Tanya and Tony were a bit unlucky with the weather but were such great sports…they braved the elements, my gear got soaked but survived. The ceremony was held at Bethany Church in Bethany, Tanunda, in the Barossa Valley – a lovely little church in the country a fair way from pretty much anything. After some time getting caught in the rain and a few minutes without rain the reception kicked on at Maggie Beers on the outskirts of Nuriootpa. Some images from their day..

I was supposed to take part in a Taste Live event a couple of weeks ago, but what with FedEx’s indefatigable determination to spend the rest of its pitiful existence cock blocking me (in a manner of speaking) and such, the bottles for the tasting didn’t arrive in time. I’d apologize to Elderton (whose wines we were supposed to discuss) but in the immortal words of George W. Bush, “it wasn’t my fault.”  The wines, when I eventually tasted them, were a breath of fresh air as far as Australian wines and my palate are concerned, so they’re getting their 15 minutes here, now…better late than never (the also-immortal words of my husband).

Elderton Wines sits in the heart of south Australia’s Barossa Valley, a wine region with residents like Jacob’s Creek, Yalumba, Penfolds and Peter Lehmann. And though it’s certainly a source for what are considered to be Australia’s best, the generally hot climate of the Valley tends to produce grapes that ripen very easily. That means high levels of sugars and low levels of acids, so many winemakers practice acidification in order to balance the wines. The high sugars result in high alcohol levels that are sometimes offset by practices like reverse osmosis, but are more often left in place, creating wines that top off at about 15.5%. Historically, winemakers in the Barossa also use very short maceration periods and rack them into oak barrels before fermentation is even completed. That can leave a seemingly smoother wine, but it often has to have extra tannins added in. And the extensive use of oak (American in particular) is also characteristic of the region, sometimes overly so. All this is to say that many Barossa wines are flabby, overoaked messes (and often enological Frankensteins) that leave you with a hefty buzz after a couple of glasses.

Elderton’s wines had none of the above—a pleasant surprise for a doubtful drinker. Their 2006 “Tantalus” shiraz/cab blend (about $15) only had a short stay in old American oak, thus not trampling over the beautiful notes of plum and cherry. It had a great smokiness to it, but most impressive was its balance, and its 14% alcohol was really kept in check—no overpowering mess here. THIS is what Barossa wines in this price range should aspire to. Period.

The shipment also included a bottle of Elderton’s 2005 “Command”, their single vineyard shiraz (about $85). It’s a big, dark, opulent, brooding wine with absolutely no baked, jammy flavors. Decanting is pretty much a given for this chunk of a wine, but again, the “chunkiness” is balanced with beautiful acidity. Once it blows off a little, it reveals itself to be a masterfully crafted wine, though laying it down for a few years would certainly serve it well, too, especially since the cost prohibits making it your “Tuesday Night” house wine.

And you’d think I’d be most impressed by “Command” but I wasn’t. The wine that most impressed me was Elderton’s 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay (about $15), not because it was the best wine of the bunch, but because it was a lovely, untethered chardonnay in a region where chardonnay often gets oaked to hell, and is subjected to malolactic fermentation which usually produces a big, full-bodied, creamy mess. This harkened back to a nice, everyday Chablis, with hints of tropical fruit and crisp acidity. Full, but lithe. An Australian chardonnay that you could, in fact, drink at room temperature…happily.

Bee Sting Honey Wheat Beer

Company info:
Barossa Valley Brewing
Barossa Valley, S.A

[www.BVBeer.com]

Bottle size sampled: 330 mL

Alcohol: 5%
Standard drinks: 1.4

Cap type: Non-twist

Cost: I picked this up for AU$3.40

Label info: ‘This multi award winning all natural ale is brewed with a touch of Orange Blossom honey and double hopped with Styrian Goldings. The result is a complex but refreshing beer. Enjoy with your favourite meal, particularly red meats or anything with a touch of spice. Barossa Valle Brewing…Excellence. Naturally.‘

What the label really means: Before I begin, Bee Sting’s label immediately lets them down by incorrectly listing their website as www.BVBeer.com . If they can’t be bothered proofreading their label, I can’t be bothered amending it on here.
The beer’s description certainly arouses my curiosity and I am most keen to try this. Although it doesn’t dictate my beer purchases, I am particularly happy when the term ‘all natural’ is listed. It hopefully means less of a headache the next day.

