This category has in excess of 300 white wines including an extensive range of back vintage whites from our vintage cellar. Highlights include verticals of McWilliams Elizabeth, Petaluma Riesling, Leo Buring Riesling, Penfolds Yattarna and Tyrrells Vat 47. Large format back vintage white wines are listed in the Magnum category.
Chardonnay is one of the great grape varieties of the world and is used in the production of both champagne, sparkling and white table wines. Approximately half of all white table wine sold in Australia contains chardonnay as either a blended or straight varietal. Chardonnay is the perfect introduction to white wine, as its style varies from light and fresh, to heavily-oaked, buttery, tropical fruit flavoured wines.
Riesling fruit is still considered by many to be Chardonnays peer and can make exceptionally fine wines with power, flavour, elegance and the ability to age. Its styles range from light and crisp to headily rich and sweet. In Australia, the premium growing regions are Clare Valley (Watervale) and Eden Valley.
Sauvignon Blanc produces a pungent and intense dry white style often characterised as 'grassy' that blends very well with semillon. Lots of gooseberry flavours. The best regions for sauvignon blanc in Australia are Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra, Yarra Valley and emerging cool climate areas such as Orange and the Snowy Mountains regions. For superb sauvignon blanc/semillon blends also known as Classic Dry White style, you can't go past Margaret River. Marlborough in New Zealand also produces outstanding, world class sauvignon blancs.
One of the traditional Bordeaux varieties, often blended with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. However, it was Australia which put the grape on the map with its distinctive single varietal wines. This grape has the great gift, like riesling, of aging gracefully or rotting nobly to produce luscious sweet wines.
Pronounced: Vee-on-ee-ay Viognier produces a wine that should be drunk young, while its perfume is at its most heady and before the wines slightly low acidity fades. Its generous character and youthful softness make it an ideal wine where strong wine character, and immediacy of drinking is paramount. An emerging style in Australia is the blending of Shiraz and Viognier to add fullness and structure to the middle palate.
This section features an exciting range of white wine blends using a combination of semillon, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, verdelho and other grape varieties. A feature of these wines are the fresh, clean, fruit driven flavours and distinctive regional characteristics in wines such as the Classic Dry White style from Margaret River.
