Steal this wine expert’s brilliant ideas on the styles to try, regions to explore and varieties we should all be ordering.
We’re all about wine right now – even more than usual – because we’re still celebrating the Dan Murphy’s Best in Glass Wine Awards. With these awards recognising the best local (covering Australia and NZ), best value and best international wines (and all capped at $50), there are loads of winning wines to explore. But if you’re not quite sure where to dive in, we’ve called on wine expert and consultant Liinaa Berry to help us out. Originally from Mauritius, Liinaa has lived in Australia for almost 20 years and worked in hospitality for longer than that. It’s safe to say she knows her stuff.
For Liinaa, it was a glass of Barolo that made her fall “head over heels” for wine. She’d already been working in hospitality for a while – “just to pay the rent,” she says – but wine snuck up on her over time. Then came that glass of Barolo, the famed nebbiolo from northern Italy. “The complexities in that wine instigated a wave of curiosity that turned into obsession,” Liinaa says. Before long, she was chasing vintages around the world, and studying, tasting and fully immersing herself in the world of wine. She’s never looked back.
Today, Liinaa is as passionate as ever about wine, which she says has a lot to do with its ongoing evolution. “The seasons shift, new growers emerge, forgotten regions rise and my own palate keeps changing, too. There’s always more to taste, more to learn and more to feel,” she says. It’s also about the people involved for Liinaa – the growers, makers and drinkers. “They’re as much a part of the landscape as the soil and the vines.”
To tap into Liinaa’s incredible intel and experience, we hit her with 10 rapid-fire questions to help us all drink better.
10 questions with Liinaa Berry
- Q.1. What’s the best way to choose a wine if none of the bottles are familiar?
“Ask the staff, trust your mood, know the context of the occasion, or pick the wine with a place name you can’t pronounce because people need to get out of their comfort zone if they want to see magic.”
- Q.2. Is there a variety or style you think can suit most people’s tastes and occasions?
“Dry riesling – it’s zippy, versatile, misunderstood and always ready to play nice with food.”
- Q.3. Is choosing the second-cheapest wine on a list actually a good approach?
“That is a huge generalisation. Only if you’re feeling lucky. Go for the wine that looks like someone really considered it when they put it on the list.”
- Q.4. What price-bracket do you think delivers the best-value wine in a bottle shop?
“I think $25 to $35 is the sweet spot. Look to Spain, the Loire Valley, and clever Aussie blends – alternative varieties are super fun to get into and they often give you an introduction to international styles. One example is Australia’s nebbiolo, which is often more gentle than what you will find in Piedmont, so that’s a lovely way to get into a new variety.”
- Q.5. What are the best international styles to try for anyone new to exploring beyond Australia?
“Try a grüner veltliner (Wachau, Austria) instead of pinot grigio or riesling, go with a fiano (Campania, Italy) instead of chardonnay, try an albariño (Galicia, Spain) instead of sauvignon blanc, and a carricante (Etna Bianco, Sicily) instead of an unoaked chardonnay. For reds, go for a montepulciano (Abruzzo, Italy) if you usually like shiraz, and try a gamay (Beaujolais, France) if you like lighter reds with really good varying complexities.”
- Q.6. What wine variety or style should we all be drinking more of?
“Chenin blanc. It’s complex, adaptable, soulful and still wildly undervalued. Go with Anjou for a leaner style, and Vouvray for a plusher expression.”
- Q.7. What are a few of your all-time, never-fail food and wine matches?
“Nebbiolo and duck, sparkling wine with sea salt crisps, and Jerez with Pata Negra [jamon Iberico].”
- Q.8. What’s a great wine to buy as a gift if we don’t know what the person likes?
“High-quality Champagne or a mineral-driven white like Chablis. New oak can be polarising, so go for unoaked and not too old or too young. For a red, grenache is sweet fruited, usually without new oak, and quality producers will make a nuanced and savoury style.”
- Q.9. What variety, style or region can we expect to see a lot more of?
“Central and Eastern Europe; wines with soul, edge and serious pedigree. Think of sauvignon blanc from Slovenia or south of Austria in Styria. Chenin blanc is being grown more and more in Australia now as well, from Anjou to Margaret River.”
- Q.10. What’s the best piece of wine advice you ever received?
“Taste everything, trust your gut and never apologise for what you love.”
