Almost Club July/August 2023 edition – 37 wines that almost made it

Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ‘ok drinks’, and some are just bad…

Here is a collection of 37 wines that almost made it in July and August 2023, scoring less than a silver medal on the Australian Wine and Drinks Review system.

Important to note how many friendly, affordable wines also made it into this Almost Club. There is plenty of easy, bronze medal equivalent, mid-week drinking to be had here.

Astrale Chianti 2022

It’s a bit raw, but the classic Chianti experience for $20. Leather and forest berries. Bark and a bit of bitumen. It’s drying and those bitter tannins aren’t friendly, but has enough fruit not to be too unfair. Not short. Osso buco wine. Best drinking: it will live. Go over the next decade. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13% alc., RRP $20.

Feudo Arancia Nero d’Avola 2021

Great purple colour in this Sicilian Nero. Bitumen, plum fruit, a little cardboardy but has that cooked plum and fig jam Nero fruit charisma thing sewed up. Good affable style, if a little generic. Best drinking: over the next few years. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13% alc., RRP $20.

Fuedo Arancio Rosato 2022

Affable and well-made Sicilian pink. Strawberry and strawberry lollies, but it’s dry, not sweet. The light and fresh palate is more white wine than interesting pink but the pink fruit is simply appealing. Easy. Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12% alc., RRP $20.

Henty Farm The Farm Barossa Valley Shiraz 2020

Confected but regional Barossan red. Plums and a kick of chocolate, it gets a bit jubey through the middle and cardboardy to finish. Plump fruit and easy but a little cheap tasting for this price point. Best drinking: over the next five years. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14.5% alc., RRP $30.

Hewitson Falkenberg Shiraz 2021

I couldn’t warm to this Barossa red; it could be an awkward oak thing. Spends 18 months in 25% new wood. The fruit is a bit jubey and purple, with a little confection at the edges and there’s this sawdust line to it. Not overripe, just a bit jubey. There’s a plump plum core but a dusty rawness too. It doesn’t quite mesh, despite being reasonably long. The quintessential almost wine. Best drinking: it will get better, so might be better to wait a year or so. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13.5% alc., RRP $88.

Howard Park Arbor Novae Chenin Blanc 2022

Can someone explain why Margaret River Chenin Blanc is still around? It’s just another sort of plump white wine, especially if you compare it to the best Loire or even South African Chenin. Maybe I’m expecting too much. Slightly cheesy yellow apple and forward lemony sort of innocuous white this. The acidity and ‘grey’ textural highlights through the middle freshen it up and add character but still a bit of a nothing wine. Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $35.

Longview Whippet Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Green edged and a bit raw this vintage, all celery and white pepper, gooseberries and then a tart palate. Shows the late harvest in its green leanings. Not easy at all. Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12% alc., RRP $23.

Paulmara Estates Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

From a single vineyard in Greenock. This is old-school Barossa volume. 14% on the bottle but 14.5% on the website, and it’s an oaky, thick and luscious red wine with jammy mulberry covered in coconut vanilla and caramel oak. The oak is too much, dominating the fruit, but this ends up richly textured. The finish is a bit dried out, though. Oak tannins too. People will love it, but gee, it’s a four-square thing. Plus signs are important. Best drinking: give it two years. 16.8/20, 89/100+. 14% alc., RRP $30.

Silkwood Estate The Walcott Pemberton Riesling 2022

It’s in a development hole, but this feels like a solid Pemberton style. Tart kaffir lime intensity – a proper zing, even if there is a sweet and sour edge that isn’t quite congruent. Good bones, though. Best drinking: worth a revisit in 2-3 years on the other side. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $35.

Stonehaven Limited Vineyard Release Padthaway Chardonnay 2022

A mouthful! Limited! Vineyard Release! Lemon peach and tinned stone fruit in a ripe, expressive ripe fruit mode. No oak or malo, though, so it’s just ripe fruit rather than big flavours, and it ends up a bit tinny on the finish. Not without golden fruity charm, though. Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13% alc., RRP $30.

Ten Minutes By Tractor 10X Chardonnay 2022

A rare miss and it’s just a bit underdone. Crisp, flinty, a bit fleeting, water-clear style of very light peach fruit. Feels a bit like spring water tbh. Unquestioned delicacy though. Best drinking: nowish. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13% alc., RRP $38.

