Risky Business

The wine trade is a risky business but no such problems here with two very experienced partners sourcing wine around the country, particularly Margaret River, to create a range of wines high on value.


Risky Business Prosecco NV

92 Points – $25
Drink NOW

Prosecco is often a bit hit or miss. While some wines can be superb, others are undrinkable. This is a cracking little wine out of Victoria. It’s everything you would expect from Prosecco – delicate in colour and then with beautifully bright and fresh fruits. There are classic green apple and floral aromas but also with a touch of that almond husk seen in the best examples of this variety. It’s then crisp and light weight, with balanced sweetness and then finishes tangy, and smooth as silk. Drink it on its own or with some smoked salmon nibbles.



Risky Business Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

90 Points – $25
Drink 2020 – 2023

Margaret River is now widely considered Australia’s top region for cabernet sauvignon and wines like this show why, thanks to their outstanding drinkability. It is deeply coloured and quite a fleshy and approachable Margaret River style with blackberry and blackcurrant aromas plus that telltale local savoury dried sage edge. It is then dry and full-bodied with quite fresh acidity that gives good impact to its cassis and cedar fruits. Tannins are supple which makes this wine well suited to early drinking, potentially with lamb cutlets.



Risky Business Malbec 2019

92 Points – $25
Drink 2020 – 2025

The key to this wine is its origins with fruit blended from the Frankland and Margaret Rivers, particularly the dry Frankland River region, which gives some proper, hearty malbec richness and flavour. The wine is deeply coloured, as you would expect, and is bursting with brooding, inky, blueberry fruits in a fruit forward style. But then on the palate, things get a bit more serious as malbec’s rustic personality takes over with mouthfilling black fruits well matched by chewy tannins and juicy acidity before a long finish with layers of sweet, ripe fruit. It is a red meat special, with charr-grilled beef fillet an ideal match.

Risky Business Shiraz Tempranillo Grenache 2019

93 Points – $25
Drink 2020 – 2023

This is clearly not your average Margaret River blend. Shiraz, not the region’s favourite grape, blended with two other varieties that do their best in a hot climate, which Margaret River is not. But it absolutely works and actually creates a beautifully savoury wine style for casual drinking. It is not packed full of fruit but is a wine that creeps up on you with its understated complexity. It immediately radiates with white pepper, violet and red cherry laced fruits that draw your attention. The palate is then dry and mid-weight, again those savoury influences slowly unfolding to a lingering and elegant finish, nicely underpinned by a touch of tannic grip. It is a bistro red, and a good one at that.