Drew Lambert - winewriter

Why do winemakers add acid to wine?

2011-06-27T21:32:00.007+10:00

Australia’s a funny place to make wine. You see, it’s so darn hot in some wine regions, it beggars belief that anything drinkable can be made at all. Did you know there’s even a vineyard and winery in Alice Springs. ALICE SPRINGS!!

While we have our fair share of cooler climate regions that mimic Europe’s most famous; for those regions that are classified as ‘hot’, the winemaker has to throw an array of tricks to make the resulting wine taste decent.

You see, without these tricks, hot climate/outback wines can be as subtle as a brick. Full flavoured, big, fruity, ripe, overblown and rich are all common descriptors. When the weather is hot, grapes grow fast, sugar levels are high and the natural acid levels are low. And while the flavours may be big, they can also fall short.

Obtaining the perfect balance of acids, sugars and tannins is the winemaker’s goal. When a wine comes from a hot climate – these elements can be out of whack, so careful intervention is needed. And this can be achieved in the vineyard through canopy management or in the winery.

This can be partially achieved in the vineyard by limiting the amount of sun exposure; through selective pruning to provide shade for the grapes or planting the vineyard on a hill away from the sun. The aim is to preserve the natural acids in the wine. It’s these acids that make the wine taste fresh, zippy and alive. You can usually taste this sensation on the sides of your tongue.

Vineyard intervention is usually not enough, so the winemaker now steps in. Did you know the winemaker is legally allowed to add acid to wine! But don't worry, this acid wont make you think the walls are melting around you. No, this acid is the spritzy tasting additive called tartaric acid. This levels out the fruity flavours in the wine to bring about a harmonious balance between sugar and acid. Without this process hotter climate wines will taste dull and lifeless in the mouth.

While acidification is common practice in Australian wineries, in Europe the opposite problem exists. The regions are cooler and sometimes the grapes have trouble ripening to full maturity. Failing to reach full maturity results in grapes with low sugar levels and this in turn results in a wine with low alcohol levels. To combat this some European winemakers physically add sugar (in the form of grape extract) to the grape juice. This additional sugar boosts the alcohol level and also gives the wine more ‘weight’ (ie. so it doesn’t taste thin in the mouth).

Beer o clock - Matilda Bay Bohemian Pilsner

2011-03-08T21:08:00.002+11:00

For those of you who don't know, the original pale lager was a pilsner and it heralds from the Czech Republic. It's noted for its zingy hop bitterness and floral aroma. The floral aroma is courtesy of the Saaz hops and also has a malty backbone which I find delicious. If you're looking for a beer with a little bit more flavour than your average lager - this could be the one you love.

This beer heralds from the Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. As this is a lighter beer (but still more interesting and floral than your average lager) I recommend teaming it with a wonderful pasta, especially herb based pastas with lots of basil, garlic and or rocket.

Wine glasses - why expensive is GOOD!

2011-02-28T20:54:00.003+11:00

If you're gonna drop a bomb on wine glasses you may as well get all warm and fuzzy knowing you're supporting Aussie jobs. Now you have the opportunity to do both.
You see - the right glassware shape introduces the wine to the right spot on the palate - thereby heightening the whole experience. If you taste the same wine out of a thick rimmed average wine glass and compare it to one of the 'Rolls Royce' wine glasses the experience is out of this world. It's the difference between listening to your favourite song on AM and FM radio. The flavours are amplified - it can make a $12 wine taste like $20.

Plumm is a new Australian company that uses quality European crystal to make its wine glasses locally. Wine glass maker Dana Morris, formerly of specialist wine glass maker Reidel (read between the lines – very expensive), has done oodles of research at the world's best regions to determine you really don't need a wine glass for each grape variety. Unlike Reidel’s philosophy, Dana thinks that's over kill. You only need two shapes for white (light - Sav Blancs/Rieslings and heavier - Chardonnays etc). And in the red there's a similar story (light - Pinot Noir and heavy - Shiraz and Cabernet).

Believe it or not - choosing the right glassware can make or break your wine enjoying experience.

By following a few simple rules even a quaffing wine can be raised to another level.
Let’s say you’re not rolling in coin, but still want to live like a rich man. What are the rules to follow when buying a wine glass to heighten your drinking experience?

1. Make sure your glass is completely plain (no colours and no etchings) so you can view the colour perfectly. A Thin glass will allow a better introduction of the wine to your mouth (chunky glasses should be relegated to the 5 cent table at your next church fete).
2. You’ll need a stem on your glass to hold the wine. Two reasons why, a) it enables you to swoosh to release the aroma and b) it stops the heat from your fingers warming up the wine
3. The ideal glass will taper in towards the top. Once again for two reasons, a) when you swirl, the wine won’t go everywhere, and b) so the wine’s aroma is directed to the one spot where you smell.
4. Try to avoid small glasses, bigger is usually better as it allows you to swoosh the contents around more and release the wine’s aroma.
5. For sparkling wine glasses, always use tall flutes, as these will preserve the bubbles for a greater length of time.
6. An average serve of wine should be around 150mls and never so full that you can’t swirl your wine around to release its aroma. About half full looks ideal.
Plumm.com Hand blown range $70-90/stem. Vintage range $25/stem (approx prices)

[taken from the March 2011 issue of Out There magazine - inflight publication for REX (Regional Express), Airlink, Airnorth and Skywest airlines - written by yours truly]

A beer app for your iPhone

2011-02-21T23:24:00.002+11:00

Those crazy people at Cascade have gone an made an amazing iPhone app that has to be seen to be believed. Consider this - there are so many beers in this world - how the hell are you supposed to know what they taste like!

Well, Cascade has set out to change all of this. The Cascade Brewer’s Nose is the world’s first beer app to use barcode scanning technology, allowing users to easily scan their beer using the iPhone camera. It has 500 beers committed to its memory, so even the most obscure beer is in its repertoire. Once the app registers your beer you can view videos about that beer, read and submit tasting notes and keep a log of the brews you've tasted. It even gives you food and beer matching advice.

The best part - it's FREE - search for it in the Apple App store.

The growing cycle of wine - why knowing this will make you choose better wine

2011-01-17T21:09:00.002+11:00

It’s the start of the year; time to get your life in order and map out your next 12 months. For the vigneron (the vineyard manager), such flexible luxuries never exist. Instead, they’re tied to a routine where the successful conclusion (i.e. the final grape harvest) is only the last of many steps they must navigate through the year. This growing cycle encompasses three main stages; fruiting, dormancy and regeneration. And while this may seem very boring, understanding this cycle will help you decipher wine labels in bottle shops, so you know what the wine will eventually taste like!

The logical place to start is directly after harvest, at this point all attention is winery focussed; the grapes are crushed, pressed and then turned into wine. In the vineyard as the weather cools, leaves drop to the ground and the shoots of the vines turn into wood. At this point, pruning occurs. This cutting back of the woody growth from the previous season sets up the vine for the upcoming cycle. Doing this correctly will affect the following year’s harvest.

By limiting the amount of new shoots (and therefore grape bunches), the fruit that does grow will be super concentrated with flavour. Too many shoots and the resultant wine will be less concentrated.

After winter, when the weather warms, foliage springs to life from the pruned canes. After about two months of continuous vine growth, shoot growth slows down and flowering occurs.

This is a very important stage and has serious implications of the harvest quality and yields for the upcoming season. If the weather is fine and mild, there will be an even and healthy setting of fruit (fruit set). If excessively high wind, rain or hail bears down on the vineyard, fruit set will be reduced and bunches can form unevenly throughout the vineyard.

Now comes the fun part, tiny bunches of grapes start to form and the berries grow in size as the weather heats up. This period has the greatest effect on the final flavour of the wine. If it’s a very hot season, riper fruit flavours will occur in the wine. If it’s a cooler season, greener, spicier flavours will occur. The warmth and sunshine (or lack of it) has a direct effect on flavour and aroma development. Essential wine elements such as sugar, tannin and acidity are formed during this time.

If it rains heavily during this period, the grapes will suck up the water and the berry’s flavour will become diluted. Similarly if rainfall is minimal, small berries that are super concentrate with flavour will be produced.

Around this time of berry development, the vigneron has a final opportunity to thin the crop out to ensure the right balance of vine canopy and fruit load. This ensures everything ripens on time, before the season ends.

Towards the very end when fruit is almost ready to pick, the vigneron and winemaker monitor the grapes on a weekly or daily basis, tasting the grapes and picking at precisely the right time. And that’s it for another season.

[this article taken from the latest issue of OutTHERE magazine. Witten by me!]

January's taste test

2011-01-12T22:06:00.004+11:00

Oyster Bay 2010 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
It's getting to a point now that you can pick up Marlborough Savignon Blancs dirt cheap. 2 litre casks for 20 bucks - no proble. The problem is - you do get what you pay for. ANd the cheaper the wines the more insipid they become. This used to be one of the better value examples, but even now it is being gazumped at $20.

This wine has an intensity the cheaper plonks will never have. Its textural on the palate, tasting of fresh passionfruit, ripped open red capsicum and sweet gooseberry. Still great for the dollars.
Quality: 3.75 stars. Value: 3.75 stars. $20
http://www.oysterbaywines.com/

Swinging Bridge 2010 Orange Sauvignon Blanc
I love that Orange is giving the Adelaide Hills a run for its money by produncing great Sav Blanc. This is zesty, racy and smart. Passionfruit pulp, apple, pineapple and a touch of rosemary! Delish!
Quality: 3.75 stars. Value: 3.75 stars. $18

Clover Hill 2006 Methode Traditionelle
This would have to be one of the best sparkling wines in Australia you can currently buy. With its golden hue, vintage nuances and fine persistent bead, this shold defintely be on your shopping list even if you're looking for French. Think orange marmalde and toasty brioche, creamy hougat and a tinge of lemmon.
Quality: 4.5 stars. Value: 3.75 stars. $48
http://www.cloverhillwines.com/

December's best wines

2010-12-13T19:54:00.002+11:00

Yellow Tail ‘Bubbles’ Sparkling Rose
How can you not like something that is called ‘bubbles’ on the label. It’s fun, inoffensive and does what ten dollars rarely does these days. With an element strawberry fruitiness that envelops the whole palate and some lovely bready undertones, the soft finish will make this an easy choice for a party full of people.
Quality 3.5 stars Value 3.75 stars $10
www.yellowtailwine.com

Martini Rose (sparkling)
This Italian producer is renowned for its vermouths that are a staple for any bar. They’ve now branched out by stocking sparkling wines in Australia. This Rose is slightly less alcoholic than we’re used to, with a slightly fruit disposition. The colour is a soft lolly pink and the flavours are jumping out of the glass; think musk, strawberry, elderflower and lemon. Delightful.
Quality 3.75 stars Value 3.75 stars $15

Cape Mentelle 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
This stunner from Margaret River has all the hallmarks of a fabulous WA Classic Dry White. Oodles of fresh gooseberry and freshly sliced tropical fruits play against this fresh zippy backbone. A pleasure to drink.
Quality: 4.25 stars / Value: 3.75 stars / $28
www.capemetelle.com.au

Evans and Tate Gnangara 2009 Unwooded Chardonnay
This WA wine is a joy to drink with oodles of sweet succulent nectarine and rock melon shining through. A biting lick of lemon acidity and this is good to go. Excellent mouth feel – you know you’re drinking this wine when it’s in your mouth!
Quality: 3.75 stars / Value: 4 stars / $14
www.evansandtate.com.au

Scarborough Yellow Label 2007 Hunter Valley Chardonnay
Long considered a big boy's Chardonnay, this wine has managed to reel back its big-ness in recent years to become slightly more refined. With delicious chunks of succulent rockmelon, orange, cashew and butterscotch squares, this wine rarely disappoints. Vanillin overtones and sexy oak maturation means you will love this too!
Quality: 4.25 stars / Value: 4.5 stars / $21
www.scarboroughwine.com.au

Brands Laira 2008 Coonawarra Chardonnay
A scrumptious wine smacking of green apple, honey dew melon and nectarine. Added to this is some crazy flavours of marshmallow and lanolin alongside Brazil nut.
Quality: 4.25 stars / Value: 3.75 stars / $22
www.mcwilliams wines.com.au

Evans and Tate Redbrook Margaret River 2008 Chardonnay
A sexy piquant tasting chardonnay with element of pink grapefruit, nectarine and white melon. This has got such a scintillating citrus backbone it would be a crime not to match it with some delicious line caught wild barramundi. That sounds a tad wankish – but I am in love with this wine, that much!
Quality: 4.5 stars / Value: 4 stars / $40
www.evansandtate.com.au

James Oatley Tik Tok Mudgee and Pemberton 2008 Chardonnay
There are some lovely charred honeycomb aspects to this wonderful wine bouncing with lots of zippitty fresh lemon, melon and peach like flavours. A fabulous mid priced wine.
Quality: 4.5 stars / Value: 4 stars / $18

Cape Mentelle Margaret River 2007 Zinfandel
This truly is a special occasion wine. Dried raisins and mixed fruit play against fabulous ripe plum nuances. There is a very sophisticated element to this wine that stems from the piercing depth of flavour. Deft handling of oak that marries well against the fruit complexity. Truly one of Australia’s best Zins.
Quality: 4.75 stars / Value: 4 stars / $55

Deep River Central Ranges 2008 Shiraz
Such a complete wine for such little money. Lashings plum, mulberry and blueberry with hints of cigar box from deft handling of wood. I don't know how they do it – but just done stop!
www.windowrie.com.au
Quality: 3.75 stars / Value: 4 stars / $12

Barwang Hilltops 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
A wine of integrity with scrumptious blackberry and plum nuances. This wine is the complete package with deft oak handling and depth of flavour that keeps on keeping on.
Quality: 4.25 stars / Value: 4.25 stars / $20

Best Beers: Vale Ale

2010-11-02T21:43:00.002+11:00

I think Ive found my Aussie beer of choice. Vale Ale comes from the famous wine region of McLarren Vale in South Australia. The guys behind the label believe good beer is made by small companies with a passion for brilliance. Not unlike the small boutique wineries that have put the region on the map.

These guys go so far as to even proudly tell you how the beer is made;

Malt:
Pale - sweet malty flavour
Wheat - Mouth feel and ‘palate fullness’
Crystal - Caramalised flavour and imparts golden colour.

Hops:
Super Alpha - soft bitterness
Amarillo - passionfruit grapefruit
Cascade - spicy, citrusy.

As it is an ale - it is cloudy in colour and the flavour exhibits a fruitiness - almost tropical inspired with confectionery aromas. The hoppy flavour marries with a wonderful bitterness and toasted.

I'm also a major fan of the packaging. Very cool. Bring on Summer.
cost - $77 case of 24, delivered
www.mvbeer.com

November's tastiest

2010-10-24T17:15:00.002+11:00

Barwang Tumbarumba 2009 Pinot Gris
If you love crisp and crunchy nashi pear and zippy fresh granny smith apples, then you're in for a treat with this delicious Pinot Gris from the snowy mountain vineyards of Tumbarumba. Excellent acidity and a great mouth feel means this wine will be very hard to resist.
Quality: 4 stars / Value: 4 stars / $20

Essenze Central Otago (New Zealand) 2008 Pinot Noir
Its very hard to fault Pinots that come from the Otago region of New Zealand (close to Queenstown). Oh, yes you can - the price! They aint cheap, but good pinot never is! the tannins of this baby are so silky and the flavours are dark Christmas cherries and fragrant strawberry. The fabulously long finish just proves its pedigree.
Quality: 4.75 stars / Value: 4 stars / $45

Kingston Echelon 2007 Shiraz
As the name implies, only the best grapes get the best attention in this wine. And you can look at the price in two ways. Bloody expensive considering the region it comes from (think where $10 wines come from)or brilliant value when you consider the flavour that is leaping out of the bottle. I'm going to concentrate on the latter. A truly delicious Shiraz made up of intensely flavoured plum and anise with peppery hints to balance out the vanilla oak nuances.
Quality: 4.5 stars / Value: 4 stars / $25
www.kingstonestatewines.com

Banana Bread Beer and Double Chocolate Stout - WHAT THE!

2010-09-30T20:09:00.004+10:00

I was immediately intrigued and very concerned about tasting these beers. Expecting them to be sweetly flavoured beers only a complete beer novice could enjoy.

Well I was wrong. While not my cup of tea, if you love drinking dark beers, you may have found your nirvana.

For a start - the overriding aroma of the banana bread beer is in fact savoury, almost bacon like. Once you dive in for a mouthful, the silkiness of the beer becomes apparent. Full flavoured with malt and barley and a very dry finish. The banana flavour is not sweet nor overriding; it's merely an element that plays along nicely with all other components.

Next we move on to Yong's Double Chocolate Stout. Now this stout does have a very prominent dark chocolate cocoa aroma rising from the heady top. The makers explain the recipe; "Pale Ale and Crystal malt, Chocolate Malt, a special blend of sugars, Fuggle and Golding hops, real dark chocolate and chocolate essence are combined to deliver a stout of with real credentials."
Now that's what I call a recipe. It's not sweet at all and dare I say it - this could be the ultimate dessert beer!

both $7.50-8.00 per 500ml bottle

Australian stockist enquiries...
http://www.internationalbeershop.com.au/

Tried and tasted - September

2010-09-16T21:18:00.004+10:00

Rosnay Cowra Region 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon - Organic
Here's a decent wine that followers of organic wine can rest assured that It tastes just as good, if not better than most regular wines at this price point. The flavour is real inky/intense blackberry with voluptuous tannins and a juicy mouthfeel.
Quality: 4 stars / Value: 4 stars / $20
www.rosnaywines.com.au

Gardners Ground Canowindra 2008 Merlot - Organic
Hints of tobacco and plummy red fruits abound in this little organic wonder. Light tannins support this wine's herb and spice finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars / Value: 3 stars / $20
www.gardners ground.com.au

Evans and Tate Classic Pink Moscato 2008
Here's a whimsical wine overflowing with cherries, strawberries and elements of pink grapefruit – very refreshing fruit sweetness with a whiff of summer breeze
Quality: 4 stars / Value: 3.75 stars / $18

Taylors Promised Land 2007 Shiraz Cabernet
Powerful ripe juicy plum with lots of chocolate and coconut tantalising favours. Very soft and cuddly with chewy tannins. Winner of 2 golds already at the San Francisco International Wine Show
Quality: 4 stars / Value: 4.5 stars / $14

tasted - Weihenstephaner Hefe

2010-09-06T20:55:00.003+10:00

So here we have a MARVELOUS beer from Bavaria. This one is unfiltered, so don't be alarmed when you rip the top off and it's all cloudy-like. The murky bits just add to the flavour. If you're wondering what are the label cues that tell you're drinking unfltered Bavarian beer - look for 'hefe', this basically means - yeast. Or beer with the yeast still in it.

Weihenstephaner is considered the world's oldest commercial brewery, having been in operation since 1040 when the local monks were given permission to start brewing. This fruity, creamy banana flavour beer with a smooth hoppy/malted flavoured palate comes from the brewery that also houses the worlds most famous brewing university; so you would expect the beer to be pretty good. The yeast is drawn from the world's most comprehensive yeast library (where else!). No books here, just an array of different yeasts that will impart exactly the right flavour you desire in your beer.

$6 per 500ml bottle
www.internationalbeershop.com.au

Blending wine - it's a true love story

2010-09-06T20:46:00.002+10:00

When wines fall in love

In the wine industry there is no greater love story than when two wine styles meet, fall in love, and the union of the two is greater than the sum of the two as single varieties. And nowhere is this love story more apparent than the pairing of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; the Brangelina of the wine world.

Cabernet Sauvignon is highly regarded as the king of the wine world. It claims it can satisfy every wine drinker's desire, but I'm here to tell you often it can't. It suffers from a form of impotence, unable to truly satisfy its drinker.

I ask you to taste a 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon. Let it wash over your tongue and see if your tongue sighs with dissatisfaction. If it does, blame the ‘doughnut effect’. This strange phenomena is common when you taste 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon; the middle of your tongue (or middle palate) misses out on any of the gorgeous blackberry/cassis flavour. It's difficult to explain why, just accept it as one of life's little mysteries.

As in all scenarios like this, there is a heroine that saves the day, and her name is Merlot. We'll call Ms Merlot a whole filler! You see, when you taste Merlot on its own, it will have an abundance of flavour on the middle palate.

Wine writers in all their wisdom liken grape varieties to the masculine and feminine form. Cabernet Sauvignon is considered a masculine grape variety whilst Merlot is considered feminine. And when you put the two together a perfect and natural match is attained.

But why is one considered masculine and the other feminine? Cabernet Sauvignon is powerful and tannic (having a grippy mouth feel). It feels and tastes very structural in your mouth, like a skeleton. Merlot is fleshy, smooth and fruity. When the two are put together it’s like putting flesh onto a skeleton to form one complete person.

A Cabernet Merlot blend is often referred to as the Bordeaux Blend, after the French region that popularised the pairing. But Cabernet and Merlot aren’t the only ingredients to this magical blend. The French have also included several other lesser know components to the recipe.
• Cabernet Franc. feminine: aromatic, fragrant
• Malbec. Masculine: tannic, can taste quite vegetative
• and Petit Verdot. Quite acidic and not often used. Saved for very warm years when the other components are quite ripe and fleshy; this wine balances out the fleshiness with much needed acidity).

Of course Australia has its own version of the Bordeaux Blend; the Cabernet Shiraz. Just as the flavour of Cabernet starts to fall away, Shiraz jumps up and takes over. A blend from heaven and if you’re ever buying red wine under $12 a bottle, I always recommend a Cabernet Shiraz as a failsafe bet.

Pear Cider - dont you mean Perry?

2010-08-09T21:15:00.003+10:00

I'm in love with a new drink, and it is called Pear Cider.

In the UK, Pear cider has been know as Perry for a very long time. The only problem; it's naff! The style was popularise in the 1960s and 70s via the very uncool drink Babycham. Perry was the drink you bought the missus when you went to the pub to stop her complaining about there being nothing to drink (this was before wine was served in pubs).

When wine did eventually start to infiltrate pub culture, Perry was left behind. Dowdy, uncool and considered a lady's drink, sales plummeted.

That was until 1995. The makers of Perry decided it was time for an image overhaul. Perry was out and Pear Cider was in. The makers relaunch Pear Cider with a big push at the legendary music festival Glastonbury and sales went through the roof over the next two years.

Australia has only recently caught on. This month Bulmers releases what i feel is one of the most exciting drinks I've tasted this year. If you already love cider - you will love Pear Cider. Gently sparkling with a soft pear like essence, this drinks is going to be my drink of choice over summer. Pour it over ice and you'll see why.

The pears used to make Pear Cider are quite different from regular eating pears; they are more tannic and more acidic. Together these two elements translate to a better fermenting base to work with.

pint sized bottle of Bulmers Pear Cider can be bought for $5,

Cellaring wine - why you should do it; how to do it

2010-08-03T20:39:00.003+10:00

Are you a lover of wine that’s soft and smooth with subtle complex flavours dancing over your tongue? Do you get frustrated at tasting wine that’s high in acid and so tannic it feels more like your sucking on a wooden plank? Chances are you’re drinking wines far too young which means you have an expensive habit to adopt. You must start cellaring your wine.
If you’re strapped for space and can’t offer the perfect space for cellaring wines, there are ways to cut corners.
The checklist to follow

• keep your wine in a very dark place,
• it must be relatively cool place away from vibrations
• there must be no fluctuations in temperature.