The Hell-Cat review starts here

Label: Bee Sting has a very effective transparent label that runs in a small strip on the front of the bottle. The words ‘Bee Sting’ are in a gold, cursive font, interrupted with a large, sketch of a honey bee. I like the look of this. It’s classy and elegant without being over the top. A simple band on the neck of the label has the Barossa Valley Brewing logo.

I give it a label rating of 7 out of 10.

AROMA: A very enticing wheaty, floral aroma.

Taste: GLASS – Bee Sting packs a very pleasant all-mouth taste with a very faint hint of honey (let the beer roll around in your mouth and you’ll get the honey subtleties). It leaves an enjoyably bitter after taste and is, for my money at least, better than another honey beer I have tried, Beez Neez. This isn’t a perfect beer by any means, and I am not sure I am appreciating the alleged complexity, but it’s still very enjoyable and I finish this all too quickly.

I give it a beer from glass rating of 7 out of 10.

Taste: BOTTLE - A positive of drinking Bee Sting from the bottle is that it immediately cuts the carbonation hit in half. It goes back smoother and instead spends its time emphasising a strong, wheaty taste. It just got better.

I give it a taste from bottle rating of 7.5 out of 10.

A word from the wife: “A sharp, apple taste…like an apple Warhead”

She gave it a taste rating of 7 out of 10.

Accompanying food: I don’t agree with the label that this is a well-suited red meat accompaniment. I do think it would compliment spiced food nicely, but I feel it would sit well with lightly battered foods such as tempura.

Best season to appreciate: With its hints of honey, and light sparkle, I feel this another good Summer thirst quencher.

All-nighter beer? It goes back so smoothly, I can’t imagine myself getting sick of it. So yes, it’s an all-nighter in my books.

NEXT WEEK: Bitburger Premium Beer

I almost inadvertently passed over the Juveniles while I was searching for my perfect mood wine last night. My eyes darted past the stealthy, all black screw cap a few times while I peered at the bins of logo stamped capsules. No, no, no, no, no… Hello, what’s that?

I needed something satisfying—and quickly. We were both—despite draining days—filled with energy and excitement. Something to rise to the occasion.

Cinnamon cider on the nose directly out of the gate. I never miss the first possible inhalation of aromas after the cork is pulled, or in this case, cap is unscrewed. I find this first moment to be an honest one—often exposing more complex, secondary flavors in a compartmentalized form.

The fruit was abundant and mixed—ripe plum, reams of cassis, apricot, and blueberry. Accents of chalk, rubber, and crushed violets linger on the end of the nose.

Cushy mouthfeel. Fluent and sweet and in tune with aroma. This is a quick response wine, adaptable and easily drinkable at a very young age. Better structure, complexity, and depth of flavor than Beaujolais Nouveau-style wines with an aging ability more akin to good Zinfandel. Spice and soft vanilla make an appearance despite the lack of an oak in the process. A young wine with an middle-aged soul.

I was thrilled to find such an expressive wine in the Cuvée Juveniles. Torbreck’s reputation for making sensational wines has put a chink in the armor of even the most snooty, old world wine stores. So much so, in fact, that I am unable to afford the better part their portfolio.

I have no doubt there is a mass of affluent devotees saying, “how cute, he loves Torbreck’s pity wine.” I care not! Juveniles deliciously satisfies a underrepresented personal niche by aligning with those high energy, indulgent moods that settle in from time to time and offering a wine I can sink my teeth into.

Enjoy!

-Rob

An awesome day – a little wetter than Kirsty and Brett may have liked but it stopped when we needed it to which was a relief. Funny how things happen…the celebrant got completely lost and was 15 minutes late which turned out to be perfect – if she’d been on time it would have been raining in the middle of the ceremony so we really had her to thank. The whole day was celebrated at Jacobs Creek Retreat in the Barossa Valley – a stunning venue with every attention paid to every detail.

The excitement is brewing in Adelaide as the city begins to set up for the 2010 Tour Down Under …

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/

I’ll be hosting two tours:

Tuesday 19 January (Stage 1) – Barossa Valley

Thursday 21 January (Stage 3) – McLaren Vale

For more details, check out my Events page or download the pdf flyer.

I purchased my case of CR’s latest Shiraz from J.J. Buckley Fine Wines out of Oakland, California as soon as I became aware that it had been released. I missed out on stocking up on the ‘06—discovering I loved it far too late to get a second bottle. I had no regrets of course following my purchase—that was until the shipper arrived and I went through a process of convincing myself that it was absurd to purchase 12 bottles of wine I’d never tasted, based entirely on a one-night love affair with the previous vintage.

