Wines To Inspire

Look beyond brand Australia and you'll find well over 100 wineries going all-out to produce the most exciting wines they can.  JAMES HALLIDAY struggles to pick just eight producers....

"...Terroir, whether looked at from the micro or macro viewpoint, has always been part of the best wines of Australia.  The 62 official Geographic Indications (or GIs) range (in climate terms) from the coolness of Champagne to the heat of the extreme south of France, Spain or Portugal.  Hence the incomparable array of wines from this lucky country which are region and variety specific.

Producers to Watch
How to choose eight exciting producers out of 2,200 - or even from a shortlist of 172 accorded the maximum five stars in my 2006 Australian Wine Companion?  I decided to take one winery from eight different regions, favouring those with a UK importer.  The common denominators are that each is producing a dazzling array of wines of outstanding quality, and all speak loudly of terroir....

The Glaetzer family, notably John of Wolf Blass fame, twin brother Colin, and Colin's son Ben Glaetzer are hardly newcomers, but Colin and Ben's GLAETZER WINES is at the forefront of the new wave, with the unfiltered, 15%-alcohol Amon-Ra flooding the mouth with a sumptuous cascade of blackberry, plum and chocolate, quality oak and ripe tannins.  I'm not advocating 15%, and would wish to share the bottle with eight friends plus a slab of barbecued rump steak.  That said, it's a style no one outside the Barossa can make, and the wine is on the strictest allocation..."