Probably the biggest killer of wines is the fluctuations in the seasons we experience. Corks expand in the hot weather (pushing the wine out) and contract in the cooler weather (pulling air in). For the first year or two the corks life this shouldn’t be much of a problem as the elasticity in the cork will remain in contact, springing back into shape. Then after the next couple of years it loses its resilience, failing to expand back to its original shape. The resulting wine can start leaking out of the bottle because the seal has been weakened. You can tell if a wine has been affected by temperature fluctuations. Look for the tell tale sign of a leaking, sticky red wine substance around the cork.

If you store a wine in direct sunlight you’re also liable to get a poor outcome. Sunlight and ultra violet light over a long period of time will give the wine flat, lifeless flavours.

And what about temperature? We already know that temperature fluctuations will screw up your wine but excessive short periods of heat will literally ‘cook’ your wine too. So don’t store your wine is the boot of you car – your wine will result in flavours that when you put in your mouth will taste fat and jammy.

Whatever method you chose just remember, it will never be as perfect as a damp, musty, cool and dark hole in the ground. When you read on the back of a label; “this wine will be a joy to behold after eight years of properly stored conditions,” this is what they’re talking about. When you cut corners as above you can expect the wines to mature much more quickly so don’t try and cellar the wines for more than five years.
If you do have a few bottles of Grange kicking around however, you may want to invest in professional storage options. Places such as Millers or Kennards Storage in most capital cities have special wine sections that are perfect for your gems.

Or you can buy the wines pre-aged at auction houses like http://www.langtons.com.au/ or specialty wine sellers like http://www.unitedcellars.com.au/. You’ll be surprised to learn they are not too much more expensive than current vintage wines.

What beer goes with Japanese food?

2010-07-05T20:42:00.004+10:00

When in Rome... You guessed it, a Japanese beer, and Asahi Super Dry is just the beer you should be looking in to. And just like many things that herald from the land of the rising sun, Asahi has been designed, researched and test marketed within an inch of its life to ensure it meets customer expectations.

You see, Asahi was a relatively late comer to the world's beer market. Having only been released in 1987, it was developed during a period in the 80's when Japanese beer was extremely heavy and bitter. The kind of beer you KNOW you're drinking. Subtlety - what's that.

So when you consider Japanese cuisine is extremely delicate in flavour, these beers totally swamped the flavours of foods such as sashimi. After researching 5000 beer drinking folk across Japan, an enormous ground swell of opinion convinced the brewers of Asahi to produce a very clean, crisp beer that was 'super dry'. They were to produce the world's first Karakuchi beer.

This lager beer is made using malted barley and rice and uses a special yeast (No. 318 to be precise) which ferments the wort (the sweet liquid that eventually turns into beer) to complete dryness. The resultant beer was an instant hit amongst the Japanese. Finally a beer made specifically with them and their food in mind. And withing 3 years the company was producing more than 100 million cases per annum!

I seriously love this beer, especially with uncomplicated simple foods. It's delicate yet rich hoppy flavours with feint hints of sake mesh together in a refreshing crisp taste.

Another winemaker jumping on the green bandwagon?

2010-06-21T21:04:00.003+10:00

OK - call me a cynic, I like my wine in a glass bottle. I like the feel, the weight and I love smashing them when I throw them into the glass recycling; I cant wait for the opportunity to launch a boat! But what are your thoughts on drinking quality wines from tetra packs? You know, the type of containers that cheap orange juice and long life milk gets sold in.

Well stand back, your perception of how quality wine is sold is about to be tested.

One Planet has just released a 2008 McLaren Vale Shiraz and 2009 Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc - all for $15 (750 mls).

Why is this important - consider these facts

1 - Op Winepak uses 92% less packaging to deliver the same amount of wine
2 - Op Winepak produces 80% less greenhouse gas emissions
3 - Op Winepak produces 54% less energy throughout it’s entire life cycle
4 - Bottled wine weighs approx. 18 kgs per doz, Op Winepaks weigh just 10kgs per doz
5 - To transport 1 million empty glass wine bottles, 26 semi-trailers are required, BUT to transport 1 million empty Op Winepaks just 1 semi-trailer is required!

So this will be a boon for people who want to travel light (like airlines) or want to really make a difference to the world. I think it's a great venture and will definitely recommend anyone buy the Shiraz.

And the final verdict..
One Planet McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008
Some lovely ripe plum, black current and licorice flavour gallop off the palate here alongside dark chocolate, tobacco and vanillin elements. A cracker wine you will love drinking.
Quality: 3.5 stars / Value: 3.75 stars / $14

One Planet Adelaide Hills Sauvignon BLanc 2009
While you can definitely taste the more expensive regional characters you would expect from the Adelaide Hills, the overall flavour is a bit underwhelming, almost diluted. Good crisp gooseberry, green apple and lime zest characters, I just wish it was a bit more intense. Still, this is only 14 dollars, so maybe I'm being a bit harsh.
Quality: 3 stars / Value: 3 stars / $14

www.oneplanetwine.com

Beer O CLock - Wicked Elf Witbier

2010-06-07T20:57:00.004+10:00

This Aussie beer from the Little Brewing Company at NSW's Port Macquarie is trying to emulate the very successful Belgium Witbiers, popularised by my favourite - Hoegaarden.

Witbier, or White Beer, is made using a lot of wheat, but this blend is made also with 50% malted barley. The colour is cloudy and unfiltered, usually due to the type of yeast used to produce the ale.

And just like its Belgium counterparts, the Wicked Elf also uses coriander and orange peel to flavour the ale. This addition is called the 'gruit', and is said to not only act as a preserver of the beer, but also assist in additional fermentation once bottled. As such expect malt, citrus and corriander on the palate.

If you want a refreshing beer, one that will sing when teamed with food and one that is more interesting than any other - look no further.

Wines from old vines - what's all the fuss?

2010-05-31T20:43:00.002+10:00

Young upstarts – they’re brash, in your face, show a lot of promise but often fall short of your expectations.

There’s a lot to be said for age and when the topic turns to wine you’ll usually pay a premium for the pleasure. We all know an aged red wine will usually smooth off the edges and give the wine additional bottle aged flavours, but did you know the age of the grape vine can also influence flavour.

I’m not talking about just any old vines – I’m talking about ancient vines and wine marketers love nothing more than to proclaim this proudly on a label. Grape vines can easily grow for more 100 years. After about 20 years the vines start to produce smaller crops. Average yields may decrease but this in turn leads to more concentrated, intense wines. Think about this; with smaller berries, smaller grape bunches and fewer bunches per vine, yet the same amount of nutrients coming from the ground, these grapes become turbo charged with flavour! Well that’s the romantic theory anyway.

Recently I visited California’s Napa valley and tasted the super expensive Cabernet Sauvignons where US$50 a bottle was average. Surely wines commanding such a price come from ancient vines, no? And the answer is NO!

During the 1980’s and early 90’s much of California’s wine regions were wiped out thanks to the vine killing louse, phylloxera. The vineyards that were killed (approx 80 percent) had to be replanted on the louse resistant rootstocks the rest of the world had been using for some time. And here’s the argument, these wines were still super intense and arguably worth the price, but did not come from vines that were 100 years plus.

So that brings me to the point – while vine age is important, it’s not the be all and end all. Once the vine hits 20 years of age, it’s working at optimum. What this youngish vine doesn’t have is a romantic history, a back story you can regale to your drinking buddies that I believe is often just as important.

Australia proudly proclaims some of the oldest grape vines still in commercial production in the world. The Brothers in Arms Cabernet Sauvignon (Langehorne Creek, SA $50 rrp) contains grapes from the oldest Cabernet vines in Australia, if not the world, planted way back in 1891.

The most celebrated ancient vineyard in Australia produces the fabled Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz –a steal at $500 (exponentially more if it was a good year). Hidden away from prying eyes in a forgotten part of South Australia’s Eden Valley, the oldest block of the vineyard is aptly called ‘The Grandfathers’. Planted sometime during the 1860s, it is renowned for being one of the world’s oldest living vineyards still being used for commercial production of wine.

[Taken from a recent edition of OutThere magazine by yours truly!]

Wine school 101

2010-05-17T19:23:00.012+10:00

Don’t you hate wine wankers! Whilst novices duck for cover at any unsuspecting dinner party, the wanker will spew out comments such as;
"Janice, the nose on this wine is so complex. Just taste those gorgeous malolactic nuances, the mouth filling generosity and its superb length. It's a true expression of the Margaret River's Terroir."
What!!!
These ‘know-it-alls’ are no better than you or I, they merely know a few select wine terms. So if you want to be handed the right ammunition for next dinner party battle, try these throwing a few of these hand grenades into your next conversation!

Acid:
That fresh, zippy, alive flavour your tongue feels when tasting wine (usually on its sides). Try it yourself, suck on a lemon!

Angular:
When tart flavours tend to dominate the wine you are drinking. This is the opposite to 'round' wines.

Astringency:
That mouth puckering sensation you experience with young wines. This comes from the tannins found in seeds, skins and oak barrels. The sensation dissipates as the wine gets older.

Closed or Dumb:
A wine that has yet to develop obvious aromas and flavours. Young Hunter Valley Semillon can smell closed in its youth. After a few years maturing however, the aromas turn into magic!

Cloying:
A wine that does not have enough acid to balance out its sweetness. This sweetness dominates and leaves your tastebuds feeling out of sync.

Complex:
A wine that has many levels of flavours and aromas. The wine's elements do not overpower one another. They do tend to lead to the other, as one subsides, another may start up.

Corked:
When a wine is contaminated by a 'bad' cork. The cork is tainted with a type of mould that can make the wine smell like wet cardboard (in the most severe cases). A slightly corked wine will merely lessen the wine's fruit aromas. Thank god for screwcaps!

Flinty:
A wine that tastes like you've just licked a stone!

Length:
Swallow the wine, then count how long the wine's flavour lasts in your mouth. Anything over 20 seconds is long and brilliant. You can also describe this as a 'brilliant finish'.

Malolactic fermentation:
A fermentation process where the yeast converts malic acid (which is quite tart and harsh) into lactic acid (which has a creamy flavour). This is used quite a lot in cold climate wines where the wines need to be 'softened'

Mouth filling:
The ability for the wine to touch and satisfy every corner of your mouth and tongue. No part is to feel 'untouched'.

Nose:
The smell of the wine.

Oxidised:
When a wine has been exposed to air for too long. It will turn slightly brown and taste flat or sherry like.

Round:
When all flavours and mouth feeling sensations feel complete. Nothing dominates - not tannins, sweetness, acidity or glycerol. These elements are noticeable but not obvious.

SO2
Sulphur dioxide or preservative 220, is an essential preservative used in most stages of the wine's production

Terroir:
A French term that describes the effect the wine's growing environment has on the wine's flavour. It includes the soil, climate, grape variety, hill aspect, sun shine hours etc

Big:
A full flavoured, gutsy wine. Often high in alcohol, fruitiness and tannins.

Tried and tasted - May

2010-05-15T18:55:00.002+10:00

Majella Coonawarra 2007 Cabernet Savignon
Blackberry flavours play alongside spicy pepper and tobacco. A deliciois wine showcasing lots of Coonawarra pedigree. Sexy French oak overtones with good fruit balance makes this wine a keeper for a good 10 years plus.
Quality: 4.25 Value 3.75 $33
www.majellawines.com.au

Brands Laira Coonawarra Vintage No 40, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
Its amazing how an an extra couple of years really helps a wine shine. Super ripe casis and mulberry flavours sit comfortably next to coffee essence and tobacco. The fruit flavours are beginning to soften out to reveal a wine with true beuty. Drink now!
Quality: 4 Value 3.5 $45

Kirrihill Clare Valley 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich and ripe plum and blacberry candy with oodles of spicy ladened cream. God this is exotic - i can see this being teemed with complex indian curries. Magnificent!
Quality: 4.25 Value 4.5 $15

Yellow Tail 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
For 10 bucks i dont expect much - but when the fruit is ripe and tastes even marginally like the grape variety it's suppsed to, i get excited! Here you get that and more, blackberry flavours and cedar rock this bottle well and truly!
Quality: 3.7 alue 4.25 $10

Beer o clock - Singha

2010-05-10T20:56:00.002+10:00

Just because a beer comes from Thailand, doesn't necessarily mean it originates from Thailand. Singha is the country's most famous beer, it's also the best tasting and is the only beer that comes with the King of Thailand's seal of approval. And if you know anything about Thai people, that's very high praise.

The beer is a full bodied, 100% barley malt beer
It has a strong hoppy flavour with essences of citrus and Thai orchid (I kid you not!).
The barley and malt is sourced from Europe and Australia
The hops are imported from Germany
But don't fear, the water is sourced from Thailand,and fortunately not from the river that runs through Bangkok! It's sourced from deep underground Thai wells

Whenever you eat Thai, so often the wine you drink is not an appropriate match to the food. Especially if it is wood matured. The oak treatment a Chardonnay sees dries out your palate, leaving it exposed to a chili onslaught. A sweeter wine is always best

Beer is different.

Spicy foods such as Thai love crisp and refreshing drinks. The mild hop bitterness complements fuller flavoured dishes like a Thai beef salad or Panang curry. Plus you'll find a touch of sweetness that can help balance the heat of the more spicier Thai meals.

WINE CRIMES – TRIED AND TESTED

2010-05-03T22:55:00.002+10:00

I was recently reading the West Australian newspaper online and came across an article where the writer was all high and mighty dictating what you can and cannot do. I for one love breaking rules – and here is his article re-written with my slant on the world.

Mixing OJ and bubbly
Is fine so long as the sparkling wine you’re drinking it with cost six dollars a bottle – never ever French champagne or expensive bubble – you’re literally throwing money down the drain!

Having ice with white wine
Scoff at people who say you can’t – because you can. Who wants to drink wine at the wrong temperature and who wants to wait 30 minutes for a bottle of wine to chill in the freezer? A little bit of dilution is a small price to pay!

Red wine with lemonade/coke/water
Is fine if you’re making cheap sangria and you need to satiate 10 people on a budget of $15. Cheap cask red wine and Fanta with some orange and apple slices. Bingo!

Pouring a bottle straight away
A wine does develop some rounded characters if you let it breathe – but you don’t have to wait for an hour to do so – simply decant it into one bottle and back into its original bottle. It takes 20 seconds and is the equivalent of 2 hours breathing time!

Small wine glasses
throw them away! A wine needs to breathe and this is best done in a big glass. And if do own the big glasses – don’t fill them to the top, you’ll just look cheap, uneducated or a drunk – or perhaps all three!

Drinking wine too cold
If your wine is cheap and nasty, bury it in the freezer and chill the fuck out of it! That will disguise the awful flavours. The opposite is true for expensive white wines – serving too cold will mask the reason why you spent a fortune on the wine.

Shandy (beer and lemonade)
I often drink beer and lime and I always make my toughest friends order it when they buy a round. Needless to say they hate buying me drinks. Whether you’re a purist or not – you need to understand a lot of people hate the taste of beer. So if they are bastardising the flavour in your company – consider this a good thing as they are making the effort to be your friend. Don’t give them a hard time

Cardboard handbag
I draw the line at four-litre cask of Coolabah unless I’m throwing a party for a bunch of uni students and I need to wheel out my 15 second $15 sangria (see above). However there is nothing wrong with 2 litre cask wines, especially the premium Yalumba range. When times are tight, I definitely recommend it.

Barons Lemon Myrtle Witbier

2010-04-12T20:49:00.002+10:00

This is the true Aussie version of the famous Belgium Witbier or white beer, which is a barley/wheat beer. This kind of beer gets its name due to suspended yeast and wheat proteins which cause the beer to look hazy, or white, when cold. It is a descendant from medieval beers which were not brewed with hops, but instead flavoured and preserved with a blend of spices and other plants referred to as "gruit". This gruit nowadays consists mainly of coriander, orange, bitter orange, and hops.

And this is where the crafty people at Barons have made their mark by adding lemon myrtle as a flavouring and preservative.

This Barons Wheatbier smacks of coriander, lime and lemon and makes a perfect accompaniment with seafood. It’s the lemon zest that makes it so damn fine!

Flying high - why wine tastes different up in the air

2010-04-05T19:18:00.002+10:00

I once went to Qantas' launch of its First and Business Class wine lists. Legendary Len Evans was launching his selection - the year was 1997. When I asked him in front of the 200 media that were flown in from every corner of teh world whether wine did taste differetnly 30,000 feet above the earth - he scoffed at the idea. 'Dont be stupid'; I was quickly shot down and Len quickly moved to teh next question. Admittadly it was 13 years ago and the wine list sported 15 Chardonnays and only one Sauvignon Blanc. How times have changed. Chardonnay is no where near as dominent and needless to say - I was also right, wine does taste different.

Follow this link to the New Zealand Herald to learn more.

Basically - the drier air in the cabins, means the tannins and acids often taste a lot stronger up high so you have to select wines with big fruit, mild tannins and balanced acidity.

Beer O Clock - Monteith's Original Ale

2010-03-29T22:08:00.002+11:00

Located in Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, Monteiths has won more than 70 international awards, including several golds at the Monde Selection in Belgium, copious medals from the Australian International Beer Awards, and a bronze at the 2000 Beer World Cup Awards.

The brewery has become an institution in New Zealand, and was established in the 1800s because of the demand of 30,000 thirsty gold prospectors that suddenly called the West Coast home. In 2001, Monteiths was bought by a national beer company, and the Greymouth brewery was shut down. Due to huge national protests, it was opened again 4 days later.

A new Zealand Pale Ale - Monteith’s Original Ale delivers is full and round with a distinctive hops flavour that has berry overtones. I understand this originates from the female flowers of the Pacific Gem Hops.

To discover the full flavours of Monteith’s beers, try them at a cool 7ºC rather than an ice-cold 1ºC. By pouring with a hearty head, the subtle aromas will be more evident.

Visit the brewery and get free reign at the bar!
Tours are available 7days a week with the $20 cost enabling you to witness the entire brewing process, and feast at an open bar for 10 minutes at the end of the tour. Bargain!

http://www.monteiths.co.nz/

An Olympic wine? It's Canada's Icewine

2010-02-15T21:51:00.002+11:00

Canada's gift to the world, apart from Bryan Adams or KD Lang, would have to be its sensational Icewines (yes - it's one word). It you love Australia's sweet botrytis infected Semillions of Rutherglen such as Debortoli's Noble One - then you'll love these.

Originally made in Germany where it is known as Eiswein, this sweet dessert wine is produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other grape solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape juice to be pressed from the frozen grapes. This means a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine is produced. With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards. Unlike the grapes from which Bordeaux's Sauternes or Rutherglen's sweet Semillons are made, ice wine grapes should not be affected by Botrytis cinerea (noble rot), at least not greatly.

This gives ice wine its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by high zippity acid taste.

Due to the labour-intense and risky production process resulting in relatively small amounts of wine, ice wines are generally quite expensive.

Natural icewines require a hard freeze (by law in Canada −8 °C) or colder, to occur sometime after the grapes are ripe, which means that the grapes may hang on the vine for several months following the normal harvest. If a freeze does not come quickly enough, the grapes may rot and the crop will be lost. If the freeze is too severe, no juice can be extracted. Some Canadian wineries have even been known to break their grape presses while squeezing the frozen grapes because they were too hard! The longer the harvest is delayed, the more fruit will be lost to wild animals and dropped fruit.

Since the fruit must be pressed while it is still frozen, pickers often must work at night or very early in the morning, harvesting the grapes within a few hours, while cellar workers must work in unheated spaces.

if Canadian Icewine is to difficult to find or too expensive - a fantastic faux example closer to home is Wellington's Ice Wine Riesling from Tasmanian. It's equally delicious!

(with thanks to wikipedia for help with some of the above infomation)

Grape over supply? Rip the vines out!

2010-02-08T21:06:00.004+11:00

Have we really come to that stage?

Australia has found itself suffering from a massive over supply of wine and it's flooding the world markets. Two international newspapers are discussing the issue this week, The New Zealand Herald and The Guardian in the UK both suggesting Australia needs to reduce its output by ripping up vines from the ground to strike a balance with supply.

What people need to realise is that we've done vine pulling once before in Australia - with disastrous results.

Back in the 1970s, the Aussie wine industry was suffering from oversupply - and the government actually incentivised winemakers to rip their vines out in order to bring down supply. Because Shiraz and Grenache was out of fashion, some of the country's oldest and best vines were pulled out to make the government bean counters happy.

Big mistake. If those vines were still around today - they would have found a home in some mighty fine wines. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself and only cheap, commercial vines that produce cask wine are pulled.

January - New Year, New You, New Wines

2010-01-14T18:35:00.006+11:00

Yarra Burn Yarra Valley 2004 Blanc de Blanc
Apple and sweet white bread aromas coupled with yeasty vegemite nuances make this 6 year old fizz fabulous. A pristine bead and flavour that lasts forever.
Quality 4 stars / Value 3 stars / $45
http://www.yarraburn.com.au/

Starvedog Lane Adelaide Hills 2003 Pinot Noir Chardonnay
Zowie, here's a 7 year old fizz for less than 30 bucks. FYI - The older the wine, the longer it's been maturing on it's dead yeast cells, which give the wine it's bread delicious flavour. Lovely sweet grapefruit flavours mixed with sweet biscuit. An intensly fine bead, this is a great wine.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $30
http://www.starvedoglane.com.au/

Mudhouse 2009 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
Phew - this is intense - imagine ripping a juicy passionfruit in half and getting a whif of the skin mixing with the pulp - now that's m=y first impression of this wine. mixed together with fantastic herbs and grapefruit flavours, it's no wonder this wine was awarded the championship wine at the 2009 Liquorland Top 100 International Wine Competition.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $22
http://www.mudhouse.co.nz/

Nepenthe Adelaide Hills 2009 Sauvignon Blanc
Some marvelous crisp apple aromas bounce out of the glass and mix with tropical fruit and lemon juice. A fantastic long finish too.
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $19
http://www.nepenthe.com.au/

Yellow Tail Sauvignon Blanc
this is interesting - i know it's only 10 bucks - but it's in a bottle and there is no vintage. What's more - 15% of the grapes come from NZ!! Who cares - it tastes delicious. There's ample fresh herby aromas that play against a tropical background.
Quality 3.5 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $10

Taltarni Three Monkeys Fume Blanc 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
Here's a wine that has been assisted with a touch of oak maturation - this really adds an extra dimension to wine. White peaches ripped open with traces of lemongrass and some spicy notes.
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $23

David Hook 2009 Hunter Valley Viognier
There are two types of Viogniers - the ones that are cheaply flavoured and taste like you're drinking a dried apricot smoothie and then there are the ones that work. These ones are refined and are worth your money. The others are good for cooking with! Here's a wine worth drinking - yes it's sublime and has essence of apricot but you'll also find jasmine blossom, custard apple and a squeeze of fresh lime. All in all - very moreish!.
www.davidhookwines.com.au
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $25

December's tastiest

2009-12-25T22:57:00.006+11:00

Lerida Estate 2008 Botrytis Pinot Grigio
Heralding from Lake George in Canberra wine district, this wine packed with intense sweet flavours such as orange sherbet, passionfruit jelly, apricot and lime marmalade. It hums in all the right places and has scintillating acid backbone bringing everything into squeaky clean balance. Almost faultless!
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $24.50
http://www.leridaestate.com/

Pewsey Vale Eden Valley 2008 Riesling
Packed full of mouthwatering honeydew and lime juice flavours with just a subtle trace of honey. An ever-reliable Riesling .
Quality 4 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $23

Majella Sparkling Coonawarra 2005 Shiraz
It's a great Aussie tradition to be drinking wines such as this over summertime. Juicy ripe plum and blackberry jam flavour are tied together with licorice spice and vanilla. Team with duck or a good ol Aussie BBQ.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $28

Kalari Cowra 2008 Chardonnay
Located 300kms west of of Sydney you'll find one of Australia's staple Chardonnay growing districts - Cowra. Here's a wine that packs a punch and comes in at a reasonable $17. Stacks of creamy peach flavours mingle with lemon juice and sweet wholemeal bready characters. Very decent.
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 4 stars / $17
www.kalariwines.com.au

Barwang Tumbarumba 2007 Chardonnay
Freshly sliced guava and nectarines play alongside river stone and almond. Cool climate growing conditions means this wine has an excellent backbone of fresh acidity. A very classy Chardonnay from NSW's Tumbarumba region in the Snowy Mountains.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $20

Element of Sandalford Late Harvest 2009 Soft Sweet White
A very peculiar sweet wine - it's not really sweet enough or complex enough to go with the heaviest of desserts, but for lighter fruit based desserts this would be ace! What I love about this is it's WA heritage really shines through. You can definitely taste some herb like characters from Semillon (I think) and this plays nicely alongside some sweet floral and tropical notes. Decent and cheap!
Quality 3.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $14
www.sandalford.com

De Bortoli Windy Peak 2008 Cabernet Merlot
Spirited sweet cassis and blackberry fruit sit comfortably alongside aniseed and mint like characters. Cedar wood like flavours aer also present, thanks to deft handling of French oak in the wine making process. An absolute steal!
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $15
www.debortoli.com.au

November tastiest

2009-11-15T12:41:00.005+11:00

Let's start with Chardonnay

Tin Soldier 2007 Hunter Valley Chardonnay
The Hunter Valley surprises me occasionally - an it's usually with Chardonnay. This part of the world produces a Chardonnay that has unapologetically powerful. T%his wine, even though it's only 15 bucks, explodes with nectarine, orange and peach. It's got a great citrussy zest to it and is well worth the price.
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $15

Debortoli Sacred Hill Unwooded Colombard Chardonnay
here's a wine that is so cheap and tastes so fruity that you want to invite to our next party just 'cause you'll know it'll be the centre of attention! It's not serious, but is bursting with character - think floral jasmine notes tacked on to lemon and peach flavours. BARGAIN!!
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $7.50

Scarborough 2008 Blue Label Hunter Valley Chardonnay
WOW - this wine grows on me with every sip i take - orange and lemongrass combine with rock melon and peach for a fabulous wine of great elegance.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $19

Domaine Chandon 2008 Yarra Valley Chardonnay
One of Australia's premiere Chardonnay growing districts and a wine made by one of Australia' premiere sparkling wine producers. Showing great restraint and finesse, this wine is fresh as a daisy with a tight backbone of acidity and fruit flavours of honey dew melon, white nectarine and lemon.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.5 stars / $28

Silver lining for cask wine drinkers

2009-10-29T20:58:00.003+11:00

Gang, it's time to feel sorry for the poor wine companies of Australia. Why - because the quality of cask wine is currently at an all time high . You're probably thinking why is this a bad thing - well it means the trickle down effect is happening. When there's a glut of wine (which there is at the moment) it means the winemakers and producers are selling at bargain prices. When cask wine is crap - it's because all the good wine is being sold higher up in the 'food chain'. Get it!