But at only $15.99, this vintage had to really mess the bed before it actually descended into the “bad buy” category.

Chris Ringland’s latest releases are classic examples of the new approach to winemaking in the Barossa Valley.

This is the first line of Chuck Hayward’s review of the ‘07 Shiraz featured on the J.J. Buckley website and if you had not experienced the latest CR effort with the ‘06 still vividly in your mind, it might not seem hugely relevant.

In my opinion, the 2007 is fundamentally a different wine than its predecessor. The sweet oak and cedar flavors that defined this wine in the past were tempered. I believe CR’s new Shiraz seems to have anticipated a shift in the consumer palate—certainly preempting a change that was occurring in my own long before I was even aware.

Less oak on the nose—the cedar was so predominant on the ‘06. Chocolate and toast coming through, far more behaved than the last vintage. Amazing muddled fruit aromas gather in the glass as it sits between swirls—the surprise is that it requires time to gather. The color is still explosively ruby and finely polished. 30-second finish of briery, earthy fruit with a touch of wood smoke. Better tannins on the back end and a brilliant minerality that all but dominates the ride out. This wine is going to really gel over the next few years and I have no doubt my notes are currently only scratching the surface.

I guarantee this wine won’t survive to greet the next vintage. I don’t believe any ratings have come in yet, and even if it doesn’t pull another 93 from Parker, it will no doubt score some good points and be swiped up quickly. The groovy painted bottle is worth the price of admission. By the way, did I mention it’s only $16? But only here, $20+ EVERYWHERE else.

Enjoy!

-Rob

In all the Christmas chaos, I completely forgot that a big box of Chris Ringland’s latest Shiraz was due to arrive. I usually swing by Carey’s place of work to pick up my wine shipments—but, after sadly leaving this one unclaimed, Carey took it upon herself and successfully navigated an icy, 40-foot long wheelchair ramp in inappropriate footwear, a few snowbanks, and oncoming traffic while fumbling for her keys in the dark. But she kept her eye on the prize, overcame adversity, and got our wine home safely.

The ‘06 was fantastic. Even if the ‘07 falls short of it predecessor, for $16 there is a lot of room for this wine to dive before it becomes a bad buy—and with a winemaker like Chris Ringland, that would be a pretty shocking tumble. But as I would expect, the initial rumblings have been great. We will know soon enough!

Chris Ringland’s latest releases are classic examples of the new approach to winemaking in the Barossa Valley. The nose is a refreshing, lively aroma of dark cherries wrapped around a deep core of graphite and stone. Later, scents of roasted coffee, spice and tar appear. Like any good Barossa shiraz, the midpalate is juicy, but the wine never gets syrupy thanks to integrated acids that frame the finish. This is no simple fruit bomb -savory herbs and spicy tannins intermingle with that deep cherry note found in the the bouquet. For a rich wine, there is still a lot of packed fruit yet to be revealed. Examples tasted over three days had the wine slowly revealing the concentrated flavors sampled at day one. A very sophisticated wine for the price! Chuck Hayward, JJ Buckley

-Rob

We properly prepared for a snowstorm that never came. We did everything right: simmered beef stew on the stove all afternoon, made groovy wine bottle candle holders out of the more expensive, heavy bottles I occasionally come across, turned the fireplace on, wore sweaters, decanted wine, and had friends over—I even put my car under cover (see me learning my lesson here).

The only thing we neglected to do was watch the Weather Channel, which would have indicated that Saratoga Springs would be spared from a single flurry. Regardless, we proceeded as normal.

We put two wines side-by-side with very different personalities. They express different visions and certainly different winemaking philosophies—one being safely old world, very proper and perfect; the other more aggressively new world, taking greater liberties with flavors and textures.

The Burge Family Garnacha. Spicy, rich, cloaked in blueberries—blueberry cobbler, blueberry syrup and blueberries off the bush—and absolutely delicious. The finish was spiced with pepper, baking spices and sweetened with a linger of yogurt-covered raisins. A hint of rainy gravel flavors broke in on the midpalate adding nice complexity.

70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Franc, the Peter Michael ‘Les Pavots’ was crafted in a classic Bordeaux fashion from fine California mountain vineyards. We had no idea whether this wine would still have life left in it, but I was nonetheless thrilled to be trying such a special bottle.

