wine reviews – BoozeMonkey

Shottesbrooke Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Shottesbrooke Vineyard in McLaren Vale goes back over 30 years to when founder Nick Holmes planted his first vineyard, naming it after a UK estate in Berkshire where his granddad was vicar for 21 years from 1905.

And today Shottesbrooke is turning out some real classics under the stewardship of Winemaker Hamish Maguire, Nick’s stepson.

His recently released 2012 Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a terrific drop which is everything a great Cabernet Sauvignon aspires to be – toasty oak, blackcurrant, chocolate and hints of mint… a marvellous match with slow-cooked lamb shanks, buttered baby potatoes and steamed beans.

Charlotte’s Web Pinot Grigio

South Australia’s boutique winemaker Fox Gordon is winning growing numbers of admirers with its range of reds and whites out of the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills, and their 2014 Charlotte’s Web label Pinot Grigio is a rewarding example of what a hands-on, small-family maker can achieve with the variety.

In this Pinot Grigio, winemaker Tash Mooney has crafted a wine which has lovely varietal pear and apple flavours along with a captivating hint of lime, and one that’s sure to appeal to the fast-growing ranks of Pinot Grigio enthusiasts in this country – as in so many others around the globe – as the variety charges forward in its pursuit of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to be the world’s best-selling white.

Founded relatively recently in the 1990s, Fox Gordon is also well on the road to achieving its owners’ dream of producing premium Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills wines that will one day sit amongst the greatest of international brands as measured by value and enjoyment.

Fifth Leg 2014 Chardonnay

A 2014 Chardonnay from Fifth Leg in Western Australia’s Margaret River is one of those whites that many consider is best enjoyed when served nicely chilled during the heat of Summer, but in reality it’s one to savour all year round.

With a lovely crisp palate of crunchy apples, leading to tasty stone-fruit flavours, it has a marvellous lime-juice finish and really does benefit from being served well-chilled… perfect with fried whitebait.

The quirkily-named Fifth Leg winery got its name from the discovery of a fossilised skeleton of a Tasmanian Devil in a cave in Margaret River a near-half century ago… with a fifth leg laying nearby.

So now you know!