Like tonic water meets mandarin juice joined to alpine herbs meshed with green apple. What a delight! Lighter expression in a way, despite the ripple of powdery tannin through it all, a frisky, long, pink grapefruit finish laced with juniper berries a delight. Thirst-quenching stuff here. Tightly wound, lots going on, fine boned.

Case in point is this Pigato Vermentino from Koerner wines in the Clare Valley. Vermentino was planted around 10 years ago on the family vineyard in Watervale, a pocket on Terra Rossa soils selected as best for this variety.

The wine spent 20 days on skins in open vessels during fermentation before being pressed back to steel to age for 7 months. Bottled without filtering or filtration. It's a winning style, complete with slightly cloudy and grippy elements.

Halliday Rating: 91 points