Twiggy upfront with hints of mushrooms, smokey bacon or pork tenderloin. An amazing transition occurs on the midpalate as the juice rounds, sweetens and flows. Very classic Cabernet Sauvignon palate of black cherry, currants, and a touch of mint. The tannins had really fallen out of the wine, leaving the mouth-feel entirely pleasant with just a touch of vanilla on the back-end.

This wine showed great control. Nothing was out of place. No flavors too exotic or fruit too extracted. I don’t often get to drink wines like this, so I relished in its teachability.

Carey looking dashing in (outfit description removed by C).

Nothing beats wine tasting with friends—combine heads, palates, opinions and wallets and you can make a lot of progress.

Enjoy!

-Rob

Yes, Barossa Valley is known for thick, stew-like, heavy and bold wines – but this is ridiculous. (Click the title to view the entire blog if you’re an email subscriber). This weeks cellar pick is yet another great release from Australia. 2007 has been a really good year for wine down under. This one can lay down for at least 10 years.

mo-cellar-a-week-Nov16/2009: Thorn-Clarke Shotfire, Quartage 2007 $23.95 LCBO#: 024091

This wine is called Quartage (versus Meritage) because it blends four varieties of grapes: cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, merlot and malbec (yes malbec in Australia). This is a unique one. It will be a blockbuster in a few years (it already has 91+ ratings). However, don’t drink it now! You’ve been warned. This wine is thick. It’s almost spreadable. I get molasses, thick leather, chocolate, asphalt, black licorice and of course jam. It is really muscular too. I may not even call it liquid. Please, let it age. Shotfire Quartage is available at the LCBO’s Vintages and in many U.S. states. You’ll find the 2006 at SAQ in Quebec.

Day 159: Went to the wonderful Adelaide Central Markets and Chinatown. Ate way too much. Had a look around Unley and went out to dinner with friends at a delicious African restaurant.

Day 160: Hit the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley. Had lunch at Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop and visited a couple of wineries. The cellar in the van is full. Had an afternoon kransky in Hahndorf.

Day 161: Joined the tour group at the Haigh’s Chocolates factory. Yum. Drove down to the Fleurieu Peninsula via McLaren Vale and more beautiful wineries. Stopped at Port Wilunga for an amazing lunch at Star of Greece. Had a look at little bird in Port Elliot, stockists of my sister’s lovely Berlinski designer pieces. Settled in to our van park in Victor Harbor, before walking across the jetty to the gorgeous Granite Island. We spotted a cute little penguin and a seal.

Australia

Quando si pensa ai vini australiani la mente subito va, non senza motivo, alla Barossa Valley, la Coonawarra, Margaret River, grandi nomi e grandi produzioni. Il territorio è però costellato di realtà più piccole, perle che spesso passano inosservate ma che possono riservare gradite sorprese.

Ad un ora di macchina a sud di Brisbane e una trentina di chilometri da Surfer Paradise, appollaiato su un’altura a qualche centinaio di metri di altitudine, si trova Mt Tambourine, un paesino che si snoda sulla cresta che divide la rain forest a ovest dai pendii che portano all’oceano e alla Gold Coast a est.
Placida durante la settimana, durante il weekend e le festività la località si popola di folle di turisti, locali e di oltremare, in cerca di ristoro dalla calura all’ombra dei percorsi tra l’intrigo della vegetazione e gli alberi e nel fresco delle cellar doors delle vinerie, alcune delle quali meritano una menzione di rispetto.

Due signore gentilissime, affascinate e curiose di Italia, accolgono i visitatori alla Mt Tambourine Winery, proponendo in una cornice tranquilla e aperta una lista di vini di corpo tra i quali spicca il 2005 shiraz cabernet (rispettivamente 60 e 40%) di cui assaggiamo anche il 2007, recentemente messo sul mercato, vinoso, percorso da venature speziate e accese, accarezzato da tannini che lo rendono apprezzabile adesso ma promettono allo stesso tempo una maturazione interessante.

Il carattere gradevolmente rustico di questo vino è una caratteristica che condivide con altri dei prodotti della casa, in particolare il Black Shiraz, maturato in rovere americano, che rispettando le premesse del suo nome, si presenta di un colore incredibilmente cupo, violaceo, tendente al nero.

