Back to a region that has been berry good to me

After wandering the world of the wine yet again, I'm coming back to a tried and true region. It is known for it's outstanding value or QPR (quality to price ratio). Ironically, I'm attracted to the quality, but uh, the prices, not so much, as much as they have risen slightly but consistently across the board. I have greatly lowered my buying from this region in the last 2 years, which is not terrible as my cellar of 2004-2006's are starting hitting their peak now.

The region? Australia. Yes, I'm referring to pretty much an entire continent as a "region". Why the renewed attraction? Because their wines are reliably good. Not just to me but to my wife.

Of late, I've noticed a new style of red. I'll call "intense berry", as they taste like fresh berry juice with the attendant acidity and a subtle complexity backing them up. These wines are moderate in body with not a lot of richness. But boy are they refreshing. The tannins are moderate but the acidity hides it. Since there is no flabbiness, they could age for a while. Some recent examples are

• D'arenberg 2008 Shiraz The Stump Jump ($7.50 Costco (Sunnyvale), WS 90, #58 in WS Top 100). Lovely red and black berry. Pure, focused (aka good intensity), nice acidity in a medium body. Still fruity the next day, after a warm Calif night, indicating this can age nicely. I bought 8 bottles upon rediscovering this, as I bought a single bottle and was blown away a year ago. Only 5000 cases imported. And this price is a amazing. My score: 91.
• Penley Estates 2007 Shiraz Hyland Coonwarra ($20 for 2 at BevM0; WS 90). Intense dark and red berry flavor with good acidity. Some minty and coffee notes. Nicely integrated, this tastes classy. Very good the first night; less good the second night but the herbal flavors come out, which can be interesting. Only 5000 cases imported. My score: 91.
• Jim Barry 2005 Shiraz Lodge Hill ($12, WS 90). I've mentioned his several times, but it was the leader of the pack of "pure berry" Aussies as I found it over a year ago. This is fresh blackberry and sour ollalieberry. Still have a few bottles.

In contrast, there are still the big or rich Aussies fruit bombs. And if done right, aka to my liking, they are as good as it gets. My last great bottle was last week.

• Tait 2008 Ball Buster ($16, WS 87). Wow, this was reminiscent of a super bottle of the 2005 I had several years ago. I've had more of each the vintages since, but I've been disappointed. Trying the 2007 and 2008 side by side at F's many months ago, and the 2008 was decidedly better. (The 2007 had done nothing for me previously.) So I bought a few bottles at the Wine Club. It was everything I could have wanted. Rich ripe plum with nicely integrated spice, and chocolate notes. It's the plush texture that gets me. My score: 93.