You can also blame the Aussie dollar - apparently the value of the dollar has gone up by 50% in the past 12 months - making our wines extremely unaffordable, especially to teh Yanks. Hence a lot less quality wine is being sold overseas - and hence needing to be sold at home. Once again - the quality wine is being forced down the food chain and finding its way into the humble goon bag.

I always say the best bargains are to be found in the premium 2 litre bags - Yalumba has always been a favourite. And now even New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc producers are finding a market for their wines in the ol' cardboard handbag. These wines would usually be found in wine bottles if times were different

Reidel schmeedle - drink Aussie during a recession

2009-10-15T22:18:00.002+11:00

OK - if you're gonna drop a bomb on wine glasses you may as well get all warm and fuzzy knowing you're supporting Aussie jobs. NOw you have the opportunity to do both.

I've written before about why drinking beer out of the correct glass will improve the experience and the same is true for wine.

You see - the right glassware shape introduces the wine to the right spot on the palate - thereby heightening the whole experience. If you taste the same wine out of a thick rimmed average wine glass and compare it to one of the 'Rolls Royce' wine glasses the experience is out of this world. It's the difference between listening to your favourite song on AM and FM radio. The flavours are amplified - it can make a $12 wine taste like $20.

Plumm is a new Australian company that uses quality European crystal to make its wine glasses locally. Wine glass maker Dana Morris, formerly of Reidel (yes - that gives her the essential cred needed), has done oodles of research at the world's best regions to determine you don't need a wine glass for each grape variety - that's over kill. You only need two shapes for white (light - Sav Blancs/Rieslings and heavier - Chardonnays etc). And in the red there's a similar story (light - Pinot Noir and heavy - Shiraz and Cabernet).

www.plumm.com

October's tastiest

2009-10-10T18:34:00.003+11:00

Kingston Estate 2009 Adelaide Hills/Mt Benson Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is one of those varieties that can taste like sweaty armpits if it's too cheap - best to pay an extra 5 bucks usually! But this is an exception. Classy melon, gooseberry and ripped passionfruits skins. Moorish!

Quality 3.75 stars / Value 4 stars / $13

http://www.kingstonestatewines.com.au/

Amberley Secret Lane Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc.

A very 'pretty' tasting wine -lots of bright vibrant tropical fruit flavours come bounding out of the glass with snap fresh citrus overtones and whiff of native flora. Very western Australia. Remind me to book a holiday there soon!

Quality 3.75 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $20

Stockman's Ridge 2009 Pinot Gris

While this a pretty good PG from NSW's Orange region - it is by far the ugliest label I have ever reviewed in the past 12 months! Thank god I throw a tea towel over the wine bottles when tasting so the pretty labels don't influence my judgement! I love the slippery mouth feel and the nashi pear and soft lemon flavours that build to a crescendo! Close your eyes while drinking!

Quality 4 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $24

http://www.stockmansridge.com.au/

Lerida Estate Lake George 2009 Pinot Gris

Here's a sprightly PG from the Canberra district - sprightly because it's got a real juice sweet lime zing to it and an aromas of sweet honey suckle that slaps you in the face. Try this with a spicy Asian dish

Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $28

http://www.leridaestate.com.au/

Windowrie Family Reserve 2007 Shiraz

A wine of great complexity - ripe plum with vanilla spice. Heralding from NSW's COwra region and made with rich American oak which imparts a delicious cocnut flavour.

Quality 4 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $25
http://www.windowrie.com.au/

Tyrrell's WInes Rufus STone Heathcote 2007 Shiraz
Yet another great wine from the Rufus Stone range - and this is always my fave - rich and ripe plum, oodles of cherry/licorice spicey notes and white pepper thrown in for good measure. Truly fabulous and availableverywhere!
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $24

What wine goes with THAT region?

2009-09-17T21:30:00.003+10:00

If the chance of you choosing the perfect wine at a bottle shop is on par with correctly choosing all seven Power Ball numbers, spare a thought for our pioneering viticulturists (grape growers). They had no idea what grape variety would work best and not make wine only a homeless person could enjoy! Well maybe I’m being a tad dramatic – but you catch my drift.

Wine is magic – the right variety needs to be planted in the right soil at the correct altitude and with the most desirable vineyard aspect for Houdini to correctly pull a perfect wine out of his hat. Unfortunately magic doesn’t happen overnight; it may take some viticulturist and winemaker 30 years of expensive trial and error to come across the perfect combo.

Recently there has been an influx of fashionable grape varieties being planted in every single wine region in Australia – for many wineries, appearing fashionably ‘cool’ for marketing’s sake has derailed the focus away from what the district does best. Pinot Gris/Grigio, Barbera, Viognier, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Tempranillo, Graciano; all are all relatively new to Australia and are still finding their feet.

Sure – these wine varieties come backed with a history of where they have worked in their native European homeland and we can learn from these experiences – but in reality, nowhere is ever exactly the same.

I recently had lunch with Rob Mann, winemaker at Cape Mentelle. After experimenting with Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Pinot Noir in Margaret River, Mann has made the wise decision to remove the varieties that aren’t working and concentrate on those that are.

“Marsanne and Roussanne. have performed well but will not become a core wine in our portfolio. We are removing much of our Viognier, we will not be sourcing any more Sangiovese beyond our own plantings and we're also removing the Pinot Gris. Cape Mentelle has made a conscious decision to focus our attentions on those varieties that have a proven track record in our vineyards and the region over the last 20 to 40 years - Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Shiraz and of course Zin.

“Overall it comes down to one thing - producing the best possible wines from our vineyards and region and ensuring that every wine under a Cape Mentelle label is world class.”

WHAT REGION GOES WITH THAT?
NSW
Orange: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay
Mudgee: Cabernet Sauvignon
Hunter Valley: Semillon, Shiraz
Tumbarumba: Chardonnay
Canberra: Shiraz, Viognier, Riesling

VICTORIA
Mornington Peninsula: Pinot Gris/Grigio, Chardonnay Pinot Noir
Yarra Valley: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon
Bendigo: Shiraz
Goulburn Valley: Marsanne

TASMANIA

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sparkling Wine

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Adelaide Hills: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Coonawarra: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Clare Valley: Riesling, Shiraz
Eden Valley: Riesling, Shiraz
McLaren Vale: Shiraz, Grenache
Barossa Valley: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache

WEST AUSTRALIA
Margaret River: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon
Great Southern Region: Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz

God bless America

2009-08-27T22:32:00.001+10:00

Americans are obese, loud, beer swilling, McDonalds eating embarrassments to the world who churn out pop culture obscenities the rest of world either devour or vomit. Who would have thunk American wine on the other hand is the polar opposite - they are soft, elegant and full of finesse. Well, that’s what I discovered from the red wines of the Napa Valley when I toured through the region in August 2009.

I recently wrote about the wines or America and how they were first put on the map thanks to the very famous Judgment of Paris Tasting during the 1970s. Have another read and you’ll see why this place was my very own Mecca.

The reason Napa Valley wines display such round and opulent flavours can be found in its growing conditions. I draw your attention to the state of California where 7 out of 10 wines produced in America come from.

The daily hot temperatures may be similar to Australia’s, but the Napa Valley has a unique cooling system that has the greatest influence over the wine’s style. At night the temperatures drop dramatically. It’s this temperature variance which makes Australian wines so big and the American wines so elegant.
Variances of temperatures in summertime can be as great as 32c in the day and 5c at night.

Night-time temperatures in Australia are quite hot and this results in our wines being a lot richer in flavour.

If you have been to San Francisco no doubt you would have seen the magnificent fogs the city is prone to - 364 days per year! The fog is a result of the freezing cold waters flowing down the coast of the USA colliding with the warmer waters travelling north. The fog meanders through the night and gets sucked up into the valleys that contain the vineyards. This fog is best likened to a giant air conditioning unit. This cooling effect preserves the grape’s natural acidity which can certainly be tasted in the glass. The valley is divided into 14 sub regions – each with its own individual flavour and suitability to certain grape varieties.

At the start of the valley is where it is the coldest – and it is where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is grown. Further up the Napa Valley is where Cabernet is king – and trust me – prices reflect this. Sauvignon Blanc is also a staple of the valley – but don’t get to excited – it’s a lot different from what we’re used to in Australia. It’s more overblown and less elegant.

When you do venture to California for a wine tasting adventure – be mindful; cellar doors are different; you book appointments, you get served by a waiter, you rarely get served more than three wines and you have to pay approx 20 bucks for the privilege. Oh, and dress up for your tasting – T-shirts and thongs are frowned upon!

For all tourist information - http://www.napavintners.com/

Napa Valley Wineries to book an appointment with
Honig Vineyard and Winery or Rutherford http://www.honigwine.com/home
Fabulous cabernets – dark and inky, supremely opulent

Robert Mondavi http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/flash/index.html
The god father of the Napa. Go there to soak up the history and the beautiful cellar door. Ask for a tasting at the ‘excusive’ cellar door to try the top shelf wines

Cakebread wines http://www.cakebread.com/
Great wines that are proven to last the distance and a delicious restaurant to stop off at for lunch
Cade Winery http://www.cadewinery.com/cade/
Scintillating wines from this relatively newcomer – organic wines have never tasted so good. And because they have completely eliminated the carbon footprint with absolutely everything in this property being made from recycled materials – you’ll be drinking guilt free as well! Being further up the valley – their Cabernets are to die for.

Tasmania is coming to your state

2009-07-22T22:12:00.003+10:00

[Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Peninsula]

Tasmania would have to be my favourite wine region to visit. The food, wine and people all make for three very good reasons to escape the mainland for a long weekend.

If you can't escape your neck of the woods - but Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane is slightly more manageable - you're in luck.

Tasmania Unbottled 2009 will showcase over 130 cool climate wines - and many of these gems never see the light on the mainland. Yes - they're almost as rare as the Tasmanian Tiger. You see, some Tasmanian wines are made in such small production, there's no need to export to the mainland. And that's why YOU need to visit one of these tour dates. You will unearth a wine so unique you'll become a fan and demand to be put on maioling lists so you can buy forever more.

Tasmania specialises in fabulous sparkling wines, fresh Cabernets, sensational Alsatian style wines such as Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer and some of Australia's most scintillating Chardonnay. But for me - what Tassie does better than any other region in Australia is Pinot Noir. Such wonderful fruit and sexy, silk like tannins.

It compares only to New Zealand's famed Otago region.

MELBOURNE Tuesday 4 August
SYDNEY Tuesday 11 August
BRISBANE Thursday 13 August

For exhibition details visit [here]

Mudgee Madness

2009-07-16T21:30:00.000+10:00

View Larger Map

With an altitude that ranges from 400 meters to 1900 meters, Mudgee really can produce the full gamut of wines well. Right up on Nullo mountain is where you'll find pristine Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. And down on the lower levels Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are king.

What the region is doing particularly well with are the Mediterranean varieties. These guys aren't bound by tradition and as such they're into experimentation. They'll try everything and anything! And it's more than just the Italian varieties, but Spanish and Portuguese as well. Barabera, Nebbiolo, Sangoivese, Graciano, Lagrein, Touriga Nacionale and Aleatico

The reds are typically big, warm, soft and supple.

My favourite wineries to visit include
1. Lowe - the wines are renowned for being both organic and bio dynamic. Usually a reason for me to run for the hills - but David Lowe is churning out some exceptional wines, especially his Tinja range.
2. di Lusso - I love the Italian wines these guys produce - the 2005 Mudgee Rosso was the wine of the weekend. Superb, by a case!
3. Huntington - has been a round for a long time and the reds are to die for.

And if you do make it to Mudgee - check out Roth's Wine Bar - it's been there since 1923 and they have some sensational wines on offer. But make sure you try their specialty - 10/20 (white) or Diesel (red). These lethal concoctions of rough wine spirit and fortified wines and god knows what will knock you for six - and when you finished, it will also polish your silverwear!!

Logan Weemala 2008 Pinot Noir
This wine heralds from NSW's Central Ranges - a mix or Orange and Mudgee. While it lacks slightly in flavour at the back of the mouth, it has ample fruit in the guise of cherry and spice. Some lovely wood shaved characters.
Quality 3.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $15
http://www.loganwines.com.au/

Logan Weemala 2006 Merlot
Also heralding from NSW's Central Ranges, this is a bargain wine with its plummy/blackberry characters and a fragrant aniseed backbone of WOW.
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $15
http://www.loganwines.com.au/

Logan 2006 Cabernet Merlot
A warm and cuddly Cabernet Merlot that sports oodles of soft blackberry fruit with cedar wood flavours. A very easy drinking style.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $25
http://www.loganwines.com.au/

Burnbrae 2009 Riesling (to be released Sept 2009)
Sourced from Mudgees highest point on Nullo Mountain, this wine sports pretty orange blossom and lime candy palate with a refreshing zippity lemon backbone.
Quality 4 stars / Value 3.5 stars / $22
http://www.burnbraewines.com.au/

Burnbrae Botrytis 2007 Semillon
Exceptionally concentrated aromas jump from the glass and slap you in the face - I'm thinking dried apricot and orange peel. Apparently the fruit was so affected by the botrytis mould when being pressed it clogged up all the equipment. Fortunately it tastes like gold. This even beat the Debortoli Noble One recently at the Cairns Show to take out top honours.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $25
http://www.burnbraewines.com.au/

Lowe Tinja 2008 Mudgee Riesling
A talc and lime blossom wonder mixed with green apple candy nuances - refreshing and moorish. Make sure you look out for the 2009 Riesling - it's equally delish.
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $20
http://www.lowewine.com.au/

Lowe Tinja Central Ranges 2007 Pinot Noir
Half from Orange and half from Mudgee's highest point Nullo Mountain, this wine mixes some lovely weighty cherry and plum fruit flavours with elements of forest floor. A strange description i know - but you'll get what I mean the next time you're travelling through The Black Forrest! (PS - it's a good thing!).
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $25
http://www.lowewine.com.au/

Lowe Reserve 2006 Mudgee Zinfandel
Woohoo - an organic amazing wine utilising dryland bush vines. Soft, inviting, envelloping, not too much of a ball breaker like some Zins can be - you could even say it's slightly elegant. The heavenly aromas are of brandy laced plums, fruitcake and cassis. The tannins are a mouthful without being too assertive - just fab.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $20
http://www.lowewine.com.au/

Vinifera 2007 Mudgee Graciano
IN its native Spain, this variety is often blended with Tempranillo to make a delicious food wine perfect for Mediterranean dishes. In Australia it’s rare, so I’m happy to report this single blend stands out from the crowd. Tasty earthy/leathery flavours abound with succulent plum fruit and a floral aroma.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $28
http://www.viniferawines.com.au/

Robert Stein 2009 Mudgee Riesling
It’s early days yet, but already in its first show outing, it has picked up both a gold and trophy (Cairns). Fabulous lime sherbet and talc like flavours with a real green grape like essence. Delightful.
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $25
http://www.robertstein.com.au/

Robert Stein 2003 and 2005 Reserve Shiraz Mudgee Riesling
Here’s a couple of huge wines that sport the typical softness and supple tannins so common in the reds of Mudgee. Intense flavours of stewed prune and plum with traces of dark chocolate and star anise. The 2005 is a bit brighter and shows some lovely cooked rhubarb flavours as well.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $30
http://www.robertstein.com.au/

Lowe 2005 Block 8 Organic Conversion Mudgee Shiraz
A full figured chewy tannin-ed soft and supple gem of a wine. Dark chocolate, ripe plum mixed with liquorice allsorts and an earthy palate.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $28
http://www.lowewine.com/

Huntington Estate 2007 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay
A full flavoured assault on the senses with marvellous mandarin, rockmelon and peach fruit flavours alongside creamy caramel and cashew. Quite a well structured wine.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $21
http://www.huntingtonestate.com.au/

Huntington Estate 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Huntington has a history of producing some of the best reds in all of Mudgee and this wine is no exception – it’s five years old and hits all the right spots. 2004 was a muscley year for Cabernet, arguably the region’s best variety. Fabulous ripe cassis and black olive aromas are mixed with green leaf and tobacco.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $23
http://www.huntingtonestate.com.au/

di Lusso Mudgee 2005 Rosso
Such an amazing wine for the price – interesting and very moorish. It was my wine of the weekend when i visited Mudgee. This wine is based on the ‘veranda’ wines of Italy – uncomplicated and easy drinking. The ultimate Italian quaffer is a blend of Barbera, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Aleatico grapes. Smooth, soft, sour cherry laden, earthiness to boot – I JUST LOVE IT. Perfect for tomato based pasta and authentic Italian pizza. Buy a case and have the cellar door ship it to you!
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.75 stars / $15
http://www.dilusso.com.au/

di Lusso 2006 Barbera
Barbera is the second most widely planted variety in Italy, just after Sangiovese, and the variety has been grown in Mudgee for 30 years. A good generous dollop of ripe plum, raspberry, sour cherry flavour and spicy liquorice.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $23
http://www.dilusso.com.au/

di Lusso 2008 Vino Rosato
made using the Lagrein variety, here’s a rose that is quite meaty in flavour with generous berry fruits to boot! Perfect with antipasto containing stacks of cured meats.
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $18
http://www.dilusso.com.au/

When in Mudgee...

2009-07-15T18:23:00.000+10:00

A big thank you to Mudgee Tourism for helping me out with my recent visit. For all information on what's happening...

http://www.visitmudgeeregion.com.au/

And when in Mudgee, I choose to stay at the Cobb and Co Court Boutique Hotel. Amazing accommodation with an amazing restaurant!

http://www.cobbandcocourt.com.au/

Thoughts of July - the wines to drink

2009-07-04T19:26:00.005+10:00

Big Shiraz tasting just finished - here are my faves

Brookland Valley Margaret River Verse 1 2007 Shiraz
There's something special about Shiraz from MR - it has a smile on its face! Great fruit driven style with lots of plumminess and blackberry spiced notes. An effortless wine to drink.
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $21

Bulloak 2007 Carbon Neutral Shiraz
A cheap wine that packs a punch. Oodles of plum and raspberry flavour is busting forward with a taste of orange and cognac! Don't ask me - i just write what I taste! And a bonus with this wine is that you're saving the environment. I'll drink to that!
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $10-11
http://www.zilziewines.com/

Sandalford Margaret River 2005 Shiraz
Deep concentrated plum and prune juice with star anise, nutmeg and dark chocolate and espresso. F*ck - this is excellent!
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4 stars / $35
http://www.sandalford.com.au/

Pipers Brook Vineyard 2008 Pinot Gris
Honeyed overtones join zippity pineapple flavours with elements of musk and mineral make this slippery wine a joy to drink.
Quality 4 stars / Value 3.5 stars / $27.50
http://www.pipersbrook.com/

Lowe 2008 Orange Sauvignon Blanc
Woh - NSW's Orange region sure is giving the rest of Australia a wake up call for Sauvignon Blanc. This tidy number's aroma is so heady with ripped open capsicum, gooseberry and rosemary herbs. There's even a slight wiff of pea. Either way - I love it!
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $20
http://www.lowewine.com.au/

Victorian Wine - the bushfire aftermath

2009-07-01T21:52:00.002+10:00

[The following article was taken from my new posting - as the resident wine writer for OUT There magazine - the inflight publication for REX (Regional Express), Airlink, Airnorth and Skywest airlines. Out today, July 1]

Much has been written about the bushfires that swept through Victoria on February 7. The biggest toll will always be the loss of human life and the lives of defenceless koalas, kangaroos and countless other native animals, but as a wine writer, I sat back in horror as our nation’s most prized viticultural regions were surrounded by a menacing enemy. Historical vineyards would surely be lost and, with an impending recession, how would Victoria’s wine industry cope? Now the smoke has cleared, it’s finally time to take stock and ponder the real toll to Victoria’s wine industry; will the wines taste different, will they taste of smoke?

Before we answer this, let’s look at the facts. According to the chief executive of the Victorian Wine Industry Association, Joanne Butterworth-Gray, only 5 per cent of Victoria’s vineyards and crops were destroyed as a result of this year’s fires. “The cumulative effect of both the heatwave conditions and the bushfires, however, will see a 30 per cent reduction in Victoria’s grape harvest.”

There we have it – the biggest killer of this year’s haul was the catastrophic heatwave that suffocated southern Australia. This wasn’t restricted to Victoria – some South Australian vineyard yields are expected to be down by a staggering 50 per cent.
After frosts earlier in the season, along came the killer drought. Canopies lost their leaves, fruit bunches were exposed to the sun and the week-long drought cooked the grapes on the vines. “While tonnage may be down, careful crop monitoring has ensured we will be maximising quality as much as possible,” continued Butterworth-Gray. “Cool weather and rain after the bushfires thankfully slowed the ripening down.”

