Ultima parte del “mini trattato” sugli Shiraz australiani del nostro Brendan Jansen

Le zone dello Shiraz australiano

Le regioni più fredde dell’Australia meridionale, come la Clare Valley ed il Coonawarra, forniscono anch’esse Shiraz di alta qualità. Wendouree è un piccolo ma fantastico produttore della Clare Valley… ed è molto difficile procurarsi una sua bottiglia! Del resto gran parte dei produttori di Cabernet del Coonawarra creano anche eccezionali Shiraz.

Infine Margaret River, regione dal clima moderato nell’estremo Sud Ovest australiano, conosciuta per i suoi Cabernet Sauvignon, ospita alcuni produttori di Shiraz con un livello qualitativo altissimo. Due buoni esempi sono Voyager Estate e Windance.

Una rassegna come questa non è in grado di fare giustizia della miriade di produttori di Syrah; alcune importanti regioni vinicole negli stati di Victoria, South Australia e Tasmania non sono neppure state menzionate… va detto però che la gran parte dei viticoltori australiani sono in grado di offrire una bottiglia di Shiraz!

In Australia, come nel resto del Mondo, lo Shiraz è anche vinificato insieme ad altre varietà di uva. Un crescente numero di produttori sta realizzando blend di Shiraz e Viognier (come Clonakilla e Yering Station). Cabernet e Shiraz sono del resto da lungo tempo compagni di strada nel classico Australian blend del Penfolds Bin 389. Anche Grenache e Mourvedre (come nello Chateauneuf du Pape) sono sovente abbinati allo Shiraz (un eccellente esempio è il Nine Popes di Charles Melton).

Due considerazioni finali. La prima a proposito dello stile di vinificazione. Negli anni più recenti ci si è spostati da vini che volevano stupire per l’intensità del gusto, anche attraverso un’ampio uso della barrique di quercia americana (con i conseguenti e caratteristici sentori vanigliati) ad uno stile più sobrio, che utilizza barriques francesi. Naturalmente rimangono ancora molti esempi di Shiraz di grande potenza.

In secondo luogo, le recenti ondate di caldo e siccità che hanno colpito l’Australia hanno operato un cambiamento delle condizioni di lavoro per viticoltori e produttori, specialmente nelle aree di produzione più calde, dove profumi, acidità e struttura risentono della maturazione molto rapida delle uve. Le zone dal clima più temperato, naturalmente, se la passano meglio.

Testo originale Brendan Jansen

There’s no doubt that all the cheap deals on offer have tarnished big wine brands – many of them Australian. Some deserve it. An ocean of sub-standard plonk has made its way from Down Under, proving that Australia isn’t positioned to produce really good wines at rock-bottom prices any more.  But, leaving very low prices aside, some of the biggest names in Australian wine still do a pretty good job. One of them is Penfolds.

Two recent Dublin tastings have been a useful reminder not just of the breadth and quality of the Penfolds range (from the everyday stuff right up to Grange), but of the worthwhile experimentation being undertaken by this giant sheltering under the Fosters umbrella.  Peter Gago – one of the most personable winemakers on the planet as well being among the most intelligent – introduced two smashing examples of the Cellar Reserve range which gives his winemaking team an opportunity to play around. Let’s hope that both the meaty Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir and the perky Barossa Sangiovese become available in Ireland soon. Meanwhile, Penfolds is about to release its first Tempranillo and an old-vine Zinfandel is being trialled.

Gago also brought news of a new glass wine stopper which his company is developing – a bit like the Vinolok but minus the plastic cushion under the rim.  With this one, glass bottle and glass stopper will sit tight against each other – a better bet, he believes, for wines which require long ageing. Although he is a major fan of screwcaps for white wines, Gago is not convinced that they will prove suitable for reds over the long term. ‘The chemistry of red wine is very different from that of white wine,’  he says. As an ex-science teacher, he should know.

Grange 2004 was poured at this tasting; Grange 2000 at a second Penfolds event a few weeks later. Without wanting to sound ungrateful, these were rather wasted on me. I’ve always found the magnificent (and less macho) St Henri Shiraz a much more thrilling wine. But the second tasting was fascinating for other reasons. Examples of that Penfolds stalwart, Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet, from 1990 (gloriously elegant), 1996 (a bit clumsy) and 2002 (silkily delicious) showed how astonishingly well this everyday red at just €12.99 can age. And good old Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz, a cracking wine at around €30, stood up remarkably well to the more exalted company of Bin 707 and Grange. It’s Peter Gago’s favourite in the whole range. Good man.

