2008 Ambar Hill Granite Belt Reserve Chardonnay

We had a 'truly local' wine at Loren Food and Wine Café at Tugun. Ambar Hill Reserve 2008 Granite Belt Chardonnay is made by Jim Barnes and hand-picked/barrel-fermented, but only in exceptional years. You can smell the stone fruit of Chardonnay from across the table. Its deepish, bright gold in colour, with a label of simple running-writing-based text. It's salty with some citrus on the palate. If you're in Tugun, definitely drink, and eat, at Loren.

2012 Jared Dixon New England Jilly Nebbiolo

Talking about terroir, Jared of the Clunes Cellars, far North Coast of NSW, made his Nebbiolo, Jilly, from the grapes from soils of New England, much like the Granite Belt of Queensland. It’s a pretty-in-pink clear ruby in colour but with depth (such a good colour). It smells like oak barrels, strawberries and pink-on-the-edge-of-purple velvet. A pretty-in-pink wine, tasting like strawberries too, but on the edge of tartness. In a beautiful heavy French champagne-like dark bottle with a cloth label. Around $30, Clunes Cellars. His Margaret River Chardonnay (he likes its terroir for Chardonnay) is forthcoming. The grapes were raised by vigneron Mark Kirkby of Topper's Mountain.

2010 Topper's Mountain New England Tempranillo

A beautiful deep cherry colour, and a nutty smell, it's smooth and serious  on the palate, leaving you wanting more. Such a seriously good wine is deserving of respect. Above $30.00 - and worth it.

2009 Topper's Mountain Red Earth Child

This is a combination of Petit Verdot, Barbera , Nebbiolo and Tannat.  A beautiful crimson with dark-pink-rose edge, it has jam and white pepper in the perfume. In the mouth, again, is relatively light, but very smooth. I must get it again.Just above $30.00.

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. 

2010 Clovelly Estate South Burnett, Queensland, Semillon Chardonnay

There's a little fish on the label, but this winery is nowhere near the sea (despite the fact that Clovelly is one of Sydney's great beaches). It's above Brisbane and inland from the Sunshine Coast. The winery was only established in 1997. I would go back for more, except this wine gave me a headache. Their white label, they say, is their easy-drinking range. The South Burnett Council says the following of the area: 'The South Burnett is a scenic patchwork of fertile soils and vivid green crops, which produce a variety of fruits, nuts, vegetables, cheeses and other gourmet foods. It is also one of Australia's newest wine producing regions with many vineyards and olive groves complementing the traditional crops.  To the south west lie the majestic Bunya Mountains.' It's great that the label lists both the winemaker, Luke Fitzpatrick, and viticulturalist, Peter Stewart.