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On the March 19, 2013 edition of The Australian Max Allen wrote:
Image courtesy of the Australian
“IMAGINE you have an old friend coming to stay with you from overseas. Your friend likes drinking wine but has a skewed view of Australia. As far as they're concerned, we produce an ocean of cheap Yellow Tail and a few bottles of hyper-expensive Grange - and nothing in between.
So you decide to splash out on a selection of wines from across the nation - two or three from each major wine-producing state - that will change your friend's mind: a line-up of wines that display the diversity and quality of Australian wine at its best, money no object (this is imaginary, after all).
Actually, this scenario isn't all that fanciful. In September, Wine Australia - the industry's regulatory and promotional body - is holding a major event called Savour in Adelaide. The purpose of this three-day "global forum" is to rekindle interest in, and increase sales of, Australian wines in major export markets, particularly the US, where knowledge of this country's styles and regions is severely limited. And one of the ways Wine Australia plans to do this is by holding "Landmark Tastings" of top wines throughout the forum.
Listed here are the wines I'd choose for one of these Landmark Tastings - or to change a visiting friend's mind. Prices are approximate, and I haven't specified vintages because all of these wines excel, regardless of the year - which is, of course, one of the reasons I chose them.”
Max Allen’s top picks were:
Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged
Glaetzer-Dixon Uberblanc Goldpunkt
Mount Pleasant Old Paddock & Old Hill Shiraz
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
Lark Hill Gruner Veltliner
KT Churinga Vineyard
Ruggabellus Efferus
Jauma Wood Vineyard
Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon
Cullen Kevin John
Isolation Ridge Riesling
Sutton Grange Estate Rose
Bannockburn Pinot Noir
Chambers Rare Muscadelle
Max had this to say about our Cabernet Sauvignon:
“Because I believe that Woodlands is still - unfathomably - an under-recognised estate, I'd choose the Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon ($130). With its amazing depth and precision and a majestic flood of purple fruit across the tongue, this is equal to any cabernet in the country, and many in the world.”
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