2011 Golden Grove Estate Barbera

Though relatively deep in colour, Barbera is on the side of light reds. It is a deep, plummy crimson in colour with malt and raspberry on the nose. But it is light on the palate without much length, which wouldn't bother me, except that it isn't distinctive in the mouth.

2006 Granite Ridge Petit Verdot

Local wines were represented at the recent Lismore 4WD Caravan, Camping & Marine Show. Among them was the terrific from the Granite Belt’s Granite Ridge Wines. Petit Verdot is a favourite red for me because it’s lightish in the mouth. It's not going to be among the all-time great grapes because it’s primarily used for mixing. But it sits between lighter-bodied reds such as pinot noir and merlot, and if you're sick of merlot for the moment, as another of my drinking companions and I are, then think about this grape. Granite Ridge's colour-coded labels have grey for this red, and, given the subtlety and sophistication of some shades and tones of grey, this is one of their most striking and attractive labels. It has a few streaks of white imitating the ridges, the high altitude, or creeks in the landscape. The winemaker is the eccentric, individual, independent master-of-all-trades, Dennis Ferguson. This Petit Verdot is around $24, beautifully dark crimson-plum in colour, with black current in the aroma, and on the smooth palate are chocolate, coca and a little pepper.