Ci è stata richiesta la versione in italiano dell’interessante post di Brendan Jansen: un vero è proprio atlante dello Shiraz australiano… ve la proponiamo suddivisa in tre parti.

Le zone dello Shiraz australiano

Penso che lo Shiraz, o Syrah – com’è chiamato in gran parte del pianeta – sia un dono dell’Australia al mondo. C’è più Shiraz in Australia che nella Valle del Rodano, quella che potremmo chiamare la sua patria ancestrale (anche se, considerando l’intera Francia, il primato ritorna nel vecchio continente, con l’Australia seconda di misura). In questa breve esposizione utilizzerò i termini Shiraz e Syrah come intercambiabili, per quanto molti dei vini del Nuovo Mondo, etichettati come “Syrah”, intendano sottolineare il loro essere più simili ai tradizionali prodotti francesi, con maggiore sapidità e note fruttate di minore intensità.

L’Australia ha una lunga storia nella vinificazione dello Shiraz. I primi prodotti nazionali si devono al lavoro di Sir James Busby, nel 1830. Molti vini in varie aree della federazione, soprattutto nello stato del South Australia, nascono dai vigneti originari, oggi ultra centenari…  Hill of Grace di Henschke, prodotto nell’Eden Valley, proviene da vigneti con più di 120 anni.

Lo Shiraz, per la sua versatilità, ha potuto trarre vantaggio dalle diverse zone climatiche australiane. D’altra parte ha beneficiato delle moderne tecniche enologiche e dell’assenza di una legislazione troppo rigida, che permette tra l’altro di abbinare uve da differenti aree, a volte assai distanti fra loro. Penfolds Grange, ad esempio, è un insieme multiregionale di differenti Shiraz, vinificati con una piccola quantità di Cabernet Sauvignon.

I produttori (ed i consumatori) australiani stanno però iniziando a capire ed apprezzare i diversi modi in cui lo Shiraz si può manifestare in regioni con terreni, temperature, distanze dell’oceano diversi tra loro. Tintara (della grande azienda vinicola Hardys) ha realizzato una serie di vini provenienti da singoli vigneti nell’area della McLaren Vale, per sottolineare l’influenza del suolo e del microclima. Molto lavoro è stato fatto sulla selezione dei diversi cloni di uva, specialmente in relazione all’adattabilità alle condizioni climatiche ed al tipo di suolo, e la ricerca in questo campo si sta sviluppando.

testo originale di Brendan Jansen

Jag fick ett pressmeddelande rörande att Penfolds arrangerar sin första Re-Corking Clinic i Sverige den 8 oktober.

Enligt pressmeddelandet kan ägare till Penfolds-viner som är 15 år eller äldre få möjligheter att smaka av sin klenod och korka om den tillsammans med Penfolds chefsvinmakare Peter Gago. Jag har några Penfolds flaskor liggande i källaren, bland annat ett par Magill Estate Shiraz (2001 & 2003 tror jag), dock inga som är 15 år eller äldre.

Har du någon eller några flaskor liggande så anmäl dig till Penfolds Re-Corking Clinic från och med 20/8-09. 

Magnus Reuterdahl

Price :: $15 – $18 from Magill Estate Cellar Door

Cellar Potential :: Drinkable now but will look better after 3 to 5 years

Score :: 87 (needs a bit more time methinks)

Music Match :: 1976… The debut of a Classic Aussie wine… Koonunga Hill… 1976… The debut of a Classic Aussie band… The Saints… (I’m) Stranded is the perfect track to go with a glass of the Seventy Six.

I won’t waffle on to much about this wine as it shares a similar story to the Penfolds Autumn Riesling in my previous review. This is a cellar door exclusive from Magill Estate (promise my next wine reviewed will be more widely available) which commemorates the 30th Anniversary of the first Koonunga Hill Release in 1976. It is a decent but by no means spectacular tribute to what can be a great Australian wine.

