Degustation Interpretations

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing two wine & food degustation dinners hosted by winemakers.  The first dinner was a degustation in the true sense of the word.  Waiting staff brought out plates of food for all to share and poured the wine or wines that were matched by the winemaker and chef.  It was very well done and, yep, worked perfectly.  If you get the opportunity, go along to one.  The other not so degustational (if that is a word) but excellent nonetheless.  There were bottles of different varieties of wines placed on the table (and plenty of them I might add) and then plates of food were brought out periodically for everybody to share.  On this occasion, the winemaker encouraged us to try different wines with the different types of food to get an idea of how flavours worked, or didn't work, together.  I am not sure you would call this a degustation but the experience was interesting and educational.  Rather than be told (for want of a better word) which wine to have with our food, we were able to work it out ourselves and/or, get other "non-winey" people's opinions.  This type of scenario is also much easier to do at home and can be fun, and interesting, at the same time.  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine alot.

Rusden Wines - A Gem of a Discovery

As you may have noticed, I previously have only specifically featured a winery once in my blog.  I mostly alert you to specific wines because they are bargains or specific wines I have tasted.  On this occasion, I had the luxury of sampling four excellent wines from one winery.  Rusden Wines in Vine Vale (Barossa Valley).  I had never heard of them before but I had heard of the Black Guts Shiraz.  It is a small family run winery consisting of (owners) Christine and Dennis Canute and their winemaker son, Christian, and some devoted support staff whose philosophy is certainly worth reading about.  The winess I was fortunate enough to taste were their Driftsand Grenache/Shiraz, Full Circle Mataro, Chookshed Zinfandel and the Black Guts.  I am a fan of Barossa shiraz and who isn't but, not everybody likes the big gutsy styles that smash your palate with high alcohol and drying tannins and take years to mature.  All of the Rusden wines I tasted, and I mean all of them, were very approachable now.  You know how sometimes you taste a wine and think, "that is fruity" or "it's dry" or "it's a bit bitey", well, these wines didn't have any of those in isolation or otherwise.  Imagine these characteristics all together, integrated and balanced.  That is what these wines were, or are, all about.  It's fair to say a couple of them are not cheap but, sometimes it pays to fork out a little bit more for a quality wine that doesn't have the "bulk wine" corporate stamp all over it.  If you get the opportunity, try them, you will not be disappointed, trust me.  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine alot.

Basic Explanation of Tastes and Flavours of Wine

I tend to look for wine reviews in newspapers, magazines, on television or online and it has baffled me on a number of occasions about tasting terms the "wine experts" use.  Some examples; For a Heathcote Shiraz..."belly of the hare", a Coonawarra Cabernet..."dirty filter pads" and for a Pinot Noir..."a peacock's tail of flavours".  I can picture how the flavours of a good Pinot can open up (to use another wine term, sorry) but, I have never tasted the belly of a hare and I definitely do not want to taste a dirty filter pad.  These sort of descriptions are, admittedly, not the norm.  There are literally hundreds of words used but the most common include ones like cherry, blackberry, blueberry and plum for reds and grassy, gooseberry, citrus and fruit salad for whites.  You are probably wondering how a grape can seem to have the flavours and/or aromas of other fruits.  Basically (and boy do I mean basically) certain grape varieties have the same flavour and/or aroma compounds as other fruits and, as such, can taste and smell similar.  The Olfactory receptors on the tongue send a signal to the brain which says (work with me here please people), "hello hello, I've tasted that before when you ate (for example) plums".  Regardless of the scientific jargon, many things can alter our taste buds.  There are some fruits we may have never eaten so would not recognise it's flavour in a wine and let's not forget food brings out flavours, and certain textures, in wine.  As I have said before, wine is, and always will be, personal.  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine alot.

The Great Freight Debate Continues

Very recently, in the local newspaper, there was a full page advertisment of a large liquor chain, selling Beer Wine and Spirits, offering 20% off all wine if you purchase 6 bottles or more.  The same company is offering 30% off in their mainland outlets with the same conditions.  I decided to contact the company and, after leaving two messages, somebody eventually returned my call.  The answer to my question of why the difference in the discount was, words to the effect of, "we maintain an everyday low price Australia wide in our outlets but due to shipping costs to Tasmania, we can not offer the same level of discount as our mainland states.  Our store operators would not be able to carry the cost".  When I mentioned that Tassie wines would have little or no freight costs he maintained his stance on the "...everyday low price...".  Most of the places I source my bargain wines from are on the mainland.  The most I pay for postage is $10 a carton & if I buy multiple cases (for friends of course) they offer free postage.  Some places will give free postage if you spend a certain amount of money with them and, for people like me (again for friends), that is often quite easy to do.  I wonder how many large companies use the shipping cost as an excuse to take advantage of a certain demographic and sometimes I am sure we don't even know we are being ripped off in this kind of circumstance.  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine alot.

