Moondah Brook Verdelho from Western Australia is a bright, moorish aromatic white wine that is pale straw colour, has great tropical fruit with light herbal aromas. Soft texture and well rounded on the palate with hints of lemon.

Contentious Character is a modern and quirky brand based out of the ACT, but with vineyards across many areas of NSW. Their Organic Cowra Verdelho is impressive.Delicate green straw. Plush Verdelho aromatics of full-ripe yellow melon, guava and green pineapple. Bright, positive and opulent throughout, delivering tropical fruit, good balance and gentle length. A confident modern example of the variety.

Hungerford Hill Verdelho has proven itself to be best suited to warmer viticultural climates, such as the Hunter Valley, where a complex unwooded style flavour ripeness is achieved and expressed early in the growing season allowing a fuller flavoured aromatic white wine. Brilliant youthful green in colour. A pungent aroma of spicy citrus, musk stick and hints of lavender whilst the palate is constant and complemented with hints of lemon and passionfruit with a subtle linear acid structure.

Gary Farr is still one of Victoria's true Chardonnay maestro's and his Chardonnay By Farr is another example. Taken from the original By Farr vineyard, this is a clearly a wine of true clarity and finesse. Flavours of melon and hints of spice with wonderful oak integration mean this wine is simply delicious upon release, but handle some careful medium-term cellaring.

Punt Road Napoleone Chardonnay is a lovely cool climate Chardonnay sourced from the Yarra Valley, this wine shows citrus and stonefruit aromas with a creamy barrel ferment texture. Layers of peach and citrus flavours and a crisp acid finish. Incredible quality at this price.

Famous for their popular and flavoursome Sauvignon Blanc, Giesen produce an enticing and pure Riesling from the same region, Marlborough. Displaying notes of citrus, white flowers and ginger on the nose, this attractive off-dry Riesling shows subtle sweet flavours of lemon curd, mandarin and orange peel. Those flavours are then balanced beautifully with a structured acid backbone and minerality that keeps the succulent flavours dancing on the palate for an age.

Dog Point from Marlborough in New Zealand have quickly established themselves as quality Marlborough producers with their range of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. This Chardonnay has lovely texture due to lees stirring and balanced oak influence. Hints of citrus still remain to produce a Chardonnay of versatility.

The Scarborough Offshoot Verdelho starts with aromas of green tea with hints of tropical fruit, pink lady apples and honeysuckle. The palate shows botanical characters of sage, orange blossom, citrus rind, mint and lemon pith.

Take all the joy of a summer fruit salad, with the zip and zing of tropical fruit and a dash of sunshine, distil it into a wine and you will have the miracle that is Verdelho. A native of Portugal, this sumptuous grape has really made a home for itself here in Australia. It’s a wine you’ll be seeing a lot more of as it makes it way onto the wine lists of the country’s best restaurants. Love a fruit-forward Chardy without any of the oak? Partial to a tropical Sav Blanc that’s a little less grassy? This is your perfect middle-ground and will definitely hit the sweet spot.

Retsina hails from the hills of Attica and Central Greece and was traditionally made from the Savatiano grape variety. Vassilis Papagiannakos has taken it upon himself to raise the profile of this much-maligned style of wine. He does this by sourcing fruit from old, well-sited Savatiano vineyards. He then adds very controlled amounts of pine resin during a temperature controlled fermentation to ensure a delicate and well integrated blend of flavours and complexity.