Heritage Estate

Se i rossi sono il punto forte della Mt Tambourine Wines, sorprendono piacevolmente i bianchi nella Heritage Wines. Le vigne di questa piccola azienda vinicola, come quelle della sopra citata Mt Tambourine winery, si trovano un paio di ore a sud, a Stanthorpe, sulle alture della Granite Belt di cui parleremo in una delle prossime puntate.
Fiore all’occhiello il pluripremiato 2008 Reserve Chardonnay, complesso e stratificato, in cui una nota appena percettibile di barrique, intrisa in una struttura vellutata, fa da sfondo a un arcobaleno di aromi dalla crema alla pesca, ma con qualche vibrazione tostata e erbacea e un finale lungo in una sorta di tout se tiens molto interessante.
Interessanti sono pure il Semillon 2003, vivace e di carattere, e il Frontignac 2008 in cui frutti e fiori si mescolano ad una spiccata acidità che tende e ravviva.

Finiamo la nostra visita domenicale concedendoci una birra sul terrazzo del St Bernards Hotel, l’edificio più vecchio della zona ci viene detto, dove un pigro san bernardo si concede alle indulgenze di una folla di bambini entusiasti. Di fronte a noi la Guanaba Gorge, un vallone in fondo del quale scorgiamo, nella foschia, i grattacieli di Surfers Paradise sullo sfondo dell’oceano Pacifico; in borsa una bottiglia di Chocolate Port della Mt Tambourine Winery, delizia golosa con cui annaffieremo i nostri gelati una volta tornati a Brisbane.
Per ora intanto ci godiamo questa piccola perla del Queensland.

Há alguns meses vinhamos pensando onde passaríamos o Labour Day Long Weekend (feriado prolongado do dia do trabalho).

Pensamos em várias cidades, e  Adelaide. Conversando sobre nossa possível ida com Marlon, que mora em Adelaide, Dalmir entendeu que Marlon e Andréa não estariam na cidade, únicas pessoas que conheciamos por lá. Pensamos em mudar de planos, pois se temos amigos em algum lugar, nada  melhor do que conhecer o local e encontrar conhecidos, especialmente pessoas como os dois.

Uma pausa aqui para apresentar Marlon e Andréa. Os conhecemos no último reveillon (2008/2009). Zuco que os conheceu numa história engraçada, os convidou para passarem a virada do ano em Sydney, estes que por sua vez retornavam de uma longa viagem decidiram vir apesar do cansaço. Chegaram no nosso acampamento-picnic no finalzinho da tarde para complementar o quadro que lá se formava. Um visual maravilhoso, pessoas amigas deliciando-se com os aperitivos e bebidas compartilhados.

Dalmir em sua ávida busca por passagens áereas e com intuito de usar milhagens acumuladas achou que Adelaide seria um excelente negócio, apesar de saber que nossos amigos não estariam. Acertou as passagens. Em uma segunda troca de emails com Marlon, soube que eles haviam decidido ficar. Não poderíamos ter recebido notícia melhor!

Então o roteiro foi se formando, não que tivesse que ser seguido prontamente, as sugestões dadas foram Barossa Valley, Hahndorf, Viktor Harbour, beaches, um certo ponto para vermos a cidade do alto, e claro outros pontos no centro da cidade, como as famosas bolas de metal na Rundle Mall, local conhecido pelas compras, Jardim Botânico etc.

Na semana anterior a viagem ficamos de olho na previsão do tempo, a chuva era algo possível, mas o frio seria inevitável.

Chegando na cidade fomos conhecer a casa deles, onde ficamos, estávamos bem aconchegados, café da manhã delícia, ótima compania da melhor qualidade! Além de os passeios que havíamos programado, Marlon e Andréa nos disseram que iriam nos apresentar aos seus bons amigos e assim aconteceu!

Primeiro fomos apresentados a Ana e ao Damien. Com eles almoçamos, fomos para Barossa Valley e jantamos em Glenelg (fotinhos abaixo). No final da noite fomos buscar o colchão na casa da Ana, que foi amarrado em cima do carro, contando agora penso que deveria ter tirado fotos!  No caminho, apesar de bem amarrado, o colchão começou a empinar!! Dalmir e Marlon chegaram em casa com as mãos congeladas de segurá-lo!

Dormimos, acordamos cedinho, tomamos um café gostoso, com direito a revelações! Marlon mostrou para o Dalmir que croissant com nutella é bom! Qualquer coisa com nutella é bom! Mas bom mesmo é o nutella mais alta que o croissant!!   Então fomos aos passeios.