Colour :: Deep to impenetrable ruby.

Aromas :: Dark cherries, violets, plums, faint whiff of wet cardboard, a little oak, a little cassis and a wee flourish of peppery spice.

Palate :: While the wine has reasonable integrity with dark cherries, plums, a little cassis and savoury elements on the palate supported by a peppery finish. But there is also a green, stalky element to the wine that I didn’t enjoy so much. This stalkiness adds bitterness to the wine but this may well fade with more time in the bottle. The tannins are also a little powdery for my liking but all in all this is a decent red for around $15.

Summary :: Well, another day comes and another decent value Penfolds red arrives. Penfolds access to large amounts of quality fruit ensures they are always there or there abouts (in terms of quality and value). But while this is a decent tribute to the original Koonunga Hill, it definitely needs some time to settle and for the money there are better Shiraz Cabernet blends out there (Yalumba The Scribbler for example).

So if your after a funky, retro Penfolds homage choose the Autumn Riesling over the Seventy Six. It’s more fun, interesting and will only get better as the weather gets warmer.

Price :: $15-18 from Magill Estate Cellar Door

Cellaring Potential:: Great to drink now but will be even better after 3 to 5 years + in the cellar
Score:: 90

Music Match:: Bright, zingy and a little bit fruity… Snowball by Devo does the job nicely!

The Info :: I picked this interesting wine up from Penfold’s Magill Estate Cellar Door this week. Unfortunately it is a Cellar Door exclusive but is worth a look if you ever make it to Magill Estate. The funky, retro bottle immediately catches the eye, as does the story behind the wine. The wine pays homage to Max Schubert, creator of Grange, and his trials in the 1970s to create a range of white wines to rival the Penfold’s reds. This wine is mostly riesling with possibly a touch of gewurztraminer to liven up the mix. Now I love a good homage but is the wine any good??

Colour :: Gold with a slight green tinge.

Aroma :: Limes, Lemons, Brioche, Passionfruit and Lychees… Intriguing, not overbearing.

Palate :: Crisp and crunchy acid is the first thing I noticed. Ensures the wine will develop well in the bottle and accentuates the toffee apple, lime and tropical fruit juice flavours. The finish is much smoother with lemon cheesecake lingering on the tongue… Nan would approve!

Summary:: A simple, tasty and interesting bottle of Riesling. Good quality fruit, a cool retro label and an interesting back story make for a good value white wine that’ll go down well now or over the short to medium term. If only it was more widely available.

As the boys are off to the State of Origin tonight, I quickly whipped up some ravioli for dinner.  When I “quickly” make pasta, I fry up some onion and garlic and use a tin of tomatoes.  I can’t say I’m too keen on using them and after my whole life of eating pasta, I am not sure what brand I even like.  I buy them because you always need a tin in your pantry.  Tonight I used Val Verde but I also have Annalisa.  When I properly cook pasta, I used a bottle of Biorganic Passata + a tin.  I’m not one of those people who only ever use organic food, but I’ve just noticed these tomatoes taste the best for my pasta.  The bottled tomato doesn’t seem to have as much acidity and taste “tinny” so I guess that’s why I prefer them.  Dinner was topped off with some nicely shaved parmesan and a bottle of Penfolds. Delish!

So there’s this fancy-pants Penfolds’ Grange Shiraz that’s aged for at least three years after bottling in order to develop into an immensely complex and seductive wine with richly textured flavors, so wine enthusiasts salivate over the chance to try it. The Grange 2004 vintage will make its debut at Max’s Wine Dive’s unique Moonlight Tasting event.

In addition to the 2004 Grange Shiraz, Penfolds wines to be featured at the Moonlight Tasting include the 2006 Yattarna Chardonnay, the 2006 RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz, the 2005 St. Henri Shiraz and the 2006 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Max’s Wine Dive is doing a good job of bringing its Haute Dog and Champagne upscale hangout bar theme to Austin, and funky events like this are no exception. Next Sunday night, they’ll unveil this groovy wine, and it’s sort-of free for you to attend.

The elite Moonlight Tasting is limited to 75 guests, and the event may be Austin wine lovers’ only opportunity to purchase these distinguished Penfolds wines all year. A non-refundable $100 credit card deposit is required as part of guests’ reservations for the Moonlight Tasting, and it will be applied to the purchase of any Penfolds products made during the event. So if you plan on buying some wine, the event is basically free. For $100.

