Any price
Peter Lehmann Margaret Barossa Valley Semillon
This beautifully mature 2017, has a Top Gold, 7 Golds and 96pts from Halliday. "Peter Lehmann's Margaret Semillon provides complex drinking and a length of flavour that many producers aspire to. It's a regional classic, and rightly so", as Dave Brooks writes in The Halliday Wine Companion, "All lemon butter spread on freshly toasted brioche with hints of soft spice, marzipan, wildflowers, crushed stone and drying fields. Dry, savoury, long and compelling. Some crustaceans and some of this and you are in a very good place. 96pts. Great Value.”
Lehmann Wines of the Year Whites
Mountadam Vineyards Patriarch High Eden Shiraz
Eden Valley’s Mountadam Vineyards was established in 1972 and is nestled on a unique rocky outcrop ranging in elevation up to 550m. The vineyards were founded by David Wynn, who is credited with several milestones in winemaking, including the creation of the wine cask and planting the first contour vineyard in Australia. “More concentrated. More intense. A firmer weave of coffee grind and clove to bitter chocolate-doused tannins, too, with a darker fruit persuasion than its sassier brethren. More typically Australian, I suppose. More oomph, auguring well for a long, bright future. ... 93 points” (Halliday Wine Companion).
Paxton AAA Shiraz Grenache
Shiraz and Grenache blend beautifully in many of the warmer parts of South Australia. This AAA is Paxton's 9th release, crafted similar to a Rhone-style wine yet it is packed with Au's Terroir. Bright with juicy red berry fruits and spices on the palate with well integrated oak and tannins, giving this wine a remarkable lengthy finish.
Zonte's Footstep Scarlet Ladybird Rosé
A veritable summer pudding of fresh macerated berries and perfume spice, dominated by wild strawberry and Campari-like cherry smells. A super fresh and zingy with lip-smacking nectarine and berry fruit flavours. Medium-bodied, juicy-fruited with a touch of natural sweetness. Mouth-filling tart Strawberries and cream with soft spice rounding out a lush mouthful. Flavoursome with fresh acidity and a tiny tweak of soft tannin taming the finish.
Kilikanoon Baroota Reserve Shiraz
RedHeads Barrel Monkeys Shiraz
Barrel Monkeys Shiraz sums up the very essence of RedHeads – an innovative winery in the heart of wine country, inspiring the brightest young talents to craft mind-expanding wines that really set a pace. Smooth, luscious rich and velvety, this McLAren Vale beauty is lush with spicy blackcurrant fruit and smoky liquorice notes.
Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Selección
As famed Spanish wine expert John Radford wrote in Decanter, the tiny enclave of Campo de Borja is “the source of some of the best value wines from Spain, if not the world”. It’s true. Where else could you find such a mellow, complex, oak aged red at this price? It’s made by our old friend Pamela Geddes (who also makes our bestselling Monasterio de Santa Cruz) at the 500 year old Bodegas Ruberte. 60% of the wine is Garnacha from vines planted in 1958. They’re not as prolific these days but the intensity of flavour in the grapes is impressive. The balance is Cabernet Sauvignon, which adds classic cassis character and structure to the spicy raspberry Garnacha. A rich and fragrant Spanish red best enjoyed with rustic lamb dishes.
HJ Fabre Barrel Selection Patagonia Malbec
Argentine Malbec doesn't get much finer than this. From a Bordeaux wine family, Hervé came to South America to look for a vineyard and fell in love with old vine Malbec. He not only bought vineyards but also made his home there. Having started in Mendoza, he now has an estate in Patagonia too. He runs his properties like a top Bordeaux château, with impressive barrel cellar and meticulous attention to detail. This hugely impressive cuvée comes from 30 year old Malbec vines grown in Patagonia's Río Negro. Made like a fine claret, the juice was pumped over to extract colour from grape skins during fermentation then aged for 12 months in French oak barriques. Silky with violet and liquorice aromas and dense black fruit, it's perfect with beef.