Smoke taint could still be the silent killer. If the grapes are surrounded by a shroud of smoke for too long, they can absorb the flavour and develop unpleasant tastes of smoke, ashtray, smoked meat and burnt wood. Let’s face it; does anyone really enjoy kissing a smoker, let alone drinking these characteristics?

Fortunately, Victoria has dodged this bullet in 2009. According to Butterworth-Gray, the structure of the smoke was different to the 2007 bushfires that ravaged north-eastern Victoria and caused smoke taint in many vineyards across the state. “The fuel content was different, the smoke wasn’t as thick, wind patterns played in our favour and the topography of the terrain meant the smoke was never trapped in pockets as it was in 2007.”

If there was to be a saving grace; this year’s major shortfall has brought about a much needed supply and demand balance from the recent glut of Australian wine. Regardless, the 2009 devastating bushfires have been a very high price to pay.

June's tasty treats

2009-06-19T00:29:00.004+10:00

Lerida Estate 2006 Lake George Shiraz Viognier (Canberra district)
OK - don't get too excite because this wine is bloody expensive. I included this wine in a blind tasting with 5 other Shiraz Viogniers and this stood out so much everything else should be ashamed to call itself wine.
It's so warm, cuddly, voluptuous and inviting. Chocolate, raisin, super ripe plum, spicy anise and touches of orange spiced clove mixed with creamy vanilla.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 3.5 stars / $59.50
http://www.leridaestate.com/

Moondah Brook 2008 Cabernet Rose

Sublime juicy strawberry and cherries abounds with fresh gooseberry and lime juice. This is always a consistently delicious rose from Western Australia.

Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $18

http://www.moondahbrook.com.au/

Rolling 2009 Pink

This rose heralds from NSW's Central Ranges - better known as the wines from Orange. High altitudes mean cool wine and very good acid structures. It's candied cherry and green apple aroma gives way to some luscious berry fruits on the palate. Grape varieties aren't listed.

Quality 3.75 stars / Value 3.5 stars / $18

http://www.rollingwines.com.au/

Watershed Margaret River Shades 2008 Rose

If ever a wine was to taste like it had been steeped in the most succulent strawberries - this would be it. Throw a dollop of spiced clotted cream and here you have a gorgeous wine. Made from predominantly Shiraz and a whisker of Merlot.

Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $17

ttp://www.watershedwines.com.au/

Sherry hits the fan in Australia

2009-06-10T18:58:00.006+10:00

It's Sayonara Sherry from the Australian vernacular; the Spanish want their name back.

We gave back Champagne and we gave back Burgundy - but in what some feel is the unkindest cut of all, we'll now have to give back the names to some of Australia's greatest wines to the world - Sherry and Tokay. Our Aussie versions are indeed world class. Of course there are the really, really cheap versions which end up pickling people like the photo above - but let's ignore that elephant in the room for the moment!

I recently came across an article by The Age's Jeni Port.

"An agreement between the European Union and Australia, signed in Brussels last month, gives the phase-out dates for the final removal of all those borrowed wine names Australian winemakers have been using for more than a century, names like Champagne, Chablis, Hermitage, port, Tokay and Sherry.

Some, like champagne and port, will be relatively easy to replace in drinkers' hearts and minds. Most of us will feel no different asking for a sparkling wine or a tawny. Other names, such as Sherry and Tokay, provoke far more angst, hence the search for strong replacement names."

"So, out goes sherry and in comes "Apera". And Australian-made Tokay — never again to be confused with Tokaji, the real thing from Hungary — also gets a new moniker, "Topaque".

The new names took 10 months of work and almost $1 million in research funding ($500,000 of it from the Federal Government) to deliver."

Orange - the next BIG THING in wine

2009-06-03T18:14:00.008+10:00

The city; my work; my friends; they were all getting me wayyyy down. I either had to stare blankly at the ocean for 48 hours to re-energise my batteries or get in my car and drive for 3.5 hours inland to escape the storm clouds that were engulfing Sydney and my life (geez - this sounds depressing - but bare with me, it gets better!).

I chose the later - at least that way I could drown my sorrows while discovering the wines of Orange. If I'm gonna have a breakdown, I may as well do so with a glass of something decent in my hand!

Have you ever found yourself in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. That's how I felt when I crossed the Blue Mountains and descended upon Orange. This weekend - wines from the cool climes of NSW's Central Ranges were reaching their zenith. ON the Saturday that I arrived, esteemed writer James Halliday devoted an entire page about the brilliance of the region. This praise followed not long after the unbelievable success the region had at the Royal Sydney Wine Show; the region's top Sauvignon Blancs trampled the new Zealand competition. And that NEVER happens!

Sure I've tasted wines from Orange MANY times before. It was way back in the mid 90's that I first became hooked on wines from the region, thanks to Rosemount Estate's Rose Label Orange Vineyard. Now however, the horse has definitely bolted from the gate and people are paying very close attention. I for one believe Orange is NSW's most exciting region.

Fact one - The region is bloody cold - and even during the height of the summer temperatures rarely rise above 30. That's because Orange region's boundary follow a 600m contour line with its epicentre being Mount Canobolas, at a height of 1395m. This cool weather ensures the grapes grow slowly giving the wines a pristine, refined nature.

The cool climate means the grapes sometimes don't come off the vine until May, and that's bloody late. Star varieties to look out for in the shops include Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and to a lesser extent Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

As you would expect, where there is great wine, there is brilliant food. If you come to the area I can definitely recommend the fantastic Union Bank Hotel for its brilliant bistro and local wine selection - so, so cheap. I wish I had this place next me instead of Bondi's Beach Road Hotel!
http://www.unionbank.com.au/

For upscale eateries check out the one hat restaurant Tonic in Millthorpe . www.tonicmillthorpe.com.au/

Sisters Rock Restaurant which is part of the Borrodell Vineyard - has the best view of the district. It's a must visit for lunch. Make sure you help yourself to some apples from the orchard next to the restaurant. They are super delicious (or were the Fuji, or maybe granny smith!). www.borodell.com.au/

ORANGE'S BEST WINES

(and trust me - I missed a lot out. You can only see so many wines while driving aroud and trying to stay under the limit).

Angallong 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
An extraordinary wine that was the winner of the highly coveted best young white wine trophy at the Royal Sydney Wine Show - the first time a Sauvignon Blanc has ever won the award. And the thing only costs 15 bucks. But don't get too excited - it's now out of stock. :(
Fabulous dried grass, guava and pineapple aromas. An inviting palate with the flavour enveloping every single taste bud.
Quality 4.5 stars / Value 4.75 stars / $15
http://www.angullong.com.au/

Angallong 2008 Pinot Grigio
Angullong wines are overseen by highly regarded winemaker, John Reynolds. This wine is deliciously tight with with pleasant tropical pineapple fruit flavours
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $15
http://www.angullong.com.au/

Angallong 2008 Verdelho
When i drink Verdelho - it needs to taste like there's a fruit explosion party happening in my mouth and EVERYONE is invited. And this is that wine. Quaff it all day long and you don't need to complicated it with food. Tropical fruits and candy sweetness..
Quality 3.75 stars / Value 4 stars / $15
http://www.angullong.com.au/

Angullong 2006 Shiraz
This wine gobsmacked me with its lovely cool spice/sweet anise flavours that dovetailed seamlessly into its rich plum facade. A steal at 15 bucks
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $15
http://www.angullong.com.au/

Patina 2005 Chardonnay
Orange Chardonnay is so delicious and this wine does not disappoint - fig and mascarpone sit alongside white nectarine and hints of walnut. This wine creeps up to you with amazing subtlety and a scintillating fresh acid backbone.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $19
www.patinawines.com.au/

Patina 2006 Cabernet Franc
An unsuspecting wine that blew me away with its deliciously pungent aromas of sour cherry and sweet prune. A backbone of tobacco flavoured oak and a fabulous palate weight to match.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $25
www.patinawines.com.au/

Bloodwood 2005 Schubert
This is the premium Chardonnay for Bloodwood and boy is it delicious. White nectarine and sweet cashew nut are backed by a fierce and sexy acid backbone. Delicious with duck or pork.
Quality 4 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $28
http://www.bloodwood.com.au/

Bloodwood Silk Purse 2008 Riesling
This was definitely the wine of the weekend while visiting Orange - rarely do I give a wine this high a rating. Yes, it is THAT good! The grapes are picked exceptionally late in the season and most times the grapes are unusable. In fact - this wine has only been made five times in the past 20 years. The most wondrous squeaky clean lime palate - it literally hummed on my gums! Flavours of honey and jasmine, elements of apricot. Sweet and tart just like key lime pie - just divine.
Quality 5 stars / Value 4.75 stars / $25
http://www.bloodwood.com.au/

Philip Shaw Pink Billy 2008 Saignee
From one of Orange's greatest winemakers, Philip Shaw (formerly head wine squisher at Rosemount). If you long for a Rose that isn’t as fruity as most - here's the wine that is for you. Less fun and more serious, this Saignee would be bliss with antipasto. Hints of subtle strawberry and cherry with a very fine acid backbone.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $23

http://www.philipshaw.com.au/

Philip Shaw No. 17 Merlot Cabernet Franc Cabernet
A very sexy and restrained wine with oodles of subtle red berry and blackberry fruits playing against a whiff of cigar box aromas. A fine but sturdy tannin structure makes this wine a keeper.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $25
http://www.philipshaw.com.au/

Orange Mountain 2008 Viognier
Fabulous orange, apricot marmalade flavours abound with a real lemon tang keeping everything in check.
Quality 4 stars / Value 4 stars / $22
http://www.orangemountain.com.au/

Orange Mountain Manildra 2006 Merlot
What a great fruit depth this wine has. It's a bargain price, especially with the amount of age it carries with it. Fabulous ripe plummy red berry fruit.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $18
http://www.orangemountain.com.au/

Borrodell Winemaker's Daughter 2007 Gewurztraminer
The best way to taste this wine is during lunch at the cellar door's magnificent restaurant overlooking rolling hills of the Orange district. Smart as button acidity makes this a wine of distinction with some absolutely beautiful lanolin, musk and strawberry flavours.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.25 stars / $20
http://www.borrodell.com.au/

Borrodell 2007 Chardonnay
Orange Chardonnay is divine and this is a brilliant and affordable example. Custard apple mixed with creamy custard and baked nectarine with tight lemony acidity. The elegance of the french oak maturation makes this a pristine food wine.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $20
http://www.borrodell.com.au/

Borrodell Cabernet Sauvignon 'Ruby'
This is an odd blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, the rarely used Ruby Cabernet and Merlot. What is not odd however is the flavour - it's rich, spicy and delicious. Dark blackberry fruit oozes forward with hints of spearmint, olive and tobacco.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4.5 stars / $20
http://www.borrodell.com.au/

Word of Mouth 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
At 1000m above sea level, WOM is one of Orange's highest vineyard sites and its wines have scintillating acid structures as a result. This SB is damn sexy with juicy pineapple and nectarine flavours sitting alongside fresh herbs and freshly ripped open red capsicum.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $25
http://www.wordofmouthwines.com.au/

Word of Mouth 2008 Riesling
I love it when an Australian winemaker is not afraid to leave a teensy bit of fruit sweetness in a Riesling - it often lends itself to our Asian inspired cuisine so much better. This wine sports lime candy, powdered sugar and delicious apple flavours with a refreshing tangy bite.
Quality 4.25 stars / Value 4 stars / $23
http://www.wordofmouthwines.com.au/

May's wines of note

2009-05-27T23:41:00.010+10:00

Starvedog Lane 2008 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

Summer sliced nectarines dolloped with a healthy dose of brandy infused cream from this wonderful Adelaide Hills producer. Scrumptious with seafood risotto.

Quality 4 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $29

http://www.starvedoglane.com.au/

Pipers Brook Vineyard 2007 Chardonnay

Element of tiny white flowers and white nectarine on the nose. Creamy malolactic fermentation flavours of nutty nougat found on the palate, matched with deft oak handling make this wine a resounding success.

Quality 4.25 stars / Value 3.75 stars / $34

http://www.pipersbrok.com/

Nepenthe Limited Release 2005 Tempranillo

Most famous in its home land of Spain where it makes lauded wines of the Rioja region, Tempranillo was virtually unheard of in the Adelaide Hills until Nepenthe planted the vines in 1998. Matured in older oak barrels to ensure the fruit flavours shine through, this wine sports some pretty sexy sour cherry and strawberry fruit flavours with a tight steely backbone making this an ideal wine to be paired with flavourful Mediterranean dishes.

Quality 4 stars / Value 3.5 stars / $29

http://www.nepenthe.com.au/

Brookland Valley Verse 1 Chardonnay 2007
This may be the second tier label for Margaret River based Brookland Valley, but the flavour has not been short changed. Peachy sweet cashew with hints of lemon honeysuckle. Divine!
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$21
www.brooklandvalley.com.au

Patina Orange 2007 Chardonnay
Having recently returned fro this magnificent part of the world, I can tell you there is a reason why Chardonnay does so well - and that's because of the cooler climate which produces a more sophisticated drop Australia is just now starting to appreciate. Lovely creamy soft malo characters play against steely fresh lemon hints and fresh cut nectarine
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$19
http://www.patinawines.com.au/

Tomich Hill Adelaide Hills Riesling 2008
A dreamy, heaven scented wine with white flowers playing against sweet lime flavours and river stone/mineral like nuances.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$16

Leasingham Medium Sweet Bin 8 2008 KS Riesling
A fabulous Riesling made in the Germanic style with a taste of residual sweetness perfect for spicy Asian dishes. Lime candy dances with lemongrass.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$23
http://www.leasingham-wines.com.au/

Joseph La Magia 2008 Botrytis Riesling Traminer
La Magia stands for the 'the magic' and this wine's botrytis certainly gives it that! A clean as a whistle wine with delicious yellow box homey flavours playing alongside candied apricot, rosewater, raisin and a healthy dose of lime. Intense and long lasting.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$25
http://www.primoestate.com.au/

Beer glasses smash bottles for six

2009-05-20T21:52:00.003+10:00

I'll admit - I don't love beer anywhere near as much as a I love my wine. But when I want a beer, I will murder the first person who stands in my way of getting one! Imagine if you went through life and only got half the enjoyment out of your favourite drink. Well - if you're currently drinking beer from a bottle - that's exactly the position you'll currently find yourself in.

I've done the math and my own private experiment proves this point. After receiving a set of the new 'beer classics' collection from Spiegelau Beer Glasses, I'm hooked.

You see - to get the most out of beer, the beer needs to hir your palate in exactly the right spot. If you're sucking from a bottle, the beer hits will hit you straight in the middle of the palate like a bullet before making a beeline straight to the back of your throat. Do you realise how many taste buds miss out and are left crying for refreshment?

Too many - that's the answer.

The secret to drinking good beer is drinking it out of a glass - and preferably a glass that is thin. Why - because it introduces the flavour of the beer to all your thirsty taste buds! That's why.

The shape of the glass is also important. Which is why afficianados are now ensuring the type of beer they are drinking is matched to the right glass. Here's how, using these new fancy expensive glasses (2 glasses/$40) from Spiegelau.

The Pilsner Glass (tasted with Bluetongue Pilsner)
A modified tulip-shaped glass, designed so the open mouth at the top allows for an intense release of flavours and the lip deposits the liquid neatly to the tip of your tongue. Here's a beer that has some lovely sweet malty flavours and a fruity hop taste. This needs to hit the tip of your tongue (which is where sweetness is detected). This does the trick nicely.

The Lager Glass (tasted with Bluetongue Premium Lager)
A tall glass slightly tapered at the bottom. Thanks to its mouth being slightly wider than its foot, it is good for getting the most from the typical flavours and aromas of pale lagers, ales. When I drink a lager - i want it to be bloody refreshing. It needs to coat the entire palate, make it sing and do it quickly. I want a beer that will lift me high. What can be more rewarding a bloody hot day in January. A bottle does not do this but a glass will. The shape of this glass coasts the palate super fast!

The Wheat Beer Glass (tasted with James Squire limited release Hop Thief Ale)
A traditional elongated thin vessel, bulbous at the top to accommodate the thicker head produced by the extra protein in wheat as opposed to barley. This glass is perfect for the fuller flavoured beer. If this was in a bottle, the beer would taste course and out of kilter - in the glass, the beer comes alive and the floral/malty flavour is more pronounced and rounded in style.

Organic wines - they won't kill you!

2009-05-14T20:20:00.004+10:00

There comes a time when i subject my self to so much processed foods and chemicals I feel downright toxic. I flee to my local organic supplier, buy a heap of weird looking deformed vegetables and become vegan while detoxing! The part I hate though is the no alcohol rule for two weeks - now that really is torture.

Well there is a solution - and that is organic wine. Two of Mudgee’s longest running boutique grape growers recently merged to form a giant in the organic wine biz. Pioneering organic vineyard and winery Thistle Hill merged with neighbouring vineyard Erudgere.

So what's all the fuss about organic wines - and what's the difference between organic and preservative free wine?

The aim of organic growing is to look after the environment by not screwing it up with the use of synthetic chemicals. We do this by controlling weeds, mildew and insects organically. As an example, lets look at a common grape disease, mildew. Rather than attempting to treat the problem as it occurs with synthetic sprays, growers are kinder to the environment.

They use a preventative spray made from Canola oil (not only good for deep frying!). This actually works out cheaper than the harmful synthetic sprays, and it also doesn't harm the environment.

And when we're talking fertiliser, we let the poo fly - animal poo that is, so much more sensible than chemical fertilisers.

Preservative free wines are a different kettle of fish. Preservatives such as sulphur dioxide (which stop spoilage) are not used. The grapes are still grown to conventional methods. Its once the grapes start to be processed that sulphur dioxide usually starts to play an important role.

Sulphur dioxide is best described as an air scavenger. It goes around gobbling up any stray air particles before the air has a chance to spoil the wine. Without sulphur dioxide the wine colour could turn brown and the flavour could turn to vinegar (and trust me these are not happy characteristics you want in your wine!).

So there you have it.

try it

http://www.thistlehill.com.au/

Bottle Shock - the story behind the movie

2009-04-15T22:35:00.006+10:00

A long time ago the French thought they were the only people in the world who knew how to make wine. Well - it wasn't that long ago, and unfortunately many still seem to think this. We'll consider the French - Old World wine producers (the same can be said for Italy and Spain for example)

This superior attitude remained until the mid 1970's; that was when a little wine tasting competition came about in France that debunked the myth that countries other than France could make world class (or should that be French Class) wines of note.

And here we have the movie Bottle Shock. A film centred around the 'Judgement of Paris' where the best French Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnays were pitted against the best from California's Napa Valley (which was considered to have no chance at all). A down on his luck British wine merchant (Steven Spurrier) in Paris decided to hold the competition to insight interest in his wine shop. He was an absolute French wine convert and thought the USA wines had no chance. He gathered the said 20 wines, 11 judges (nine were French) and tasted the wines blind. Only one journalist turned up (from Time magazine) - and what a scoop he had!

California wines rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines.

Not surprisingly - the story was all but ignored in France (damaged egos) but was widely covered everywhere else the world. It started the New World Wine revolution and paved the way for countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile and Argentina to have their wines taken seriously.

Naturally the French claimed fowl play and also said the US wines would never age as well as the French. Wrong again - subsequent tastings of the wines at 10 and 30 years later showed the might and power of the US wines, trouncing the competition yet again. And there have also been arguments that the French wines were chosen from less than perfect years. Wrong again - 3 of the 4 Bordeaux Cabernets came from the 1970 vintage - considered one of the top 4 vintages in the past 45 years.

Game, set and match!! Touche!

April's lovely libations

2009-04-12T12:30:00.010+10:00

Mud House South Island Pinot Gris

Jesus - this is good! The moment you taste this wine it oozes of spiced custard, apricot, lemon myrtle and pear. The texture of the wine is quite oily and viscous - just like a good Alsatian Pinot Gris should be - except this wine is from teh south island of New Zealand.

Quality: 4.25 stars

Value: 3.75 stars

Price: $22

http://www.mudhouse.co.nz/

Oakvale Block 37 2008 Verdelho
There's not much that I want from my Verdelho other than some honest tropical fruit salad flavours and maybe a bit of earthiness just to make it interesting. This Hunter Valley wine has it all and leaves the other lolly water examples for dead. Tast pineapple, guava, paw paw a drop of strawberry juice and a hint of lemongrass freshness.
Quality: 4 stars
Value: 3.75 stars
Price: $22.50
http://www.oakvalewines.com.au/

Delatite Upper Goulburn 2008 Pinot Gris
From one of Australia's great aromatic wine producers is a truly brilliant Pinot Gris. I can't begin to tell you how happy this wine made me! Delatite comes from cold country - at the base of Mt Buller in Victoria's high country. This Pinot Gris is subtle and slippery with nashi pear and custard apple flavours playing alongside fairy floss and aromatic spices. ONe to hunt down and buy.
Quality: 4.5 stars
Value: 4.25 stars
Price: $22.90
http://www.delatitewinery.com.au/

Zilzie 2007 Viognier
Here's a wine that will stand up and sing for you - a fabulous concoction of custard apple, candied ginger and fresh lime flavours. And it comes at an honest price.
Quality: 3.5 stars
Value: 3.5 stars
Price: $14-16
http://www.zilziewines.com/

Houghton The Bandit 2008 Chardonnay Viognier
An unexpected treat - this blend is surprisingly delicious with oodles of apricot, peach and mandarin fruit flavours that sit nicely alongside cashew nut. There's a real fresh lemony zip to this racy wine that finshes clean and has a wonderful length of flavour. Buy this in bulk when it's drastically reduced - it can be found for $10/bottle when bought in case lots.
Quality: 3.5 stars
Value: 3.5 stars
Price: $10-16
http://www.houghton-wines.com.au/

Lenton Brae Margaret River 2008 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
A wonderful classic dry white from Margaret River - it sports herbal flavours of grass and rosemary which sit nicely alongside tropical flavours of pineapple and red papaya. Tghrow in some freshly ripped open red capsicum and you have a winner!
Quality: 4 stars
Value: 4 stars
Price: $22
http://www.lentonbrae.com/

Blue Pyrenees 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Heralding from Victoria's cool Pyrenees region, this wine sports mulberry jam flavours with hints of vanilla bean, aniseed and mint lollies. The tannins are assertive without being out of whack. All in all, a great value cooler climate red that shows real class.
Quality: 4.25 stars
Value: 4.5 stars
Price: $18
http://www.bluepyrenees.com.au/

Mud House 2007 Central Otago, New Zealand Pinot Noir

Oven though this is close to 30 bucks, this is still great value for a pinot from this stellar region. It has strength of character and a solid backbone or ripe cherry and molasses. Sexy tannins and a great palate length make this wine a delicious partner for Peking duck. Yum.

Quality: 4 stars
Value: 3.5 stars
Price: $28
http://www.mudhouse.co.nz/

Easter eggs and beer - YES WE CAN!

2009-04-09T21:40:00.004+10:00

Who said you cant have your cake and eat it too. This weekend - steal the Easter Eggs from your children and sit down to a beer fest while watching the weekend's best sport.

I wouldn't normally allow beer and chocolate to be matched - but this time it's allowed.

Take a James Squire Porter beer, which is similar to a dark, rich stout but creamier, and match it with a dark chocolate Easter egg. One with a high cocoa content.

The roasted coffee/dark chocolate flavours of the Porter is a perfect foil to the high cocoa content of the egg.

Price: $19/6pack $58/carton

Let's get naked - cheap and stylish!

2009-04-02T22:04:00.004+11:00

As always - I'm on the conquest or really good booze at rock bottom prices. As many of my friends will vouch, I'm not afraid to admit to drinking cask wine in public - so long as my teeth remain intact afterwards!

