Meet the Queensland wine producer pushing the boundaries

Ray Costanzo is a winemaker who likes to push the boundaries. 

In addition to making the family's Golden Grove Estate Wines at Ballandean in southern Queensland, Costanzo and his wife Jen also craft some thoroughly modern wines in tiny quantities under their Storm King Wine Co. label. The brand is named after the area where they live.

Using fruit entirely from the Granite Belt, Storm King is making some of the best wines coming out of that state - using some non-mainstream grape varieties as well as extended contact with skins, natural ferments, hand plunging, basket pressing and minimal filtration.

All their previous vintages have sold out - a sign that the wines are hitting the mark with consumers. 

"This little brand is not about volume, or getting in people's faces," Costanzo says. "It is a project for my myself and my wife that that keeps us happy while also reflecting our sustainable lifestyle."

The new releases include the first vintage of gamay - the Beaujolais grape - from a minuscule first crop, along with a fun 2025 Vermentino, a 2024 Tempranillo and and a 2024 Mataro Graciano. 

There is also a rather more mainstream 2024 Shiraz/Malbec blend. 

The 2025 Gamay ($50) is a micro-production with fewer than 100 bottles for sale - so you might already be too late. Think partial whole-bunch, carbonic maceration, natural yeast, basket pressing and joyous youthful drinkability. 

"I'm very excited about the future of this variety down the road," Costanzo says.  

My favourite of the new releases was the super-gluggable 2024 Mataro Graciano ($45) with bright fruit, but impressive savoury notes. Very food friendly. 

The 2025 Vermentino ($40) is on the fun and funky side of the spectrum. Think natural ferment on skins, basket pressing, full malo, older oak and lees maturation. 

The Costanzos live off grid and make wines that are sustainable, made with minimal intervention but using their scientific backgrounds. 

The wines are bright and fun and offer good value. They might just change your mind if you have preconceived ideas about Queensland wines. 

See www.stormkingwine.com.au. But be quick - and get on the mailing list for future releases. 

  

      

Alternative reds match the Australian wine zeitgeist

 

Calabria Family Wines is one of the big success stories of the Australian wine industry.

From small beginnings in the Riverina, Calabria has become a major player, expanding its footprint to the Barossa and unveiling several new ranges.

The third-generation Italian-Australian brand has just added three new wines to its Alternato range from the Barossa; Calabria Alternato Sangiovese 2020, Calabria Alternato Malbec 2021, and Calabria Alternato Montepulciano/Nero D'Avola 2021.

The wines have been released in response to increasing demand from Australian consumers alternative styles and varietals - particularly food-friendly reds.

The initial release in the range was Alteranto Red Blend (durif, nero d'Avola, montepluciano and shiraz) and it now has three companions.

"Our love for alternative Italian wine varietals has been passed down through the generations, starting with my grandfather Francesco," says Andrew Calabria, the sales and marketing manager.

"These varieties are shining in Australia right now as they pair beautifully with our climate in terms of both growing them, and enjoying them.

"The Barossa Valley has a somewhat Mediterranean climate, making it ideal not only for bold Aussie shiraz, but also for a wealth of alternative grapes and styles."

All three of the new wines come from Barossa vineyards - a region the Calabria family regards as its second home.

You won't miss the eye-catching packaging, or the short, stout bottles.

All three wines are very compatible with food - we tested them with homemade salami and mushroom pizzas. 

My preference was for the immediately approachable montepulciano/nero d'Avola blend, while my wife favoured the savoury malbec outlier, made from a grape originally from Cahors in the south of France that now thrives in Argentina.

The Alternato range retails for $45 from select retailers, or www.calabriawines.com.au.

Some different tastes of the Hunter

When you think of the Hunter Valley you probably think about the region’s two star grape varieties: shiraz and semillon. 

The Hunter also makes excellent chardonnay and good verdelho - and now “alternative” varieties are making an impact, albeit in small numbers. 

I tasted several “new” Hunter wine styles on site at Pepper Tree this week. 

Here are a few of my favourites. 

Wine trend-setter heads straight to funky town

• 
  
  
• Kevin McCarthy has been an influential winemaker for decades, at labels including T'Gallant and Quealy, and as a pioneer of pinot gris/grigio styles in Australia.
• Now the self-proclaimed "wine rebel" is branching out in a new direction with a range of alternative varieties from Mildura under the MANDI label. 
• The labels tell the story of these out-there skin-contact wines; they look as if they were drawn by a stoned graffiti artist in a Melbourne laneway. 
• Taught by the masters in Alsace, France and Collio, Italy, McCarthy has always been a risk-taker. 
• At T’Gallant, on the Mornington Peninsula, he released his first pinot grigio and the Aussie Pinot G revolution was underway.

• Kevin McCarthy started T'Gallant with his wife, fellow winemaker Kathleen Quealy, back in 1988. His daughter. Celia, is the MANDI marketing manager, keeping things in the family.

• McCarthy continues to combine the best of old world tradition with Australia’s culture of innovation, be it a natural approach, extended skin contact, or establishing a new variety. 

• For the past 20 years he's travelled Victoria and South Australia looking for special vineyards. He considers the Murray-Darling, unsung workhorse of the Australian wine industry, the most important region for him outside of his Mornington Peninsula home.

• The initial MANDI releases (all $25 or under) are a a fresh and vibrant 2021 pinot grigio (obviously), a wild 2021 fruilano and a funster 2021 sangiovese. 

• Coming in 2022: picolit, ansonica, favorita fiano garganega, refosco, ribolla and moscato giallo. 
  

• MANDI, spelt in capitals for extra street cred, celebrates the natural sunshine and limestone soils of Mildura - with a punk edge. Fruit is sourced from two of the best vineyards in the region: Chalmers and Pasult. 

The cellar door will be in funky Fitzroy in Melbourne: a Gertrude St space shared with Art, Design and Fashion. 

“Simply put, the Mildura region is not only a wonderful environment primed to produce wonderful, unexpected wine - it’s also a place of genuine spiritual and cultural importance to us," McCarthy says. 

"A world of zeal and interconnection between us locals and our friends over the oceans, all working to keep our diverse stories and traditions alive, together.”

MANDI is available via Mandi.Wine for delivery Australia wide, as well as at Blackhearts and 
Sparrows, Wine Republic, Armadale Cellars and Different Drop.