Six first generation Hunter Valley brands have set their sights on a common goal-to put the new Hunter wine styles out for all of us to see.

And after all they have been doing this for some time, probably over a decade.

Now it is so obvious that they had to do something further than just talking. New Generation Hunter Valley has been born amongst the Pokolbin boys.

The makers are De Iuliis, Hook, Margan, Meerea Park, Mistletoe and Thomas. The guys took their wines on the road dropping in at as many surf clubs as they could gather between Sydney and Noosa recently.

I caught the new vibes at The Surf Club in Southbank in Brisbane.

David Hook Pinot Grigio 2010; (USD 19.25); 12.5%, +++, juicy nose, pale and fresh, good slippery texture and powerful flavour. A wine style that has been around a long time, from the Adina vineyard in Lovedale Road planted twenty years ago.

David Hook Viognier 2009; (USD 26.75); 14.5%, +++1/2, heavenly aromas of the grape-ginger and melon, the palate solid and full, just as viognier is, more full-bodied than today’s chardonnay, a big elixir, and this finishes fresh and very drinkable. Aged in old barrels where the variety enjoys the aging without obvious oak ingress.

David Hook 20 yo vines Shiraz 2009 Pothana Vineyard

Thomas Six Degrees Semillon 2010; (USD 23.50); 9.5%, ++++, as a fresh and zippy white this is outstanding, a competitor for the FGR riesling styles coming out of Tasmania (forty grams residual), early picked and full of lime juice expressions as a wine finished at 42 grams/litre residual.

Styles similar are the kabinett rieslings coming from the Mosel and Rheingau. “Thommo” feels free to innovate, and this would be great with Sichuan style chicken where the chilli heat needs quelling.

Since last reviewing Thomas Wines there has been a profusion of single, select vineyard shiraz-Sweetwater 2009 and Motel Block 2009 now join his flagship Kiss 2009, and then there is the blended shiraz, DJV 2009.

Motel Block was a vineyard planted in 1969 by the Sydney notable John Walker, with the grapes more recently going to a corporate buyer but now in the hands of a specialist who will give them a lot more love.

Thomas Sweetwater Shiraz 2009; (USD 37.40); 13.7%, ++++1/2; good attractiveness in the glass, freshly aromatic from its new oak, including American, great mouth sweetness, fruit char, black fruits and the delicious softness of Hunter shiraz made in the most modern vein.

Thomas Sweetwater Shiraz 2009

The Eather brothers of Meerea Park were there with their newest reds plus smart semillon and chardonnay.

Meerea Park Hell Hole Semillon 2010; (USD 26.75); 10.9%, ++++; very pale, very lemony, very taut as we expect for this variety from this region-of course it’s the hallmark variety. This has fineness and puckering acidity that matches it with a freshly bbq’d crustacean; just a must.

Pokolbin when translated in an Eastern European language, Polish I think, means “hell hole”.

Meerea Park Alexander Munro Semillon 2006; (USD 37.40); 10.5%, ++++1/2, shows how these taut examples age, and does it well. This is a touch cheesy, semillon speak for age character, still nose restrained, then taut with a lash of honey to recognise some age. Still young wine.

Meerea Park Hell Hole Shiraz2007; (USD 53.40); 13.6%, ++++, looks brilliant, holds its purple colour, is rich yet medium bodied, lovely savoury sensations, but soft and easy, the fruit keeps toying with the palate, then it finishes taut. Outstanding wine. Made with 40% new barrels, 40% whole bunches yet inky wine.

Meerea Park Hell Hole Shiraz 2007

Keep surfing with the boys from New Generation Hunter Valley-it’s all serious stuff.

Peter Scudamore-Smith is a Brisbane-based Master of Wine, winemaker and educator www.uncorkedandcultivated.com.au

There is always an aura around the French town of Laguiole, famous for its steel implements, especially wine corkscrews and steak knives.

These implements are likely to set you back US$180-280 on average, and a little more for signature corkscrews.

I guess Australian dining tables do not have a high call for corkscrews with the wide usage of screw cap – such an implement is a little superfluous.

