With its sweet/savoury fruit characters and brisk, attractive acidity, the Austrian grape variety gruner veltliner is an ideal choice for enjoyment during the Australian summer. It is starting to build a cult following thanks to the efforts of several Adelaide Hills producers and wines of this quality will surely see it soon gain mainstream status. Think crisp apple and ripe pear notes, gentle spice hints and a long, lean backbone with flinty minerality. A wine for enjoying young and well-chilled, with a second bottle on standby. It is well worth taking a vinous road less travelled to try this. $28. www.pikeandjoyce.com.au.
There are at least half a dozen wine regions of Australia where you'd look for quality riesling before Geelong; the Clare and Eden valleys, the Great Southern, Canberra and Tasmania among them. But winemaker Matt Harrop has come up trumps with this wine; a riesling that features hand-picked fruit from Sutherlands Creek that ticks all the varietal boxes. It is fragrant and fresh, with intense lime/grapefruit flavours on the palate, and it finishes long and very dry with some attractive green apple crispness. A delightful wine for summer enjoyment, with or without food (although it would pair brilliantly with shellfish). Our bottle was empty inexplicably quickly. $26. www.shadowfax.com.au
Gamay is the grape of Beaujolais, the region of France that produces lip-smackingly juicy red wines that invariably offer immediate enjoyment without any need for cellaring. Gamay is an ideal style for the Australian lifestyle - it is fresh and enjoyable chilled - but only a handful of local producers, Sorrenberg and Two Bud Spur among them, make it successfully. David Lloyd at Eldridge Estate on the Mornington Peninsula, is one of the leading lights in the Australian gamay movement, and this is an absolute ripper; vivacious and vibrant with dark cherry notes, hints of pepper and herbs, and really zingy cranberry acidity that dances a tango on your tongue. Lloyd says it will cellar for up five years but I can't for the life of me see why you'd want to. $40. www.eldridge-estate.com.au
Sauvignon blanc is derided by the wine snobs, sneered at by wine wankers and ignored by wine trendoids. But the reality is that a good savvy blanc, crisp, fresh and lively, is a perfect choice for an after-work tipple or summer treat on the terrace. And they don't come much better than this excellent little number from an Adelaide Hills winery that is probably best known for its stellar bubblies. There is plenty of intensity to be enjoyed here with a good balance between tropical fruit salad flavours, lean citrus notes and herbaceous crispness. The finish is lean and clean with refreshing flinty minerality and brisk acid. Forget what the hipsters say and enjoy a well-chilled glass or two. Available nationally and distributed by Negociants. $24. www.deviationroad.com.
