“The Nero d’Avola 2023 was my favourite of the night with fruit from Gundagai and a great balance of that fruit with tannins,” writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.

I was back at the Hyatt for its Friday wine tasting, but the evening had started poorly.

The friend I’d expected to accompany me had the disaster of an elderly relative putting petrol in her diesel vehicle and trying to sort out next steps.

I thought of that old aphorism: “Some of us learn from the mistakes of others; the rest of us have to be the others.” Plus, I hate mistakes of all kinds, especially spelling mistakes: you mix up just two letters and your whole column is urined. 

This particular week Lark Hill was the Hyatt’s featured winery. I started with a taste of the non-vintage Regional Blanc De Blanc, a sparkling chardonnay that is made in the traditional method.

Chris Carpenter, the winemaker at Lark Hill, told me that the winery (located high above Bungendore) had been producing sparkling since 1993. 

I had tasted the non-vintage Roxanne sparkling sangiovese, but not this one. It provided a bouquet of tropical fruit and was lively and mouth filling. There was no hint of brioche; it is a lighter style than many sparkling wines.

Next was the 2024 Regional Riesling. There was more sweetness to this vintage than in the 2023 version of this wine, which was an award winner. Here, I tasted peach skins and a strong acid line that balanced out the sweetness well, the off-dry style of this wine palpable. 

The last of the whites was a blend of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier, the 2024 Mr V. This is a style that derives from the Northern Rhone Valley in France where the blending of Marsanne and Roussanne is a classic.

Mr V could be cellared for quite some time: it is a textural wine with substantial complexity and minerality. I got a bouquet of grapefruit peel, with a slightly sour hit until the wine had received some air. After warming in my hand, I’d got a nutty finish to the wine and thought of how it would match well with crustacea, such as grilled prawns. 

The reds: first up was the Regional Pinot Noir 2024. Coincidentally, I’d had a glass of this wine the night before at Symposium wine bar at the ANU where I’d chosen it post gym because of its lightness and refreshing finish. The palate is hit with a lot of strawberry and this is an easy drinking pinot rather than earthy, forest-floor style of some pinots. 

The Estate Sangiovese 2023 gave a bouquet of cherry with a hint of spice. The tannins are soft and it finished mildly, a food wine that would complement tomato-based dishes.

The Nero d’Avola 2023 was my favourite of the night with fruit from Gundagai and a great balance of that fruit with tannins. Medium bodied yet very juicy and mouth filling, this wine had red fruit flavours with a hint of white pepper. It deserves the two gold medals that Chris told me it had won. 

The last wine of the tasting was the Teroldego 2023. Whereas Nero D’Avola is the dark-skinned grape of Southern Italy, particularly Sicily, this historic variety comes from Northern Italy where it is grown principally for its colour and is blended.

The fruit for this wine emanates from Victoria while Lark Hill awaits the maturity of its plantings. The wine was plush, easy to drink and the tannins were well rounded. This is a pleasant wine that I believe also would go well with food. 

Obviously, it was no mistake to go to this tasting. There was an incident a few years ago where I was sure I had made a mistake, but it turned out I was wrong.