Yet there are many collectors who have pre-2001 Aussie reds while Bordeaux, Spanish and Italian reds continue to come into the country with cork closures (and some are pretty terrible).

Australia will continue to have a fairly buoyant and wide choice of imported wines finished under cork, particularly in restaurants.

For the corks which are good, especially the 50 mm ones, a quality corkscrew is fundamental; one with a long screw section (precision spiral), and ease of gripping the cork before extraction.

Few brands do this well. Laguiole yes, and now an Australian-designed one, by Geoffrey Toering from Byron Bay, Code 38 , (USD 225-410) which does this excellently.

Code 38-an ideal corkscrew

Code 38 comes in four models; Origine, Pro, Duel and Stealth. I road tested the Pro model which has the grooved spiral-so essential in restaurant use with testy corks.

I pulled a cork on Penley Estate Chertsey 2005 where it gave excellent extraction; with the most important activity being able to remove the cork as one piece.

The Chertsey (USD53), 15%, ++++1/2; is a good drink as a flagship wine of Penley Estate in Coonawarra. It’s a Cabernet-merlot-franc of great density, the 2005 now mature, cedary, long and delicious tannins though supple, nice waves of blackcurrant and olive notes which demand rich and hearty food accompaniments.

Full spiral on Penley Estate Chertsey

And to give it a further test, during the recent Sauvignon Blanc tweetup, #LookSB the cork finished Sancerre by Pascal Jolivet was easily opened.

Full swivel on the Pascal Jolivet

The Code 38 enters the cork smoothly and extracts easily. This is a weapon-I recommend it for any serious red wine collector-especially with older bottles where corks may crumble.

There are significant guarantees: six months if you are not happy with the performance and a lifetime for durability. Maker Jeffrey Toering is a skilled artisan instrument maker who expertly crafts metal, using some of the most advanced custom forms around.

Many Australian makers continue to use cork finishing for international markets (where ignorance of cork failure is far more prevalent) with taint and air transmission tightly controlled (such as using Diam or Procork): and hence now there is little consumer disappointment from our country’s wines.

Peter Scudamore-Smith is a Brisbane-based Master of Wine, winemaker and educator www.uncorkedandcultivated.com.au

Angove Family Winemakers are celebrating 125 years of being in the wine business. Isn’t that great?

Enthusiastically I attended a celebratory bash to hear that four generations have steered this wonderful South Australian company since inception. And there are new Angove generations in line to take the company forward.

The current patriarch is John Angove, an affable chap who was totally down to earth about his business, the big pressures around the wine industry in his State, and around this rain-soaked country.

But he was up-beat about the family company, and clearly excited about the new premium wines his head grape cracker Tony Ingle was putting into bottle.

Angove have come full circle. Their original HQ is now a housing estate (Tea Tree Gully) termed the Adelaide Plains I guess; they moved to a larger place at Nanya near Renmark in 1910, and have now taken possession of vineyards in McLarenvale since 2008.

Aside from the 125th, the big news John had for me was to present a new wine crafted to coincide with release during all this hilarity; and that Angove would build a modest cellar door in McLaren Vale soon-just where they’d uprooted some no longer needed merlot vines.

The new wine is called Medhyk 2008, 14.5%, (USD 53), ++++; an old vine shiraz, selected with meticulous tasting from all the McLaren Vale barrels made that year. It’s layered, it’s juicy but contrite rather than loaded up with knock-out tannin or over-ripeness. Licorice is the major fruit flavour though subtle.

Medhyk 2008 Old Vine Shiraz

Tony Ingle outlined how three vineyards contribute to this wine: planted in 1961 (Jones Block), 1947 (Swan Block) and 1974 (Leask Block).

Angove Chief Winemaker-Tony Ingle

The next Angove generation is Richard and Victoria; as well as being a mother nurturing the next generation of owners, Victoria has worked in the export aspect of their business.

I spoke at length with Richard, a first meeting, as he rapidly came across as humble and grounded as a family wine producing member.

