A look at some Fresh Spring Whites from France, Italy and Australia…
The weather’s getting warmer so here’s some interesting, great value and very tasty white wines from around to drink over the coming months…
One from Italy, The Killer Stiletto 2007 Pinot Grigio
One from France, Paul Mas 2007 Marsanne
One from Margaret River, Wine By Brad 2008 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
All delicious…
Before I get stuck into The Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge, i’ve got a stack of wine reviews to get through. So, in between studying for my Wine Marketing exams, i’ll be putting up reviews of what has (and hasn’t) been tickling my tonsils lately. First up is a gluggable, great value Biodynamic Pinot from the Yarra Valley. I love Wedgetail Eagles. My favourite bird in the world. So graceful. Except when they are ripping apart Roadkill on the side of the road, but hey… An eagle’s got to eat. But my love of Wedgetails has not influenced my review of this wine. Cos it’s always about what is in the bottle. Always.
I picked this up on a recent visit to the Wedgetail Estate Cellar Door. If you are ever in the Yarra on a weekend, I highly recommend popping into the Cellar Door, which is definitely off the beaten track but well worth the effort. The winemaker Guy is at the Cellar Door and is more than happy to answer any questions about his wines and his winemaking journey via France and the Mornington Peninsula.
The Cellar Door at Wedgetail estate is open Saturday and Sunday – noon to 5:00pm February, March, April and September, October, November. Map shown below.
Wedgetail Estate Cellar Door Map
2008 Wedgetail Valley Par 3 Bio-dynamic Pinot Noir
2008 Wedgetail Valley Par 3 Pinot Noir
THE PRICE :: $24 from http://www.wedgetailestate.com.au/
CELLAR POTENTIAL :: Perfect now, or keep it for up to 3 years.
SCORE :: 92 Points
MUSIC MATCH :: This wine is fresh and vibrant with a conscience. No herbicides or insecticides used in it’s production. If the wine’s a bit of a greenie then the music should be too. So take your pick. Blue King Brown. Bob Marley. Xavier Rudd. All go down at treat with this Pinot. Just no Midnight Oil. Save that for matching with a wine that sold it’s soul!
THE INFO :: This is the perfect Pinot for people who don’t yet know they love Pinot. On the nose this is all about the red berries and savoury spices. Great integrity/continuity on the palate with strawberries, cherries and cream combining with the subtle spiciness to produce a delicious, well-balanced wine.
It’s not overly complex, it’s doesn’t have amazing length but it’s not a wine that needs to be discussed while stroking your chin. It’s a wine for giving to your friends who haven’t tried much Pinot. And then watch them knock it back with frightening speed. Heck, my mate who tasted it at the Cellar Door with me had never even heard of Pinot Noir and he absolutely loved this wine. As has everyone i’ve given it to since. Even if you don’t like Pinot, grab some of this. Support the little guy. Support sustainable farming practices with minimal impact on the earth. You might just feel as good about yourself as your taste buds will when this little beauty smothers them with Pinot love.
The Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge :: What is the greatest wine in Australia for $5?
It might almost kill me but I will find Australia's best wine under $5!
So what do most people want from a bottle of wine?
A once-in-a-lifetime sensory experience?
A perfect expression of grape variety and terroir?
Layers upon layers of complex flavours?
Nope.
Most people want a wine that tastes good and is bloody good value.
Don’t agree?
In 2007-2008 45.9% of Australia’s Domestic Sales of wine were from Soft Packs, or casks and the like.
Barley Crops and Barbed Wire
Australian’s love a good cheap bottle (or bag) of wine.
And while there are myriads of critics/wine books/magazines discussing expensive wine, Grange, cool climates, terroir, Pinot, specific clones, vineyard site selection, French Oak, malolactic fermentation levels and the like; very few are giving the majority of wine consumers what they want. Advice on a great value, tasty bottle or box of wine they can take along to a mate’s BBQ or party and slurp down a few glasses without getting indigestion.
And so, the Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge is born. Over the next few months I’ll be buying and tasting my way through a heap of $5 (and below!) wines to find the best white, red and sparkles. The wines will be widely available and must have a total cost of no more than $5.00 for 750mL. That way I can include casks that may have a higher total cost in the Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge.
The Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge Rules:
- Wines must be $5 or under per 750mL.
- Must be widely available.