RSVP to Nicole Fabian at Nicole@MaxsWineDive.com, or (512) 904-0111.

Max’s Wine Dive, 207 San Jacinto Blvd., www.MaxsWineDive.com

I guess the only good thing about being stuck here at home all day with one of my herniated discs playing up (and being in a perpetual state of screaming agony) is that I have time to upload all of these archived podcasts!

For the fourth podcast I had the honour of interviewing the legendary Winemaker Peter Gago of Penfolds, and a lovely chap he was too…

Jamie and Winemaker Peter Gago, Penfolds, Australia

Listen to my interview with Penfold’s Winemaker Peter Gago here.

Right-click and “Save Link As” if you’d like to save it to your hard drive…

Running Time: 38:40 | File size: 44.3MB

It is Sunday evening and we have had a beautiful spring day in Michigan. I think we saw every, single person under the age of 12 in our neighborhood today — either on a scooter, a bike or bouncing a ball. We Michiganders sure do love the first snow-free, semi-warm day! (I also saw my first robin — a sure sign of spring!)

We are finishing this bottle of Penfolds Shiraz Cabernet from Australia tonight. This is the kind of wine that put Australia wines on the map. Deep red in the glass with pomegranate,  spice, dried cranberries and a bit of wood. Luscious and fruity, the tannins are firm. This is just an easy-to-drink, very enjoyable, lush red wine.

We are going to have a pot of homemade soup and a loaf of home-made bread tonight. Just a simple Sunday-night dinner. Cheers!

Above: Legendary winemaker Daryl Groom (left) tastes with Bar Manager Alex Echaniz at the Gleneagles Country Club in Dallas.

Mosaic Wine Group rocked Dallas last week with legendary winemaker and Grange-veteran Daryl Groom, who was in town to judge the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition. If you’ve never heard of Daryl, you must have been living under a rock for the last twenty years. In the 1980s he was the winemaker at Penfolds in Australia and he made what is considered one of the greatest vintages of Grange: the 1986 Grange, awarded 100 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Above: While in Dallas, Daryl also tasted with top chef Frank Rumoré, owner of Four Winds Steakhouse in Wills Point, Texas, where Daryl’s Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and Shiraz are featured on the wine list.

Today, Daryl makes one of Australia’s top expressions of Shiraz, ranked number 2 in the country by Australian wine writer James Halliday. Daryl’s vineyards lie literally across the road from the historic Grange growing sites and were planted more than a decade ago with cuttings taken from Grange rootstock.

Click here to learn more about Daryl’s wines.

You can find Daryl’s wines at Gleneagles Country Club, Truluck’s, Fedora, Aurora, Four Winds Steakhouse, Tre Amici, and Sigel’s.

This is not a wine review – you can read about it here.

Nearly 2 years ago, 5 friends and I signed on a bottle of this wine… vowing that we would open it in 10(?) to 15(?) years, the recommended cellaring time according to Penfolds – I forget how long it was meant to be… :p Sounds a bit like FRIENDS – making such a pact, wondering if we would be still the close friends that we were back then. Or even still in touch, let alone close friends. Sounds very romantic and all… one of the signatories, Priscilla, joked that when it came time to open the bottle I might be dismayed to discover that my future son had already drank it!

Today, only 2 of us still live in Bandar… the other four are in KB, Manchester, Hong Kong and Melbourne. They say it’s a small world, but sometimes it feels so large as well…

Well, it just so happens that during this Chinese New Year, we’ve had lots of overseas friends back in Brunei. Unable to resist the temptation anymore, Marilyn suggested we open the sacred bottle. Here’s a picture with her holding it right before we opened it – with the signatures of Edmund, Matt, Pris, Yuhan, Marilyn and my own.

Apparently the original pact included a clause that if I had failed to keep the bottle for the prescribed time – I had to treat everyone to a holiday at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. Good thing Marilyn excused me from this obligation.

As for the wine itself, it was great! Perhaps it was the sentimentality attached to it as well, but like a wine connoisseur once told me on how to appreciate a bottle of wine – if it tastes good, then it’s good.

