Wine with Leslie: Heads up for wine from a land Down Under - including a €14 SuperValu Shiraz
Pic: iStock
I wrote my first wine column here eleven years ago and the world of wine has rather changed since then.
In 2012 around 21% of the wine we drank was from Australia - in 2008 it had actually been 26% but Chile was beginning to catch up.
Back then, even high-end wine shops carried an extensive range covering everything from Hunter Valley Semillon to Margaret River and Coonawarra Cabernet to Barossa Shiraz, and Pinot Noir from the Yarra and Tasmania.
You could even find Gewurztraminer from Geelong. I sorely miss those days as in 2023 it is rare to find much beyond Chardonnay, Shiraz and the odd Riesling.
These days, 25% of what we drink comes from Chile, and Australia is in third place at 13%, below Spain and just above France.
The reasons for this are varied but it is mainly to do with the strength of the Australian dollar which made their wines less competitive, and a decision by Australian export directors to look to China rather than to Europe.
In 2020, China put hefty tariffs on Australian wine which sent some Aussies scurrying back to Europe to try to rebuild relationships.
Just last month the Chinese agreed to review the tariffs so I wouldn’t hold out hope of finding wines from Geelong here anytime soon.
One producer that never abandoned us is Nugan Estate, imported exclusively by SuperValu.
Nugan was founded in 1940 by Spaniard Alfredo Nugan and they have wines across the spectrum from the entry-level (and tasty) Wally’s Hut range, to crowd-pleasing Appassimento wines, to classic Shiraz and Chardonnay, and even single Zinfandel and Durif (Petite Sirah).
I particularly recommend the soft lime and citrus-focused King Valley Chardonnay and the dried cherry-flavoured Single Estate Zinfandel - look in larger, wine-focused SuperValu outlets.
This is reduced from €19 to €14 for Christmas and you will find its baby brother ‘Scruffy’s Shiraz’ for €10, which is packed with blackberry fruits and more heft than the prices suggests.
This McLaren Vale Shiraz is ripe and spicy with cedar and chocolate aromas — supple (almost lush) fruits on the palate, deep, rich and long. Turkey wine?
I couldn’t not feature this wine, one of my white wines of the year. From a family estate in McLaren Vale founded in 1964 and an intriguing range of wines (I featured their delicious Fiano in 2019).
Citrus, floral and ozone aromas with a touch of smoke, tangy and flavourful, textured dry and complex. Delicious.
Reduced from €38 this is a bargain, and an Australian classic first introduced in 1959.
A multi-regional Shiraz blend with no new oak so the focus is on fruit. Big bright cherry aromas mixed with dates and a touch of cacao, textured and crunchy with supple black fruits and lingering black wine gum flavours. A treat.
Rum is in full revival mode, and we now have rum brands with Irish connections (cf: Renegade, Blacks).
Two Shores are Panamanian Rum Agricoles finished for several months in ex-Irish whiskey casks in Co. Clare.
Two new special editions have just launched — Two Shores Imperial cask (387 btls) is nutty and spicy while the Tawny Finish (780 btls) is my favourite Two Shores Rum so far with dried fruit and toffee aromas, crème caramel and spiced apple flavours and a long finish. Delicious!
