Drop into Canberra for a taste of France

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Tumbarumba, at the foothills of the NSW Snowy Mountains, has been tipped as the next boom wine-growing area.

It's about a two-hour drive from Canberra and ACT wine expert Travis Cutler says it's so new there aren't even any winemaking facilities there yet.

"It's such a cool place, it snows in Tumbarumba during winter, and Australian winemaking has gone towards looking for climate in which they can lengthen the ripening period and not get the grapes as ripe as possible," Cutler says.

Cutler has lived in Canberra for fives years, where he says the grapes are just like those grown in France's famous wine region, The Rhone.

He composed the wine list at Canberra's latest hot spot, Parlour Wine Room, and says the city's large temperature variation mimics that of the European wine region.

"It's the differentials. . . today in Canberra it's 14 degrees and it will get to zero overnight.

"There's some magical number where the vine actually stops working and it will go dormant when it gets to a certain temperature."

This allows the acid in the grapes to intensify alongside the sugars, giving them lots of flavour, he says.

"As soon as the sun goes down in Canberra it gets cold and slows the entire process down.

"This is why you get really, really. . . spicy style of wines as opposed to being really jammy (like) that traditional Australian shiraz, which is quite ripe.

"The Canberra district is more European. . . it's more complex."

Cutler says the best wine coming out of Canberra's 30 or so vineyards is shiraz and the best white grape variety is riesling.

"Riesling is a grape that needs it to stay cool at night time for a long period, that's why it's grown in the north of France and in Germany.

"To make shiraz you need it to get hot and to make riesling you need it to stay cool so the Canberra weather has the ability to do that.

"Of course some years one will be better than the other but in general I think it works with those two varietals."

Cutler is in the process of "barrel tasting" this year's vintage, and says it's a "really, really good year for shiraz".

"Most of the barrels that I've tried you're getting a lot of depth to the wine already.

"It's hard to know how good the vintage will be (but) I think it won't be as good for the white wine because it got really hot again towards the end of picking.

"The varietals that can handle a bit of warmth are going to be the better ones."

* The writer was a guest of Visit Canberra.

- AAP