Topper’s Mountain Gewurztraminer 2016

If I’m honest I don’t drink a lot of Gewürztraminer, and you don’t see a lot of it in Australia. But if I did then I’d drink loads of this! The Topper’s Mountain vineyard sits at around 1000m on the western side of the Great Dividing Range. The New England region is still an underdog in NSW but deserves a lot of recognition for the alternative grape variety movement and kudos to the Topper’s team for producing Australia’s finest Gewürztraminer.

A little bit of age adds some extra dimension here, the aroma is a crowd-pleaser – a fusion of turkish delight, jasmine, rose petals and lychee. The palate is medium weight but it’s nimble on its feet, the fragrance translates seamlessly to the mouth with an attack of elderflower, clementine and that turkish delight adds a hint of sweet fruit, but the finish is dry and savoury. A true shining star in this class and a delightful sensory journey. A fine match with heat, this wine can be your best mate when you are dealing with chilli! Indian curry is great fun with this wine too, as is BBQ seafood – think Prawns, lemon, red chilli and garlic. More please!

Matt Dunne

Wine critic and journalist at Joval Wine

Matt Dunne is one of Sydney’s finest sommeliers and communicators who is also the Group Wine Ambassador for the Joval Wine Group. He has created and managed wine lists for over 30 venues including ARIA Sydney, Opera Bar and Chiswick. In 2011 Matt won the Sydney Morning Herald’s 2011 ‘Good Food Guide Louis Roederer Sommelier of the Year’ and his team won the 2015 Wine List of the Year in the Good Food Guide for ARIA Sydney plus he was a Len Evans Scholar. Matt has tremendous knowledge of wine, beer and spirits, and has written his own wine blog for over 8 years.

International wine knowledge and tasting expertise