I’m often asked what the best value wine is, and it often has me stumped. It’s the idea of value that gets me, for example I hardly ever go past $15 for an everyday wine. These are wines that may have an RRP of $24-$29, wines that are 95 points but have a real world price point of $15 -$20. I go to around $30-$50 for something that I want to put away, I can find great value in different labels at that price point as you start to gain wines with more complexity in that price bracket, not “better” than the $15-$20 wines, just more complex and fuller, still taking that 95 point score.
My father-in-law however would disagree, he shakes his head in disbelief that anyone would go into double figures to buy a bottle of wine, as he sits there nursing his bottle of Bowlers Run, a wine that you can literally smell the fumes from across the table. He thinks that at $3, his Bowlers is great value, I think it’s because it might double as a very effective degreaser as well that he gets that idea of value.
Having said all of that, I also think wine doesn’t need to be expensive to be good, it needs to be enjoyable, not smell like it shouldn’t be left near open flames and preferably able to carry a few years of age to help those secondary characters build with time. If you can have all that, and consistently score 90+ points, doing it at great prices, then you end up developing a loyal following. And that’s probably where my vision of a “value wine” would come in.
Mike Press Wines have been doing just that for the last 18 years, following down that well-trodden, often lost path, of making great wines at great prices, the kind you can afford to drink every day, and as equally at home with Friday night pizzas as it is with Saturday night’s dinner party beef wellington. Mike and Judy Press established their winery in 1998, when they purchased 34ha of land in the Adelaide Hills at an elevation of 500m.
Here’s a bloke that devoted a good chunk of his life working for the big boys, 42 years of it in fact. Starting his career working beside the great Max Schubert (of Penfolds Grange fame), and finishing it as the chief wine maker for Mildara Blass in 1998, thinking that he and his wife could enjoy their retirement growing grapes at their Kenton Valley Vineyards and selling them as contract fruit out of their 34 acres of merlot, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir.
However that celebrated 42-year career in the wine industry did not prepare them for the downturn in grape prices that followed, and that led to the development of the Mike Press wine label, when Press decided it would be better for him to fall back on the skills and knowledge that he had, and make his own wine from the grapes. Originally the wines were bottled as clean skins (i.e. no labels) and the wine made extraordinary history when it was named runner up for the most coveted Australian wine award, the Jimmy Watson Trophy for their 2005 Shiraz and Cabernet.
Winning trophy after trophy, with wines that are on their website for as little as $12, consistently being in Halliday’s year ending Top 100 under $20, shows that the Mike Press Wines can not only talk the talk, but can walk the talk.
The Adelaide Hills winery has cut out the middle men and market directly from their cellar door and mail order, passing on the distributors’ margin to customers in cheaper prices or using only one or two well trusted online sites to sell their great wines at the same prices. With the silly season coming, here’s a few to look at, going halves with a mate or putting aside for presents.
Mike Press Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2015 – a perfect crowd pleaser here, enough to keep the cork-dork interested and not so much of a mouth grenade that it puts people off. Blackcurrant and herbs, spicy and peppery, chocolatey oak in there, great tannin structure will see this develop nicely in the bottle for the next ten years or so. $12.99 online.
Mike Press Adelaide Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – another ball tearer wine from Press, loved it so much we bought a heap for a recent birthday party. Built around a backbone of dusty tannins, yet with deep ripe flavours. Dark fruits, currants touch of smoke and cedar, like an old timber and leather smokers chair. It’s ready to go now but could do with a few years in the bottle, holding for the next decade. $12.99 online.
Mike Press Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2016 – this just might be the bargain of the year here, $10.99 online and will be perfect for the Xmas break, either with a huge bucket of prawns, fresh fish off the bbq or simply just floating around in the pool. Loaded with citrus and tropical with a crunchy acidity, its got a great long and zingy finish.
Mike Press Adelaide Hill Chardonnay 2015 – an oaked version of chardy here, but its still got enough fruit, acid and complexity going on to keep even the fussiest drinker interested. Crunchy nectarine gives way to tiger melon, apples and pear. The citrus acidity driving the length of the finish. Almost unbelievable quality for the price. $10.99 online.
