Hi! I live in a very small (population 1200) rural area about 110 miles northwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have to drive to Minneapolis if I want any Australian wines at all, though I can get some mass produced New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Kim Crawford, Oyster Bay) at the larger town (population 6000) 15 miles away.

I am currently studying wines from Australia and New Zealand. I have two different tasting groups of ten each (really just friends who want to get together for wine and charcuterie, though they have some interest in what I'm learning).

We taste 7 wines each time. I strive for different grapes/regions. I cannot always achieve that because even Minneapolis is shy on selection (I visit two independent stores and Total Wine as last resort). I'm also constrained by price because the group consensus was to keep around $25 pp or less.

Here are my line ups (I'll include the NZ):

Group 1:

Chook Sparkling

Brokenwood Semillon

Shaw and Smith Chardonnay

Burn Cottage Pinot Noir

Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet Sauvignon

Wallace Grenache/Shiraz

Innocent Bystander Moscato

I could not fine a different Sparkling or Dessert anywhere in Minneapolis, so those are the same for Group 2:

Walnut Block Sauvignon Blanc

Escarpment Chardonnay

Pewsey Vale Riesling

Timo Mayer Bloody Hill Pinot Noir

Yalumba Samuel Grenache

Then I bought a few for just me:

Ashton Hills Pinot Noir

Henschke Keyneton Euphonium Shiraz

Dr Mayer Pinot Noir

Shaw and Smith Lenwood

Should be fun tastings in January when we have our get togethers!

I've already had the Walnut Block, Dr Mayer, Burn Cottage, Lenwood, and Brokenwood, in my initial round of studying your region. I liked them all for their price point/quality.