A new innovation in wine packaging has been released. Bud Naked by Hardy's takes 2 bottles worth of wine and throws them into a nifty silver 'sunny boy' styled soft wine pack.

It lasts for a month once opened

contains regional from noted Australian and New Zealand wine regions

And costs under 20 bucks

Hoorah! I prefer the McLaren Vale Shiraz Tempranillo over the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc - but that's not to say the SB doesn't off great value - because it does!

I went bush walking and camping last week with some mates. We carted 6 bottles of wine with us. I wish this delivery came a week earlier - it would have made the trip a lot more enjoyable on my back!

Top picks

2009-03-16T07:47:00.002+11:00

Brookland Valley Verse 1 Chardonnay 2007
Peachy sweet cashew with hints of lemon honeysuckle, A delicious good value chardy from the West.
Quality 4 stars
$21
Value 3.75 stars

Patina Orange Chardonnay 2007
Lovely creamy soft malo characters play against steely fresh lemon hints and sliced white nectarine. A delightful cool climate Chardonnay.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$19

Tomich Hill Adelaide Hills Riesling 2008
Heaven scented white flowers play against sweet lime and mineral in this Adelaide Hills Riesling.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$16

Leasingham medium sweet Bin 8 2008 KS Riesling
A fabulous Riesling made in the Germanic style with a taste of residual sweetness perfect for spicy Asian dishes. Lime candy dances with lemongrass.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$23

Tomich Hill Adelaide Hills 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
Aromatic passionfruit skin and fresh green herbs play against tropical fruit and zesty lemon. A decent Aussie sav blanc that will please the masses.
Quality 3.75 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$19

Hungerford Hill Hunter Valley 2008 Semillion
A scintillating Semillon of lemon and flint mineral that is great to drink right now with simple seafood dishes
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$25
www.hungerfodhill.com.au

Nepenthe South Australian 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon/Tempranillo/Zinfandel
A deep, rich unique blend with sweet blackberry, olive and leather nuances. Great structure (thanks to the Cabernet) and fragrant aromas from the Tempranillo.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$17
www.nepenthe.com.au

Hungerford Hill 'Fishcage' 2006 Cabernet Merlot
An early drinking style of red wine with soft juicy blackberry and sweet vanilla nuances.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
www.hungerfodhill.com.au

Bush fires and Heatwaves - the wine effect

2009-02-12T22:07:00.004+11:00

Australia has taken a real battering over the past two weeks. I thought it was important to post a few links that explain the devastation our great land's wine regions have endured.

Extensive heat damage to bring supply sharply back into balance

Some regions have lost up to 50% of their expected harvest reports the Wine Grape Growers of Australia. This will bring about a balance from the previous year's wine glut. [read more]

The Damage to Victoria's famed Yarra Valley by the bush fires

Wineries and vineyard managers are still assessing damage from the bush fires that pillaged Victoria over the weekend and continue to burn across parts of the State. Roundstone Winery in Yarra Glen was completely desolated by the fire, but fortunately, owners John and Lynne Derwin managed to narrowly escape with their lives. [read more]

How the bush fires and heatwaves will affect grape and wine flavours

The extent of smoke taint to surviving vines is yet to unfold.

Chris Messerle, vineyard manager at Yarra Glen Vineyards and head of the Technical Sub-committee of the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association, said the five days of over 42 degree temperatures had hit at a critical time in the development of the fruit.

Another source said the exceptional heat had left the vines, already stressed from lack of water, even more vulnerable. “They are starting to lose leaves and the more leaves you lose the more fruit is exposed,” he said. [read more]

Grape growers worried about smoke taint from bushfires

North, North East and South East Victorian wine grape growers could lose much of their harvest due to smoke from the bushfire. The smoke can taint the grapes leaving them with a bad taste and useless for wine making. [read more]

Red spot specials!

2009-01-22T19:05:00.001+11:00

don't blame me for reviewing three Jacobs Creek wines in a row - they are all brilliant and better than 20 other wines I tasted on the day...

Jacobs Creek Reserve 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
God - it's heaven. Oodles of ripe berry flavour and smatterings of resinous vanilla. Throw into the mix some heady mint like aromas and this is ethereal. A great wine for $17.
Quality:4.25
Value 4.5
$17
http://www.jacobscreek.com/

Jacobs Creek 2005 Cabernet Merlot
A justifiable bronze medal winner at the Riverina Wine Show, this wine is smart and great value for only 11 buck (usually on special). Great mouthfeel, a full palate of berry flavour and smooth tannins to boot.
Quality: 3.5
Value 4
$11
http://www.jacobscreek.com/

Jacobs Creek Three Vines 2007 Shiraz Cabernet Tempranillo
Shiraz and Cabernet are the great Aussie blending partners and JC have thrown in an unusual bed buddy 0 the Italian variety Tempranillo. This is a sexy complete wine of juicy plum an blackberry flavours with hints of cherry ripe. Very tasty!
Quality:4
Value 4
$15
http://www.jacobscreek.com/

Wyndham Estate Bin 555 2005 Shiraz
Drinking this wine is like lingering on a bar of dark chocolate laced with rum soaked plums. Get the picture - buy the wine!
Quality:4.25
Value 4.5
$15
http://www.wyndhamestate.com/

Stefano Lubiana 2006 Tasmanian Merlot
Tasmania has produced a fabulous red that isn't Pinot Noir! There you go. And this is the wine I'm loving right now. It's ripe and carries an 14% a/v rating so this is an unexpected juicy treat. Spicy notes of star anise and mint play with blackberry fruit. Delicious!
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$35
http://www.slw.com.au/

Kia Ora - it's Hawke's Bay, New Zealand bro

2009-01-14T20:32:00.004+11:00

[pictured: Drew in front of Te Mata Peak, Hawke's Bay, NZ]

Let's start by getting one thing straight - New Zealand is more than Marlborough and definitely more than Sauvignon Blanc! In fact red wine is produced quite successfully here. Although when it come to blockbuster reds - most will probably lean towards Australia still, but when done well, New Zealand can definitely hold there own.

And an unsung hero of the New Zealand wine industry (well, in Australia at least) is Hawke's Bay - it's kinda located down the bottom right of the North Island.

This was my holiday location for the start of the New Year. After a treacherous drive from the Bay of Plenty that took three times as long as I expected (a nine hour trip) i arrived - just. Driving by yourself with no radio reception and not much sleep from the night before is a dangerous combination. Micro sleeps at 100km/h while navigating winding roads; do not try this at home.

Alas the risks were worth it - driving into Hawke's Bay i couldn't help but get a feeling this place resembled a lot like South Australia's McLaren Vale. A beautiful Mediterranean climate and smack on the coastline. Being 32 degrees on the day secured this 'club med' image. Fortunately the breezes from the ocean even out the hot temperates of the day and ensure the nights aren't too cold - hey presto it's a perfect even growing environment. Hawke's Bay is said to be the food and wine capital of New Zealand and sports one of the country's first and best farmer's markets.

Aside from Pinot Noir which is the domain of Martinborough and Central Otago and to a lesser extent Marlborough; Hawke's Bay is the red wine capital of New Zealand. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec are delish - Shiraz is good too, however they call it Syrah so not to be confused with Australia's infintely riper and more boisterous Shiraz.
Chardonnay is brilliant but Sauvignon Blanc doesn't have the same kapow as Marlborough. That said, when Hawke's Bay SB is slightly wood matured it becomes an excellent food accompaniment.

The wineries you should definitely look out for on your bottle shop shelves are Clearview Estate Winery (which proudly boast NZ's most expensive Chardonnay and Bordeaux Blend wines at $250 and $150 respectively), Te Mata Estate Winery (highly regarded as one of NZ's top wineries - and I'm a convert!) and Craggy Range Winery (one of the most amazing cellar doors I have ever encountered - EVER).

Wines I fell in love with...

Te Mata Elston 2007 Chardonnay
Considered one of New Zealand's best wineries, this is indeed one of the country's best chardonnays. Both barrel ferments and malo induced, this is a complex beast that is absolutely delicious. Think peachy flavoured almond caramel squares with a side of light marshmallow and a smattering of playful citrus.
Quality 4.75
NZ$39
http://www.temata.co.nz/

Te Mata 2006 Coleraine
This is the flagship wine for Te Mata - a Cab Sav, Merlot predominant blend with a touch of Cab Franc that really shows Hawke's Bay at its pinnacle. Scintillating delicious with dark cherry, mulberry, dark chocolate and oak influences reminiscent of cigar box. A powerful flavour length and complex palate with oodles of layers makes this a very classy wine.
Quality 4.5
NZ$75
http://www.temata.co.nz/

Te Mata Woodthorpe Gamay Noir
Here's an unexpected wonder - very much in the Beaujolais style and can handle a chill on a hot day - it sports cheery cherry/berry fruits that are both delicate and fresh.
Quality 4
NZ$19
http://www.temata.co.nz/

Clearview Estate 2007 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
100% barrel fermented, this beautifully complexed wine exhibits mineral like apply aromas with tropical melon, lemon and peach flavours.
Quality 4.5 stars
NZ$22
http://www.clearviewestate.co.nz/

Clearview Estate 2007 Reserve Chardonnay
This is the wine that has made this winery legendary in Hawke's Bay. With great palate length, this exciting wine exhibits mineral like flavours alongside subtle pear, juicy white nectarine and cashew flavours.
Quality 4 stars
NZ$35
http://www.clearviewestate.co.nz/

Craggy Range 7 Poplars Vineyard 2007 Chardonnay
A sensational wine that hums with excitement - delicate citrus, luscious tropical fruits of pineapple and nectarine play against buttery malo hints.
Quality 4
NZ$30
http://www.craggyrange.com/

Craggy Range Block 14 Hawke's Bay 2006 Syrah
An elegant wine with soft fruit flavours of cherry plum fruit backed up with white pepper, dusty sweet violet petals and fabulous deft handling of oak.
Quality 4.25
NZ$37.95
http://www.craggyrange.com/

[Drew gives you an impressive look at Te Mata Peak]

Whites in the summer heat

2008-12-13T18:38:00.004+11:00

Voyager Estate Margaret River 2008 Chenin Blanc
Fabulous with spicy asian fare - great tropical fruit salad flavours burst fromthe glass. SO pleasing!
Quality 4
starsValue 4
stars$20

Mistletoe 2008 hunter Valley Verdelho
Just damn sexy with all the fruit and a perfect foil with summer's best BBQ foods.
Quality 3.75 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$18
http://www.mistletoewines.com/

Windowrie the Mill 2008 Verdelho
zippity acid that brings the propicaql fruit alive
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$15
http://www.windowrie.com/

Mulyan Cowra 2007 Viognier
perfect arpicot and custard apple
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$20

Pinot Noir - you soooo want these

2008-12-13T18:13:00.004+11:00

Koonara Bay of Apostles 2006 Pinot Noir
with fruit from the Bellarine Peninsula and Mt Gambier, this wine has been named after one of Australia's most beautiful landmarks - the 12 Apostles. For 20 bucks you're getting a juicy flavoursome wine bursting with vanilla and cherry fruit with layers of sexy velvet tannins to carry this nicely. Just scrumptious!
Quality 4 stars
Value 4.5 stars
$20
www.bayofapostles.com

Moorooduc Estate Devil Bend Creek 2007 Pinot Noir
A scintillating Pinot Noir from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. Cheery dark cherry flavours abound with sap like influences and velvety tannins.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4.5
stars $25
http://www.moorooducestate.com.au/

Mosswood Margaret River Mosswood Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noir
It doesn't get much lovelier than this. Spectacular aromas leap from the glass - sweet cherry, licorice, cardamon and lavender. The palate is silky smooth with a flavour that just keeps pumping.
Quality 4.75 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$60
http://www.mosswood.com.au/

Clean Skin Wines

2008-11-25T21:41:00.000+11:00

If you want to save a fortune with wine - go to your local retailer and ask if they stock Clean Skin wines. These wines have all the usual 'hype' taken away from them. They simply state the wine variety, region and vintage. Occasionally they'll tell you a little more like how the wine is made as well. But the best part about these wines is the price. You'll save 50% usually and the wines bring a sense of adventure back to tasting wine. You can really unearth some bargains. And it's easy to take risks - because you won't lose big because the wines are so cheap to start off with!

I recently stumbled across http://www.backvintage.com.au/

Although not strictly a clean skin wine supplier - they come close and the current release Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc offer great value.

Here's some background info taken from the company's site...

The BackVintage® range of wines are independently selected and endorsed by the highly acclaimed International & Australian Wine Judge, Nick Bulleid MW. Nick is also one of only 15 Masters of Wine in Australia and a highly respected Australian and International Wine Judge.
Nick's brief is demanding. All our wines must be archetypal wines from each region and expressing the individuality of each vintage. They are fruit forward and approachable with good structure, balance and length.
The BackVintage® range of wines are not cleanskins. We exclusively source, blend and bottle premium varietal wines from well known premium regions throughout Australia & New Zealand for sale to corporate and retail customers under the BackVintage® label.
Every wine must meet Nick Bulleid's personal taste and quality criteria as well as represent exceptional value. His signature and endorsement appears on every bottle.
By buying direct, consumers are able to share in the pricing benefits available as a result of the current abundance of premium wine. Wines that would normally retail for $25.00 or more are made available directly to consumers at wholesale prices.
BackVintage Wines Australia is not a wine club - there are no joining or membership fees. As our business grows, we will source wine on your behalf - tell us what you like and we'll try to find it! And at the right price!

Also worth checking out is http://www.cleanskins.com.au/

Cask Wine - the reason Australia became sophisticated

2008-11-12T19:36:00.000+11:00

Just how did Australia fall in love with the cardboard handbag?

It was 1965 and Angoves Wines were faced with a dilemma (this is straight from a press release of the day). They wanted the most economical way to sell a gallon of wine to the market place. The cask was the answer. A revolutionary plastic membrane that was filled with the wine of the day and placed into a cardboard box (Chateau de Cardboard).

Some of us may scoff at the significance of the wine cask. Without it, many of us, including myself, would not be lovers of Australia's finest wines today, it was a stepping stone. Although I do remember it almost poisoning me before a school disco once (mental note : never attempt to drink three litres of Coolabah's finest ever again).

In 1973, before wine casks really took off, each Australian was only drinking 9.8 litres of wine per year. Wine had a "special occasion only" image. After ten years of cask presence, per capita consumption rose to 19.3 litres. Wine developed an every day, anytime, whenever-you-like-a-glass attitude. It introduced many new drinkers to wine. They could keep a cask permanently in the fridge. They would have a single glass of wine with dinner and not worry about having to finish off a whole bottle so the contents wouldn't go off.

Cask wine educated the nation. It was like training wheels for a country coming to grips with a new social sophistication. During the Menzies era we were all colonists answerable to the Queen. But along came the Whitlam era and a wine marketing campaign that has never been equalled. Wine went hand in hand with the new feeling of optimism that was spreading the nation. I still wonder how much of an impressionable six-year-old I was, I mean...those catchy jingles that were played during The Brady Bunch - "Smile, Dr Lindemans makes us smile...."

Today, statistics show that many cask wine drinkers have moved on to better quality wines. In order to keep their slice of the market, cask wine manufacturers have repositioned the humble cask. Better quality grapes, single varietal-premium grapes nonetheless, were being pumped into plastic! And vintages are being placed on labels.

The wine is even given wood-aged flavours. This, however, was achieved in an economical way, by literally throwing tonnes of oak chips into the finished wine, and then straining it.

Cask Wine reviews - what's worth drinking

2008-11-12T16:21:00.000+11:00

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Riesling
This actually smells pleasant with real Riesling like lime/floral aromas. On the palate its a bit short, but pleasant none the less. I recommend serving this with a good chill to retain a refreshing edge.
Q 3

Yalumba Premium Selection 2006 Chenin Blanc
The aroma is fairly non descript but honey dew melon like could be detected. Reasonable refreshing - i was expecting this to be cloying and overly sweet - not so! Good palate weight with lemony/melon flavours.
Q 2.75

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Sauvignon Blanc
A bit of a disappointment which proves you need cooler climates to grow this wine in order for it to retain varietal character. Aromas of tinned pineapple prevail here with flavours of lemony pineapple on the palate. Not recommended.
Q 2

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
The inclusion of the semillon has saved this wine and is quite an enjoyable drop as a result. This is much fresher with more positive aromatic fruit characters jumping out of the glass. Fruit salad aromas and flavour predominate. A good budget quaffer for all occasions.
Q 3.25

sq3 Semillion Sauvignon Blanc (by Beelgara wines)
A fuller wine in the mouth than the Yalumba equivalent and is equally enjoyable. This would be more your BBQ white with food option rather than hanging round the pool and getting sauced with your friends kinda wine -if you catch my drift! There's probably more Semillion in this blend than the previous example. Flavours of citrus, melon and passionfruit. This wine also wins the award for best looking cask - it's a little cube that will definitely make cask wine detractors sit up and rethink.
Q 3.25

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Unwooded Chardonnay
A fresh pineapple and white nectarine aroma gives way to lemony/white peach like flavours. Good palate length here, just a bit of a boring wine if you ask me!
Q 3

Half Mile Creek Semillon Chardonnay
An absolute cracker of a cask wine - cook fruit weight i the mouth with interesting characters. Peachie/melon fruity characters with ample fruit salads flavours backing it up. A real joy to drink that has a good length.
Q 3.5

Banrock Station Semillon Chardonnay
Equally as enjoyable as the half mile creek, except the flavour is less fruit driven, more refreshing, if that makes sense. I would guess this wine has a higher percentage of Semillon involved. Good nonetheless.
Q 3.5

Renmano Colombard Chardonnay Semillon
Slightly disappointing - a bit sweet dough like in aroma with yeasty/peach and lemon flavours on the palate. Not recommended.
Q 2

Hardys Chardonnay (3 litre)
A fairly non descript peachy melon job. Not terribly exciting but does the job whilst having a good palate weight.
Q2.75

sq3 Chardonnay (by Beelgara wines) 3 litres
A refreshing Chardonnay with many layers that give this wine a bit more oompth and excitement that sits on top of the usual peach melon flavours. Good length of flavour
Q3.25

Lindemans Cawarra Chardonnay
This wine's aroma is dominated by the off putting sweet dough like characters, which are overpowering the sweet peach/orange/rock melon flavours. If it wasn't for the dough character - this would have scored highly.
Q 3

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Chardonnay
A standout Chardonnay - not only does this wine have a lovely fragrance the wine carries through on the palate and is definitely exciting. The peachie/cashew nut flavours combine with lemony fresh/peach like fruit fruit characters. An absolutely delicious wine. Bottle this!!
Q 3.75

Queen Adelaide Chardonnay
A good quaffer -no faults to be sen here. Pleasant peach melon flavours, touch of melon and vanilla add to the mix.
Q 3

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Merlot
A fairly sweet berry fruited innocuous red wine. Not being a fan of Merlot I was not terribly let down! Lacks a bit of flavour on the back of your tongue.
Q 2.75

Hardy's Reserve Merlot (3 litres)
While this Merlot is lacking in the fruit sweetness of the wine above, it does have a more complete flavour running the mouth. I'd void this nonetheless. I truly believe people who drink Merlot only buy it for the name because if they drank a decent cask Cabernet or Shiraz blend they would never buy Merlot again!
Q 2.75

Queen Adelaide Regency Red
A good quaffing red - good berry fruitiness balanced with a flavour that is well rounded.
Q 3

Half Mile Creek Shiraz Cabernet
This wine is disappointing - flavours are stewed fruit and jammy. An unpleasant experience.
Q 2

Banrock Station Shiraz Cabernet
Now here is a stunning cask wine. Great depth of concentrated flavour. You can tell the plummy Shiraz fruit is shining through with lovely vanillins from the oak treatment.
Q3.5

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Cabernet Merlot
While this does have all the hall marks of cassis/berry cabernet flavours, this lacks intensity. Still not too bad.
3.25

Renmano Premium Cabernet Merlot
Another wine with slight cooked jammy fruit flavours, which is a bit of shame because the wine has good fruit weight in the mouth. Fortunately the off putting flavours subside after a while and this wine becomes more pleasant with plummy/blackberry flavours shining through.
Q 3.25

Lindemans Cawarra Cabernet Merlot
Wow - love this. Very decent Cabernet fruit flavours of blackberry, a good all rounder.
Q 3.5

sq3 Cabernet Merlot (by Beelgara - 3 litres)
This wine is noticeably fruitier than other cask reds, but it does have good structure and distinctive cassis fruit flavours giving it credibility. This is a good BBQ wine, able to handle meatier dishes and richer tomato and BBQ sauce.
Q 3.5

Yalumba Premium Selection 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine tastes a bit thin in the flavour stakes for my liking. It does have the necessary cassis flavour, but it's a bit green an insipid.
Q 2.75

Hardy's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (3 litres)
Now here's a wine of distinction. Great fruit that has excellent depth considering this is cask wine. Red berry fruits, traces of oak treatment and great length of flavour.
Q 3.5

Travel the world's greatest wine regions on the cheap

2008-10-30T22:59:00.007+11:00

Travelling the wold's greatest wine regions doesn't have to cost you an arm or a leg. If you research wisely and book everything online - not only will you have a totally unique adventure, you will save almost 50 per cent off the bill.

My fave sight ww.tripadvisor.com has just announced the world's top 10 wine regions for popularity amongst visitors.

1. Bordeaux, France

2. Napa Valley, California

3. Tuscany, Italy

4. Champagne-Ardenne, France

5. Barossa Valley, Australia

6. La Rioja, Spain

7. Sonoma Valley, California

8. Valle Central, Chile

9. Stellenbosch, South Africa

10. Marlborough, New Zealand

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ said: 'We have noticed that many travellers frequently share reviews, opinions and photos of wine destinations and tours in our forums, and the number of people doing so is constantly increasing.'

Owned by Expedia, TripAdvisor says its branded sites comprise the largest travel community in the world, with over 6m registered members and 15m reviews and opinions.

Crisp Whites are alright

2008-10-21T23:32:00.003+11:00

Mistletoe Home Vineyard 2008 Semillon (Hunter Valley)
Young and fresh, just the way I love them! This is fairly low in alcohol at only 9.5% so it makes a great luncheon wine. It also has more generous sweet lemony fruit flavours than usual for a Hunter Semillon - which I personally love. Great acidity nonetheless makes this a summer time whiz of a wine.
Quality 3.75 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$18
www.mistletoewines.com

Hungerford Hill 2007 Hunter Valley Semillon
This wine has a very sexy backbone of scintillating acid which keeps the lemon, lime and lanolin flavours in check. A long lasting palate (flavour) ensures this wine will be a great match for simple seafood dishes.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$22

Cargo Road Wines 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Orange, NSW
Here's a great Sauvignon Blanc to rival many Adelaide Hills finer examples. Orange is chillingly cold at times and this is perfect weather for slow growing perfect Sauvignon Blanc. Freshly sliced granny smith apple plays alongside limey melon like characters and pandanas leaves.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$22
http://www.cargoroadwines.com.au/

Houghton 2007 White Classic
Long gone is the White Burgundy moniker. At the same time the label has been cleaned up and is now delivering sound quality flavours of ripped passionfruit, ripe nectarine, white grapes, pineapple and apricot. This medium weighted wine is bursting with fruit flavour. Damn good value, a great budget quaffer for everyday chugging!.
Quality 3.75
Value 3.75
$14

What a sparkling idea!