- Must be Australian wine.
- Must taste good.
- Wines will be rated out of 5 Bonza Cobbers.
Australia, Australia, Australia. We Love You. Amen.
The Bonza Cobber Rating System.
The higher the Bonza Cobber rating, the better the wine.
All ratings will take into account the price of the wine, therefore a 5 Bonzer Cobber Rating does not mean the wine’s as good as a Grange!
But it does mean it’s the best you can get for the price.
As I taste the wines i’ll be putting together a video talking about the wines and the Bonza Cobber Rating they get. Once i’ve gone through a substantial amount of wines, the 2009 Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge Winners will be announced. One red winner, one white and one sparkling. No prizes will be awarded to the winners, other than the satisfaction of having a sensational Bonza Cobber Rating as well as being an inaugural Great Australian $5 Wine Challenge Award Winner.
If you have any suggestions for contenders, or if you are a winery and would like to submit a product for inclusion in the Challenge, either leave a comment below or send an email to intwines@gmail.com
Blog Action Day: Climate Change. Myth or Reality? A video showing evidence of Climate Change in action.
Funky food, wine, people and places is what Intwines is all about… So why a video about Climate Change?
REASON NUMBER ONE :: Today, the 15th of October is Blog Action Day
Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.
First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.
By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.
Out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action. In 2007 on the theme of the Environment, we saw bloggers running environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices, and focusing their audience’s attention on organizations and companies promoting green agendas. In 2008 we covered the theme of Poverty, and similarly focused the blogging community’s energies around discussing the wide breadth of the issue from many perspectives and identifying innovative and unexpected solutions. This year we aim to do the same for Climate Change, an issue that threatens us all.
REASON NUMBER TWO :: I’ve met and read about some prominent members of the Wine Industry who are Climate Change skeptics. Some of them even think that Climate Change will be great, as higher levels of CO2 will enable plants to produce more yield. Well, that’s all well and good but the fact is that sensibly reducing Carbon emissions, being smarter with the use of resources (water/coal/oil) and utilising renewable sources of energy will not harm us or the planet in the long term.
If we don’t do anything and it turns out that Climate Change is real? What do we do then? What are the consequences for the great wine regions of the world? Burgundy? Champagne? The Barossa? Will we no longer be able to drink the wine varieties we love? What are the consequences for the great food producing regions of the world? Will the great seafood, meat, fruit and vegetables we enjoy in Australia become scarce and/or prohibitively expensive?
Well, that sounds like hell to me. So, that’s why i’ve put this video on Intwines. It’s a presentation from nature photographer James Balog, whose Extreme Ice Survey is gathering photographic evidence on the receding of glaciers as a result of climate change. I hope you find some interesting points in the presentation and I promise this will be my last rant on climate change.
Please note :: There will however be rants to follow on those winemakers that think there is no value in Biodynamics!
Some of the vineyards at Mount Pleasant where Maurice O'Shea made some of Australia's greatest ever wines
Well, after a bit of a break from Intwines to attend the Vineyard and Winery Operations Residential School for Uni (which was brilliant) i’m back and ready to share more funky food, wine, people and places with you all. Coming soon will be loads of great wine tastings that i’ve done, the final parts of the Adelaide Hills Region Wine Tasting saga, the story of my magical experience tasting 100 year old wine, more photos from my wine related travels around Australia, more music, more rants and more recipes…
But to start things up again I thought i’d start a regular series of video blog posts. Why a video blog? Well, as Nan always says, a picture can tell a thousand words. And sometimes it’s easier to show you all something than to rant on about it for ages! And if just one person gets something out of it that inspires them to buy better booze, then i’ll be a happy man. But having said that, it’s really just a format that i’m having a bit of fun with, hopefully passing on some of the things that have increased my appreciation of all things wine related. Like the blog it will grow and change organically. I’m not trying to be the next Oz Clarke, Gary Vaynerchuck, James Halliday, Jancis Robinson or Rove McManus.
Like everything with Intwines I do it because I love to do it. I do it because I love wine. I do it because I love food. I do it because I love people who are passionate about what they do and do it bloody well. So, if it sucks, or parts of it suck, then let me know so I can change and improve it. Too long? Too short? Boring? Let me know. Any ideas for episodes? Any styling tips? Let me know. I want you all to have as much fun with this whole thing as I do! Just leave me a comment and i’ll get back to you ASAP.
