Australian wine is a complete rip off.
I've been hunting for good, cheap, Australian wine recently that would retail under £10, and most of what I have tried is either rubbish or overpriced for what it is. The number of wines that are worth no more than a fiver that are being punted out at eight or nine pounds is unbelievable. I know that people will say that it is due to the economy, and I'll accept that to a point, but when prices rise by a quarter for the same vintage of wine, I think twice about blaming the governments of this world.
So in my desperation to find inexpensive Aussies, I decided to revisit a company I'd left back in the days I worked for Oddbins - Peter Lehmann. I have a lot to thank Peter Lehmann Wines for in my early days of my career, as it was their single varietal Shiraz and Cabernet that taught me the differences between the grapes. So I thought, a decade on, I'd look at these wines to see what they were like. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. The price has only gone up three pounds per bottle in ten years, so I assumed quality would have had to gone down. To exaggerate this, I expected that the buyout by the Hess Group in 2003 would have demanded more bulk production, and therefore quality would have further plummeted. I was wrong...
2010 Peter Lehmann Art Series Classic Riesling
Grassy, mixed with a little charred lime skin. There is also a chalky element there too that is interesting. The palate is limey, quite clean and fresh with lots of citrus. It is a bit boring, but not in any way unpleasant. There is a slight spritz with just a touch of sweetness coming through, but not a bad wine. 6/10
2009 Peter Lehmann Art Series Chardonnay
Very simple aroma, some lemon emerging, with some grapefruit, but that is it. The palate is simple, zesty with a little bit of tart lime coming through. A bit unbalanced and with an acidic finish. This is the weak wine of the range. 4/10
2008 Peter Lehmann Art Series Semillon
Fresh, crisp, appley with a charcoal like aroma coming through the citrus fruit and pineapple. The palate is balanced with good flavours of tropical fruit, a nice soft texture with some tart flavours and a little bit of bitter lime pith. Good balance, nice, clean finish. Decent. 7/10
2008 Peter Lehmann Art Series ShirazBig, meaty with lots of sweet, jammy fruit. A little bit of cherry creeps through with some leather and black pepper notes and some vanilla. The palate is big, but not overpowering. There is some sweet fruit flavours mixed with a dollop of pepper. Black pepper and chocolate mixed with a wallop of alcohol, but then a nice, savoury finish. 6/10
2007 Peter Lehmann Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon
Cherry and bramble jam mixed with just a touch of sweeter tobacco and green pepper. Some boot polish too. The palate is fruit driven, lots of leather, tannin, fresh berries and a little bit of raspberry coming through on the palate. Quite a short finish, the cocoa, leather and stalk fruit is soft and delivered pretty well. Quite a nice wine. 7.5/10
In conclusion, these wines - Chardonnay excepted - are perfectly acceptable, commercial wines. I think the Riesling is very drinkable, the Shiraz starts bad, but significantly improves, but it is the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Semillon that stand out. They are good, solid wines, and I really do like the red. At under a tenner, these wines are two examples of what Australia can do - shame very few producers do it.
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Peter