The Ferngrove White Label range from Frankland River in Western Australia may just offer two of the best-value wines around right now. This is a delightfully pale pink rosé, aromatic, soft and fairly dry with some nice biting acid allied to cherry and cream flavours. It paired superbly with a Indian-style beef curry. Also part of the same range is the Ferngrove 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, a light, crisp and refreshing blend made in a drink-now style that's a perfect foil for Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. Both wines retail for $16 - which makes them well worth seeking out. www.ferngrove.com.au
There are several brilliant chardonnays in the impressive Oakridge range, but this is arguably the best value of them all - a wine that shines with its structure and length but can be found on special for under $20. I'm a little late reviewing this wine, but it has settled into serious gorgeousness since its release, as you would expect from chardonnay-meister David Bicknell and his team. A blend of fruit from four different Yarra Valley vineyards, this offers varietal flavours (think stone fruits and flinty minerality), fresh acidity and really pleasurable drinking. Excellent with roast chicken. $23. www.oakridgewines.com.au.
Rising is a new project from funkmeister Tom Belford and the crew at Sticks winery in the Yarra Valley. The four wines in the range come from the Rising vineyard in the Christmas Hills, and other hand-picked sites, and are made in tiny quantities (there are just 500 cases of this exceptional pinot noir). As is Belford's natural inclination, the wines are made with minimal intervention. This is very nicely put together with bright fruit allied to some great architecture. It finishes cloudy, a sign that it is unfined and unfiltered, and it has a wonderful rustic and muscular pinosity. Terrific value at $30. www.risingwines.com.au.
Vintage after vintage, Wirra Wirra's Church Block is one of those rare wines that can be guaranteed to deliver both quality and value for money. That's certainly the case with the lip-smackingly good new 2016 release, a blend of McLaren Vale cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot. Church Block was the first wine released by the late Greg Trott under the Wirra Wirra label, back in 1972. Today it maintains its reputation as a big softy; a wine with plenty of flavour and power but equally easy to drink. Matured in French and American oak, it is nonetheless fruit driven; enjoyable in its youth but with the structure to mature over the years. Terrific buying at $22. www.wirrawirra.com.