Angullong Fossil Hill Chardonnay 2022

Fresh but indistinct Orange Chardonnay. Washed out peach and citrus on the springwater-like nose, the tight palate is just acidic white wine. The penny never drops, even though it’s crisp and delicate. Best drinking: nowish. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5% alc. RRP $30.

Astrale Vino Rosso NV

I can’t find a vintage for this Italian red, but it’s made in Chianti. Primitivo & Sangiovese based and multi-regional. All chocolate oak and little else – it’s a caricature of sweet chocolate and vanilla bean oak and then oak tannins with a little dried fruit edges. That sweet oak richness may win hearts, but it tastes like a Mars Bar to me. Intensity is the only thing that bumps up the score. Best drinking: I don’t even know. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14% alc., RRP $40.

Conte Estate Old Vine Shiraz 2016

Rustic and creaky McLaren Vale red in a style that feels like the late noughties. Sweet tarry red fruit looks very sweet and the red dust oak just adds a tarry grip with some bacony leathery edges for good measure. Plenty to chew on here (hence the high bronze score), but gee, it’s a rough and gamey sort of tiring red. best drinking: nowish. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14.5% alc., RRP $60.

De Bortoli Handcrafted Heathcote Shiraz 2020

Cheap-tasting Heathcote red. Jammy tarry but a bit cardboardy. It’s ultimately a bit hefty and treacly to be great, complete with some hefty added acid to finish. There is power here, but the tartness in particularly cheapens it. Best drinking: nowish. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14.5% alc., RRP $30.

Hesketh Lobethal Chardonnay 2021

Adelaide Hills Chardonnay Hills, with fruit from David Neale at Lobethal. Partial malo and spends 8 months in 30% new oak. Banana and lemon but not a lot going on with the lean nose. Sour lemon and hessian palate looks a bit lean too. Needs more flavour. Best drinking: nowish. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $34.

Hewitson LuLu Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Ultra-fresh but simple stonefruit and fresh cut grass style single vineyard Suav that is very primary, juicy and singular. Pleasant drink, no second gear beyond the clean juice. Shows the late vintage in its shortish palate. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12% alc., RRP $25.

Jim Brand Yates Chardonnay 2022

Coonawarra Chardonnay in a straightforward mode. Neutral, straw nose. Citrussy, hay and light peach palate. Sweet and sour with a tart finish.Just a bit short. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13% alc., RRP $30.

La Resistance Côtes du Rhône Rosé 2022

Organic Rhone pink. I’ve seen this for circa $20, which is much more like it. A riper style of Rhone pink with some sweet strawberry juiciness before cutting acidity chops the palate. It feels a bit tutti frutti despite strictly being technically drying. Does the job. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13% alc., RRP $40.

Mezzacorona Pinot Grigio 2022

This is pretty good for affordable and widely available Italian Grigio. Chalky pear fruit and a decent, crunchy yet juicy palate that’s a bit diffuse but refreshing enough for a summer drink, even if it’s a bit sweet and sour to finish. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $20.

Pewsey Vale Lighter Riesling 9% 2022

Eden Valley Riesling that proudly proclaims its 9% alcohol as a healthy choice. But it’s like a low-fat wine – less alcohol, but more sugar. What is the lesser of evils? It’s a fresh and simple medium-sweet white too. That brisk talc and lime Pewsey definition just looks soft and bland and tropical here. It’s very fresh, quite intense too, but the sweetness is ultimately unbalancing. Best drinking: now. Real cold too. 16.5/20, 88/100. 9% alc., RRP $26.

Riposte The Foil Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Greenish fruit nose, green melon and a bit of gooseberry. The crunchy palate is a bit light and the acidity firm. Fresh and varietal but a bit unremarkable Sauv. Sweet and sour finish details things. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12% alc., RRP $22.

Yangarra PF Shiraz 2022

My least favourite wine of the 2022 Yangarra PF range, this is a rawish young Shiraz that tries to hard to be serious. Jubey purple fruit but not the stuffing – it’s a bit angular with tinny acidity rather than generous. Has power but not enjoyment. Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13.5% alc., RRP $23.

