The Auswine Forum

Hello

Some little time back you may recall I was creating a Top 30 wines at $30 or under.

Here is what I came up with.

A few criteria I used.

There had to be a mix of sparkling, still, fortified, whites and reds as below.

The wines had to be still available to buy, preferably reasonably widely. (Nothing worse than reading about a great wine, and its been sold out for 6 months!)

Mixed audience, wine lovers, non wine lovers.

Well, here's my list. I put it here for open discussion. What do you think I got right, wrong etc?

Speak up,

Oh, its in October 27th Time Life.



Top 30 Australian wines for 2004 Under $30

Sparkling Whites

1) 1999 Hardys St James

2) 2001 Seppelt Salinger

3) Jansz Premium NV Cuvée



Sparkling Reds

4) 2002 Seppelts Original Sparkling Shiraz

5) Yalumba 1998 Black D



White Wines

6) 2004 Heartland Stickleback

7) 2004 Mr Riggs Riesling

8.) 2004 Brian Barry Judds Hill Riesling

9) 2004 Dowie Doole Chenin Blanc

10) 2004 Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc

11) 2004 Voyager Estate Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

12) 2000 McWilliams Elizabeth Semillon

13) 2004 Yalumba Viognier

14) 2002 Scorpo Chardonnay

15) 2002 Houghton Pemberton Chardonnay



Red Wines

16) 2004 Turkey Flat Rose

17) 2002 Pirramimma McLaren Vale Grenache

18.) 2002 Wirra Wirra Church Block

19) 2001 Port Phillip Estate Pinot Noir

20) 2001 Balnaves Cabernet

21) 2002 Kays Amery Cabernet Sauvignon

22) 2001 Seppelts Chalambar Shiraz

23) 2002 Mamre Brook Cabernet

24) 2002 Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz

25) 2002 St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz

Sticky (Dessert Wines)

26) De Bortoli Noble One

27) 2003 Margan Botrytis Semillon



Fortified

28.) Seppelt DP 63 Rutherglen Grand Muscat

29) Seppelt DP 57 Rutherglen Grand Tokay

30) Seppelt Para Liqueur Port

Gavin Trott wrote:9) 2004 Dowie Doole Chenin Blanc

Good list..but I think this one is a green picked disaster area.
GW

Gary W wrote:

Gavin Trott wrote:9) 2004 Dowie Doole Chenin Blanc

Good list..but I think this one is a green picked disaster area.
GW

Come on Gary, tell me what you really think

Well, it was that or 2004 Coriole, went this direction.

Thanks for the comment, anyone else, fire away.

Prefered the Wira Wira McLaren Vale Shiraz over the simple Church Block.
McLaren is never reknown for Cab, instead try Houghton MR Cabernet 2001(a solid Halliday 95/100)
Rose, IMO the best is Charlie Melton's Rose of Virginia. Grenache I will go for Turkey's Flat Butcher Block.

Put in Peel Est. Chennin Blanc, barrel ferment, oaked and a ripper, took Will Naim more than 20 years to perfect it.

My 2 cents.

Being a heavy duty red bigot I'm only qualified to comment on numbers 17-25 and 28-30.

These types of lists are very difficult to compose. I hate people asking me "what's the best value wine under $X"

I think you've done well. Wines like the Pirramima, Mamre, Filsell, Balnaves, Blackwell & Kays are all rippers in their own right.

In the fortified section, well I agree, the Seppelts are outstanding even at a much higher price.

Well Done

Good to see WA got such heavy representation among the reds Seriously though there are still bargains to be had among WA reds, eg Houghton FR Shiraz, Houghton MR Cabernet, Watershed Cab or Shiraz, Xanadu Shiraz, Alexandra Bridge, Green Valley Cabernet, Plantagenet Cab and Shiraz, Forest Hills, Batista Shiraz, and Crofters Shiraz just to name a few. Sad not to see some of these on your list, but hey, it is your list.

I would put Miranda Golden Botrytis ahead of either sticky you have nominated.

Gavin: I've never been overly impressed by Seppelt Para Liqueur Port (No. 30), and I've had it a number of times now both in Oz and here in the States. I'd go with Yalumba Galway Pipe.

Mike

Davo wrote:Good to see WA got such heavy representation among the reds Seriously though there are still bargains to be had among WA reds, eg Houghton FR Shiraz, Houghton MR Cabernet, Watershed Cab or Shiraz, Xanadu Shiraz, Alexandra Bridge, Green Valley Cabernet, Plantagenet Cab and Shiraz, Forest Hills, Batista Shiraz, and Crofters Shiraz just to name a few. Sad not to see some of these on your list, but hey, it is your list.

I would put Miranda Golden Botrytis ahead of either sticky you have nominated.

Davo

Very fair point, and one I admit is based on my experiences. I do not try/have available a wide range of sub $30 WA reds, necessarily due to where I am and the nature of my business, SA reds dominate.

fair point, well made, and impossible to argue with.

Agree with Davo reference Plantagenet reds.

Great run of vintages and the cabernet must be the most cost effective means of topping up the cellar-with proven cellarable wine.