From Furmint to Fiano: 15 drinkable textural white wines under $45 (plus a few misses)

The world of textural white wines is a great one. From subtly stony Assyrtiko to tangy Torrontes, there is so much joy in whites that aren’t Chardonnay or unoaked crisp aromatic (like Sauv, Riesling, etc.) styles and instead offer interest and layers of flavour.

That said, damn, it’s also a frustrating wine category. Misjudged oak, flabby wines, a lack of any flavour, poorly handled sweetness – the whole car boot full of wines that should, ultimately, taste much, much better than what they do.

Today, however, let’s focus on the wines that do taste good, with 15 textured white wines that are entirely drinkable and all under $45 that have worked in the Australian Wine an Drinks Review desk this spring.

What textural (non-Chardonnay) whites have floated your boat recently? And the misses?

Naturally, life isn’t all rainbows and smiling faces, there are also a few banana peel wines (that’ll trip you up) in here too…

Let’s dive in:

Tim Smith Wines Viognier 2024

Tim Smith knows how to deliver texture. And with this Viognier, Tim always offers up a textural, layered wine that a) tastes like Viognier b) is not shit. This 2024 is definitely too young, but I can’t fault the style (or the price). Fruit from the Eden Valley, wild-fermented and matured for six months in new and old Hungarian & French oak. It smells and tastes like mealy, creamed peach juice with a creamy, layered, rich-but-dry style – ie plenty going on. It’s a bit leaner and more medium this vintage – very formative, less lavish – but the elements are there in the right place. You get that low acid Viognier roundness, just a little phenolic pucker, and then fruit and oak filling out the middle, and it’s really rather delicous. It will be even better next year when all the elements come together. It’s ultimately a really good Viognier.

Best drinking: from 2025, but no need to wait. Have it at dinner with people who will give pronouncing Viognier properly a red hot go. 18/20, 93/100. 13.5%, $30. Would I buy it? Yeah I’d go a bottle in a restaurant.

Dalwood Estate Fiano 2024

Bryan Currie (BC) from Dalwood Estate/Hungerford Hill has quite the hand with Fiano – his Hilltops wine under the Hungerford Hill label picks up trophies like a 5yo who knows how to kick goals into the soccer net (rather than just running around the field). This crystal clear Hunter wine offers chalky green pear fruit that is crisply refreshing yet also round and generous in a fruit salad way. Once upon a time, Verdelho would do the same thing in the Hunter, but this is a shedload more interesting than most Hunter Vedelho. It threatens to get a bit diffuse and soft on the finish, but the phenolics pull that back. Drinkable, varietal, and good to go.

Best drinking: now, don’t wait. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13%, $? (I think it’s $30). Would I buy it? A glass or two with people who aren’t wine drinkers but will enjoy this anyway.

Freeman Altura Vineyard Furmint 2023

Hello, Australian dry Furmint! Great to see. Hopefully, a sweet wine from the Freeman family in the future, too. Anything can come from the fascinating Freeman Vineyard, which is planted to all sorts of wonderful grapes. This Furmint is Australia’s first (I think), and it’s off to a great start. It certainly taps into some of the more rounded styles in a Hungarian mode, which isn’t bad at all. Golden yellow fruit, a little buttercup honey highlights and sunny yellow blossom. There’s stonefruit flesh, a gently creamy waxy richness and just-right freshness. Has a golden, almost Chardonnay-like weight. A little indistinct, maybe (young vines?), but a very nice, welcomingly textured wine.

Best drinking: now, don’t wait. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13%, $30. Would I buy it? I’d go a glass off a list just to relish the joy of local Furmint.

Juniper Canvas Fiano 2023

Why not go for a Margaret River Fiano? This includes a portion that was wild fermented and aged for five months in barrel. It has a proper lemon rind pithy tang, too—interest! It’s maybe a bit sour, but gee, it shapes this wine into a lingering lemony wine of proper intent. It’s a bit neutral rather than full and round, which just accentuates the citrus tang. It works, though—on it lingers.

Best drinking: now, don’t wait. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.5%, $29. Would I buy it? Definitely a glass or two over dinner with something fresh and crisp.

Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne 2016

An iconic Marsanne that (usually) sits as one of the country’s most distinctive wines. This 2016 is a good release, but not a great one and mainly because it’s a bit forward. Hay, hessian and honey is your flavour array here for 2016 – there’s lots of golden fruit; the alcohol is low, but the acid is low too. Lots of hay. It’s quite developed and golden, with plenty of chunky golden lemon fruit and finishing with a bit of broadness. I still can’t deny the mouthfilling flavour, though it lacks the tension of better years and looks, well, old. It’s a natural silver medal-winning wine, and the fruit quality is well enough to make it interesting (just not profound).

Best drinking: now, don’t wait. 17.7/20, 92/100. 11%, $44.95. Would I buy it? A glass.