2008-10-12T16:32:00.002+11:00

Orlando Trilogy Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier NV Rose
Essences of strawberry nougat and almond play with a fresh backbone of appley acidity. Delicious and creamy and worth every cent
Q 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$16.50

Jacobs Creek Sparkling Rose
Aromas of sweet cherry and strawberry back up this very easy to drink rose. A fresh citrus zest keeps this budget bubbler alive.
Quality 3.75
Value 3.75
$14

Lindauer Brut Cuvee
For sixteen bucks this is truly sensational - sweet brioche and creamy fabulousness! Yes, I'm a fan!! A very fine bead makes this stand out from the crowd.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4.5 stars
$16.50

Deutz Marlborough Cuvee Blanc de Blanc 2005
Such a fine drop, searing citrus acidity, a very fine bead, a creamy texture and oodles of personality!
Q4.5 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$32

THE ENGISH INVENTED CHAMPAGNE.

2008-10-01T21:30:00.003+10:00

[the following extract was taken from 'Pop Culture', written by me, Drew Lambert, in 2003. Five years before news broke that the English did indeed invent sparkling wine.]

I’m sorry for shouting then but I needed to get your attention! The following is going to be one of those fascinating dinner time conversations that will either piss your friends off (for you being a know-it-all) or win you so many cred-points that people will never question your wine knowledge ever again. Either way, its better than talking about religion.

The first sparkling Champagne is believed to have been made in Champagne around 1695, at least 30 years after the English. It couldn’t have happened in France any earlier for two main reasons. Firstly, French glass was not strong enough to withstand the pressure that builds up inside a bottle without exploding. And secondly, cork was yet to be used in France as a stopper. The common stopper until that time was the unreliable system of a wooden bung wrapped in cloth (clean, hopefully!). So who had the technology to make sparkling wine? Step forward the country renowned for its fine cuisine, England.

God bless the English, they weren’t big producers of wine, but boy, did they like to import lots across the English Channel. They imported a myriad of regional still wines, all in wooden casks, and this included still Champagne. The English in turn bottled this wine for resale to the thirsty hoards. England had already been using cork as a preferred wine stopper for the better part of 100 years. And it was in 1630 that retired British Admiral, Sir Robert Mansell, invented the process for making glass stronger. Rob (as I’m sure his mates called him) was searching for a way to make coloured glass when he came up with the manufacturing idea of smelting iron and magnesium together (as you do). Hey presto – strong glass!

While no one can say which Englishman (or woman) actually invented the process, Sir George Etherege wrote in 1676 that the English were already transforming the still wines of Champagne into sparkling. This was at least 20 years prior to France’s first claim to sparkling wine production by the much lauded, Dom Pérignon.

English sparkling wine was even referred to as far back as 1662 when some geezer called Christopher Merret presented a paper which stated that sugar and molasses were being added to wines of to make them sparkling. Cor blimey. Who would’ve thunk it!

So what the hell did Dom Pérignon actually do to deserve his fame?

Pérignon, a monk of the religious persuasion, was the cellarmaster at the Abbey of Hautervillers. The French like to put forward Dom Pérignon as the guy that came up with the idea of bottling a sparkling wine.

Champagne is a funny old place to grow wine grapes. You may not realise this, but Champagne is the most northerly place in all of France where grapes are grown. As a result, the cold weather has a major influence on the wine’s making. Pérignon became fond of the local wines that magically became fizzy after the harsh winter had ended. The warmer weather caused a second fermentation in the wine, which up until that point, had only been partly fermented.

Pérignon is regarded as the first Frenchman to use cork and instigated the use of stronger bottles for the production of sparkling Champagne. It cannot be confirmed or denied however if he had previously taken a ‘junket’ to London for educational purposes (I’m not sure if they had passport control back then). Notice how I’ve avoided using the word “stolen” here!

There is one thing we can thank Dom for however, and that’s his deft hand at blending wines. He noted that no one vintage in Champagne ever produced the same flavour of wine, due to the climatic effect of the weather. He also noted the vineyards within Champagne gave differing Champagne flavours dependent on where they were grown. In fact each vineyard site had qualities he found marvellous. He came up with the idea of blending the various wines of Champagne into one super blend containing all the desirable attributes of the base wines

He may have been good, but he wasn’t perfect. There was still the problem of making the wine look clear. You see, when the second yeast fermentation starts (under cork so the bubbles get trapped in the wine) the yeast cells that cause the wine to sparkle soon die leaving a murky deposit behind. Picture bits of gunk floating in the wine – not very attractive.

If you ever see Champagne glasses from this time they are often frosted so the gunky bits can’t be seen. The next big step in the history of Champagne was learning how to remove these gunky bits without loosing the wine’s sparkle. This would involve removing the sediment under pressure, as straining the sediment would make the wine lose its sparkle.

I know some of you will find this hard to believe, but the person responsible for inventing the sediment removal process – was, a woman!! [The crowded courtroom gasps with amazement]

“Quiet in the courtroom!”

Who would have thought in the days when men ruled the world that a woman would be allowed to do anything so monumental [all women reading this blog will feel great sisterly pride by now]. The woman of course was the Widow Clicquot, the Alexis Carrington of her day, only less sex and smaller shoulder pads.

Clicquot tackled the sediment problem by grabbing a kitchen table, sawing two legs off and drilling countless holes in the table top to hold the Champagne bottles. With the bottles in the frame the Widow then gave each a quick twist. Performed gradually over a three month period, the sediment eventually moved into the bottle's neck.

The Widow's next step was to quickly remove the cork (while the bottle was upside down) and empty about 5cm of wine (which contained all the sediment). The bottle was quickly up-righted and topped up with some spare wine before being recorked and tied down with string ready for sale.

La Veuve Clicquot's method is still used today. Except it's now on a much grander scale and no, kitchen tables are no longer used.

One final invention worth noting before we head down the riveting track of modern sparkling wine making is the muselet. I particularly like this story because it involves a lot of exploding bottles and wastage of fabulous booze (which sounds very Champagne if you ask me!).

Up until 1844 Champagne corks were traditionally secured using string made from hemp. The big problem here however was the string often became affected by mildew, causing Champagne corks to explode long before they were required. There were also reports that often during transportation between Champagne and the world’s capitals that rats used to nibble on the string. It seems they too were partial to a drop of fizz. This was also the reason why a foil hood surrounded the cork and string, to try and keep rats at bay.

Then in 1844, Adolphe Jacquesson patented the metal capsule and wiring, which to this day remains, unfortunately for the thirsty rats. Problem solved!

Dinner party etiquette

2008-09-18T20:54:00.004+10:00

When you’re the guest
Your best mates, Robbie and Bonita have invited you over for a swish dinner party. Bonita has just returned from a cook’s tour of Italy and you know the food will be totally orgasmic. Adding to your nervousness, Robbie happens to be as stickler for protocol learnt from years of working as a butler in a five star hotel. You just can’t turn up with any old wine. Or can you?

Long gone are the days when you would expect your host to supply all the wines for the evening. If you have a friend who still practices this rare art form – cherish them dearly! The number one rule however is to never arrive at your friend’s house empty handed, especially if they have gone to some effort. They’ve cooked for hours and spent a good deal of money on delicious wines. I suggest you turn up with a lovely bunch of flowers or an interesting book on a subject they love. This will ensure you get invited back again.

Most of you however will bring wine to this soiree. The big question however is what do you bring when you don’t know what they’re serving! That’s easy. It’s quite acceptable to phone your host and explain to them how you want to match their food with the perfect wine. So ask them what they’re cooking for dinner. That way you are assured of bringing the right wine.

At the same time they can warn you if someone is already bringing plenty of one particular wine already. They might recommend that you just bring a nice bubbly instead. The benefits of phoning a friend are obvious.

If you feel it is inappropriate to call your hosts (maybe you’re running late or too embarrassed to do so), simply bring a bottle of something you would like to drink yourself. Then comes the next conundrum of modern etiquette. If you bring a bottle of wine to a dinner party, should the host serve it that night? Or is it a present for his or her cellar?

Do what I do when I bring a bottle to a friend’s place for dinner. Hand it to your host and express excitedly, “this wine is going to be great, I just can’t wait to taste it!”

Your host will soon get the hint! The big no-no (which is tantamount to social death) is taking back the bottle of wine you brought with you if it doesn’t get drunk that night. Do this and you risk being labelled ‘cheap’ by your friends. Leave the wine behind as a thank you to your hosts. If the host offers it to you before you leave, politely decline it, and say something thoughtful like, “after that fantastic meal, I think you should be rewarded!” You’ll get brownie points for the smarmiest compliment of the evening and your hosts will love you.

When you’re the host
If you’re the host, here are the rules to follow when organising your next soiree.

Don’t forget to be a responsible host and always have water on the table. Not everyone’s a wine guzzler like you!

If you’re hosting a lunch, remember wine will go to people’s head a lot quicker. So if you are supplying the alcohol, don’t go over board.

If you are serving more than one wine at a dinner party, here are my recommendations on the order you should serve wines

White before red

Light before heavy

Dry before sweet

Simple before complex flavoured wines

Or even a very light red before a rich, full-bodied white wine will work.

And if you know it’s going to be a particularly wild night of drinking and eating, always drink the better quality first (while you can appreciate it in all its glory!). There is nothing worse then waking up the next morning, walking out to the kitchen and seeing a $100 bottle of empty wine and wondering how good it really was!

Reds to bed (delicious)

2008-09-17T23:05:00.004+10:00

Wyndham Estate George Wyndham Founders Reserve 2005 Shiraz
What an unctuous. absolutely scrumptious red wine. rich ripe cherry and plum fruits play alongside chocolate and black pepper. A must buy
Quality 4.25 star
Value 4.25 stars
$20
www.wyndhamestate.com

Glen Eldon Wines Dry Bore 2005 Barossa Shiraz
Super Concentrated coffee mocha and dark chocolate dripping over ripe plum fruit. It does not get much better than this. Great tannin structure and a flavour hat keeps on going on!
Quality 4.5 stars
Value 4.5 stars
$25
www.gleneldonwines.com.au

Frogrock 2004 Petit Verdot from Mudgee, NSW
Frogrock! That's a well known rock formation found in Mudgee that, you guessed it - looks like a squatting frog! This is Frogrock's first attempt at a Petit Verdot, and it's quite a sound example of what Bordeaux does so well. A spicy fragrance leaps out f the glass with oodles of blackberry spearmint. There's a real dirt ridden honest flavour here - and I love it! Sere it magnificently alongside charred rump straight from the BBQ.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$24
http://www.frogrockwines.com/

Wyndham Estate Bin 515 2oo6 Shiraz Viognier
This silky seductive wine displays ripe cherry and blackberry fruit on a background of stone fruit such as peach and apricot (Viogniers influence shining through). A great wine yet again from the Bin series with a great price to match
Quality 4 star
Value 4 stars
$15
www.wyndhamestate.com

Patina 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (from Orange, NSW)
This elegant wine shows all the beautiful characters of cool climate - succulent and juicy fresh strawberry, cherry and inky blackberries play alongside spices of mint and cardamon. A seriously good wine to savour.
Quality 4.5 star
Value 3.75 stars
$27

Windowrie The Mill Central Ranges 2006 Shiraz
There's a lot of sweet berry fruit on the palate of this wine, which makes it approachable right now and a delight for those not used to drinking red. With savoury nuances to balance out the sweet overtones - this could be an interesting wine to pair with spicy food.
Quality 3.75 star
Value 3.5 stars
$15

Haselgrove Sovereign Series 2006 Shiraz
Yet another great wine from this consistently good value wine label. With sweet plummy blackberry fruit alongside some tobacco and vanilla flavours, this wine is a great all rounder Shiraz.
Quality 3.75 stars
Value 4.25 stars
$10

Get your drink on... great wines right now

2008-08-02T17:46:00.003+10:00

Haselgrove Sovereign Series 2006 Chardonnay
I love nothing more than bagging a good bargain - and here's a pearler. Honest orange, melon and peach flavours play with lemony delicious flavours with a creamy backbone
Quality 4 stars
Value 4.5 stars
$10

Nepenthe Unoaked 2007 Chardonnay
This crisp and exciting wine from the Adelaide Hills is spring in a glass - sprightly lemon zest with freshly sliced white nectarine play alongside flavours of honeydew and almond. Because it's unwooded, you can team it with spicy Asian food with great success.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$19.50

Haselgrove HRS Adelaide Hills Reserve 2007 Chardonnay
Here's a reserve wine that lives up to it's name - fig jam and rockmelon aromas dance next to lightly toasted almond. A great length of flavour will mean you'll please a lot of friends if you serve this wine.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$25

Mulyan 2006 Cowra Chardonnay
Whispers of peach nectarine and almond balance some sweet cashew nut flavours with a fresh kiwifruit zest. Delish.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.75rs
$20

Sandalford Margaret River 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
sweet mulberry fruit plays against some savoury dark chocolate and tobacco. Quite a sexy little number.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3 stars
$35

Zema Estate 2005 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
a dense and delicious blackberry, sweet spice number. Outstanding Coonawarra varietal definition and length that goes on and on.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$25

Three Great Shiraz

2008-07-20T09:25:00.002+10:00

Zema Estate 2005 Coonawarra Shiraz
A wine of great depth and character - taste rich and ripe plum/red berry fruits alongside fine cocoa powder. A well balanced number with a good length of palate.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$25

Ferngrove Frankland River 2007 Shiraz
Here's a bright cheerful wine from WA's acclaimed Frankland River Shiraz growing region. Fresh berry and cherry as well as juicy plum are backed up by spicy black pepper and cloves.
Quality 3.75 stars
Value 4 stars
$20

Patina 2005 Mudgee Shiraz
I honestly don't get a chance to taste enough Mudgee wines. It's a pity because this is brilliant. Super rich plum fruit and spice is matched against a backdrop charred honey and cedar. A wine t enjoy now.
Quality 4.5 stars
Value 4 stars
$27

Cider house rules

2008-07-16T20:27:00.002+10:00

Are you a cider nut? I am. Ever since living in the UK I’ve preferred it to beer. It’s not that I’m a big nelly drinker (all my friends will vouch for that!) I just find it more refreshing and flavoursome – and I’m not alone. Cider may appear to be the drink that sits quietly at the bottom of the retail fridge but the opposite is true. Did you know the cider segment is the quickest growing in Australia!

What is cider and why has it become the quiet achiever?

What is cider and how is it made
Put simply, cider is manufactured from the fermented juice of apples. The recipe often includes 10 per cent pear juice, which is said to deliver a smooth mouth-feel – in the same way Merlot effects a red wine blend.

You can use any type of apple for making cider, but if you want a cider with 'body', you'll need 'cider apples'. These are high in tannin, vary in acidity and cannot be used for eating or cooking.

Ciders from around the world
English ciders
Are predominantly made using Bittersweet & Bittersharp ‘cider apples’ with higher levels of tannin. This results in a stronger, more astringent flavour.

Australian ciders
Are made using more culinary apple juice to give a lighter, less astringent taste.

A favourite of mine at the moment is the new premium Mercury Artisian

How should I drink cider?
Sure you can drink it straight up in a schooner glass (freshly taken from the freezer), but that wouldn’t fit into the modern way of drinking, where it seems everything is being tricked up. Try these alternatives

Snakebite - beer and cider. Contrary to what most people think, a snakebite isn’t any more potent than the beer & cider used to make it. Nor does it make you any more drunk. Also try a Snakebite with black current.

Cider mixed with Dry & fresh lime.

Cider mixed with fresh lime

Cider straight over ice

North Cider – 1 shot of vodka, Cider, a top of cranberry juice and slice of fresh lime.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DURIF!!

2008-07-09T20:23:00.003+10:00

[excerpts from media release from Rutherglen winemakers association]

Centenary of Rutherglen Durif 1908-2008
It’s unusual for a grape variety to be ‘owned’ by a single wine region, but that hasn’t stopped wine lovers who regard the red grape Durif as being Rutherglen’s own.

Durif was first planted in the famous Rutherglen wine region in 1908, which means the variety is having a very special birthday this year, its one hundredth year.

Rutherglen Durif is truly a red wine with attitude. From the depths of its youthful inky colour, bold flavours and mid palate weight to the complexity of bottle age maturity and characteristic long finish.

The variety was recommended by Francois de Castella, the Victorian Government’s viticultural expert, who brought the disease resistent (when planted on American rootstocks) variety back to Australia following a study tour of France, identifying varieties with potential suitability for the local growing conditions which was suffering from phyloxera.

Introducing Durif to Rutherglen at the time was indeed a master stroke. The soils, the climate and the skills of the winemakers proved to be a winning combination that ensured the variety flourished in its new home, fully justifying de Castella’s belief that Durif was a perfect fit in Rutherglen. Now, after 100 years of family winemaking experience with the variety, Durif is proudly Rutherglen’s legendary red wine.

No other winegrape in Australia has created such a strong association with a single region than Durif’s symbiotic relationship with Rutherglen – except for Rutherglen Muscat – so it comes as no surprise that local winemakers are marking the Centenary of Rutherglen Durif with a celebratory weekend on 2-3 August to acknowledge the variety’s important role in shaping the local wine industry.

A major focus of the weekend is a grand black tie seven course, degustation dinner on Saturday 2 August appropriately being staged at All Saints Estate, site of the region’s first nursery where the Durif cuttings were prepared for planting in 1908. Guests of Honour will be Will de Castella, grandson of Francois together with his wife Heather. The regionally inspired degustation menu will be matched to a selection of Rutherglen’s finest wines, showcasing premium and back vintage releases of Durif and Rutherglen fortifieds – no surprise there! Cost is $160 per person.

Another highlight will be the Rutherglen Muscat Masterclass on Sunday morning, 3 August. This two hour session will be in two parts, starting with a tutored tasting by Rutherglen’s legendary Muscat producers, showcasing the four unique Rutherglen Muscat Classifications and matched with selections of food demonstrating the remarkable versatility of the wines.
Following this you can try your hand at the winemaker’s art and create your own perfect blend from young and maturing Muscat stocks! The masterclass is an irresistible activity providing a fascinating insight into this unique and internationally famous wine – an experience unavailable in any other wine region. Lunch at Tuileries Restaurant is included, and the all up cost is $40 per person.

Also over the August 2-3 weekend, wineries will be conducting special activities such as barrel tastings of young wines and ‘Reflections of Durif’, featuring current release and older Durif wines demonstrating how they evolve and mature with bottle age. The ability of Rutherglen Durif to age gracefully is one of the variety’s notable attributes, so these free tasting sessions around the various cellar doors are an opportunity not to be missed.

Bookings and enquiries for the Black Tie Dinner and Rutherglen Muscat Masterclass can be made on the freecall line 1300 787 929.

Bourbon just got sexy

2008-07-02T21:24:00.005+10:00

If you think Bourbon is all about chugging down gallons of rough spirit with coke, think again. When Bourbon is very good, it's a gift from god! And while we're at it - let's not forget its very respectable cousin, Tennessee Whiskey. What's the difference? I'm so glad you asked!

Before we start - let's learn the basics - how Bourbon is made

Starts out as a 'mash' of corn, rye, malted barley and spring water

This 'mash' is cooked and then cooled down.

At this time the mash is combined with a portion (approx 20%) of left over sour mash from a previous fermentation, which starts off the fermentation process in the new mash

Once this has fermented, the resulting liquid is distilled. The raw spirit is called a 'white dog' - and it's nasty!!

From here it is matured in new white oak cask barrels that have been charred on the inside. It's this charring that gives the Bourbon that sweet, caramelised flavour.

Did you know Bourbon is the only product in the US to be ratified by an act of congress.

To be called a bourbon a whiskey must;

Made in the USA

Aged in new, charred, American white oak barrels for a minimum of 2 years.

The Mash (the mixture that is fermented and later distilled) must consist of a minimum of 51% Corn.

Not be distilled at more than 160 proof or an ABV of 80%.

Put in a barrel at no more than 125 proof or an ABV of 62.5%.

Not bottled at less than 80 proof or an ABV of 40%.

Nothing added post distillation save water.

A Tennessee Whiskey follows all of these steps except for one Major difference. And for this reason it is not permitted to be called a Bourbon.

After the mash is fermented and then distilled, it undergoes a process called Charcoal Mellowing:

whiskey is mellowed drop-by-drop through 10 feet of charcoal.

The exposure to oxygen allows the spirit to mellow and develop flavour. The resulting new spirit is milder, less harsh as well as fruitier and spicier.

After ‘charcoal mellowing’ we go into the barrel for maturation. Below is the rick where the charcoal is made and this is the charcoal mellowing vats.

One way to appreciate the many subtle aromas and flavour nuances of fine bourbon is to sip it neat, with a little water or one single big cube of ice.

Classic Mint Julep
Muddle 6 fresh mint leaves with 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar and a little water
in a glass tumbler. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Pour 3 parts Bourbon over
and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Manhattan
Glass: Martini glass
Method: 60ml Bourbon, 30ml sweet vermouth a dash of
bitters, stir ingredients over ice. Strain into chilled glass
Garnish: Maraschino cherry

Tasting notes

Slate - Smooth blended Bourbon Whiskey ($37)
Quite mellow and smooth, a bit lacking in flavour it is too smooth. The heat builds up less of depth. Iodine and caramel. 6/10

Jim Beam Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($45)
Buttered warm corn bread, the corn taste shines through on the robust pallet of bold flavoured caramel squares. 7/10

Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey ($60)
Lovely sweet cedar characters shine through mixing it with orange rind and honey blossom. The mellowness of this whiskey is quite beautiful with palate flavours of concentrated malt, vanilla, iodine, chili and caramel. 7.5/10

Labrot and Graham Woodfod Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($71)
A sexy subtlety is the name of the game here. Sawn cedar mixed with honeyed resin like flavours. Buttery overtones make this a very mellow like flavour and a heat that creeps up on you. Creamy vanilla like flavours. 8.25/10

Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($53)
Richly sweet overtones with robust orange peel and charred caramel squares. Wow - what a kick! 8.75/10

Baker's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($78)
Sprightly, very fierce on the palate with a sweet caramel that reaches to the very tip of the tongue. This robustness has strong iodine single malt whisky overtones. And at 53.5% i suggest you sit down while drinking this spirit! 8.25/10

Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey Single Barrel ($95)
Super mellow and smooth with an unbelievable depth of flavour and spirit. My absolute favourite.Sexy cognac like flavour march proudly along side unctuous honeyed vanilla pods. An amazing spirit. 9.5/10

hot wines this week

2008-06-27T20:05:00.004+10:00

Wyndham Estate Bin 999 2007 Merlot
cherry plum with liquorice essence. A wildly enjoyable wine of great depth. Fruit driven with great spicy detail.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$16

Evans and Tate 2006 Margaret River Chardonnay
super fruit driven peach apricot and marzipan. A great wine with citrus elements of lime.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$21

Conte Estate McLaren Vale 2006 Rock Hill Shiraz
Not bad for an 18 dollar wine from McLaren Vale - lashing of rich opulent plum an blackcurrant fruit mashing up against a spicy menthol taste.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$18

Richard Hamilton McLaren Vale 2006 Hut Block Cabernet Sauvignon
Here's a corker of a wine that is steeped in value. ripe blackberry and coffee like aromas abound with vanilla and spicy oak. Great depth of flavour.
Quality 4
Value 4.25
$18

Haselgrove HRS Coonawarra Reserve 2006 Cabernet
A truly sensational wine that has sporty flavours of ripe Cabernet fruit of blackberry and cassis as well as refreshing mint and dark chocolate. Sensational depth.
Quality 4.25
Value 4
$25

A $60 beer - YES PLEASE!!

2008-06-11T21:53:00.002+10:00

Bloody hell, and it's an Aussie long neck. The reasons why this wine costs a motza

The Crown Ambassador Reserve

fermented in a champagne bottle

9.2% a/v

It is a vintage beer - 2008

The high alcohol means it can be cellared for 5-6 years and develop lovely bottle age characters

you drink it warm - 5-7 degrees.

