The season’s best drinking

Thanks to the Halliday Wine Companion tasting team recently expanding, there are so many brilliant tried-and-tested wines to explore. And with the team in full tasting mode with wines from around the country – and their own tastes taking them beyond our shores – they have the inside running on the best buys this season.

Erin Larkin
What wines are you most excited about enjoying this season?
I’m a Champagne lover and that’s a constant in my life. Summer also calls for riesling, rosé, chardonnay and fine, spicy reds that can also be chilled, too. 

What’s your best-value wine recommendation this season? 
Great Southern riesling – Castle Rock is pretty unbeatable for around $20. Is there any region and variety in the country that commands scores as high, with prices as low?


Castle Rock Estate in the Great Southern is one of the star riesling producers in this WA region. 

Jeni Port 
What wines are you most excited about enjoying this season?
Riesling. To be honest, that would be my answer every year! But also sparkling rosé. To me, they beautifully encapsulate top summer drinking – so vibrant, clean and fresh.

What are the never-fail wines you take when you don’t know what food will be served?  
The trick is to take wines that people feel they have to try, are curious about or that are versatile with food. You’re on a winner with gruner veltliner from Austria or the Adelaide Hills, and sangiovese from Tuscany or the King Valley. 

James Halliday
What is the never-fail wine or drink you take when you don’t know what food will be served?
Manzanilla sherry.

What’s your best-value wine recommendation this season?
Rosés, rosés, rosés. 

Ned Goodwin, MW
What are the never-fail wines you take when you don’t know what food will be served? 
Nebbiolo from the Langhe, Cru Beaujolais, certain Aussie grenache and Italian whites, particularly verdicchio, fiano, greco and vermentino.

What wine and food pairing sums up summer for you?
Aged white Rhone with my father’s cured ocean trout with plenty of dill. This was a match discovered in an uncanny fashion. Years ago, on return from Japan, I discovered forgotten bottles of aged Hermitage, popped one and swooned over what was one of the greatest food and wine pairings yet discovered.

Aged white Rhone with cured trout and dill was an accidental but perfect match for Ned Goodwin. 

What are the never-fail wines you take when you don’t know what food will be served? Nebbiolo from the Langhe, Cru Beaujolais, certain Aussie grenache and Italian whites, particularly verdicchio, fiano, greco and vermentino.

Tony Love
What wines or styles are you most excited about enjoying this season?
I’m so into riesling (again) and I can’t help myself if I sense a grenache in the vicinity. This year, I think I’ll also be splurging on Mount Etna reds.

What’s your best-value wine recommendation this season?
Always top-level Australian sparkling wines. What you can buy for around $30 to $50 or a little more can be awesome compared to French wine at that same price range.

Tyson Stelzer 
What are the never-fail wines you take when you don’t know what food will be served?  
Champagne is always a winner. The contrast of dynamic acidity and the depth and texture of lees age brings wonderful dexterity to partner with a wide diversity of cuisines. And Australia’s GSM blends are wonderfully versatile on the table, also in an exciting purple patch of popularity and excellence. With a bottle of Champagne and GSM in your bag, you’re ready for virtually anything. 

What’s your best-value wine recommendation this season? 
Mike Press Wines from the Adelaide Hills. They’re the best cool-climate single-vineyard wines on the shelves at well under $20 a bottle. 

Jane Faulkner
What are the never-fail wines you take when you don’t know what food is being served? 
Really good sparkling. No one cares about the food when fine fizz is offered. It’s a mood creator. However, top Australian chardonnay is one of the most versatile because it’s lovely to drink solo, but shines with an array of foods and cuisines. Its partner in crime, pinot noir, is a good option, too. Invariably, Langhe nebbiolo is an excellent all-rounder. 

What wine and food pairing sums up summer for you? 
Nothing announces the warm season like caprese salad. Given its origins are in Campania, it’s no surprise the complementary wines are fiano di Avellino and greco di Tufo. Local options for greco are rare, so seek out Chalmers or Beach Road. Thankfully, there is no shortage of fabulous fiano – try Coriole, S.C.Pannell, Lo Stesso or Billy Button.   

This is an extract of an article from issue #55 of Halliday magazine. Read it in full here. 
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See more from the tasting team.