Stuck in a wine rut? Your new fave pour is here
Cellar Door Fest is your chance to taste some of the best wines on the planet, says wine guru Nick Ryan. That’s a big call, so we asked him to narrow it down – just a bit.
Cellar Door Fest, Adelaide’s favourite food & drink festival, is now an institution in the local calendar – a three-day event where SA’s hottest winemakers, distillers and food producers get to share their product and knowledge with the public, all under the one roof at Adelaide Convention Centre.
Returning later this month (31 January – 2 February), the program includes wine & food tastings, masterclasses and a one-of-a-kind Chef’s Table experience with Africola x Murdoch Hill, a long table lunch held behind the scenes in the Adelaide Convention Centre’s main kitchen.
But we reckon another real drawcard is the chance to leisurely sip through the state’s regions and discover new varietals and new ways with old favourites.
So, CityMag asked wine writer Nick Ryan (who’s hosting the new Wine Discovery Stage at Cellar Door Fest) about some of the wines to look out for.
Nick Ryan’s Wine Discovery Stage is where to pick up some fresh tips and tipples
Chardy is back with a vengeance
“Contemporary Australian Chardonnay is probably the most exciting Chardonnay anywhere on the planet right now,” Nick says.
During the Chardonnay boom of the 80s and 90s, it had a heavy, oaky style. But Nick says this time round it’s different, with a lot of winemaking skill and human input shaping it into something special.
“It’s the artist’s wine – and I think we’ve got those artists here,” he says, adding that we’ve also got great sites (or terroir) for growing the grape.
Proof of this is Murdoch Hill’s 2022 Rocket Chardonnay, which took out the Prime Minister’s trophy for Champion Wine of Show award at the 2024 National Wine Show.
Nick may have “drank a glass for promotional purposes only” during a 10am photo shoot before the CityMag chat. Kudos to him for his work commitment – and we’re ever so slightly jealous.
See the wineries coming to Cellar Door Fest here.
Fancy a Fiano?
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Fiano is one of the emerging grape varieties in Australia – although it’s been around for more than a decade here – and we do a pretty mean pressing locally.
It’s a southern Italian variety that is thought to have been cultivated by the Ancient Romans and, possibly, the Ancient Greeks before them.
“I really like what’s happening with Fiano, particularly in South Australia down towards the Vale,” Nick says. “A lot through there is getting that coastal influence as well.”
The cooling, maritime air helps to bring out the fruity, fresh, complex taste – but really, you’ll find great Fianos in the Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and across McLaren Vale.
Planning to replenish supplies? Conveniently, Cellar Door Fest has partnered with Australia Post to offer a pick & pack service.
Grenache, like Gwyneth, consciously uncoupled
Yes, you’ve been drinking Grenache forever, maybe in a classic GSM or Grenache Shiraz, but now it’s striking out on its own.
“For me, Grenache is the hottest thing in the world of wine right now,” Nick says. “It is seriously, seriously exciting and the most exciting place in the world for it is South Australia.”
He says the rest of the world is starting to wake up to our treatment of the grape, especially in wines coming out of McLaren Vale and the Barossa from old vines.
“We’ve got these great vineyard resources, because Grenache was always planted to make fortified wines,” he explains. “The first 100 or so years of the Australian wine industry was about the production of fortified wines. So, we’ve got these beautiful, old Grenache vineyards.
“But what’s happened in the last 10 years or so is that winemakers have really thought long and hard about how to get the best out of those vineyards for dry table wines.”
Don’t sip on an empty stomach. See the array of tempting food planned for The Eatery.
The art of smelling wine – get in some practice at Cellar Door Fest
“Everyone’s a wine expert and novice at once,” says Nick
Possibly we should have started with Nick’s wine tasting tips. But discovery is the name of the tasting game, so – unexpectedly – here we are!
“I always say the only thing that makes me any kind of [wine] expert is I’m bit more practiced at explaining what I’m tasting,” Nick says. “But in the physical nature of tasting, your palate could well be better than mine.”
His advice for novices is that the nose does all the work, so spend a lot of time sniffing the wine, swirling the glass and releasing all the aromatics.
“Your tongue is a pretty blunt instrument really, it just does salty, sweet, sour, bitter and those sort of large brushstroke things.
“But all the nuance in a glass of wine, you’re getting that through your nose. If you want to go find those fruits and flowers and things that people like me rabbit on about all the time, that’s where it is.”
Half the time, he just smells the wine and puts the glass back down without drinking. But when he does take a mouthful, he thinks about the ‘weight’ and ‘texture’ of the wine and its physical qualities, like acid and tannin.
“That’s when you start to really work out what wine styles you like,” he says. “A lot of people don’t like that drying, firm, tannic sensation you’ll get in red varieties like Cabernet.
“So, that’s when you go for something like Pinot or Grenache, where the tannins are definitely there, but it’s just a softer impression.”
Similarly, while he loves acidity in wines – think Riesling – there are plenty of others to try.
“If acidity is not for you, then maybe start looking at white varieties with a bit more texture and palate weight, rather than just pure acid drive.”
Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Viognier are all great, low acid wines.
Making a weekend of Cellar Door Fest? Get a discount on your city stay.
Grab your friends and try something new
Saperavi
Okay, so this one’s pretty left field – from Georgia (Russia’s neighbour, not USA) – a red wine grape that’s said to be 8000 years old.
Nick says Anita Goode – the owner, winemaker and grower at Wangolina, a winery on the Limestone Coast – makes a fantastic Saperavi.
Anita, according to Nick, is the “finest purple haired winemaker in the country” and he’s highly complimentary of her Lagrein, another red, that he rates in his top 100 wines.
The varietal hails from northern Italy and is related to Syrah and Pinot Noir, but with more tannin, acid and juicy berries.
“You could actually come to Cellar Door Fest and just stand at Anita’s bench and try a dozen really interesting wines from a bunch of really interesting varieties,” says Nick. “You’ve still got Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc – and a Moscato she keeps trying to make me drink – but her work with emerging varieties is something really special.
“If I was grabbing people as they walked into the door of Cellar Door Fest, I’d be telling them to go and try Anita Goodes’ alternative varieties, because that may be your next favourite wine. You just don’t know it.”
Love eco-friendly, vegan and no-lo wines? See those wineries here.
The last word from Nick…
“I’ve been working in wine for about 30 years, and I’ve never really known the public’s thirst for knowledge and diversity in drinking that I’ve seen now,” says Nick.
“That’s why something like Cellar Door Fest is great, because you can come and try a whole bunch of different things and then find your next favourite wine.
“Walking into a bottle shop, I think people have the intention of trying something different, but the amount of choice all gets a bit overwhelming.
“They don’t want to waste their money, so they just buy the same thing they’ve always been buying. What a show like Cellar Door Fest does is let people take those risks and try new things.”
Cellar Door Fest is on from Friday, January 31 to Sunday, February 2 at Adelaide Convention Centre.
Learn more about Cellar Door Fest and purchase session tickets here.