Feel like branching out? Broaden your wine horizons with one of these foreign drops.
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Sebastiani Butterfield Station Chardonnay
Starting strong, we’ve got the Sebastiani Butterfield Station Chardonnay from the North Coast of Cali. If you love big, robust flavours in your Chardonnay then this is the drop for you. Expect buttered toast, vanilla and baked apple aromas, while on the palate you’ll get crème brûlée, ripe pear and baking spices and a lush, creamy finish. That sounds weird, but it is divine. We’d be pairing this with a yummy cream pasta or a roast chook.
Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Pinot Noir
Let’s move on from the big-buttered stuff to a sexy cool-climate pinot noir from Kendall-Jackson. A blend of pinot noir grapes grown in Monterey and Santa Barbara counties, this little number is structured and wonderfully layered. On the palate, it’s a bright mix of strawberries, raspberries and cherries cutting through with some earthy, spicy cola notes. Since it’s been aged in barrels for 9.5 months you can also expect a bit of oak and a toasty vanilla finish. It’s a yum wine by itself, but if you feel like being a bit fancy we reckon those earthy notes in the wine are going to pair superbly with some mushroom risotto.
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If you’re keen to try a little South African wine, we’d recommend the DeMorgenzon DMZ Chenin Blanc. Grown in the Stellenbosch region, this wine is a delicious and refreshing drop, not too dissimilar to a pinot gris. Because it’s planted in granite soil, this chenin is nicely fruity with some beautiful natural acidity. So on the tongue it’s all green apple, apricots and honey, while on the nose you’ll get some beautiful floral notes. As this wine is quite naturally zippy, we’d suggest pairing it with some fatty meat. Our pick? Chuck on your chef’s hat and mix up a bowl of beef tartare *chef’s kiss*.
Thinking of buying your very first Austrian wine? The Dürnberg Grüner Veltliner is a great way to start. Grown in the traditional style in the village of Falkenstein in Austria's largest vine growing DAC (Austria’s version of DOC), Weinvietal, this wine is wonderfully elegant. On the tongue you’ll get crunchy green apples, citrus, flowers and white pepper, with some minerality to finish. Yum. This wine sounds fancy but is actually really easy drinking. Pair it with some white meat, fried fish or your fave vietnamese vermicelli bowl and you’re sweet.
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Strong sentiment, we know, but we stand by it. Beautiful, mountainous Argentina grows some exceptional grapes, like bonarda and torrontés, but is most known for its malbec production. Most of Argentina's vineyards are planted between 800 and 1,100 metres above sea level, because it’s the best soil to grow wine in the region and it’s reasonably sheltered from harsh coastal winds.
Do you like big, beautiful reds? What about plums and cherries, do you like those? If you answered yes to either of those two questions, we have the perfect vino for you. The darling of Argentina’s wine production, malbec. Unlike the French variation, which is quite tart, Argentinian malbec tends to be beautifully soft in texture and well-bodied. It’s also got this stunning purple tinge to it, which is super unique. While we’d say it’s fairly intuitive to pair red wine with red meat, malbec works really well with leaner cuts and peppery vegetables. With that in mind, we reckon some delish beef empanadas would work fabulously.