Fomos ao Jardim Botânico que estava florido, santa primavera!! O Ale da Angela recomenda que a todo local que você vá conhecer não deixar de ir aos jardins botânicos, na NZ, segundo ele, as rosas estavam especialmente belas!! Quite gay uh!! Bom, eu também recomendo!! :D

Na sequência fomos ao Rundle Mall, onde presenciamos a Andréa Feliz adquir seu iPhone!! Mas antes disso, passeamos pela feirinha, conhecemos as famosas bolas de metal, os porquinhos, almoçamos e encontramos a Ana e o Damien. Da city fomos para Henley Beach, onde várias noivas estavam sendo fotografadas.

Sem ter certeza do que fazer, Marlon lembrou que havíamos falado de Hahndorf. Marieke nos recomendou esta vila, especialmente por ser uma vila alemã e podermos matar a saudade da nossa terrinha boa (Blumenau), e tendo em mente que a Oktoberfest começava no mesmo final de semana, seguimos para lá.

Hahn é o nome do capitão do návio que levou alemães para Adelaide, Dorf = vila. Vila de Hahn. Ah!! Estava frio, bem friiiio, mas valeu muito o passeio. O local se resume em uma pequena comunidade, com uma rua principal contendo vários restaurantes e comércios.

No caminho para a vila Andréa combinava com outros (4) de seus amigos para nos encontrar. Logo depois de entrarmos em um restaurante eles chegaram e a diversão foi certa!  Dalmir, Marlon e Damien estavam engajados na cerveja, momentos e vários copos mais tarde eu posso jurar que ouvi copos brindando e um “TO ZUCO”!!

Adoramos o local, Adelaide é uma gracinha, conhecemos um pouco mais a Andréa e o Marlon e adoramos! Esperamos voltar! O mais jóia de tudo foram as pessoas que encontramos e posso dizer que até certo ponto devemos isso ao Zuco!

Australian Wine Regions (map from www.wineaustralia.com)

Seconda parte di questo lungo post, un vero e proprio atlante degli Shiraz australiani…

Lo Shiraz della Barossa Valley (South Australia) è tradizionalmente un vino vigoroso, di grande corpo, adorato da chi è sempre d’accordo con Robert Parker… dal gusto fruttato, profondo e intenso, presenta note di prugna sciroppata, mora e ciliegia. E’ lo Shiraz più tipico, quello che caratterizza il vino australiano sull’atlante enologico mondiale. Qualche esempio famoso? Basket Press Shiraz di Rockford, Stonewell di Peter Lehmann, Meshach di Grant Burge e Amon Ra di Glaetzer.

A pochi chilometri di distanza troviamo la McLaren Vale (che ospita alcune sotto zone con un clima più freddo della media). Lo Shiraz di queste regioni presenta di solito intensi profumi di bacche nere, ma rivela anche note di cioccolato e speziate, quasi di anice stellato. Tre eccellenti produttori di quest’area sono D’Arenberg, Chapel Hill e Wirra Wirra.

La Hunter Valley, nel New South Wales, regione con clima più temperato, produce Shiraz con caratteristiche diverse. Qui abbiamo vini complessi, con sentori di cuoio e terra, ma più strutturati e tannici, fatto che permette loro un buon invecchiamento, a medio o lungo termine: Tempus Two (del produttore McGuigan) e Graveyard Shiraz di Brokenwood ne sono due buoni esempi.

La regione di Heathcote, nello Stato del Victoria, è un’altra zona di produzione per caldi e sontuosi Shiraz. Gli antichi suoli risalenti al Cambriano (come quelli che si possono trovare anche in South Australia, nella regione del Coonawarra), sono da più parti indicati come in grado di dare un grande contributo alla qualità dei vini locali, come quelli di Heathcote Winery e Munari.

Testo originale Brendan Jansen

Wow. September’s nearly gone. Has it been a whole month since my last Wine of the Month post? I reckon it has. Well, this month’s pick, Berry’s Australian Shiraz was definitely worth the wait. It’s a big ole dark and juicy wine, just crying out for a giant slab of accompanying meat or maybe a nice cigar. Alas, I have neither. Still with its sweet plummy, spicy tones, it stands well on its own and is more than doing the trick as I finish up a bit of work and watch bad American crimes shows on Channel 5. The folks at Berry Bros & Rudd reckon this is a good wine for BBQs. I’d like to add that it’s nice for a quiet night in as well … and at £8.30 per single bottle or £7.45 as part of a case (with free delivery until the 30th of this month – yeah, I know that’s really soon), it can be a fairly inexpensive night as well.