Drink it out of shiraz glasses - and savour the wine - dont chug

Made using fresh, green Galaxy hops - not dried hops. These hops only grow once a year - and is the reason why it is a vintage beer.

best matched with a good prime rib o been, a decadent dessert or strong ceese

The taste is luscious, sweet caramelised malt/fruit salad aromas.

Quite simply - the best beer I've ever tasted!

Who needs alcopops?!

2008-06-04T22:55:00.004+10:00

Woh - it's tough luck if you're an underage drinker in Australia at the moment. The government has just hoicked up the tax on premixed drinks like Vodka Cruisers and Bacardi Breezers in order to curb underage drinking. As a result sales have dropped by up to 40% in the first two weeks of the tax. Good news? Think again. According to The Australian sales of straight spirits have gone up by 20%, which equates to an increase of standard drinks being consumed overall! How do you spell, 'oops'.

I say, if you're gonna make your own alcopops, you cant go wrong with the following flavoured vodkas - they are simply brilliant. Drunk straight as a martini, mixed with tonic or lemonade or used in a cocktail creation.

The Finlandia Grapefruit Fusion is by far the best flavoured vodka i have ever tasted. And it's not too expensive at around the mid $30s.

Almost as good is the Origine French Pomegranate Vodka. Delicious stuff.

Wine reviews

2008-05-19T21:46:00.002+10:00

Nugan Estate Margaret River 2007 Sauvignon Blanc
A seriously good Sauvignon Blanc from Australia - who would have thought! Pungent aromas of passionfruit skin and gooseberry play against juicy lemon, melon and banana flavours. Good medium weight with fresh acidity.
Quality 4
Value 4
$20

Canberra Wines - a big thumbs up

2008-05-07T16:36:00.003+10:00

[parts of the following taken from http://www.canberrawines.com.au/]
Wine has been made in the Canberra District for 160 years, however it has only been since the early 1970's that modern development has taken place. The district's vineyards cover a large altitudinal range of 300 to 800 metres, facilitating the production of exquisite, award winning cool climate wines.
The range in temperature, vineyard elevations, varying soil types and the application of the winemaker’s skill and individual character enables production of a wide range of varieties.

For me, the Murrumbateman sub region within the Canberra district sports some of the best wines. Clonakilla and Helm are standout wineries and proudly sit alongside Australia's best. The region excels in Riesling, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz and to a lesser extent Merlot and Chardonnay.

The ability to ripen the same fruit across the whole region provides great diversity within styles.
Every cellar door provides a quality interpretation with individual character. A journey through the Canberra District tasting a single variety is an experience in itself.

A special mention goes out to Evelyn and Richard who run the Schonegg Country Guesthouse. An amazing place to stay in the heart of the Murrumbateman wine region. A perfect place to use as your base when touring the region. And being away from teh city lights, the stars at night seem to go on forever. http://www.schonegg.com.au/

Canberra Wine tasting - the wines to buy

2008-05-07T14:40:00.002+10:00

Mundoonen 2002 Riesling
According to owner Terry O’Donnell, this is one of the only Canberra Riesling’s to ever win a gold medal at the prestigious Hyatt Riesling Challenge held every year in Canberra. A spectacular wine of dried apricots, lanolin, pear and lime juice.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$27
http://www.mundoonen.com.au/

Yarrh 2005 Pinot Noir
A beautiful spot in Canberra with one of the friendliest winery dogs I’ve ever met! This wine sports lots of Asian spice flavours and hoisin sauce aromas playing against bright cherry fruit flavours. Lovely sappiness and good fruit weight. This area is usually a bit warm for Pinot but this example shows it can sometimes work.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$20
http://www.yarrhwines.com.au/

Yarrh 204 Cabernet Merlot
Even though this wine has 2 extra years age than most commercially released wines, winemaker Fiona Wholohan believes this is a drink earlier style. At $18 it’s great value for money with its bright red fruits and cassis fruit flavours playing against muted cigar box nuances. Great palate weight and acid balance.
Quality 3.75 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$18

Shaw 2006 Riesling
A fine Riesling with crisp green apple and citrus flavours abound in this harmonious wine.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.5 stars
$22
http://www.shawvineyards.com.au/

Shaw 2004 Cabernet Merlot
This really is quite fabulous – a trophy and multi award winning seamless wine with delicious spice, herbs and cassis flavours. This medium bodied wine sports sensational oak handling, great depth and length of flavour. It’s no wonder James Halliday proclaimed this winery as 5 stars.
Quality 4.5 stars
Value 4.5 stars
$22

Shaw Canberra Region 2004 Botrytis Semillon
This cellar door only wine is an unctuous drop of orange peel, apricot and tangy sweet pineapple with a searing lemony acid backbone keeping the wine in perfect balance.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$22

Gallagher 2005 Blanc de Blanc
According to winemaker Greg Gallagher, this wine is so special it was handpicked by virgins. But he would say that, he made his daughters hand pick the grapes! Putting this bias aside, this is a great example of what Canberra can do with regards to sparkling wine. We should expect this however, because Greg was a senior winemaker at Taltarni before taking up this post, and they are renowned for great sparkling wines. This Chardonnay based wine sports delicious brioche, apple and sweet pineapple nuances and a very fine bead.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.5 stars
$32-35
http://www.gallagherwines.com.au/

Wimbalari 2005 Chardonnay
I was surprised Canberra doesn’t produce more Chardonnay – this wine was a standout however and also offered great value. With white peach, baked custard and apple flavours playing alongside cashew nuts, this wine showed to me the Canberra region can produce delicious Chardonnay.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$20
wimwines@cyberone.com.au

Wimbaliri 2005 Pinot Noir
Another Pinot worth mentioning – I loved this wine’s excellent fruit depth of cherries and menthol freshness. Some great sappiness to balance the fruitiness making this a great $20 Pinot.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$20

Wimbaliri Gravel Block 2004 Shiraz
Being a cooler climate Shiraz this sports some fresh spicy nuances of eucalypt and black pepper playing off the rich plum and black olive palate. Great depth and length of flavour.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$20

Helm 2007 Riesling
This wine is considered one of Australia’s top Rieslings, and I cannot argue this fact. It boasts a scrumptious juicy lemony lime palate and an acid structure that dances on the tongue. Even though 2007 was extremely bad due to frosts and harvest was only 20% of what it should have been, this is still a marvellous wine.
Quality 4.5 stars
Value 4 stars
$28
http://www.helmwines.com.au/

Helm Premium 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
Canberra’s leading Riesling maker finally has an equal to Clonakilla’s flagship Shiraz Viognier. And the best part, it is not a direct competitor as it’s a Cabernet Sauvignon. This is one of the best standout Cabernets I’ve tasted this year in Australia and marks the first time the company has released a premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Not only is it supremely structured, it shows world class elegance and balance as well as fine grained tannins. The blackberry/cassis flavours are rich and opulent while the oak flavours are reminiscent of cigar box.
Quality 4.75 stars
Value 4.5 stars
$45

Clonakilla 2007 Riesling
From the frost affected year of 2007, this wine has a searing good acid backbone and juicy lime, green apple fruit flavours with teensy white florals peeking through. Mineral like characters are also apparent.
Quality 4 stars
Value 3.75 stars
$45
http://www.clonakilla.com.au/

Clonakilla 2006 Ballinderry
This Cabernet Merlot blend is bursting with ripe and sumptuous blackberry and plum fruit alongside aniseed spice. With savoury nuances like black olive also taking centre stage, I instantly feel in love with this cracker of an elegant wine.
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4 stars
$35

Dionysus 2005 Merlot
This winery is a very hands on concern with the whole family pitching in to do everything from picking the fruit right through to bottling the wine. Let me start by saying Merlot is usually a big disappointment – this is however an exception! Stacked full of plum and fruit cake flavours matched with spice and fruit peel, this wine is supple to taste and sports sily tannins. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is also worth a look.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$20
http://www.dionysus-winery.com.au/

Murrumbateman Winery 2003 Barbera
This Italian varietal wine offers plum and red berry fruits with a savoury backbone of flavour. And being a five year old wine, this wine is ready to drink right now. What a fantastic wine.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$25
http://www.murrumbatemanwines.com.au/

Jeir Creek 2003 Cabernet Merlot
A fabulous wine of great complexity and aged characters. Perfumed aromas emanate along with ripe cassis fruit flavours and oak characters.
Quality 4 stars
Value 4 stars
$20
http://www.jeircreekwines.com.au/

Do you want wood with that?

2008-04-30T20:20:00.002+10:00

Everything you ever wanted to know about wood maturation

If you weren’t drinking wine in the 1980’s – count yourself lucky. Chances are, survivors of these heady days are still picking the splinters from tongue. Oak and lots of it seemed to be the order of the day. Today, winemakers are a lot savvier in the use of oak flavouring. Rather than overshadowing the fruit flavours, oak is now there to support and enhance these flavours (well that’s what it’s supposed to do in theory at least). How much oak is used is dependent on the quality and intensity of the wine it’s being matched to. Big, juicy flavoursome red wines demand more oak then say, delicate white wines.

The flavours oak imparts on a wine can range from oak (obviously), cedar and pine, to vanilla, cashew and smoky. Here’s a quick rundown on the variables of oak maturation.

Big V’s small
Wine barrels come in a range of sizes, from 225 litre versions right up to 5000 litre. A small vessel will have a greater surface area of wood exposed to wine – hence a greater wood flavour will be imparted to the wine. See glossary – “barrique, hogshead and puncheon”.

New V’s old
An older barrel that has been used in previous vintages will impart less wood flavours onto the wine.

Barrels V's inner staves V’s wood chips
This is very much an economics issue. Barrels are becoming quite expensive nowadays so cheaper alternatives are used to flavour our better value wines. Oak barrels are said to give the best, integrated flavour (but they’re quite expensive and are now reserved for our more expensive wines). Oak planks submerged into stainless steel vats of wine give a similar flavour at a fraction of the cost however. The cheapest option for oak flavouring a wine is to use big ‘tea bag like’ sacks of oak chips. If you look on a wine label you can usually tell if a wine has had either of the latter two treatments. Look out for “oak influenced” or “oak character”

French V's American
This may seem incomprehensible at this early stage in your wine life, but where the oak tree is grown can be just as important as where the grapes were grown. Naturally the most exotic and elegant woods come from France, and the loudest, fullest flavoured woods come from America (it really stands to reason!). Why so? French oak trees are grown in a cooler climate so their grains are a lot more tightly structured than their warmers grown cousins in America (which just so happen to have a looser grain). The tighter French grain is better suited to more sophisticated wines (think Cabernets and Pinot Noirs) whereas the full flavoured, up-front characters of American oak is suited to robust wines such as Shiraz. French oak is also around twice the price of American.

Time in oak
Obviously the longer a wine stays in an oak barrel, the greater will be its pickup of oak flavour. Wines can age in oak barrels for up to several months (for fuller bodied white wines) and between 12-18months (for fuller bodied red wines).

Toast
A cooper will toast the inside of a barrel to light, medium or heavy toast. This will impart an obvious smoky character in some wines.

Unoaked?
Some wines (like Chardonnay) are purpose-built to be cross-pollinated with oak barrels. I believe it’s a crime not too. There are however a stream of people clambering for the innocent flavours of an unadulterated Chardonnay. These people crave to taste the true expression of the grape – all those lovely peachy, melonny flavours without the likes of cashew nuts getting in the way. Good for you. I’m sure the two of you will be happy together (said with tongue firmly in cheek!).

A combination
In the quest for a complex wine (of many layers of flavours) a winemaker often separates a wine into a variety of vats and subjects each wine to a different oak treatment. After these treatments are finished, he or she will blend the wines back together for an improved result. They often proudly state these facts on the back of wine labels (with the underlying theme – look how bloody hard I worked on this wine – you better enjoy it or….)!

Red blender reviews

2008-04-17T21:52:00.002+10:00

I just ripped through 12 red blended wines priced 10-35 bucks. The wines I feel in love with most cost 10 and 15! You must buy the Haselgrove Sovereign - it was the standout as well as being the cheapest at $10

Haselgrove Sovereign Series Cabernet Merlot 2006
Here's a juicy rich wine with lots of spice, cherry and plummy like fruits. A great depth.
Quality 4
Value 4.5
$10

Another beautiful wine expressing cool climate fresh berries and spiceiness. A greater depth than the previous wine but woth the extra $5.
Quality 4.25
Value 4
$15

Cellaring wine - how to do it at home

2008-04-16T20:36:00.002+10:00

People cellar wine hoping that when they do finally pop the cork, a magical drink will lie before them. They hope the wine’s primary fruit and oak flavours have turned into ethereal bottle aged characters. When good, these new attributes add an extra dimension to the wine. Then there’s the downside. If you do not cellar your wines properly you risk turning your investment into the main ingredient for Paul Newman’s Salad Dressing.

If you’re a bit strapped for cellaring space, it doesn’t mean cellaring wine is impossible. These are the ideal conditions to look out for in your house.

· a very dark location,
· relatively cool,
· away from vibrations
· and with no fluctuations in temperature

A dark cupboard that gets no sun and has good ventilation to sweep away any captured heat would be ideal.

If you can, give the cupboard a measure of humidity by placing a bowl of water in there as well. Just don’t blame me if your linen goes moldy. Humidity is important because it stops the cork drying, shrinking and letting air in. This is also why we lie bottles of wine down - to keep the end of the cork moist.

The biggest killer of wine is temperature fluctuation. The bottle contents expand in hot weather (pushing the wine out) and contract in cooler weather (pulling air in). For the first year or two the elasticity in the cork will keep it in contact with the neck. After that however, the cork will lose its resilience and fail to expand back to its original shape. This is when you will have problems with wine leakage (look for telltale sticky residue around the neck).

Even if the temperature doesn’t fluctuate, excessive heat will literally ‘cook’ your wine, resulting in fat and jammy flavours. Sunlight and ultraviolet light over a long period will also give the wine flat, lifeless flavours. That’s another reason why you should buy wine in coloured glass bottles – unless you’re drinking it straight away. Whichever storage method you choose, it will never be as perfect as a damp, musty, cool and dark hole in the ground. If you have to cut corners, you can expect the wines to mature much more quickly, so don’t try and cellar the wines for more than five years. For more expensive bottles of wine, you may want to invest in professional storage for longer-term cellaring.

Tea Party - how to make the perfect cup

2008-04-09T21:23:00.002+10:00

Tea and wine have a lot in common. Both are products of the earth and flavours vary year to year depending on the growing season.

While you'll never see a 'vintage' tea on your supermarket shelf, a tea maker will work his or her magic in the same way a commercial wine maker will to ensure a consistent blend, year in year out.

How to make the perfect cup of tea.

The following comes courtessy of Twinings, which has just launched a blend to suit the Australian palate. Simply Tea.

1. Always fill the kettle with fresh cold water to maximize the oxygen in the water. It is the oxygen in the water that draws the flavour out of the tea leaves.

2. Use the right teapot or mug – use plain earthenware, porcelain or glass. Aluminum or chipped enamel teapots and cups as they will affect the taste of the tea.

3. Warm the pot or mug with a little hot water. This will ensure the tea stays hot for a longer period of time.

4. When making a pot of tea, use the old tea merchant’s rule of thumb - one teaspoon of tea (or tea bag) for each person and one for the pot.

5. Pour the water onto the tea as soon as it boils. Don't allow the water to over boil. This removes the oxygen from the water and leaves the tea tasting flat and dull.

6. Finally, let the tea stand and brew for three to five minutes. If the strength is not to your liking, adjust the amount of tea you use - not the brewing time. Brewing the tea for too long will result in a bitter taste.

And if using milk, I personally recommend skim milk as this will ensure the inegrity of the tea's tanin structure is left intact - ie, that refreshing flavour will remain.

Tea and food matching

Darjeeling – a delicate tea with a distinct muscatel flavour suits tuna, trout and curry dishes.

Earl Grey – with its bergamot flavour goes well with sweet dishes. Match this tea with honey sandwiches, sweet cakes and crème brulee.

Lapsang Souchong – with its distinctive smoky aroma is great with blue cheese at the end of a meal.

English Breakfast – a full bodied, typically English brew that compliments bacon and eggs and roast lamb.

Green teas - have a clean, subtle flavour that will not overpower food. Green teas are a perfect accompaniment to most foods, particularly prawns or other seafood.

Camomile and Spearmint tea works well with light foods such as lemon sorbet

Lemon flavoured black teas goes with smoked salmon, quiches, and white fish.

Drink these...

2008-03-22T18:10:00.004+11:00

Catching Thieves Margaret River 2007 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
A juicy fruit concoction of sweet lemon, watermelon and pineapple. This has oodles of refreshing New Zealand styled hebaciousness, even though it's from WA's Margaret River!
Quality 4
Value 4.25
Price $16

Tyrrell's Rufus Stone Heathcote 2005 Shiraz
This richly flavoured plummy wine also sports succulent chocolate flavours that have been laced with chili. Also making cameo appearances are rummy raisin flavours and vanilla bean. Love this wine.
Quality 4.25
Value 4.5
Price $20

Dowie Doole 2005 McLaren Vale Shiraz
Heavenly aromas of deep dark chocolate, densely flavoured plums and spice. A real wow of a wine that envelops it's flavour with a casing of chewy tannins.
Quality 4
Value 3.5
Price $25

Picarus 2006 Wrattonbully Shiraz from Winetrust Estates
A deftly made Shiraz from the region that closely resembles its neighbouring Coonawarra. Masses of plum fruit dance with spice and black pepper.
Quality 4
Value 4
Price $20

Mosswood Margaret River Ribbon Vale Vineyard 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Sweet earthy blackberry and cigar box, elements of herbaceousness that leaps out of the glass and gives a freshness that is amazing.
Quality 4.5
Value 3.5
Price $37

Dindema 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (Orange NSW)
Wines from Orange are renowned for their cool climate complexities, and this shows a wine steeped in fresh mountain red berries of strawberry, cherry and blackberry. The freshness is also shown in the spice, it's very cool and livening. Supple and smooth with fine tannins, here's ma producer to watch out for.
Quality 4.25
Value 3.75
Price $30

Balnaves of Coonawarra 2005 The Blend
Showcasing of the characteristic we love of the Coonawarra - peppermint, cassis and tobacco, a marvelous wine. Seamlessly put together with a great tanin grip and fruit weight that will see this become a great ager.
Quality 4
Value 4.25
Price $21

Kiola 2005 Shiraz (Boorowa, Hilltops Region, NSW)
Here's a little-known winery with a standout wine. Unusual cool climate spice is evident here playing alongside the standout blackberry fruit flavours. Think menthol an dark chocolate. Wonderful.
Quality 4
Value 4
Price $19

Evans and Tate 2004 Margaret River Shiraz
rich intense plum with chocolate and liquorice nuances. This wine covers every corner of the mouth and is terribly exciting to drink!
Quality 4
Value 4
Price $24

Online wine auctions - I'm in lurve!

2008-03-12T21:36:00.002+11:00

I'm drunk with excitement and it's all because of online wine auctions. With the credit crunch now upon us, we probably won't start drinking less, well probably start drinking more, but value will be the key.

With online, amazing bargains can be had with some wines being auctioned off at $5 per bottle - and these are well known wines from famous regions with age!

If you like the idea of having a case of wine always on hand and you like the excitement of experimenting with your wine purchases, this is definitely a recommended way of buying wine.

Not only will you save money, often you can buy wines that have already been matured for a few years, so you don't have to sit around waiting for the wine's flavours to mellow.

There are a few tips I recommend,

Do your research. Before placing a bid, research using Google how much the wine would normally sell for. Find out what the vintage was like for that specific variety and whether the reputation of the winery is any good. There are bargains to be had.

Check to ensure the online wine auction also guarantees the wine they sell . If it's corked or off, many will now allow you to return it for a full refund. Unfortunately you cannot return the wine if you dont like the style.

Check out http://www.graysonline.com.au/
This is one of my favourite sites at the moment for wine auctions.

Tempus Two and Lisa McGuigan - the reason I love wine

2008-03-05T21:28:00.003+11:00

I recently spent an unforgettable weekend in the Hunter Valley. Everything was taken care of. Great food, great wine and a Rod Stewart concert. It was too much fun; and fantastic to be the youngest person in the audience!

The whole trip was courtesy of the fantastic people of Tempus Two, and specifically Lisa McGuigan. I've known Lisa for a good 10 years +, just before she started Hermitage Road, which not long after became the namesake, Tempus Two.

There is something about this woman the wine industry should be very proud of. You cannot learn what this she knows. It's instinctive and comes from a passion to make people happy. Maybe it's because I come from a city background and she's always tried to drag the wine world kicking and screaming out of the past, or maybe it's simply because wine flows through her veins, it's her lifeblood.

When starting out Tempus Two, Lisa was unashamedly hell bent on producing a wine label that women would buy and that men would happily drink. Back in the mid 90's, Lisa knew women were responsible for 70% of wine purchases. From this notion, Tempus Two was borne, and from it's meagre 6000 case production, today the brand is producing 100,000+ cases of wine per year.

She produces wine of distinction, wines made from unusual varieties and standout packaging that includes labels made from pewter.

Her centrepiece is her winery in the Hunter Valley. Atop a man made amphitheatre, the Tempus Two winery holds many concerts of visiting international acts. Recently Elton John and Rod Stewart have held court, upcoming acts include Matchbox 20 and KD Lang. It's this philosophy of entertaining at cellar door that in turn promotes her wines to a great market.

My favourite Tempus Two wines of the moment
Tempus Two 2005 Pinot Chardonnay (sparkling). Lightly toasted brioche and candied apple mixed with sprightly lemon acidity. Quality: 3.75, Value: 3.75 $25
Tempus Two 2005 Pinot Gris. Luscious honey and light white floral notes mixed with citrus highlights, this granny smith apple delicious wine also has elements of honeysuckle. Quality: 4, Value: 3.75 $25
Tempus Two 2007 Melange et Trois (Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne). my absolute favourite wine of the moment. This has amazing apricot, peach, strawberry, watermelon, ummm, fruit salad wonderment flavour. I could drink this forever! Yes, it is that good! Quality 4.75, Value 4.5 $$20

Great premium Chardonnay

2008-03-01T13:19:00.002+11:00

Giant Steps Tarraford Vineyard 2006 Chardonnay
2006 was said to be a brilliant season for growing fruit in the Yarra Valley, as evident in this wine.A warm spring followed by a reasonable warm summer has given this wine a beautiful balance of flavour and natural acidity. As this hasn't gone through malolactic fermentation, it's not as creamy as some bigger flavoured Chardonnays, but has oodles of bright lemony citrus notes and crunch green apples with hints of spice and buttered toast.
Quality: 4.5 stars
Value: 3.75 stars
$40

Rhone and Away

2008-01-30T21:38:00.000+11:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve watched Home and Away but I’m sure a central theme still remains. Run away kids being given a better home thanks to the likes of caring foster parents(god bless their cotton socks).

But anyway…it just so happens that wines from France’s Rhone Valley are also being given a better home, and of all places, Australia.

No doubt you’ve all been drinking Shiraz, Grenache and probably to a lesser extent Mourvedre (Mataro) over the past 12 months. These wines, known as Rhone Valley Reds also have some sexy sisters. And these wines happen to be about as shit hot as a wine can get. Viognier is definitely the big sister garnering most attention, the otehrs however also happen to be some of the world’s rarest wine varieties, Marsanne and Roussanne.

I first fell in love with these wines when I traveled through the extremely picturesque vineyards of France’s Rhone Valley in 1999. With its lush, rolling green hill and its medieval villages, I instantly fell in love with the culture and the wine. But who are the elusive Australian producers of these rare grape varieties?