Things are moving along in our Yule preparations, but they are about to get really busy.

Still on the “to do” list are:

• quick grocery run for more chocolate
• finish JumbleSpouse’s Yule gift (Wife-made knit scarf)
• finish JumbleSon’s Yule gift (Mama-made King Winter)
• make luminaries to line our walk
• strategically place candles around the house for our 24 hrs of honoring Winter (no electric lights allowed)
• make Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms to accompany JumbleSweetie’s festive red and green tomato, caper couscous (Yes, sir! DH is back in the kitchen!)
• finish Dragon’s Layer Trifle (due to some technical difficulties this “cake” has been relegated to “trifle” status)
• make foodie treats for the prairie critters
• relax by the fire with another glass of wine

Last night JumbleSpouse wrapped up his finals.  He’s home for four weeks.  To celebrate we did something really crazy.  We opened our 1994 Penfolds Grange.

We received this amazing bottle of wine as a wedding gift and had been letting it age since.  We knew we wanted to wait and drink it to celebrate something really special.

JumbleSon’s birth was our original plan for this lovely.  Alas!  We were in such a tailspin from the time he arrived until, oh, last week, that we couldn’t fully appreciate such a fine specimen.

A few days ago I opened the cabinet in which it was “cellaring” only to find – to my horror – that there was a molasses-like ring and long drip snaking down the inside of the cabinet door.  Corked!  What if it’s corked???  Vinegar after all this time.  Major tragedy.

But, there’s only one way to find out for sure, right?!?  So, when JumbleStudent arrived home all fresh and rosy-fingered (oops, sorry…momentarily lapse into Illiad-speak), finals complete, he asked if I was up for it.  He feared if it wasn’t actually corked, and we didn’t give it some attention right away, that it would be soon (ssssurrre, nice rationalizing).

Why not??

So we did it!  I felt like such a rebel.  Like I was agreeing to take the proverbial “forbidden fruit”.  Naughty accomplice.

Decanting required

And what to our wondering taste buds did appear?!?  But, a gorgeous red wine, so rich and dear!   I’m not sure I am worthy of giving a wine of this class one of my reviews.  But, I can’t resist…it must be shared!

Does it taste like communion wine (aka, grape juice)? Are you kidding?!? It was so rich, I wasn’t even sure it was made from grapes.  In fact, I’m certain it was 100% currants.

Is it dry? Too old and wise to get me tannen-whipped, but sexy all the same.

Could I drink it instead of dinner?   We did!

Does it pass the dark chocolate test? Didn’t even break out the chocolate.  No need, it was that good.

Four stars!

Still, I wonder what it would have tasted like if the cork hadn’t looked like this…

Cork damage

We’ll be finishing the rest tonight.  Sadly, I have no meal planned that can do it justice.  Perhaps we’ll just have it with trifle for dinner?  I bet it’s amazing with chocolate and orange.

That’s the way to kick off a weekend of celebrating the Dark Heart of Winter!

Bright blessings to you this Yule.

Orange-Clove Solstice Votives

Dopo il recente post sulla ricchezza dei vini australiani, un approfondimento da Perth su diversi tipi di Shiraz che la grande varietà di territori e caratteristiche climatiche del continente australiano consente di offrire agli appassionati…

Shiraz is Australia’s gift to the world and, even though excellent Shiraz emanates from the Rhone Valley in France and from other new world areas, Australia produces far more than its fair share of top quality Shiraz. I might, for instance, choose to serve a cooler climate Shiraz, replete with pepper and spice and fine sinewy tannins. Or I might choose a Shiraz from a warmer climate to showcase its fruity, plummy fullness with freshness and glugability. Then of course there is the sparkling Shiraz which is made in the methode traditionelle and is a perfect accompaniment to turkey at Christmas time. Recently winemakers have begun to look at the influence of Terroir and various separate single vineyard blocks of Shiraz, all from the same geographically area but from different soil and elevation. This is an exciting development given that these wines are discernibly different from each other. Perhaps this too is a topic to be expanded upon in a future post.

Penfolds

Then there is the uniquely Australian style of combining Shiraz and Cabernet. (I know that this is done to a degree in the south of France, particularly in the Languedoc, but it has come to be a common practice in Australia.) With this combination Cabernet’s structure and spine are combined with Shiraz’s power and opulence.