So, without further ado, I present to you Intwines 1.0 :: Some great Australian Wine Books.
Dedicated to Max Lake, Len Evans and Campbell Mattinson… Thanks for your inspiration and your passion for brilliant wine.
Unfortunately the Original and the Best Celebrity Chef Keith Floyd passed away today, aged 65. On his many TV cooking shows he was funny, irreverent, always full of joy and always with a glass of wine close by. I thought i’d post up one of my favourite bits of Floyd as a reminder of why he was the Original and, in my opinion, the Best Celebrity Chef.
THERE’S MORE TO GUMERCHA THAN A BIG WOODEN HORSE
Who needs acid when you can come to Gumeracha and visit the Big Rocking Horse!
Big things, I love them. Big wines. Big meals. Big occasions. And I especially love a Big Monument. Been to all of them in Australia. The Big Banana. The Big Pineapple. The Big Orange. The Big Sheep. The Big Koala. The Big Lobster. The Big Ned Kelly. But one of them holds a special place in my heart. It was the first Big Monument I ever saw as a kid. It was The Big Rocking Horse in the sleepy little Adelaide Hills town of Gumeracha. This Big Monument that showed me that dreams were possible. That even the pointless actually had a point (and a bloody big one at that)! Gumeracha has always had a special place in my heart. And that special place in my heart has grown a little bit bigger after getting to know the wines of Gumeracha’s own Protero.
VEEE-ON-YAY… IS A-OK (as are Goats and all that they produce)
If I was a goat I would like to live here
So, we’ve done the Rose, loaded up on good Chardonnay and had some wonderful Cheese and Oysters. But before we hit the Protero stand i’m distracted by a delicious looking platter of Goats Cheese and Quince Paste tarts. I think that Goats are probably the most underrated food producing animal in Australia. They produce delicious milk, cheese and meat. Curry Goat is bloody delicious. But anyways, I was peckish again so I *Bad joke alert* grabbed one of those tarts faster than a footy player would on his end of season footy trip. Were they good? Delicious. Who made them? Couldn’t tell you. Sorry. It was a catering company in the Adelaide Hills that do weddings, parties, anything… If anyone who was at the tasting knows please leave a comment below because I would like some more Goat’s Cheese and Quince Paste tarts. Please.
On to the Protero stand. There were more people ready to serve wine than being served wine at the stand. Which isn’t hard when there is no-one being served wine. But do you really need four people to man one stand? Maybe not but the first thing that struck me about the folk at the Protero stand (a bunch of owners/assistant winemakers) was there enthusiasm and love of what they do. Always a good thing, especially when you’ve passed a couple of soulless Foster’s/Constellation/Pernod stands. These are the three companies that produce the vast amount of wine in Australia. They dominate the wine industry in a similar fashion to the way Coles, Woolworths and IGA dominate the Supermarkets. Which brings me to another point. While I love wines from wineries and companies of all sizes, why is it so easy to pick the big brands at wine tastings??
INTWINES GUIDE TO PICKING (and avoiding) THE BIG THREE AT REGIONAL (or other) WINE TASTINGS
- Excessive Promotional Material
- Excessive highlighting of awards no matter how minor
- Tight ass pouring of wine
- Rude, holier than thou and uninterested staff manning the stand
- No wine above $20 RRP available for tasting
- Start Packing up 3 hours before the end of the Tasting
Ahh, cascades... So relaxing, so nice after a silly rant.
Rant over. Back to Protero. Enthusiastic people. Excited for me to try their wines. Excited for me to spread the word about their wonderful wines. You don’t need me, I say, you have some fancy Winestate Wine Of The Year award for your Merlot. No, they say, we want real people to spread the word. It works best they say. Agree I do. And then they give me a taste of the most delicious Viognier I have had for a while.