He has worked in other regions and countries, possesses a winemaking background yet has developed more versatile business skills along the way, and more recently worked with Angove import portfolio (Champagne and Prosecco) as well as their agency brands.

“I really enjoyed the sense of community and the fast learning curve in my early days doing vintage in the Hunter Valley. I respect the direction, and broad palate experience I copped at Brokenwood, under the eyes of PJ Charteris,” he adds.

Now he can breathe in all the depth of the South Australian regions as Angove Vineyard Select varietals come from five SA regions: Clare (riesling 2010, of course), Limestone Coast (chardonnay 2009), Adelaide Hills (sauvignon blanc 2010, all the rage), McLaren Vale (the usual suspect, shiraz 2009) and Coonawarra (one home for cabernet, 2008).

I thought the Angove Vineyard Select Riesling 2010, 12%, (USD 18); ++++, was a real banger, lime and lime juice characters, great lines of acidity, and I heard later, quite sweet, though eaten with quail and citrus polenta while tasting, it had masked this sugar.

The past wine week has been a busy one for tasting. As social media ramps itself up, the frequency of tweet tasting has markedly increased. So try #LookSB.

Nepenthe Wines based in the Adelaide Hills, part of Australia’s second largest listed wine company – Australian Vintage, were shouting about their modifications made to sauvignon blanc by oak aging.

Now I think that anything a winery can do to this over-popular, under-delivering variety for drinkers is a bonus.

The interesting information to come out of the Nepenthe winemaking camp is that fermenting this variety tends to scavenge out that vegetable component of the sauvignon blanc varietal character-and give it less aroma punch and more creaminess.

Creaminess of course is the starter for texture, as we relate to with good chardonnay, which most sauvignon blanc does not have (only razor-like acidity).

Nepenthe had gathered three sauvignon blanc wines of interest to tweet about: their own Petraea, Taltarni Three Monks and Pascal Jolivet Sancerre.

All three were quite smart but due to the penetrating acidity of sauvignon I chose to munch on some hard goats cheese while tasting.

Wines are reported in order of preference to drink now, so it was a no brainer that wines that had settled were better drinks.

Taltarni Three Monks Fume Blanc 2010, 13% (USD 25.30); ++++; straw green, smells interesting, little vegetable and more florals, a good collection of aromas from the barrel though conservatively done, no funk, the palate is generous and interesting, creaminess and layers of flavour generated by production, and not the variety which is essentially simple.

The wine is 75% Pyrenees 25% Tasmania (north), 40% barrel fermented and aged for nine months, is dry. Taltarni commenced this style in the late 70s when Mondavi Fume Blanc of California was all the rage, continued it ever since under sauvignon blanc branding, and recently reverted to the original style. They are the style leader in Australia.

Taltarni Three Monks Fume Blanc 2010

Nepenthe Petraea Sauvignon Blanc 2010, 12.5% (USD 31.60); +++1/2; straw green, lots of sauvignon smells, vegetable, cut-grass and florals, sits over the oak inputs on the nose, the taste is interesting, some cream, some vegetable, palate dryness from lees+barrel, just scrapes into the medium body class.

Nepenthe Petraea Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Nepenthe are experimenting; the ferments were in 2500 litre casks: (as I often see in Barolo) chasing wine texture, deliberately dumbing down the irrepressible character of sauvignon, yet applying oak in a delicate fashion from the low ratio of volume to surface area of cask.

Sancerre (Pascal Jolivet) 2009, 12.5% (USD 30); +++1/2; pale, straw, nose muted to reveal mainly the vegetable and earthy aromas of sauvignon from a very cold area, no oak presence, taste again vegetal but impressive in its fashioned finish, mineral, quartz, all sorts of acid remnants which give the talc, the acid drying impression of acidity which has flavour.

A smart wine having no similarity with the previous two save the common grape variety. This style is often also aged in old barrel but they impart little oak character, and serve to apply yeast lees driven texture and give the minerality an extra dimension. A highly stylish wine, totally together and linear in the mouth as a benchmark expression of sauvignon blanc.

Pascal Jolivet 2009 from Sancerre (Loire)