For product details and more, visit Berry Bros & Rudd online at www.bbr.com or stop by their shop at 3 St James’s Street, SW1A 1EG.

A well structured wine and I can imagine after a few years in will become it will become even more dynamic.

This wine is bold but not overwhelming; wondrous herbaceous notes like Eucalyptus and fennel; roasted dark red fruit; black plum, blueberry, raspberry and accented with soft notes of nutmeg and pepper.

I have a first vintage of RWT and I do look forward to trying someday–just trying to figure out when that will be.

***

A plethora of wine reviews from wines regions around the world. Read more of my wine reviews: jamesthewineguy.wordpress.com © 2009 James Meléndez / Jaime Patricio Meléndez – All Rights Reserved.  James the Wine Guy also on Facebook, Twitter and most major social medias.

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Wow, it has been a  big week.  Jason and I are in Australia at the moment, Adelaide today, to be precise. This is to give me the chance to meet our Australian distributors, as I am going to be supporting these markets more now, to allow Jason to focus more on Europe.

Durvillea SB as the recommended wine on the Ichi Ni wine list, Melbourne

We started off in Sydney where we met with Shane and James, from Lewis Fine Wines. We had a lovely lunch at Pendolino, and it was a great chance to get to meet them and to get a feel for the market over there. Just by chance it turned out that our Israeli and Hong Kong Astrolabe distributors both lived in Sydney, and neither Jason and I had had a chance to meet them before, so we were able to meet up with them to discuss their respective markets. We now have plans to send Durvillea into Israel, hopefully by Christmas.

Neil, the restaurant Manager and I at Paesano's, Knox City, Melbourne

Next stop was Melbourne where we met with Ian, Andrea and Sarina from Twelve Bottles, they have been doing a fantastic job, and it was great to get a chance to see them in action.

While things have been tough with the recession it looks like things are finally starting to pick up over there.

We ate at some great places that sold our wine, such as Paesanos in Knox City, an Italian family  restuarant, where Frank’s mum still cooks in the kitchen!

Jason, Ian and I with two of the staff at Ichi Ni, St Kilda, Melbourne

Another winner was Ichi Ni, in St Kilda, fabulous Japanese tapas, especially the Wagyu Beef and the soft shell crab California roll. The soft shell crab was fanastic with our Sauvignon, it was also great to look round and see other people drinking our wine.

Then off to the Barossa, after a very early morning flight we arrived into a very windy and warm Adelaide (the place where Meg was born). We hired a car and made our way through the beautiful country side to meet with Kym, Dave and Michael from Teusner Wines. The plan is for our Brisbane distriubutors Smashing Bottles to expand into SA, possibly enlisiting the help of Kym and Dave.  The Barossa is a beautiful place, with the oldest vines I have ever seen, a complete contrast to the young Marlborough vines I am used to.

Kym talking to Jason about the Grenache bush vines

After a great lunch at Wanera with Kym and Dave and a bottle of their Avatar wine, Kym offered to play tour guide, taking us around the Barossa country side, showing us his different blocks, from bush vine Grenache to Mataro.We were also lucky enough to join the boys in their Burgundy tasting they were doing that afternoon.

We are off to Brisbane tomorrow to meet with Kris and Paul from Smashing Bottles.  But before I go I must fill you on on one of the highlights of this week,  Jason and I’s return trip to Adelaide today. Deciding we needed to get some more photos of the gnarly 130+ year old vines we veered off the highway in search of some, finally finding some on one of the dirt roads of the Barossa. Unfortunately on entering one of the drive ways we felt the car sink down into the mud.

We hear there was a lot of rain there last week…..

Fraser, the only other Kiwi we met in the Barossa managed to lend a hand

I thought it might be good idea to check out the wine bar right in my own “hood”, so we checked out Brix Wine Cafe Labor day weekend. Their happy hour “hours” are now from 4-6pm everyday and not just on Sundays.

OK, OK, I ended up having a wine flight instead, which consisted of Prunotto Barbera d’Asti Fiulot, ‘07, Tait Ballbuster, Barossa Valley ‘07, Australia and Vieux Chateau Chambeau, Lussac Saint Emilion ‘05, France. My favorite was the Lussac which had flavors of leather, mocha cherry, with good acidity and a smooth finish. The flight cost $13.

My husband had the happy hour wine selection, of which there is only one, a Syrah from Chateau St. Michelle for $5.00. It was pretty darn good for a happy hour selection. Sorry not much of a description, I only got one sip.

http://www.brixwinecafe.com/

They have a happy hour food menu as well. Ceasear salad, flat breads, tomato bisque and some others as well.

