The Almost Club March 2025 edition: 27 wines that almost made it

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

Here are 30 wines that almost made the silver medal grade in March 2025. From friendly, sub $20 quaffs to not-so-cheap disappointments and a shedload of ‘ok’ wines in between.

Plenty on this list are entirely okay, simple/inexpensive drinks. But there are far more wines in this list that really should be much, much better, and in a current wine oversupply world, you can do better.

Cerço Terres Secrètes Mâcon-Villages 2020

The Macon (or Mâcon, to use my correct accents) provides some of Burgundy’s more interesting bargain wines, and this white sure aims high (but doesn’t quite get there). Organic fruit in this wine and the packaging is notably green, with no capsule, all recycled glass and cork from French forests. It’s not a bad wine either, but I’d have liked to see this wine a year or so ago as there is promise. Golden yellow, it’s cheesy and forward with waxy lemons, some sweet and sour lemon cream and a taut palate. Plenty of promise, but then it all sort of falls away into a broad yet tart golden yellow fruited back end. Some complexity and ambition, but also a classic ‘almost’ white Burgundy. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12.5%, $45.

Château La Varière Le Savetier Coteaux du Layon 2020

A Loire Chenin that was also better last year. It’s a broad-brushed, developing style of (just) off-dry white that’s affordable and nicely round if slightly dulled. Quince marmalade, a little toast, the flavours easy and mouthfilling and lush if a bit low on detail. Almost! 16.8/20, 89/100. 11.5%, $35.

Higher Plane Time for Heroes Malbec 2024

‘Unconventional Margaret River’ says the label, and this is made from fruit that only spent a short stint on skins and four months in barrel (so you’re going to get light colours and light-bodied flavours). Bright, berried and pulpy, it fizzes along like it’s still going through malo. Light to medium-bodied, there is a nice jubey, chilled red feel to it and just enough grip. Shortish but loads of early drinking fun and unquestionably vibrant. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14% $29.

Lambrook Rosé 2024

Affordable Adelaide Hills rosé. Light pink with a twist of red raspberry sweet fruit, this has a good balance of red fruit ripeness and crunch to be popular, although not super serious (and the sweetness juts in a little on the finish). Good, easy drink. 16.8/20, 89/100. 12%, $25.

Meredith Spicy Bubbles 2024

Riesling Pet Nat from Dash Farms, Leanganook. Minimal fizz for a Pet Nat, which isn’t a bad thing (I’m very tired of froth monsters). Tart and tight but with a nutty tannic phenolic line for weight – indeed, it’s a bit light, and the structure takes over the fruit. Crisp and drinkable though. 16.8/20, 89/100. 11%, $29.

Mottura Negroamaro Salento 2023

Puglia has entered the chat. Tar, treacle, liquified licorice, coffee grounds – this Negroamaro has the real caramel sweetness of southern Italy. Generous, a bit warm and gritty, slightly rough-edged and clumsy (and you can’t miss the caramel oak fruit) but packed with coffeed caramel molasses and black fruit flavour, even if it’s just technically medium-bodied. That richness means this will be popular, even if it’s more than a bit rough-edged. This is fine. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13%, $35.

Mottura Primitivo Salento 2023

Blocky but authentic Primitivo here, too: rum and raisin, chocolate bark, dried fig. It’s a bit forward and drying, but the solid black core is authentic and lingering. A bit of an attack of a wine, but also long enough and has a place. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13% $35.

Silkwood Estate The Walcott Riesling 2021

Single Vineyard Pemberton Riesling in an awkward developmental place. It’s oily, a bit fatty and fleetingly toasty (with a little TDN) but also with a proper core of tight grapefruit, too. This isn’t a bad wine, but hardly a congruent drink right now. 16.8/20, 89/100+. 12.5%, $45.

Uplands Coal River Chardonnay 2022

Fresh, neutral, but slightly flat Tassie Chardonnay. White peach, hessian, a gentle and open palate of slightly gluey peach and then not much. If it had a cork, you’d be checking for low-level cork taint (but obvs it doesn’t). There is a clear style and intention, yet missing a beat. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13.5%, $40.

Zonzo Estate Cabernet Franc 2023

Smoky, leafy, medium-bodied Yarra Franc that grapples with ripeness. Redcurrant, pencil shavings, a bit of hedgerow bitterness. It’s certainly taut and guided by acid and tannins, but the ultimate feel is a slightly too-hard wine. 16.8/20, 89/100. 13%, $35.

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Riserva 2021

A step and a step backward. The basic Chianti under this label is fun and authentic, but this wine follows that old Riserva trap and loses its vibrancy, trading in more drying tannins and oak. Savoury red berry leathery fruit and oak tannins. That’s the rub, with the structure robbing this of vibrancy without making for a better wine. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13.5%, $80.

De Bortoli One Line Fiano 2024

Chalky Rutherglen Fiano, this is slightly obvious but not ugly. Nice pear fruit; it’s a little cardboardy and sweet and sour but varietal and correct. Fine for $15, but not much more. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13%, $25

De Bortoli One Line Pinot Grigio 2024

Follows a similar recipe. Fresh, bright varietal celery and unripe pear, good phenolic crunch, but it’s also a bit of a nothing wine through the sweet/sour back end. Still, bang on for the style. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.8%, $25.

