The Auswine Forum

Hi all
In my continuing wine journey I've gravitated to a few 'go to' wines. The planned Brisbane offline has made me ponder what the next step up in class would be for a few of my favourites? (Similar wines but better quality from other producers). There will be times when the cheapies won't be appropriate. Any input would be appreciated.
Metala white label shiraz/cab
Murray Street white label shiraz
Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz
Vasse Felix Cabernet
Lake Breeze Bernoota shiraz/cab
Mamre Brook Cab Sav
Wynns Black Label Cab
Yalumba The Signature Cab/Shiraz

Thanks.
Simon

You could do with a 'go to' Chardy

And a rizza...

All of those wines and styles are pretty unique to Australia I would say. A lot of these producers make higher quality versions of those wines even. Keep experimenting and trying different producers though, but also start to look for things outside the matrix of S.A Shiraz and Cab. There are lots of S.A producers making great wines out of Spanish and Italian varietals - S.C Pannell from McLaren Vale, Tscharke from Barossa, for example.

When you're ready to take the gamble on old world wines, start in Spain - Tres Picos Garnacha is widely available at a certain unmentionable big brand retailer and is delicious, full bodied and elegant, great QPR.

From there, go for some Southern Rhone wines, drop $50 on a good Gigondas from Chapoutier or Guigal, (decant it) you won't be dissapointed.

time to wander into the auctions methinks
just don't go too crazy at first, its easy to do

I'd try some woodlands too, the cheaper end are quite reasonably priced and very good
both the whites and the reds

I get that I'm more than a little one dimensional and agree I have to venture further afield to a degree but there's so much more to try/learn in the style I really love........
I guess the coming offline will open my eyes to something different. I'd love to have a 'light bulb moment' with a white wine for example.

try a Hoddle's Creek pinot noir. Won't break the bank and a great intro into that grape variety.

Looking at the Barossa Shiraz, maybe try a few different producers, making a more modern style - I'd recommend trying some Head wines (you can get them from our host). As suggested, try SC Pannell from MV also. More traditional I suppose - I reckon you'd love something like Peter Lehmann's Stonewell Shiraz if you want to spend a bit more.

Cab/Shiraz blends - I don't know too much about these, except that the Signature is typically a very good and age worthy wine in decent vintages.

Wynns Black Label is a freak in a good way, nothing out of Coonawarra that matches up in terms of quality, value, track record and age ability. Buy a 6-pack of 2012 and watch the development. Wynns make a bunch of single-vineyard wines at a higher price point, but I'm not sure they are that much better than the BL. JR really is, but you'll have to buy from auction to get something ready to drink.

Maybe try Balnaves or Majella for some slightly different styles from Coonawarra.

From Margaret River, the next level above the VF are probably things like Woodlands Margaret, Juniper Estate, Voyager etc. Bear in mind when you start climbing up the Cabernet tree, the wines are typically cellaring styles that won't show their best when young.

Attending the offline is probably the best thing you can do at this point, you'll love it... Hopefully I will catch you at a later one!

I'd suggest looking at some auctions.
You can generally pick up older wines cheaper than the price of the current releases.

I personally prefer older wines with more secondary and tertiary flavours but its hard to work this out without trying them.
There are lots of auction sites and you can generally just buy one or two bottles, this way you can get a good breadth of wines.

Some suggestions of older wines that I like:

St Hallet Old Block
Kay Brother Block 6
Old Rieslings - I've seen and bought plenty around the $15 mark that are 10+ years old (sure there is a risk but rarely have I had a bad one)
Two Hands Garden series
D'Arenberg Dead Arm
Leeuwin Estate Cab