Angullong Chardonnay 2022

Curious wine this. Despite sitting at 12.5% alc it has a broad apricot/peaches in juice palate and a broad finish. There is also a bit of unripe greenness on the nose too. Not there. Best drinking: now. 16.3/20, 87/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $25.

3 Rings Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Really surprised this is still kicking around, but it’s better than the 3 Rings Shiraz. Affordable Cheap Barossa Cab past its peak, I guess. Blackberry, stewed veges. It’s still varietal and tannic but sour and holding on to tannins to give flavour. Meh. Best drinking: now. 16.3/20, 87/100. 14.5% alc., RRP $20.

Conte Estate Vine Shed Shiraz Rosé 2023

Old fashioned South Australian rosé. Watermelon on the nose and palate with a bit of musky sweetness before a tart finish and a bit of grip. Easy watermelon wine but a bit tart, sweet and firm, all at once. Best drinking: now. 16.3/20, 87/100. 12% alc., Cellar door price $16.50.

Hewitson Madame M Blanc & Blanc 2022

‘Adelaide’ regional mode of Muscat & Sauv. Better 12 months ago I think as the Muscat has lost a little aromatic zing and the palate is an undistinguished, gently peachy thing. Best drinking: now. 16/20, 87/100. 11% alc., RRP $30.

Paringa Shiraz 2020

Wine of Australia. An export bottle destined for the US. Brick dust, caramel, cooked plums. This is tiring but still has a dusty liquered plum oak and fruit plumpness that is easily attractive for $15. Best drinking: now. 16/20, 87/100. 14.5% alc., RRP $15.

Astrale Chianti Riserva 2019

Dusty and tiring Chianti. Bricking brown colours, the nose all about oaky caramel and terracotta with a walk past the horse stable, over a raw palate held together by raspy oak tannins. Would have been better as a non riserva, probably, but ultimately just a tired miss. Best drinking: now. 15.5/20, 85/100. 13.5% alc., RRP $40.

Berton Vineyards Aranel 2022

Breezy but innocuous white wine with light stonefruit and crisp acidity but little else. Could be just about any variety. Best drinking: now. 15.5/20, 85/100. 12% alc., RRP $20.

Berton Vineyards Fiano 2022

Riverina Fiano. Slightly off-dry, cardboardy and broad. Looks more flabby every time you look at it. Best drinking: now. 15.5/20, 85/100. 12%, $20.

3 Rings Barossa Valley Shiraz 2019

Tiring commercial Barossan red. Blackberry jam, brick dust, simple chubby fruit only lifted by oak sweetness and warm alcohol. $10 fare. Best drinking: now. 15.5/20, 85/100. 14.9% alc., RRP $20.

Les Dauphins Côtes du Rhône 2021

Cheap tasting entry-level Côtes du Rhône. Washed out raspberry fruit with cardboard and slight bitterness. This is sub $10 quality for mine. Best drinking: now. 15.5/20, 85/100. 13.5% alc., RRP $20.

Selezione da Gordon Ramsay Vibrante Bianco 2021

You get the celebrity factor with Gordon Ramsay on the label, but that’s about it. A blend of Chardonnay Vermentino Trebbiano Pecorino blend, mainly. Abruzzo and a little Tuscany fruit. Flabby and already tired, with a flourish of pear juice but then not much going on. Yeah, nah. 15.5/20, 85/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $28.99.

Berton Vineyards Vermentino 2022

Little flavour. It’s difficult to see much in this lemony white. A cardboardy nose doesn’t help. No. Best drinking: now. 15/20, 83/100. 12.5% alc., RRP $20.

Conte Estate Vine Shed Pinot Noir 2022

McLaren Vale Pinot Noir. Who thought that was a good idea? Smoky, meaty and laden with horsey saddles and bitterness. A fair bit of Brett here. A genuine challenge to pick this as Pinot – it could be a horsey Grenache. No. 14/20, 80/100. 13.5% alc., RRP $20.

Conte Estate Vine Shed Shiraz 2021

Horsey McLaren Vale Shiraz. Can’t deny the brett here – leather and dark olives. Palate is raw, with oak tannins supporting things. Has power, but gee it’s raw and gritty. Best drinking: now. 14/20, 80/100. 14% alc., RRP $20.