O’Leary Walker Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2021

When it comes to Sauvignon Blanc, we have expectations. Probably more than with any other grape variety. Combine that with a region noted for the variety, and drinker anticipation positively soars. The winemakers of the Adelaide Hills know too well the stress placed on them with sauvignon blanc, but in 2021 they delivered.

There have been some real zingers released of which O’Leary Walker is up there. Passionfruit!! It screams out of the glass, layers of passionfruit pulp sandwiched between tropical fruits presents as a stunning bouquet. The exuberance goes on and on in the glass. I opened the wine four days after tasting and it was still in over-drive. Unstoppable. Fruit intensity – tropicals, apple, preserved lemon, dried mango – is strong with this one. Lots of juiciness to suck on too aided by crisp, clean acidity. This offers top drinking this summer.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic