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Found a very pleasant wine shop in North Fitzroy. 317 St Georges Rd. The prices here are excellent – so is the wine.

Cleanskin wines are the same as any other wine that you would normally buy, except they don’t come with the colourful labels you would associate with a brand name. An added advantage is the price, generally 40 to 60% cheaper than their labelled siblings. This is because cash strapped or overstocked wineries are happy to clear stock at a much reduced price, plus the savings in not having to pay agents, advertising etc.

I picked up cleanskin Export Shiraz/Cab Sauv. This wine was produced for the Asian market and is similar to Yellow Tail with the same sugar content. Made as a drink now wine, it has aromas of blackberry and spicy pepper, the palate is mouthfilling with displays of plum fruit with spicy oak characters. Great with spicy asian foods. $40 dozen.

Cleanskin Goulburn Valley Shiraz Merlot This one has a warm palate of dark berries and a light spice follow through to a full tannin finish. Cellar this wine for 5 years. $40 dozen

Riesling Grapes Hanging on Vine Photographic Print
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Whites

Australian wines are easy to understand. All show clearly on their labels the varietal/s used and the character of the wine. Many will also suggest foods to complement.

Chardonnay

From Chardonnay comes dry and sparkling white wine styles. Chardonnay grown in warm regions of Australia produces wines with ripe melon flavours, in the cooler areas the flavours tend to be more peach and citrus-y, some of the most popular Chardonnays are blends of wines made from both warm and cool regions. With rare exceptions, Chardonnay benefits from maturation in oak, the oak flavour greatly complementing the fruit flavours of Chardonnay. Australian Chardonnay wines are best drunk when they are relatively young (1-3 years), and are an exceptionally good accompaniment to a range of foods from delicate seafood through most white meats or some red meats, including lamb.

This versatile variety when blended with Pinot Noir makes Australia’s greatest sparkling wines. Chardonnay is successful in many districts of Australia, with the most famous being Padthaway, Langhorne Creek, Adelaide Hills and the Margaret River in Western Australia.

Riesling

Riesling is one of the classic white grape varieties of the world, historically grown in Alsace and Germany. In the warmer conditions of Australia, this variety makes wonderfully perfumed dry elegant wines usually consumed when young fresh and zesty, but capable of developing into lovely aged wines.

Rieslings may be served as an aperitif, but are equally attractive when served with lightly flavoured foods, seafood dishes in particular. The Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Eden Valley of South Australia have become world famous for this variety.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is relatively new to Australia and best suited to the cooler regions of Victoria and South Australia. Wines from this variety have a distinct fresh gooseberry like flavour, are fresh, unoaked, and always best when consumed young.

Semillon often blended with Sauvignon Blanc to produce a fresh lively easy drinking style that is an excellent accompaniment to seafood dishes.

Semillon

Semillon is the main white variety of Bordeaux and is now days grown throughout Australia. The best examples of Semillon dry white wine are from the Hunter Valley and Mudgee in New South Wales, and the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Semillon is most commonly blended with a small proportion of Chardonnay, this blend offering the attractive green and grassy flavours of Semillon balanced by the soft creaminess of Chardonnay.