value Fantastic
A perennial bargain, this cabernet from France's south-west delivers a nose of plum, briar and herbs, ahead of a savoury-flavoured, light-to-medium-weight palate of easy texture and soft finish. (Screw cap; 13.5 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? No need
Food idea Pink lamb cutlets
Stockists include Best Cellars, Darlinghurst (NSW); Ritchies stores (Vic)
Score 90 Value Good
Smooth, juicy pinot gris exhibiting aromas of green nectarine, pear and spice. It's medium bodied with good depth, lingering flavour and an unusually fine finish. (Screw cap; 13 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? No
Food idea Chinese steamed chicken with soy, ginger and spring onion
Stockists include Just released; check with your local wine shop
Score 91 Value Good
From the Great Southern region of WA, this succulent shiraz offers ripe berry characters dressed in a light veneer of spicy oak. A medium weight palate has juicy flavours, balanced by fine, dry tannins. (Screw cap; 14 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? Drink over four years
Food idea Lamb pie
Stockists include Wine Window, Fitzroy (Vic); Corkscrew Cellars, Darlinghurst, Rose Bay and Malabar (NSW)
Score 93 Value Good
Flagship viognier that sums up this idiosyncratic grape. Aromas of flowers, apricots and chicken soup lead into a lush, apricot-scented mouthful that nicely counterpoints richness with finesse. (Screw cap; 13.5 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? No need
Food idea Roast pork with rosemary
Stockists include Sixty Darling Street Fine Wines, Balmain (NSW); Nicks Wine Merchants, Doncaster East (Vic)
Score 95 Value Good
Lovely Yarra pinot from historic Yeringberg. Fragrant floral scents, red cherries, whispers of herbs and spice on the nose, and a seamless, silky mouthful. An essay in gentle charm and lingering intensity. (Screw cap; 13.5 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? Drink over 10 years
Food idea Grilled quail
Stockists include City Wine Shop, Spring Street, Melbourne (Vic); Five Way Cellars, Paddington (NSW)
Score 95 Value Good
Fontanafredda, in Italy's beautiful Piedmont, used to be an estate of the King of Italy. Everything is on a grand scale, and the wines produced there are suitably impressive. This Barolo sells for much less than many, yet it's very classical. Tar, cherry nougat, dried rose and leathery notes fill the nose, and a finely balanced palate is intense and long, backed up by a broad expanse of grippy tannins. (Cork; 14 per cent alcohol.)
Ageing? Yes, two to 15 years
Food idea Beef slow-braised in red wine
Stockists include North Sydney Cellars (NSW); Dockendorff's IGA, Brighton (Vic)
Score 95 Value Good
Yorkshire ales are wholesome and hearty. Samuel Smith Organic Pale Ale has deep amber colour, plenty of sweet malt and steely hop characters, good body and satisfying balance, and a lingering bitter finish. (5 per cent alcohol)
Stockists include Vintage Cellars stores; Jim's Cellars, Waitara & Crows Nest (NSW)
Score 96 Value Good
The blue tinge is from gardenia flowers, part of a suite of botanicals that give this gin complexity. Its intense fragrance of florals, juniper, oranges and lemons, spices and herbs, carries cleanly through real depth of flavour. (47 per cent alcohol.)
Stockists include Dan Murphy's