Some “classic” examples? The products of historical wineries Penfolds and Hardys.

Versione italiana

Lo Shiraz è un dono dell’Australia al mondo, ed anche se ci sono eccellenti Shiraz provenienti dalla valle del Rodano o in altre aree del mondo, in Australia è prodotta la gran parte degli Shiraz migliori del mondo. Si potrebbe, ad esempio, servire uno Shiraz coltivato in un clima più freddo, con sentori di pepe e spezie ed un eccellente equilibrio nei tannini. Oppure scegliere uno Shiraz da un clima più temperato per sperimentare la pienezza dei suoi sentori fruttati, di prugna, un vino molto fresco e piacevole. Poi naturalmente c’è lo Shiraz prodotto con metodo classico, perfetto accompagnamento al tacchino nel periodo natalizio…

Recentemente molti enologi hanno iniziato a guardare con attenzione all’influenza del terroir e provano a separare le produzioni dei differenti vigneti di Shiraz della stessa area geografica sulla base del suolo e dell’altitudine del territorio. E’ uno sviluppo interessante, che dà a questi vini caratteristiche diverse e riconoscibili.

Infine, c’è uno stile australiano unico nel combinare Shiraz e Cabernet (so che è una cosa fatta da tempo in un angolo del Sud della Francia, soprattutto in Languedoc, ma è diventata una pratica comune in Australia). Con questa combinazione la struttura e la rotondità del Cabernet possono essere combinati con la potenza e l’opulenza dello Shiraz.

Qualche esempio “classico”? I prodotti delle grandi e storiche case Penfolds e di Hardys.

Jag öppnade aldrig någon Geisweiler. Eftersom jag bara skulle dricka ett glas ville jag inte förstöra bubblorna. Istället gick jag igenom min vingarderob (ja, det är en klädkammare fylld med vin). Där hittade jag några Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2001. Jag tyckte tillfället var tillräckligt ofestligt för att öppna en sådan. Jag hade nämligen förväntat mig ett övermoget vin. Jag kunde inte ha mer fel. Den var faktiskt chockerande bra. Den var fortfarande tät i färgen och precis börjat gå från blårött till rubinrött. Doften var stor med mörka bär och lite vaniljiga fat, utan att vara vulgo. Dessutom fanns där peppar och kryddor. Men det var smaken som faktiskt var otroligt bra för dom pengarna. Packad med frukt, utan att vara vulgo. Massor av svarta vinbär, hallon, fat och svartpeppar och på slutet väldigt mycket hallon, integrerat fat och lakrits. Tanninerna är perfekta nu, mjuka, men inte uttorkade. Sålänge jag kan minnas har det vinet fått kommentaren “Vinner inte på lagring” under “Hållbarhet”. Min flaska har legat i en garderob under c:a 5 år och är mycket mer generös, öppen, nyanserad och balanserad nu än när jag köpte den och väldigt god. Ni vet ju vad jag tycker om 100-poängsskalor och Parker. MEN så här skriver han om 2006:an:
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, 91 points
“The Cabernet and Shiraz blends begin with the 2006 Shiraz (70%) – Cabernet Sauvignon (22%) “Koonunga Hill”. Purple-colored, the wine offers meaty black currant, blackberry, and blueberry aromas. On the palate the wine exhibits remarkable focus and structure for its humble price. The fruit is grapy and primary as well as intensely flavored. It should evolve for several years and drink well through 2022 if not longer. It is a fantastic value. As an aside, Peter Gago presented a 1976 Koonunga Hill to demonstrate the aging potential of this cuvee. The wine was showing a bit of age aromatically but none on the palate. At age 31, this wine (which probably cost several dollars on release) is right at its peak (my score 94 points). Penfolds, arguably Australia’s most famous winery, continues to perform at a high level under the leadership of Head Winemaker, Peter Gago.”
Oct/07″

Uppenbarligen har dom inte läst på om hållbarheten i systembolagskatalogen. Men här har ni en som gladeligen kommer att köpa en så’nt där märkvärdigt “över 90 poäng av Parker” för under 90 spänn.

Burj Dubai - It's huge.