Tahbilk Museum Release Marsanne 2018

Two years younger than 2016 above and from younger vines, but it is not strictly a lesser wine. It’s covered in medals, too (if you want the validation). Golden straw yellow and honeyed, this feels opulent and citrusy with a raft of lanolin and honey toast. That honeyed, toasty honeysuckle vibe is the main character, and while it doesn’t have the fruit depth of the fancier wine above, it does have a bit more energy. I’m still not convinced it’s a great vintage release, though a rock solid drink.

Best drinking: now, no waiting. 17.7/20, 92/100. 12%, $33.95. Would I buy it? Just a glass.

Crittenden Peninsula Pinot Gris 2023

Pinot Gris that actually tastes like Pinot Gris? Very welcome. This Mornington Peninsula wine is a richly textured, proper Pinot Gris. Pear and custard apple fruit, a grey wine with ripe stonefruit driving the package, with just a little mealy chubbiness at the edges. Lots of flavour, even if it’s a slightly clumsy wine, that ultimately gives plenty of fruit to play with.

Best drinking: now. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13%, $39. Would I buy it? Worth a glass ice cold.

Tahbilk Marsanne 2024

As a young wine, you have to really squint to see the potential of Tahbilk Marsanne – it’s a pretty neutral, dry white. That said, this vintage has a bit more fruit to it, which makes it more fun now, although it doesn’t show much aside from a little honeysuckle on the nose. The palate offers some blossoms and yellow fruit, even if it’s a fresh, singular sort of light to medium-bodied wine underneath. An easy drink now, a grander drink in about four years time.

Best drinking: I like these at four or five years old. 17.5/20, 91/100+. 12.5%, $21.95. Would I buy it? I probably should put some aside for the future, even if I kinda prefer Hunter Semillon to do the same thing.

The Other Wine Co. Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris 2024

The Other Wine Co. label is chock full of bargain wines. This is another Gris that tastes like it should and has plenty of flavour. Pear fruit, generous and ripe – it’s fleshy and easy, a bit simple, but then you feel the really quite substantial finish – it’s sneaky long and driven by ripe pear depth. Good stuff all around.

Best drinking: now. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13%, $28. Would I buy it? Worth a glass or two at this price.

Tim Smith Wines Bugalugs Blanc 2024

A smorgasbord of less than usual Barossa grapes here – Grenache Gris, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc. It’s a joyfully refreshing wine – A bit tart but also fruity and plump too with creamed yellow apples and an apple crunch. You can see the red apple of Roussanne, too, which is great for nerds like me who like to see varietal characters. Anyway, this is not wildly complex white wine but refreshing and good.

Best drinking: now. 17.5/20, 91/100. 12.5%, $30. Would I buy it? Also worth a glass.

Castel Firmian Pinot Grigio Riserva 2022

Ambitious, barrel-influenced Trentino Pinot Grigio that probably could do with being, well, less reserve. Lots of ripe pear juice and a thicker palate touched up with oak thickness. Yes, you get more texture and interest than the standard wine but also chubbiness. It still works, but less would be more.

Best drinking: right now. 17/20, 90/100. 13%, $45. Would I buy it? Maybe a glass, but probably not.

Gundog Estate Wild Semillon 2024

Off-dry and wild fermented Hunter Valley Semillon = the antithesis of most Hunter Sem (which is typically fermented to dryness and with a neutral cultured yeast). Matt Burton’s a clever winemaker, but I struggle with this wine every year. In 2024, It ends up as a juicy wine this year rather than overly sweet, which is a good thing. The sweetness robs this of definition, though – it tastes like a modern, not sweet, adult cordial, with green apple and green lime fruit. I can admire the deft handling of the sweetness, but it still feels like it lacks all the cut and vibrancy of Hunter Sem.

Best drinking; now. 17/20, 90/100. 11%, $36. Would I buy it? No.

Yalumba Vine Vale Grenache Blanc 2024

From a single site in Vine Vale (in the Barossa Valley). Clean, crisp, and neutral, it’s a pleasant, gently nectarine-y (yes, that’s a word) white wine that doesn’t taste like much at all. A fresh fruit basket of stonefruit and tropical fruit, and plenty of generosity for 12%, but the flavour just doesn’t go anywhere. It all finishes with some grip but not remarkable length. Just a bit innocuous.

Best drinking: now. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12%, $35. Would I buy it? Nah.

First Ridge Fiano 2024

Mudgee fruit for this. Banana estery nose, and a medium weight palate has some pear fruit, but fruit intensity is pretty low. Young vines? Pleasant and varietal but missing flavour punch.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $30. Would I buy it? No.

Maso di Mezzo Pinot Grigio 2023

Trentino Pinot Grigio. A flavourless typecast. The colour looks a bit forward, but the style lacks fruit generosity beyond a vague stone fruit bit, and it packs no shortage of acidity. Basic stuff, and heartburn territory.

Best drinking: now. 16.3/20, 87/100. 12.5%, $30. Would I buy it? No.