Juniper Canvas Nouveau 2023

I messed up by not drinking this chilled, which likely would have improved it. A Shiraz, Cab Sauv & Temp Margaret River blend but made with a very light touch. Whole bunches in the ferment, but pressed off skins before ferment finished. It’s light, sour and a bit coinfected, with a peppery stalky note, too. Crucially, there isn’t much fruit here, which sort of misses the point of a Nouveau as being fun. The slightly herbal bitter finish doesn’t help either. No bad wine, though not quite the intentional outcome. 16.5/20, 88/100. 13%, $29.

Juniper Three Fields Chardonnay 2022

Odd Margaret River wine. Golden yellow peach ripe tropical fruit, but it’s actually a lean and taut wine. Only 30% of the new oak tastes more. Indeed, it’s 12.5%, but also feels fatter. Odd. A bit flabby and oaky and incongruous. There is a real nectarine fleshiness here that just doesn’t fit. It’s ok, but stumbling given the fruit intensity and ambitions. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $32.

Kyneton Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2024

Macedon Cabernet rosé. A grape that rarely makes great rosé anywhere (I’ll die on that hill). Here, it’s just herbs, a bit of sweet fruit, some raw herbaceous notes and green acidity. The pink fruit sweetness helps, but this remains a bit of a misguided despite the serious intentions. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12%, $35.

Nicolis Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2019

A caveat – this came in a decanted Coravin mini bottle, so it comes with the opportunity for some oxidation. Would be interested in another perspective, as it didn’t seem oxidised to me (but with some VA). Raisins, cardboard, a bit of caramel formic and development. Bold, with plenty of layers, there is a flatness here, and the dried fruit appears to have taken over without actually delivering fruit weight. Yes, it could be oxidised, but the palate doesn’t seem oxidised, especially not the tannins. Still a lack of generosity. 16.5/20, 88/100. 15%, $180.

Small Gully Mr Black’s Concoction Eden Valley Riesling 2017

Drink up. It smells youthful, too, with a lifted lemon note. You’d probably even say this is a little underripe, looking at the palate. After a while, the TDN on the nose and palate gets too much and overwhelms the lemony fruit, with the nutty, dusty bottle age making things creaky. 16.5/20, 88/100. 11.9%, $25.

The Pebble Loire Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Basic Loire Sauv, sold by Dan Murphys locally. This feels like good, straightforward Sauv too, sour lemon, a lift of lemon honey, some white of asparagus but manly sour citrus. It doesn’t quite go anywhere (and just a little bitter), although the finish is still generous enough to counter the bitter lemon. Overall, this is a simply refreshing Sauv with solid appeal. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $19.99.

The Other Wine Co. Sangiovese 2024

Mt Lofty Ranges Sangiovese. Confected and jammy forest berries on an easy, fruity, medium medium-bodied palate. The tannins rescue the palate from berry jam, but it still all feels a bit like purple berry juice. 16.5/20, 88/100. 14%, $26.

Vespa Bianca Terra Fiano Salento 2022

Fleshy, peachy Puglian white with lemony stone fruit and just enough phenolics to keep some sort of shape. It’s starting to fade already, but some nice flesh and enjoyment. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12.5%, $50.

Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Grenache Rosé 2024

Light pink, musky and sweet fruited Barossan rosé that is juicy but also lean. Pink fruit and red raspberries. It’s pleasant and plenty juicy and not badly made at all, but I can’t resolve the sweetness/tart acid profile. 16.5/20, 88/100. 12%, $28.

Bests Blanc de Noir 2024

Made from ripe Grampians Shiraz fruit that didn’t have a home and was turned into fizz. It’s colourless but you can smell the berries trying to get out. This doesn’t quite work, though – it tastes candied rather than fresh, with a bit of citrus fruit tingles and a vague, powdered musk edge. Best’s know how to make proper fizz; this feels like a compromised wine. 16.3/20, 87/100. 13%, $30.

Paisley Amplifier Chardonnay 2023

Padthaway Chardonnay. Tinned peaches, minimal oak, lean and citrusy. Basic stuff that seems to be missing any flavour. Tart finish. A miss for me. 16/20, 87/100. 12.5%, $25.

De Bortoli Woodfired Heathcote Tempranillo 2021

Clearly trying to tap into the move to richly oaked affordable reds. But I don’t get the ‘woodfired’ intention here – it’s a mid-weight, reductive, lean Heathcote Temp. The acidity dogs this wine, stunting its fruity intentions and delivering little but a faintly red-berried, lightly bitter shell. 15.8/20, 86/100. 14.5%, $23.

Small Gully Mr Black’s Concoction GSM 2015

Thick, caramelly, overripe old Barossan red. Browning, very ripe and porty, little left besides tea leaves, brick dust and caramel. Plenty of alcohol, though. 15/20, 84/100. 15.5%, $30.

La Resistance Côtes du Rhône Rose 2023

Organic, cheap-tasting French rosé. Salmon pink, sour and lean palate has no fruit, just some fading skin contact tan. Tart finish. Not there. 15/20, 84/100. 14.5%, $30.