Although Australians are planting red grapes like there’s no tomorrow, more Australian wine drinkers are discovering the tastes and textures of three very different white varieties. Pinot gris, viognier (pronounced ‘vi-oh-nyah’) and riesling are three top-notch grapes which might well lure you away from the sameness and monotony of so many chardonnays priced at $20 and below. Neither pinot gris nor viognier are about to swamp the globe, especially Australia. Several of the local wines from these grapes manage to capture some of the flavours and qualities that make them distinctive and special. Although they’re still hard to find here, they’re making excellent impact on those responsible for restaurant and cafe wine lists. Pinot gris is a French variety best known for the wines its produces in Alsace, where it’s actually called ‘Tokay’. It’s also quite widely planted in some northeastern Italian regions, where it’s known as pinot grigio. You’ll find Australian wines sporting either name, depending on whether their makers have followed French or Italian role models for their own version. Pinot gris is typically rich and dry, with mouthfilling peach and apricot flavours. Tokay d’Alsace is distinctively spicy and with its well-defined acids is able to develop for several years in the bottle. Harvested earlier, Italian pinot gris tends to drink better while young, while its tight, sometimes chalky texture and savoury flavours finish with bone-dry mineral acids. Adina, Brown Brothers, Ermes Estate and Seppelt, which has just released its first wine from its Drumborg vineyard in western Victoria, make the best Australian wines from this variety. T’gallant, a small Mornington Peninsula maker, actually releases two wines from this grape, labelled as Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris, so take your pick! Some fine Italian examples distributed in Australia come from Bollini, Puiatti and Russolo. An extremely scarce variety from the northern Rhone valley, viognier has a sumptuous, round texture and an exotic perfume of apricots and citrus blossom. Although it’s occasionally blended with shiraz, a small number of straight white viogniers are now made in Australia, sold under the labels of Elgee Park, Heggies, Clonakilla and The Heathcote Vineyard. It fits neatly into either serious or alfresco dining, although it’s best enjoyed before excessive bottle-age. Long ago BC (Before Chardonnay), riesling was virtually the staple quality Australian white wine, although Hunter Valley semillon gave it a shake from time to time. Its long, racy and steely dry palate of lime-juice and pear, floral perfume and ability to mature in the bottle for many, many years have given us all cause to re-evaluate its place in our drinking priorities. The rieslings from Jeffrey Grosset, Petaluma, Howard Park, Leo Buring, Richmond Grove, Knappstein and a host of others are winning more and more admirers from the chardonnay set. Will you be next?
