“With the necessary amount of respect to avoid impudence, I now offer my recommendations for holiday season drinking. Don’t beat me up that they are all local wines,” writes wine writer RICHARD CALVER.

When the editor suggested the theme of “six of the best” I must say I was triggered, as this phrase can mean a beating with a stick or cane. 

New Zealand, where I was schooled, became the first English-speaking country to make corporal punishment of a child illegal. 

That happened in 2007, so a considerable period after my school days; they don’t use corporal punishment any more, it’s old school.

For the 25th anniversary of the high school I attended, they published an extract from the caning register providing an insight into why punishment had been extracted: the most frequent reason given for a caning was “impudence”. This is a highly subjective matter as it encapsulates the quality of being rude and not showing respect, especially towards someone who is older or, importantly for a schoolboy, in a more important position. Disagreement on some matters was, in the 1960s, sometimes considered impudent and I resembled that remark. 

Hopefully, with the necessary amount of respect to avoid impudence, I now offer my recommendations for holiday season drinking. Don’t beat me up that they are all local wines (in no particular order):

1. Nick O’Leary Riesling 2024. This wine won a swag of awards at the 2024 Canberra and Region Wine Show including Best Wine of Show. This citrus flavoured delight is available from the winery at $28 a bottle and is a wine of fine balance given its youth. It would be good to sit in the shade away from the seasonal heat sipping this wine and nibbling on prawns.
2. Mount Majura Vineyard 2022 The Silurian Sparkling. This sparkling wine is good for the Christmas/New Year toasts. The name refers to the geological age of the rock from which the vineyard’s soils are derived. The Silurian is made in the traditional method from the varieties chardonnay and pinot noir. Reasonable value at $38 a bottle from the winery, this is a bright, pleasant wine that gives a mild brioche and green apple finish. 
3. Tiger, Tiger Chardonnay 2022. I have a bottle of the 2019 in my wine fridge, which I bought after tasting a glass of this vintage some time ago at The Boat House. The 2022 is available from one retailer at circa $37 a bottle, good value. This is a powerful chardonnay that will cellar well. But for immediate drinking it would match with roast chicken or other poultry. It’s a complex wine with fine acidity and a lemony, spicy mid-palate. It finishes cleanly and makes a great food wine. 
4. Ravensworth 2022 Hilltops Nebbiolo. At $45 a bottle from the winery, this lovely Italian red varietal beats out some of the mother country wines on price and equals them on quality. Sleek and savoury, this wine matches with roasted quail or rare fillet steak. It has an abundance of red fruit and is awash with ripe tannins. 
5. Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2023. This is a present for someone special at $128 from the winery, the classic blend of shiraz and the unlikely white viognier. In his somewhat hyperbolic manner, Nick Ryan, of The Australian, described this wine as moving “through the mouth like unfurling silk and finishes with a plume of finely pixelated tannins”. It’s a classic of the region and one that will bring the gift giver acclaim. 
6. The Vintner’s Daughter 2021 Fortified Shiraz. This would be the wine to have with your Christmas pudding. It’s $70 a bottle, but opulent and richly flavoured from grapes that have been left to partly shrivel and raisin on the vine. The spirit is neutral and the sweetness of the fruit is not overshadowed by its addition. It has vanilla overtones and is mouth filling.

I have no problem with capital punishment in theory, just in execution. – Anon