I’m not in the business of posting holiday snaps to my blog. Most of the time it’s meat and a few pictures of the people I eat it with. In this case though I’ll make an exception. Not only because I think the photo I took of the worlds tallest building is rather good, but because I think the Burj Dubai is a good metaphor for my meat experiences whist there – it being enormous and of unparalleled quality.

I was visiting Dubai for six days last week with Will. We had a very busy schedule and not a great deal of time to explore the city – but still we found the time to visit a few good eateries. The first day or two we ate at mostly American style burger bars and my confidence in finding a decent steak house was quickly diminishing.

Luckily for us though we had a heavy dose of local knowledge in the form of my long time buddy Matt Pickering, a lush and a believer. Following a few drinks at the famous expat beach bar Barasti, we headed to the Al Habtoor hotel in the marina area of Dubai. Here we dined at one of the greatest steak restaurants I have ever eaten in.

The (near) perfect sirloin

The Grand Grill has all the ingredients of a perfect steak restaurant. A huge variation of meat to pick and choose from, a great wine list and an owner that is both knowledgeable and passionate.

The menu was simple yet effective. Firstly you select the type of cut you want. I went for the New Yorker, which is a sirloin cut. Secondly you choose the quality and there are three different types to choose from – though in fairness it’s all grade-A stuff. The cheaper option is imported from South Africa. Next up is beef shipped all the way from the pampas of Argentina. And if you really want to splash out you can go for the Australian reared cattle. No need to say which I went for. Finally you choose how much you can handle. For the New Yorker the options are 100g, 300g & 500g. Not wanting to leave with an empty belly I opted for the half kilo, rare of course. The picture above does not really do it justice. Next time I’ll be sure to put something next to it for scale.

Naturally I polished off the whole thing without so much as breaking into even a moderate meat sweat. It tasted fantastic though my only gripe was that I think they could have done with leaving a little more of the fat on the cut. I find with grilled sirloin that it is always better to leave the fat on when on the flame as it gives the meat that extra flavour you don’t get with the other cuts. A minor problem in this case though as the quality of beef was superb.

We washed the poor animal down with a fine bottle of Penfolds Bin 407, a particularly nice Cabernet Sauvignon selected by our hosts.

After the meal we met the owner – a man truly after my own heart. He spoke to us for a good fifteen minutes about where the beef was sourced from, the process of ageing which takes place during shipping which includes opening the vacuum sealed packs of meat, draining them of blood then resealing them several times and of course his experiences of running the Grand Grill. The man – who’s name I sadly forget (that’ll be the vino) – capped off one of my all time favourite meat experiences.

If you are ever in the area then do not hesitate in getting your hind down to the Grand Grill. You will not regret it.

The latest import

Other than our trip to the Grand Grill we ate at one or two other places including a beachfront Sushi restaurant that would not let me in at first until I went to buy a pair of shoes (apparently sandals in the desert are not appropriate footwear) and a Lebanese restaurant in a shopping mall that looked over an 800 metre indoor ski slope complete with real snow. Nothing really worth writing about though.

There is one steak restaurant we did not make it to that inscribes the name of any man who can eat the ‘ultimate’ steak on a plaque on their wall. A good enough reason to go back soon.

Verdict: I was not expecting much in the way of great beef during my trip to Dubai. The fact that I visited one of the bet steak restaurants in the world can only give me good things to say about the place.

Winery Page

It was a hectic week at work, and I decided to take the missus out to Ruth’s Chris in Bellevue. No point going to a nice steak place without some good vino, so I tried to find something that was somewhat special.

Hunting around I found a 5 year old bottle of Bin 28 hiding back there. I wish I had the willpower to turn it into a 10 year old bottle, but what are you going to do?

It went very well with my porterhouse, as you would expect. It was very dry, but still had the dark fruit flavor that I like to have. Not very peppery in my opinion.

My only mistake was killing the whole bottle myself (wife is pregnant). But I am over that now – just needed lots of water.

If you’re lucky enough to to own a bottle or case of Penfolds red wines over 15 years of age you can get a free and exclusive opportunity to experience the ultimate after-sales service with the Penfolds Re-Corking Clinic, being held on 1 October 2008 at Somerset House, London.

To attend you need to register at penfolds.com

Updated: Decanter reports on the success of the exercise here <link>