“The wine that stood out and was well received by all who tried it, compelling at least two sales that I saw in my 40 minutes at the tasting, was a Tasmanian shiraz/pinot noir,” says wine writer RICHARD CALVER.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision: my mate and I decided to have a late lunch at the Kingston foreshore to celebrate nothing in particular, just that it was Friday. 

The restaurant where we had decided to eat is BYO so on the way we stopped in at the Strange Alchemy bottle shop and picked up a Knappstein Clare Valley Riesling 2024 for $19.99. This is good value as the wine is $25 a bottle from the winery.

It didn’t disappoint with a light colour, a bouquet of lime and white flowers and a good acid structure to cut through the fish we both had for lunch. 

While we were choosing the wine, Strange Alchemy owner Jack Roberts invited us to a wine tasting that evening. I attended and it was good to catch up with wine agent Raelene Campbell, who I’d met at a dinner three years ago.

She presented four wines, the first being a riesling, the Leeuwin Art Series Estate 2025. It was good to compare this Margaret River wine with the one we had at lunch. 

It was also very pale, but with a green hue. There were aromas of citrus and spice. It had a different finish from the Knappstein, the acid lingered longer and the palate was of a multitude of fresh limes. Both rieslings were praiseworthy. We are very lucky to have such good quality riesling available in the $20 range. 

There were two red wines from a small McLaren Vale winery, Upper Penney; the wines were named after their two Highland cows. Raelene said this family-owned producer had a very small production of around 180 dozen bottles a year. 

On taste was the Dougall Grenache/Shiraz blend 2024 and the Rahley shiraz 2024.

The first wine had a lovely strawberry aroma, but on taste the tannins were very grippy, overwhelming the fruit. The shiraz was quite pleasant, but will only get better with age; a good plum taste predominates with a balance between fruit and alcohol. 

The wine that stood out though and was well received by all who tried it, compelling at least two sales that I saw in my 40 minutes at the tasting, was the Stargazer 2023 Kura shiraz/pinot noir. 

Jack said the blend was 70 per cent shiraz and 30 per cent pinot noir. Its bouquet was of cherries mixed with floral and spice aromas. On taste it was like when you first bite into a cherry. 

The winemaker, Samantha Connew, has delivered a bright, pleasant and spicy wine. From the Coal Valley in Tasmania, this wine is a testament to the quality of the grapes now grown on that isle. It’s worthy of any kind of celebration. 

“Celebrate your successes. Find some humour in your failures.” –Sam Walton