Some affordable Australian wines from Yalumba and Oxford Landing
Website: https://www.oxfordlanding.com/en/story/ https://www.yalumba.com/
Yalumba are an important winery for Australia. Based in the Barossa they make some impressive high end wines, but they also make more affordable wines, including the Oxford Landing wines that come from their vineyards in the Riverland. I tried some recently.
Oxford Landing Chardonnay 2024 South Australia
10.5% alcohol. Light and fruity with some grapey richness and a touch of peach. It’s fruity and appealing with a touch of lemon and mandarin, offering clean flavours but then it finishes quite short and with a wet stone edge. Clean and nicely made. 84/100 (£5.98 Asda, £7.50 Waitrose)
Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc 2024 South Australia
10.5% alcohol. This is tart and lemony with a touch of grapefruit and a bit of spiciness, as well as some green notes. Simple and fruity, with a slight hollowness on the finish. It feels a bit stripped, but there’s nice clean fruit here. 83/100 (£7 Tesco, £7.50 Waitrose, £7.25 Sainsbury’s)
Oxford Landing Shiraz 2023 South Australia
10.5% alcohol. Fruity and aromatic with strawberry and cherry fruit. Pure and appealing. The palate is light, fruity and fresh, with a brightness but also a bit of a hole where the alcohol would have been adding body. Juicy and bright. It’s very appealing in this lighter style, but finishes short. 87/100 (£5.98 Asda, £7.25 Morrisons, £7.50 Waitrose)
Oxford Landing Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 South Australia
10.5% alcohol. This is juicy and bright with blackcurrant and berry fruits, as well as a hint of greenness. There’s a brightness and freshness here, with a hint of olive and mint. The lower alcohol accentuates the freshness and makes the wine more savoury. Some will find this too thin and tart, but I think it’s a good food wine. 88/100 (£6.50 Asda)
Yalumba Gen Organic Viognier 2023 South Australia
13.5% alcohol. This is a really attractive varietally true Viognier, with rich peach and apricot fruit as well as some lemony brightness on the finish, with some tart acidity providing a counter to the sweet fruit. Juicy finish. 88/100 (UK retail £11)
Yalumba Gen Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2023 South Australia
12.5% alcohol. Quite rich and bold with pear and peach fruit with some crystalline citrus fruit and a bit of grapefruit. Lively and intense, but not very Sauvignon like. 86/100 (£11.95 Co-op, Ocado)
Yalumba The Y Series Viognier 2022 South Australia
13.5% alcohol. Sweet pear and apricot fruit here with some nice peach stone notes adding an interesting savoury, bitter counter to the bold lush fruit. Notes of aniseed and herbs add interest. Mouthfilling, nicely complex, and varietally true. 90/100 (£10.99 Majestic, £7.50 mix six price, £10.50 Sainsbury’s, Asda)