A Beer Maybe? Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe

I have been told on several occasions that there is more to life than wine.  This is true.  Every now and then I enjoy a beer or two before I take the screwcap off a bottle of fermented red grape juice.  These days I like to try different beers whether it be Australian or not.  On the way home yesterday, I called into my local bottle-shop because I know they have a very good selection of boutique and imported beers.  I selected a Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe.  Mad Brewers is part of Malt Shovel Brewery which brings us the James Squire range and they bring out special release beers on a regular basis.  I am not a great wheat beer fan normally but, when I read the label, it seemed this wasn't going to be your normal bananary, pale-cloudy German Hefeweizen style so, home it came.  When I poured it, I was surprised at how dark it was, similar to a lighter coloured Newcastle Brown Ale.  I deliberately left it out of the fridge for a short time so it wasn't so cold when I tasted it (being too cold can mask the flavours of the beer).  It was citrusy but not overly so, yep the banana was there but fitted in nicely with all the other flavours without dominating and it was a touch sweet.  Actually, 'she who must be obeyed' liked it and it didn't receive the comment of "tastes like beer to me".  This is not a summer beer, there's more to it than that, especially at 7.0% alcohol, but it wouldn't fit the requirements of a stout in winter either.  Enjoy it for what it is.  A nice, rich, flavoursome gem of an Aussie boutique beer.  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine (or beer) alot.

Wine South Tasmania Red Wine Weekend, 26th & 27th May 2012

Hands up those who enjoy Wine.  Keep your hands up if you enjoy Tasmanian Wine and, keep your hand up if you enjoy Tasmanian red wine.  By now you're probably thinking, "what is this idiot going on about?".  Well, on Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of May, Wine South Tasmania is presenting the red wines from almost all the wineries in southern Tasmania.  If is has been like the others I have been to, it will include sparkling reds, merlots, cabernets & blends, shiraz and of course, pinot noir.  The cost is $20 if you purchase your ticket online or $25 on the day which gets you a plumm tasting glass to keep and a taste of as many of the wines as you like.  It is happening between 11am and 5pm on both days at Princes Wharf Shed No 1, (PW1) Castray Esplanade, Hobart.  There are other events on both days including a Pinot Noir Master-Class, a Gold Medal/Trophy Tasting of Tassie Pinots and a couple of others worth looking into as well.  Check out the website at www.winesouth.com.au/RedWineWeekend.html.  If you want to pre-purchase tickets go to www.eventfinder.com.au/2012/tasmanian-red-wine-weekend/hobart.  It really is a good opportunity to have a look at some excellent (and under-rated) Tassie red wines that you have either never heard of normally or wouldn't think of trying and, there are some very good new wineries popping up that are definitely worth a try.  For fear of stating the obvious, I'll be there (both days if I can convince the designated driver).  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine alot.

2007 Penfolds Grange & Icon Wines Release for 2012

I doubt it very much that those who enjoy their red wine have not heard of Penfolds Grange (Hermitage).  The latest vintage was released a week ago with less fanfare, believe it or not, than I expected.  Grange has been around, unofficially, since 1951 (it began as an experiment) and the owners of Penfolds at the time believed it was a dreadful wine according to its creator, Max Schubert.  The wine community, in general, thought, "What is this strange big drink?  Is this Port?".  It was first put in a wine show (Sydney) in 1955 and immediatley won a gold medal and to be honest it has never looked back.  It is now one of the most famous wines of the world.  As a matter of fact, its annual release is highly anticipated by wine investors.  The 2007 vintage is, as expected, the show-pony of the 2012 Luxury & Icon Release for Penfolds/Treasury Wine Estates.  At RRP of $625.00 a bottle, it is out of  reach for most of the wine drinking population, including me.  It is not as good as the 2006 vintage and will definitely live in the shadow of the 2008 vintage but is indeed still a good wine judging by the many reviews already available on the internet.  Let's not forget about its siblings, however.  The 2009 RWT Shiraz is also available for RRP $175.00 a bottle and the 2009 Magill Estate Shiraz RRP $130.00 a bottle are both excellent wines as well not requiring the cellaring time Grange does.  My pick, if I were to purchase any of this range of wines, would be the 2008 St. Henri shiraz at RRP $95.00 a bottle.  All of these wines can be found alot cheaper than these prices at the usual big liquor chain outlets so, if any of these take your fancy, have a good look around.  Oh, and google them first because, there are some interesting, informative and entertaining tasting notes available for the discerning buyer.  I have tasted previous vintages of all these wines so, if you want to know anything about how well they can become with cellaring, feel free to ask.  'Til next time and remember, live simply, laugh often, wine alot.