It’s a wine buyer’s world. Combine an over-supply with a general public unwillingness to buy wine above $30 per bottle and what do you get? A market in which the old and very imprecise relationship between price and quality has moved further than ever before, straight in the direction of the consumer. One manifestation of these challenging times (for the industry, at least) is an unprecedented number of bargains just around the $20 mark. I don’t often agree with the results of wine shows. Wine shows tend to pick the best show wines, and they’re very good at that. Show wines are generally pretty up-front, pristine, fresh, packed with fruit, and where appropriate, stacked in oak. They have to be these things to capture the attention of wine judges who are pushed to taste a large number of like wines, generally in a pretty short span of time. But occasionally, I do. A regular star performer on the show circuit is the Starvedog Lane brand, an Adelaide Hills label today owned and operated by The Hardy Wine Company. Its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are usually its most successful show wines. And, perhaps oddly enough given what I’ve said earlier, they are also the wines I usually most admire. Starvedog Lane’s Chardonnay was one of the first big company chardonnays to deliver tightness, fineness, minerality and freshness with this grape, which it typically backs up with some interesting funky complexity. Based around piercingly intense grapefruit, lemon and nectarine flavours, its oak is tightly knit, fine and French. It never gets big, fat or overly juicy on the palate, and with its typically austere cut of mineral acidity usually avoids the broad, blousy characters associated with Australian chardonnay after about three years of age. It’s a finely sculpted, elegant and contemporary food wine with much more in common with the tighter, more savoury wines of places like Macon than the usually thicker and oakier expressions from Australia. The current release is the 2004 vintage, a slightly rounder, creamier and toastier style than others have been, with attractive wheatmeal-like undertones and a hint of brioche. It’s not often that I’d choose a glass of Australian sauvignon blanc ahead of one from New Zealand, but if I see Starvedog Lane’s effort on a wine list, I at least give it a thought or two. By and large, the Adelaide Hills deliver the freshest, raciest and most intensely varietal expressions of Australian sauvignon blanc, and this is usually one of its best. Packed with vibrant gooseberry and passionfruit flavour, it’s sculpted and racy, with a powdery mineral finish. The currently available 2005 wine has the cut, brightness and focus to match it with most of the modern band of Kiwis, and then more. The next best wine under this brand is its Pinot Grigio, one of the best of its kind. The 2005 release reveals intense, juicy pear, citrus and apple flavours backed by more savoury, nutty qualities. Unlike many local wines from this grape, it’s not overly broad or oily, and retains freshness and brightness aplenty. While the Adelaide Hills does not make much in the way of high-level cabernet sauvignon, Starvedog Lane’s 2004 Cabernet Merlot is a pretty fair effort. As you’d expect from a cool region, it’s a more restrained, dusty and powdery wine whose intense flavours of dark cherries, plums and blackberries are framed by pliant tannins. Merlot lends juiciness and richness, while cabernet provides the length, structure and potential for another ten years longevity. Like several other Adelaide Hills producers, Starvedog Lane is doing its best to fashion a spicy, savoury, Rh̫ne-like blend of shiraz with viognier. While its efforts are a long way ahead of many on the market, it’s fair to say that this wine is the least of the collection at this time. With more experience and the considerable resources behind the label, this may well change in future. So, look out for this brand, which its owners describe as ‘Just a name that comes from some old story about a hungry dog and some German settlers and a bunch of winemakers who are pretty fanatical about what they do.’ It’s another reason why you should be very sure of yourself before investing more than $30 on a bottle of wine. Wine of the Month: Starvedog Lane Sauvignon Blanc 2005 An Australian sauvignon blanc to give the Kiwis a run for their money. There’s a hint of herby grassiness beneath its penetrative aromas of gooseberries and passionfruit, while its long and vibrant palate is fresh, pure and racy. It’s dry and tangy, with the sort of briney finish that cries out for a bucket of oysters.
