Taminga is a white wine variety bred specifically with the
Australian climate in mind. It is a crossing of Traminer and an obscure variety known as MH 29-56, developed in 1970 with the intention of creating a variety that could retain high levels of acidity even in the harsh Australian heat. Now, Taminga is grown predominantly in the
Murray Darling region that spans across
Victoria and New South Wales.
Taminga vines produce small to medium sized conical bunches of medium dark-green berries. The variety is high yielding, late ripening and retains good acidity. Thanks to Taminga's aromatic qualities, its wines tend to be floral, with fresh citrus and stone fruit characters, crisp acidity and seasoned liberally with cinnamon and nutmeg spice.
The variety's most common use is for sweet wines, in particular late-harvest and botrytised dessert wines. However, some enterprising winemakers are trialling drier styles of Taminga grown in cooler parts of the country with some success.
