Cool and crisp from the Snowy’s foothills.

David Ellis

EVEN though its heartland is the Hunter Valley, boutique family-owned Hungerford Hill draws on cool-climate fruit from the foothills of the NSW Snowy Mountains for their Classic range Tumbarumba Chardonnay.

The latest release, the 2010 is one for those who truly enjoy their Chardonnays, with the Tumbarumba region providing high elevation cool, crisp fruit for a rewarding wine that’s got everything going for it.

Pale straw in colour with green highlights, this is a wine with nice ripe stone fruit, ruby red grapefruit, cherry oak and nutty-bready elements on the palate, all nicely rich and mouth filling. Add some tight acid structure and oak tannins and you’ve a wine that’s for buying now and drinking now.

And interestingly the company’s gone back to its roots, creating a label for this 2010 wine that was inspired by the first Hungerford Hill Chardonnay label back in 1971. Pay $30 and you’ll find it will sit really well with poultry, pork or seafood dishes accompanied by cream- or butter-based sauces.

ONE TO NOTE: SHAW Vineyard Estate at Murrumbateman, around 25-minutes drive north of Canberra, has an interesting lower-alcohol wine it labels as Riscato, and which is very much in the mould of Italy’s Moscato as it is sweetish, yet not overly so, and just 9 per cent alcohol – around two-thirds of the norm.

A predominantly Riesling/Semillon blend with a touch of Shiraz that give it its rose-pink hue, this non-vintage release is very refreshing on the palate, and makes an ideal partner when served well-chilled with spicy main course dishes, or with a good cheese and fruit platter.

Pay an easy $15 and appreciate why it’s a favourite with visitors to Shaw’s Murrumbateman cellar door.

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