1984, it was the year Winston Smith discovered room 101, the world discovered Carl Lewis and I discovered Australian wine.

I’d just started working at Oddbins in Cambridge, just opposite The University Arms Hotel on Regent Street. The Australian wines were on a shelf at the back of the shop – Rosemount Show Reserve Chardonnay, Wynn’s Ovens Valley Shiraz, Brown Brother’s Late Harvest Muscat and Jacob’s Creek Cabernet Shiraz. They were amazing; exotic, intense and clearly, memorable.

These days I tend to shun the commercial wineries, which is daft, as they can offer the best value for money. The big players have scale on their side and none of the establishment costs – they don’t have to buy land, plant vines, and equip wineries from scratch. They are the Big Macs of the wine world – predictable and dependable, no matter the vintage. I thought it was time I sampled a few.

I started with Stoneleigh Latitude (ok, it’s a Kiwi wine) the up-market wine from this ubiquitous NZ producer. Now, I’m not a big fan of Sauvignon Blanc, so much of NZ’s is fruit salad on acid, but this was better than that. There’s a bit of over-ripe melon, but it was well rounded, and eminently drinkable. At $25 from Vintage Cellars I’m not sure I’d bother paying $42 for the Cloudy Bay.

Next up was Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Chardonnay, $23. I’ve had a Mondavi one before, but apparently, Jacob’s Creek invented this concept. Winemaker Trina Smith explains why:

“….Scotch whisky barrels are very different from French oak wine barrels…. the oak is significantly coarser while the staves are narrower and charred black with intense heat; the overall effect is increased oxygen ingression…..The palate is fresh and vibrant – tightly defined with a firm structure due to the influence of the whisky barrel, and softened by a delicate creamy texture on the back palate.”

It certainly works the other way round when you put whisky in sherry barrels (think The MacCallan), but what about this? Up front, it felt like I was having a whisky chaser with my wine. The structure is definitely firm, but I didn’t get the creamy texture on the back palate. It was a 2020 and probably needs a couple more years.

The theory works better in red, with the Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018. Unlike the chardonnay, you can’t taste the whisky, but you can tell it’s adding something special. The wine has great structure and rich, fat fruit in the middle, there’s a hint of something interesting on the finish – the official tasting notes say olive tapenade and I know what they mean. You can get it for under $20 if you buy six at Dan Murphy’s. Definitely better than any of the Bordeaux wines I mentioned last month.

Even better, but double the price is the 2018 St Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Huon Hooke gave the 2016 vintage 95 points and I reckon this one’s not far behind it. Here’s what he said:

Deep red/purple colour and a rich blackberry and chocolate bouquet, tinged with rose petals: very cabernet, very Coonawarra, and very appealing. Hints of dried herbs. It’s full-bodied and elegantly structured, the tannins persuasive but supple. Oak is subtly played. The classic elegance of the region is on display.

It’s more Wagyu burger than Bic Mac, but as they say, ‘you gets what you pays for’.