Tannat, tempranillo, grenache, mourvedre, sangiovese and barbera are not frontline red varieties in Australia, but they have played a role in these interesting red blends from New England and South Australia's Clare Valley, Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale areas.
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Topper's Mountain 2011 Red Earth Child, $38
Topper's Mountain vineyard, at an elevation of 900 metres above sea level in the Tingha area of New England, produces some of the best nebbiolo reds around. That ancient Italian variety, famed in Piemonte and Valtellina, is one of the four components of this multi-faceted, 13.5 per cent alcohol red. The three other varieties in the mix are shiraz, tempranillo and tannat. The wine is brick red and has tobacco leaf scents. Firm blackberry and mint flavours feature on the front of the palate and elements of plum, licorice, capers and toasty oak combine on the middle palate. Ferric acid shows at the finish. It's available on toppers.com.au and in some wine stores. The 10-hectare Topper's Mountain vineyard was established in 1999 by Sydney-based engineer Mark Kirkby and the wines are made by Queensland Granite Belt winemaker Mike Hayes.
Zonte's Footstep 2012 Canto di Largo Sangiovese Barbera, $25
"Pasta please" says this blend of two great Italian-origin varieties made from Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale grapes. The wine is bright crimson, weighs in at 14.5 per cent alcohol and has fruitcake scents. Juicy raspberry flavour zips onto the front palate and dried cranberry, spearmint and herb fruit characters meld with savoury oak on the middle palate. Dusty tannins come through at the finish. It's in wine stores and on zontesfootstep.com.au. The Zonte's Footstep name comes from the fact that that the inaugural wine grape vineyard was planted on what was the Zante currant vineyard at Langhorne Creek. The wines are made by Ben Riggs, who heads the Zonte's Footstep team with general manager Brad Rey and marketer Zar Brooks.
Tim Adams 2009 The Fergus, $23
This is the 17th release of The Fergus and over the years the wines have evolved from the original straight grenache. This 14.5 per cent alcohol 2009 has tempranillo, mourvedre and shiraz blended with the grenache, and is garnet-hued. It has berry pastille scents and spicy cherry front palate flavour. The middle palate introduces blueberry, mocha coffee, cloves and nutty oak characters and the finish has minty tannins. It's in wine stores and on timadamswines.com.au. The original Fergus grenache was made in the 1993 Clare Valley vintage when Tim Adams faced a desperate shortage of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon and his neighbour, Fergus Mahon, helped out by selling him grenache grapes.
