(2025) An unusual blend, I guess modeled on Côte-Rôtie, where instead of Viognier the local white variety, Riesling is blended with 95% Shiraz. The Shiraz was whole bunch fermented, with stalks, on top of Riesling skins for 11 days. Maturation followed in older French oak barriques, where the wine completed fermentation and stayed for 18 months. It's always easy to imagine you are smelling or tasting the influence of a small varietal addition in a wine, but this is certainly aromatic, a kirsch-like lift and floral touch to creamy black fruit. Dense on the palate with supple dark fruit running into cocoa, but that little hint of something exotic is there into a long, refined finish with moderate tannins and juicy acidity. Watch the video for more information.
(2025) The first Riesling vineyard was planted in Eden Valley more than 175 years ago, and this wine from Pewsey Vale has been a favourite of mine for many years. Part fermented with wild yeast and weighing in with just 11.5% alcohol, it is pale and colour and abundantly fresh and limey on the nose. A gentle beeswax note is typical. Featherweight yet with a rippling texture on the palate, more lime, green leafy herbs and stone fruits merge into a gentle acid finish. There is not the strident acidity of some from Clare and Eden, but a much gentler profile.
(2025) Weighing in with a featherweight 10.5% alcohol, I thought this was a bit of a star of the moderate alcohol Oxford Landing selection tasted. Wild yeast fermentation, lees ageing and a touch of oak influence give a creaminess and light nuttiness on the nose, some rounded yellow fruit character - yellow plum, peach - and freshness too. The palate is arguably a touch dilute, but the flavour is good, with that nutty aspect again underpinning stone fruits and the modest 2.1g/l of residual sugar meaning it finishes on the freshness of the acidity. At it's price and ABV I enjoyed this. £5.98 in Asda at time of review, but in all the supermarkets. Watch the video for more information.
(2025) Yalumba 'GEN' is a new range of sustainable wines, certified organic and 100% vegan. Wines in the range are made without chemical fertilisers or pesticides, fermented with natural vineyard yeasts. Unoaked, it nevertheless has some texture and creaminess. Aromas are of stone fruits with a light kaolin earthiness. In the mouth there is fruit sweetness touching on pineapple (but the wine has very little residual sugar) and it finishes with a lemon jelly, soft acidity. Watch the video for more information.
(2024) Not Sherry, but a solera-aged Pedro Ximénez from a family that produced its first fortified PX wine in the 1940s. Perhaps slightly lighter in colour than a typical Spanish version - nut brown rather than mahogany brown - it pours with engine oil thickness and gloriously sweet and luscious aromas of fig, raisin and walnut, a delicate rancio character adding a layer of intrigue. In the mouth super-sweet and mouth-filling, really all about the sweet and unctuous flavour rather than massive complexity, but utterly delicious.
(2024) Wild yeast fermented and with a mere 10.5% alcohol, this South Australian Sauvignon comes across as more Loire than Marlborough. Relatively subtle, aromas of stone fruits, citrus and kiwi fruit are light and fragrant, reminiscent of a Touraine Sauvignon perhaps. The suggestion of juiciness continues on the palate, and though this does have plenty of ripe fruit sweetness and a talcum powder gentleness, the peach and citrus acidity is soft but more than adequate, adding a tangy freshness and length. Mixed six price is £9.99.
(2024) The apricot - and dried apricot - aroma is unmissable in this wine. Fermented and matured in older French oak for 10 months, a little cedar and spice adds piquant highlights to the fruit. In the mouth it is medium-bodied, again apricot and peach, a gentle nutty background and enough acidity to keep this fresh makes for an all-round satisfying wine.
(2024) The great grape of Condrieu in the northern Rhône was almost unknown outside of the appellation until relatively recently, and Yalumba was a real pioneer and advocate for the variety in South Australia. From the elevated slopes of Eden Valley, the fruit for this, their top cuvée, comes from a vineyard planted over 40 years ago. Gorgeous nose, all the luscious, lightly caramelised pear and exotic nectarine and mango you could wish for. There's a creamy oak overlay and hints of the exotic, from sesame seeds to summer blossom. On the palate it is textured and rippling with fruit, full-bodied but not over-bearing with its 13.5% alcohol. It's a wine that manages to be both slip down very easily and offer some structure, depth and seriousness, hints of ginger spice and a limey lick of acidity cleansing the finish.
(2024) d'Arenberg is one of the iconic names of Australian wine and has been a constant presence on UK wine shelves for decades. This is 100% biodynamic Grenache, foot trodden two-thirds of the way through ferment and pressed in a basket press as is d'Arenberg's way. It was matured in French oak for nine months. It has a terrific nose, straddling a buoyant, crushed red berry fruit with masses of fresh-cracked black pepper and a certain meatiness. In the mouth it has substantial tannins and fine acid core, but the weight of fruit is equal to that all the way, giving this lots of drinkability as well as a bit of serious gastronomic usefulness. Watch the video for more information and food-matching ideas.
(2024) I rather enjoyed this unusual Sauvignon Blanc from RedHeads Wine, unusual because the fruit comes from Coonawarra, a territory normally associated with Cabernet Sauvignon. Unoaked, I liked the suggestion of lime peel and melon skin on the nose that added a certain savoury character rather than just overt fruit. Fruit is there, some gooseberry, grapefruit and just a hint of more tropical passion fruit, and the acid balance in this 12.5% wine is good.
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The great grape of Condrieu in the northern Rhône was almost unknown outside of the appellation until relatively recently, and Yalumba was a real pioneer and advocate for the variety in South Australia. From the elevated slopes of Eden Valley, the fruit for this, their top cuvée, comes from a vineyard planted over 40 years ago. Gorgeous nose, all the luscious, lightly caramelised pear and exotic nectarine and mango you could wish for. There's a creamy oak overlay and hints of the exotic, from sesame seeds to summer blossom. On the palate it is textured and rippling with fruit, full-bodied but not over-bearing with its 13.5% alcohol. It's a wine that manages to be both slip down very easily and offer some structure, depth and seriousness, hints of ginger spice and a limey lick of acidity cleansing the finish. 