While these whites wines are quite rare in the world, one Rhone Valley variety there does seem to be an abundance of in Oz is Marsanne. Our country is in fact a world leader in this variety. We have the oldest vines, (Chateau Tahbilk – 80 years old), the largest single vineyard (chateau Tahbilk) and the greatest number of vines (together, the Goulburn Valley’s Chateau Tahbilk and Mitchelton account for one quarter of the world’s production). And the good news is that Chateau Tahbilk’s Marsanne can be bought for as little as $12 on special. When young the unwooded wine is lemony crisp and with a hint of under ripe pineapple. A young Marsanne is very much like a Hunter Valley Semillon. Slightly immature, it really should be kept for a few years until its beauty is truly recognised.

The 2004 Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne (cellar door only, 03 5794 2555) is fabulous. It sports bottle developed characters of dried apricots, lime leaves, ripe lemon, and honeysuckle.

The buying guide to sparkling wine

2008-01-06T09:29:00.000+11:00

Tips and traps – what are the indicators of quality

(print out and keep)

The best wines are made by 'Methode Traditionelle'. Look for this term on the front or back label. Methode Traditionelle is the process the French invented that turns a still wine into Champagne. The wine undergoes a second fermentation in the same bottle it is sold in. Under this method, the bubbles produced are tinier and last for longer in the glass. The process also gives a pronounced brioche/baked bread aroma.

If the label does not say ‘Methode Traditionelle’, look out for terms such as ‘made in the traditional method’, ‘méthode Champenoise’, ‘Champagne (so long as it is from the French region), ‘aged in this bottle’, ‘aged on yeast lees for x months/years’. These are all indicators of quality.

For any noticeable ‘biscuit’ flavour to be imparted to the wine, a sparkling wine needs to mature on its yeast lees for at least 18 months. Yeast lees are the dead yeast cells that are a by-product of the secondary fermentation process. The longer the wine matures on these yeast cells, the more pronounced will be the creamy/biscuity flavour. The bubbles will also be tinier and will last longer in the glass. Quality Aussie sparklers usually get 18 months or more maturation, French Champagne 3 years plus. Don’t expect the French Champagne houses to give any label clues away however. They thrive on secrecy.

Budget Aussie sparklers aren’t made by Methode Traditionelle (it’s far too expensive). Quite often anything made under $15 a bottle is either carbonated wine (from a gas cylinder) or is made using the ‘Tank’ (or Charmat) method’. This is when the secondary fermentation is carried out in a big steel pressurised vat (think of it as a big champagne bottle). Once the wine has been naturally carbonated from this process, it is transferred to another big vat, cleaned up, and then bottled. It usually has no time maturing on its yeast lees.

Vintage sparkling wines (those with a year on the bottle) are said to be better because they are only released in years when the growing conditions are perfect. Go for vintage bottles in favour of Non Vintage (NV) sparkling wines if you can afford them.

Choose Australian sparkling wines made from top quality grapes (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Pinot Meunier) from cool climate regions found in Tasmania, Central Victoria and the coldest parts of NSW or South Australia.

Suggested wines (these are brilliant for their price points)

Matthew Lang Brut Cuvee Extra Dry
$ 6.00
Bay of Fires Tigress Pinot Noir Chardonnay NV (Tasmania)
$ 23.00
Arras Traditional Method 2001 Chardonnay Pinot Noir
$ 47.00
Louis Roederer Brut Premiere Champagne NV
$ 72.00

Ordering Wines at a Restaurant

2007-11-29T22:32:00.000+11:00

Ordering wine at a restaurant can be the ultimate social leveller.

The wine list can be daunting with a vast array of wines from various, states, regions and countries with equally varied price tags. How do you go about ordering wine for your table? First, remember that the trained wine waiter is there to help you.

Firstly - the cheapest wine on the menu should never be ordered - it's usually the wine that is marked up so high and it's where teh management makes a lot of product on a very average wine.

Ask which wines are their best sellers, which wines will partner well with the entrees you are leaning towards and ultimately which wines are in your price range?

Get a feel for everyone’s wine preferences – white or red, sweet or dry and what types of food people will be ordering. If there are votes for both whites and reds, consider a palatable compromise - leaning towards a heavy white or a lighter red, a Pinot Noir or even a light-bodied Merlot.

Ordering by the glass is now an easy option in Aussie restaurants, just make sure the wine is fresh - refuse the wine if it tastes old.

Now - to taste bottle you've just ordered. First things first, the server should show you the unopened wine’s label so that you can verify that the wine that has arrived is in fact the wine you ordered. Check the variety, vintage and producer.

Next the server will pour a small sample for you to taste. Give the wine a good sniff. Do you smell any vinegar (sign of oxidation) or musty cork (sign of faulty cork) smells? Taste the wine and if it is perfect let the waiter know they can proceed.

Letting a wine breathe

2007-11-07T20:12:00.000+11:00

Decanting is where a newly opened wine is allowed to interact with the air so the aroma and flavour becomes more pronounced. The wine’s tannin also tends to mellow slightly, particularly for younger reds that are traditionally higher in tannin. Some whites will also improve with a little air exposure. In general, most wines will improve with as little as 15-20 minutes of air time. However, if the wine is young with high tannin levels, it will need more time to aerate before enjoying.

The other reason we decant wine is to separate the sediment found in the bottom of aged red wines so it doesn’t end up in the bottom of your glass.

The easy method – double decanting
To quickly aerate your bottle of red wine, gently pour it into another vessel (clean and odourless) and then pour it back into the original wine bottle. Double decanting is that simple. You’ll save hours of time if you use this method.

Simply uncorking a bottle and letting it stand for a couple of hours is pointless. The amount of wine exposed to the air at the top of the bottle is so ridiculously small it will almost do nothing to the wine.

The Wine Glass method

Pour your wine into its glass from a height of at least 15 cm above to allow aeration. Let it stand on the dinner table before guests are allowed to sit. Ensure the table is well away from kitchen smells that could be abrorbed. This is certainly the low-maintenance method and typically works quite well.

Lighter reds such as Pinot Noir which has lower tannin levels will need almost no breathing time.

Decanting older bottles of wine
Older red wines often have a harmless deposit found in the bottom of the bottle. This sediment is merely the tannin that has fallen out of the wine over time. To remove this crust you will need to master proper decanting.

A few hours before you want to drink the wine, stand the bottle upright so all the sediment falls away from the side and collects at the bottom. Remove the entire capsule from the bottle. Light a candle and place it on the table where you will be decanting. Grab the bottle and gently start pouring the wine into another clean and odourless vessel. While pouring, look through the neck of the bottle at the candle and ensure no sediment is creeping into the new vessel. As soon as it does, it is time to stop decanting. If done properly, you will probably have around 50 mls of wine mixed with sediment remaining. Pour this through a tea strainer and use it in your cooking.

Try decanting these!

Baily and Baily Jump and Jive 2006 Shiraz Viognier ($ 10.00)
Quality: 3.75 stars Value: 4.25 Stars
No nonsense red blend with strong, full flavoured varietal fruit.

Deen De Bertoli Vat 4 2005 Petit Verdot ($ 10.00)
Quality: 4 stars Value: 5 Stars

Bright cheery, mascerated cherry in brandy, touch of interesting sappy flavours make this a brilliant wine for 10 dollars. A gold medal winner at Melbourne

Peter Lehmann Clancy's 2004 Barossa Valley Red ($ 15.00)

Quality: 4.25 stars Value: 4.5 Stars
Absolutely scrumptuous - oodles of sweet fruti berry flavour in this Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend simply called 'Clancy's Red'.

Haselgrove MVS 2004 mcLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon ($ 15.00)
Quality: 4.25 stars Value: 4.25 Stars

Juicy rich, rum and raisin chocolate mixed with super ripe red berry fruits

Sparkling wine and food matching

2007-10-31T22:49:00.000+11:00

Keep it light, cold and simple
When it comes to exclusive food pairings with sparkling wine we really should stick to one style of food. Invariably this food is light and cold. Sparkling wine is a delicate demon and to match it with anything else is likely to suffocate all those expensive aromas and flavours. Think of combinations such as oysters, smoked salmon, cold chicken on white bread sandwiches (yum, how posh), salads, strawberries and other fruit, slices of cold ham (not the square variety you buy on special from the supermarket for $6.99/kg) or coddled eggs. There’s nothing complicated in this list, just simple, basic, unadulterated food!

What you should not do is serve dishes so exotic that the food’s flavour overpowers the wine. Particularly avoid anything that has a strong presence of any of the following; vinaigrette, lemon, spicy sauces, sauces made with a richly flavoured wine, curries, raw garlic, chocolate, onion, blue cheese or smelly washed rind cheese, asparagus and tomatoes.

With canapes, light entrees and seafood, try matching your food with a Chardonnay dominated sparkling wine (Blanc de Blanc) or a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The elegance of the wine will strike a perfect balance with the lighter food.

With white meats, fish, poultry, vegetables and creamy sauces, choose a 50/50 blend or heavy Pinot Noir dominated sparkling wine (Blanc de Noir). The fleshier nature of the Pinot will suit the more involved food.

Sparkling recommendations

Jacobs Creek NV Pinot Noir Chardonnay $10 (3.75 stars) My ever reliable, staple Aussie sparkler for everyday parties.

Chandon 2004 Brut Rose $39.00 (4.25 stars) Feight strawberry notes on the nose which then follows through to the palate with a smattering of little whit flower blossoms and spicey notes. Creamy brioche is also present. Very tiny bubbles.

Chandon NV Brut Rose $29.00 (4 stars) A more generous mouthful of flavours of strawberry, honey and creamy notes.

If you knew Sake like I knew Sake!

2007-10-24T23:13:00.000+10:00

[The following story was taken from an article by Jeni Port, writer for The Age]

So what is sake? There is a tendency to think of it as a type of spirit, but it is not distilled. It is fermented from a grain (rice), which probably makes it closer to beer than wine but, flavour-wise it is assuredly wine-like.

Sake takes about one month to brew. The basic ingredients are rice, water, yeast and a mould called koji that breaks down starch molecules into sugar molecules, which are then converted by yeast into alcohol (just like wine).

Where the rice is grown, what kind of water is used (pristine mountain water is regarded as important), the rice variety, how much it is milled or polished and the fermenting temperature all affect the result.
The milling is critical because it determines the quality grading of sake. The more the rice is milled to remove the surface (which contains fats and proteins that can lead to off-flavours during fermentation), the higher the quality.

Australia's major sake label, Go-Shu, made by Sun Masamune (owned by Japanese sake maker, Konishi Shuzo) in NSW from japonica rice and Blue Mountains water.

Go-Shu must have something going for it because 80 per cent of production is exported to Japan. Of the five varieties, ranging from dry to semi-sweet, the two most readily available are the Go-Shu Blue (medium dry) and Go-Shu Go-Rin (semi-sweet). Each costs about $20 a bottle.

Best way to drink Sake in Australia is to chill it. If you're dinning at a Japanese restaurant - ask for it to be served ina 'Masu' wooden square box. Made from Japanese Cyprus, the waiter will fill your box until it overflows into the dish it sits on. Authentic!

During winter months, it's traditional to serve Sake warm.

Hunter Semillon - why it's so great

2007-10-10T20:31:00.000+10:00

Some interesting reasons why Semillon and specifically Hunter Valley Semillon is so great

Australia is the world's biggest producer of still table wine Semillon.

Semillon has not always been known by the name in Australia. It used to be known as Hunter Riesling, White Burgundy and Chablis. This only started changing in the early 1990s.

According to uber legendary wine writer Jancis Robinson, 'Hunter Valley Semillon is Australia's wine gift to the world". She believes it to be one of the new world's most idiosyncratic and historic wine styles

in its youth, Hunter Semillon has flavours of citrus tang and lanolin - it's a simple creature. Perfect for simple foods such as sushi, salads, fish and shellfish

With age, Hunter Semillon becomes world famous. It is one of the most complex and interesting of all new world wines with it's toasty, oily nature.

The best 2007 Hunter Valley Semillons (tasting held 9 October, 2007)

The 2007 vintage was drama free accordig to Hunter winemakers - no bushfires to worry about as in previous seasons. Flavours and ripeness of the grapes were considered excellent, and this is defintely showing in the glass. The drought still has affected yields, but the resultant quality appears to be excellent.

2007 McWilliams Reserve Semillon (Quality = 4.25 stars)

2007 Draytons Susanne ($35 Quality = 4.5 stars, Value = 3.5 stars)

2007 Keith Tulloch ($26 Quality = 4 stars, Value = 3.75 stars)

2007 Pokolbin Estate ($20 Quality = 4 stars, Value = 4 stars)

2007 Tintilla Angus ($20 Quality = 4 stars, Value = 4 stars)

2007 Tyrrell's Vat 1 ($35 Quality = 4.75 stars, Value = 4.25 stars)

Wine and cheese - tips on matching

2007-10-03T20:29:00.001+10:00

Here’s something you will find hard to swallow. Quite often red wine is not the best partner for cheese. White wines work well and usually the sweeter whites have a greater kinship with cheese then their dry counterparts. Of course when you get to the cheese course you’ve probably been drinking red wine during the main course and often just want to continue.

Dry red wine is best suited to milder cheeses. And you probably should steer towards harder cheeses than softer cheeses (like camembert and brie) as these will coat your palate so much you wont be able to taste the wine. Look towards cheeses like Gruyere, mild Cheddars, mild Parmesans and Jarlsberg.

Mature cheddars and stronger Parmesans are well suited to big red wines – think warmer climate South Australian Cabernets and Shiraz.

TRY - Gramps 2004 Barossa Valley Cabernet Merlot ($16) Fantastic herbal rosemary characters mixed with ripe casis and cedar.

Blue cheese should always be served with a sweeter wine. Try a few different kinds and work out which is your favourite – Botrytis Semillons or Rieslings are nice, so too are fortified Ports, Tokays and Muscats. This type of cheese is so sharp and salty it needs a sweet wine to balance it out.

TRY- Lillypilly 2006 Noble Blend ($22.50). Consistently brilliant and I believe better than Debortoli's Noble One. A sweet white wine, made from semillon (35 per cent), riesling (30 per cent), sauvignon blanc (25 per cent) and chardonnay (10 per cent) grapes infected with noble rot.

Goat’s cheese loves being teamed with Sauvignon Blanc or even a lighter styled sweet wine – like a late harvest Frontignac or Riesling (where there is a touch of residual sugar).

TRY - REDBANK the Kongh Paddock 2006 Victorian Sauvignon Blanc ($13) for thirteen dollars this packs some punch - gooseberry and Delightful fresh herbaceous characters dance with tropical guava and pineapple.

Brie and Camembert – give in! These cheeses are tough for wines to deal with. The soft cheese melts and coats your taste buds making it tough for wine to be tasted. You’re best to stick with what you’re already drinking.

Cheap wine - how is it made

2007-09-19T20:58:00.000+10:00

That's easy.

Grapes yields are much higher (ie - how many grapes they harvest per hectare)

Large companies have economies of scale - becasue their buying power reduces the costs of bottles, labels, scre caps etc

Large companies also have the power to discount and offer wines at prices smaller companies cannot match

wines are released immediately and are not allowed to be cellared before release. Cellaring wines adds to the final cost becasue there is no cash flow for the company and their are storage costs.

Wines are rarely matured in oak barrels. Too expensive. Often red wines are released 'unwooded' with no oak maturation

If the wood has been oak matured, often that could mean anything. Winemakers have a lot of tricks up their sleeves to impart the oak flavour.

Oak chips - these are placed in big heshin like tea bags and are thrown into a big vat of wine which imparts the oak flavour.

Oak staves - big planks of oak wood attached to a frame are lowered into a big vat of wine to imapart the oak flavour

It is also possible to add a liquid oak essence

And if the colour is a bit light in teh cheap wine, it's also possible to add red wine colouring powder, which is all natural as it is made from red wine skins!

If all of this makes you thirsty, fear not - after ripping the top off 20 cheap wines last night Ive arrived at teh following doozies that are delicious!

Lindemans Bin 50 2006 Shiraz
Price $10.00
Quality: 3.75 stars
Value: 4.75 stars
A trophy and a gold medal winner for a wine that costs 10 bucks - wow. Tastes of ripe plum and chocolate with a hint of spice.

Gnangara Western Australia 2005 Shiraz
Price $ 10.00
Quality 3.5 stars
Value 4.5 stars
This has come down dramatically in price over the years and is now arguably the best value WA red on the market. Ripe plum like Shiraz characters are matched by fresh minty WA characters.

Bluesand 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
Price $ 9.00
Quality 3.25 stars
Value 4.25 stars
Favours of joyful ripe dark berry fruits, chocolate and nutmeg

Gnangara Western Australia 2005 Cabernet Merlot
Price $ 10.00
Quality 3.5 stars
Value 4.5 stars
Bright cabernet like blackberry and tobacco flavours - a great 10 dollar cabernet.

Debortoli Windy Peak 2005 Shiraz
Price $ 15.00
Quality 4 stars
Value 4.25 stars
Bright and cheery - tasting of a cooler climate, fresh cherry and plum with strawberry and spice. Very pleasant

Koonara Angels Peak Coonawarra 2004 Shiraz
Price $ 15.00
Quality 4 stars
Value 4.25 stars
Rich cherry flavours with leather overtones as well as dusty oak flavours

Haselgrove MVS 2004 McLaren Vale Shiraz
Price $ 15.00
Quality 4.25 stars
Value 4.25 stars
Rich warm and ripe plum like chocolate - there's a lot of flavour to be had for 15 dollars!

Coonawarra - drink the red dirt

2007-09-05T22:25:00.000+10:00

As you can see from the picture above - the famous Coonawarra 'Terra Rossa' soli is quite defined. You're either on it - or you're not.

Over the past 10 years there's been a major push for those not on the sacred soil to get a piece of the action. Only last week the region name 'Penola' was knocked back by the GIC (Geographical Indications Committee), mainly because the regional name didn't contain the actual town called Penola (which is the tiny town at the base of the Coonawarra wine region).

With it's perfectly drained soils and Bordeaux-like maritime climate, Coonawarra produces arguably the best Cabernet in Australia - beautiful plummy/black current numbers!

Check out my favourites

[all tasted during August 2007's Coonawarra wine tasting in Sydney)

Brands of Coonawarra 2005 Chardonnay $18 (4.5 stars)

Brands of Coonawarra 2004 Cabernet $23 (4.25 stars)

Katnook Estate 2004 Cabernet $40 (4.25 stars)

Riddoch 2004 Cabernet Shiraz $15 (4.25 stars)

Majella Musician Cabernet Shiraz $18 (4 stars)

Majella Merlot $38 (4 stars)

Wynns Coonawarra Estate 2005 Cabernet $35 (4.25 stars)

Is bigger better?

2007-08-29T23:10:00.000+10:00

Today we're celebrating a big find - a small winery has come out of no where to find great acclaim by winewriter James Halliday.

A small family-owned winery in the Adelaide Hills has scooped the equal highest number of top-ranked wines in the Adelaide Hills according to Australia's most influential wine critic.

Eight wines from Tilbrook Estate, in Lobethal, were rated 90 points or higher in the 2008 "James Halliday Australian Wine Companion". The micro-boutique winery, which has never been rated previously by Mr Halliday, was also awarded five-star status.

Also their Sauvignon Blanc was exceptionally rated under the heading:

"Best of the Best by Variety. Tilbrook Sauvignon Blanc 2006”

So what's the difference between big wineries and small boutiques? How does a small winery come out of no where and beat the big boys with oodles of money?

Large Winery:
- Whole departments analyse pros and cons of bringing out a new wine
- Governed by the bean counters

Boutique:
- You’d like to bring out a new wine, so you just do it!
- Governed by passion

Large Winery:

Have production economies of scale. I went to a seminar a few years ago, which was given by someone from one of t`he largest wineries, and they talked about getting the very last drop out of a tonne of grapes. Typically they would use a gentle air bag press for the best quality juice, then the grapes would go into a screw press where the spent grapes are basically dust by the end, (the juice or wine from this would be kept separate and be blended into mega brands, so as to not compromise the quality). The Juice or wine would be settled and then the lees would be put through an RDV. Later on down the track they had mobile Centrifuges to get the last drop out of the wine lees. Ultimately they aimed to get 900 Litres out of a tonne.

Have goods economies of scale. They buy container loads of barrels, bottles, cartons, and closures. Means everything is at least 10% cheaper than we can get.

Boutique:

Basically you can’t afford all these things. The cheapest RDV is $20,000, the cheapest Centrifuge is $50,000. So you do your best, but the best is nearer to 600 litres a tonne by the time the wine gets to bottling. This means overall you are probably getting better quality but at a cost that is 30% higher and another 10% for the goods. And on top of that per litre they would have much fewer man hours due to larger equipment with higher throughput. It is therefore impossible to compete on cost alone.

Can’t sell to the likes of Dan Murphy’s as would lose money. Therefore your brand takes a lot longer to become known

Interested in knowing more about Tilbrook...

Tilbrook Estate
Cellar Door Open Tues to Sun, and Public Holidays, 12 to 5pm

T 08 8389 5318
F 08 8389 5315
M 0419 007 401
E james@tilbrookestate.com.au
W http://www.tilbrookestate.com.au/ (under construction)

The wine aroma wheel

2007-06-27T21:02:00.000+10:00

This is the invention you've been waiting for!!!

Click the above image to enlarge. Print it out and keep it on the fridge for safe keeping. Every time you drink a glass of wine, consult this aroma wheel until you become an expert.

Splash some wine into a glass. Not too much though, you'll need to swish it around in order to release the wine's flavour messages. Take a short precise sniff and look towards your Aroma Wheel.Working outwards, discern what the major smell is. Is it fruity? If so, what type of fruit? If the smell is a tropical fruit, determine what type of fruit it is by venturing to the next outer ring. Hey presto, you've discovered the aroma is pineapple.

To get you on the right path, I have selected the major grape varieties and listed the aromas you can expect to find.

Sauvignon Blanc: gooseberry, asparagus, sherbet, herbaceous.
Riesling: flowers, lime, green apples, fruit blossoms. With age expect a toastiness or kerosene aroma.
Gewurztraminer: lychees and hair oil.
Semillon: green herbs, lemon, straw. With age expect a honeyed toastiness.
Pinot Noir: strawberry, cherry, sap, game.
Shiraz (cool climate): pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, capsicum.
Shiraz (warm climate): chocolate, plum, liquorice.
Merlot: stewed plum, tobacco.
Cabernet Sauvignon: black currant, mint, capsicum, mulberry.

Chardonnay Reviews - June 2007

2007-05-24T21:15:00.000+10:00

Lillydale Yarra Valley 2005 Chardonnay
Price: $ 20.00
Quality: 4 stars
Value: 4 stars
With juicy peach and cashew flavours matched with vitality of a fleshly sliced lemon, this wine sports fine mineral acidity and perfumed fig aromas.

Debortoli Gulf Station 2005 Yarra Valley Chardonnay
Price: $ 17.00
Quality: 4.25 stars
Value: 4.5 stars
A sensational mid priced Chardy with pawpaw, lemon juice, a bit of peach and some lovely brioche characters.

Debortoli Sacred Hill 2005 Chardonnay
Price: $ 6.00
Quality: 3.5 stars
Value: 5 stars
A multi award winning Chardy for just over 5 bucks - I love it. Warm generous peach and ripe rockmelon with some added lemon zestiness to strike a balance. A great BBQ staple.

Yarra Burn Third Light 2005 Victorian Chardonnay
Price: $ 18.00
Quality: 4.25 stars
Value: 4 stars
Ripe and squeaky clean mandarin, peach and green apple. If you look closely you’ll even see some exotic flavours of lychee and pineapple sneaking in as well