Soumah 2012 Yarra Valley Savarro

Soumah is a funky new producer based at Gruyere in the Yarra Valley (the name stands for South of the Maroondah Highway). This is its third release of savarro, the rather peculiar name it chose for its savagnin after it turned out that what Australians thought were albarino grapes were not (a long and complicated story). Fortunately there is nothing either funky, or peculiar, about the wine, which is made in the style of Northern Italian pinot grigio; fresh, crisp and clean and ideal for drinking young - and appropriate as savagnin dates back 10 centuries to the Alto Adige region, where pinot grigio also thrives. As Australians increasingly look for alternative grape varieties, I suspect this will be extremely popular - and most punters won't give a damn that there is no such grape as savarro. To cut a long story short, I very much like the citrus and gentle spice notes of this unwooded wine and recommend drinking it chilled. Lots of it. $26. www.soumah.com.au