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I’ve been told that in Australia, winemaker Chris Ringland is famous like a rock star, something like Wolfgang Puck, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert Mondavi all rolled up into one. -Gwendolyn Alley, “Chris Ringland’s Ebenezer Shiras 2006: rich but not a tightwad” June 23, 2008 from Art Predator

Chris Ringland. One winemaker, two signature wines—one $400, one $20. Last Thursday, Carey and I were fortunate enough to be invited to share one of these two bottles with a friend. Had I not known in advance which bottle we were opening, had it been a blind tasting of one of his two wines, I would have been in a very confusing situation. How could this possibly be? How could there really be any question? I’ll explain.

Within seconds of the cap coming off, I was grabbed by the aromas of savory cedar, touched black fruit, and pipe smoke. A piercingly seductive encounter, as carnal an experience as possible from something you pull a cork out of or unscrew the top off of. These are the moments every wine lover lives for: a rare harmonizing of the senses, like a momentary breeze carrying a mystery person’s perfume through a crowd tangling your reality. If I were a winemaker, this is what I would demand of a bottle I put my name on alongside a $400 price tag. But for $20? It just doesn’t seem possible. There are grocery stores with top shelves full of alarm-tagged $20 bottles that are not even worth pumping the air out of after two glasses.

I’m not embarrassed to admit that I have never had a $400 bottle of wine—not even a $200 bottle of wine. Perhaps the most expensive bottle I’ve had (which wasn’t even a bottle, just a few sips), was Insignia at Joseph Phelps with Carey on our honeymoon. So in this case, I don’t really have anything for comparison. On the other hand, I have had quite a few $20 bottles, none of which—maybe with the exception of one or two—combined this textural and flavor breakdown.

The most pronounced aroma and flavor characteristic in the Ebenezer Shiraz—the consummate workhorse—is cedar. Fleecy in texture and slightly vanillin in sweetness, this underlying woodsy trademark lived and thrived in the marrow of this wine—present in continually recurring form. It was beyond delicious, and the only instance where I have used cedar to describe the heart of a wine. But this wine was by no means one-dimensional— semi-sweet dark chocolate, pipe tobacco, plum, blueberry, and black cherry, rounded out this full-bodied Shiraz. It was not jammy or candied, other than in appearance, showing vibrant garnet colors that clung to the walls of the glass after a swirl, timid to rejoin the rest of the group.

The CR Ebenezer Shiraz is, without a doubt, the best Australian wine I have ever had. A personal top 10 wine? Definitely. Top 5? Quite possibly. I have no doubt that there are winemakers selling in the $100 price range that would kill to swap juice with Chris Ringland.

After an hour of poking around online I found plenty of wine merchants who are proudly advertising Ebenezer, but unfortunately they don’t actually have any bottles. It looks like I will probably never try this wine again—but when a new vintage is released I will be ready to pounce. I’ll keep you posted.

Because we had such a special wine, a delicious dinner was in order. We decided on two flatbreads—the first was gorgonzola, sun-dried tomatoes, and walnuts; the second, fig, rosemary, and prosciutto. Carey and I have been making these flatbreads, along with other variants, for the last year or so and successfully pairing them with our favorite Zinfandels and Syrahs.

Fig & Prosciutto Flatbread

You will need: 1 12 oz ball pizza dough, flour, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 garlic clove, salt/pepper, 1 tsp minced rosemary, 1/2 cup fig jam, 1/4 lb. crumbled gorgonzola, 3 oz sliced prosciutto, 1 scallion, thiny sliced.

With which you will: Preheat oven to 400. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough 13″ round. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with garlic & rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Dollop fig jam all over, leaving 1″ border for crust. Scatter cheese and prosciutto*, bake until puffed and golden brown. Garnish with scallion.

*We add the proscuitto after baking, because we’re proscuitto junkies and like the cool, soft texture on the warm flatbread.

Esquin featured Torbreck from the Barossa Valley (which is in South Australia)  last Thursday (Aug. 13th).

Some of my favorites are as follows:

Woodcutter’s Semillon. Had aroma’s of citrus with flavors of almond, pineapple, peach and mineral notes. I really enjoyed this one and I am not partial to Semillon for the most part. $18.

Grenache Shiraz Mataro. Big berry flavor, blackberry and cherries, mineral and spice. Very balanced with adity just right and tannins. $21.