RICHARD SAYS
2024 (de Bortoli) Bella Riva Sangiovese 14%
Heathcote and Yarra Valley RRP $18
Sangiovese’s home is in Tuscany (Italy) where the styles include Chianti, Brunello and “super-Tuscans”. The wines are incredibly food-friendly, and quality can range from (very) modest to outstanding.
Australia has tried with the variety (over 350 producers) with limited success, although some from Coriole, Fighting Gully Road and Vinea Marson have been memorable. And here’s another.
This wine shows great skill and thoughtfulness by the De Bortoli crew in growing, winemaking and blending that showcases varietal expression, and mightily over-delivers on quality for a wine that retails for under $20.
It shows frisky fragrant red cherry, orange peel, plums, fresh spices and dried herbs. It’s barely medium bodied, but the texture has a winning interplay between fruit weight and tannins. There’s tremendous persistence of flavour with the right degree of chewiness. It’s perfumed and savoury, providing a welcoming alternative to Pinot Noir (or Grenache, or Shiraz)!
Food matching? One of the most versatile red wines around; pizza, sausages, pasta, grilled meats, risotto. No need to cellar- its gorgeously approachable right now and is a bewildering bargain.
GRANT SAYS
Fighting Gully Road Beechworth Grenache 2022
RRP $40 ABV 14%
It is my view that Beechworth creates some of the most precise, elegant and premium wines Australia has to offer. Were it not for relatively small production and our propensity to drink all this amazing wine ourselves, Beechworth would stack up against any wine, anywhere in the world.
We really are lucky to live so close to this incredible region and have access to all the treats. This grenache is a fresh, clean and bright style; more for the ‘pinot lover’ as opposed to a ‘shiraz enthusiast’. Bursting with fresh-picked ripe red cherries, the wine making has gone through 100% carbonic maceration which brings about a ‘jubey’, confected aroma. There are hints of mint over the mid palate which balance out the red fruits. But from ‘go-to-woah’ you’re supported by a milk chocolate throughline and lashings of coconut rough brought about by its 12 month oak regime. So although this grenache is light and pretty, it also has a robust framework built into it. The tannins are soft and velvety and while this wine has what it takes to cellar and mature, I’ll be drinking it the next chance I get.
Pair with: Sweet and sour BBQ pork with fried rice.