2007 Protero Wines Viognier
Protero Viognier 2007
Price :: $29 from http://www.proterowines.com.au
Cellar Potential :: Delicious now and will stay that way up to 3 years
Score :: 94
Music Match :: Delicate, sensual and refined… The music to match this wine could only come from Minnie Ripperton, of Lovin’ You fame. Why? Minnie and Viognier are both underrated. In the wrong hands they can become a caricature. Yes, i’m looking at you South Park and various nameless winemakers. But when they are treated right they are both capable of soaring to undreamt of heights. Forget Lovin’ You and head straight to Inside My Love, in my humble opinion her finest moment. Grab a bottle of this sexy, slinky wine. Grab your partner. Put on Minnie Riperton. And let the magic begin…
The Summary :: This wine is delicious. In the wrong hands Viognier can be oily, horrible stuff that tastes like the juice in a tin of sliced Apricots or Peaches. But not this stuff. Sure the signature Viognier apricot is there. But the aroma is more apricot kernel than pure apricot. And it’s supported by lifted citrus, quince and pear notes. Delicate. These intriguing notes continue onto the palate where they dominate the apricot to the point of almost making it disappear. But it’s really all about the mouthfeel. Buttery, slinky and balanced with the right amount of acidity. Not in the least bit oily. Refined. And for my money one of the best value Viogniers in Australia.
* This post is dedicated to the memory of Keith Floyd, a true legend who bought class, humor and irreverence to the world of food and wine. I heard the sad news of his passing as I was writing this post. He will always be a great inspiration to me and many others. RIP Keith Floyd*
(LET ME TAKE YOU DOWN, ‘CAUSE I’M GOING TO) LOBETHAL ROAD where the Chardy’s unreal.
So what do you do after you’ve tried some great Chardonnay? Well, at the Hills tasting you eat some delicious cheese and then drink some more great Chardonnay! The cheese in question was from a company that i’ve loved and supported for a very long time. B.d. Farm Paris Creek. I’ll try not to waffle on but these guys have been making a great range of organic and biodynamic milk and yogurt products for almost 20 years. Recently they have also started making a equally good range of hard and soft cheeses. If you want more information on them and their products, check out http://www.bdfarmpariscreek.com.au/.
So, with a belly full of cheese it was onto the Lobethal Road stand. Call me ignorant but i’d never heard of Lobethal Road wines before attending the tasting. Especially ignorant as one of my favourite Hill wineries, Tilbrook (more on them in another post but just quickly their new Sangiovese Cabernet blend is brilliant), is also from Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. But I digress… Great Chardonnay is what we are looking for so we ask for a taste of their top of the line model, the Bacchant.
What's this? This is where your head'll be when you drink this Chardonnay!
2008 Lobethal Road Wines Bacchant Chardonnay
Price :: $40 – 45
Cellar Potential :: Up to 6+ years
Score :: 96 Points
Music Match :: Sublime, uplifting wine deserves sublime and uplifting music.. Drink this wine while listening to Camille by Georges Delerue… If you don’t know Georges, he was a brilliant French Film composer that wrote over 350 scores for film and television. Make sure your seated when drinking the wine and listening to Camille, it is a heady and truly intoxicating experience.
The Summary :: Sometimes a wine you expect to be great turns out to be great. Sometimes a wine you expect to be great turns out to be disappointing. And sometimes along comes a wine of which you expect very little but delivers in spades. This is one of those wines. Uplifting aromas of honey, white peach, mandarins and a hint of oak. Near perfect balance and integrity on the palate with white peaches, citrus, oak and honey softly dancing on the palate. But that’s not the best bit. The texture. Oh, a joy to behold. Soft and silky it caresses the mouth in all the right places, making it almost a shame to swallow this wine. Is it a little pricey at $42? Not at all, at that price it’s damn good value. Do I still hate Chardonnay like I did six months ago? Not a chance. If we all tried Chardonnay this good the Anything But Chardonnay Club would be a lonely place.
YOU MUST BE OFF YOUR TROLLI!
…And now for something completely different. After more food treats (possibly the best smoked salmon, kingfish and prawns i’ve ever tasted from Harris Smokehouse in Hahndorf) it was off to sample the wines from Hahndorf Hill Winery. Tasted the whites, and sure they were agreeable and nice but the wine that really took me by surprise was their Rose. Deliciously fresh, dry as a dead dingo’s donger (like all good Rose) and totally unique. Unique because it is the only Rose in Australia made from the obscure grape varieties of Trollinger and Lemburger. Apparently these grapes are a little bit like David Hasselhoff’s singing… Big in Germany and Austria but pretty unpopular everywhere else! Anyways, the Rose is delicious and great value too. So put away your Rockford’s Alicante Bouchet and grab a bottle of this when it gets warm.
HHW Rose
Price :: Around $19
Cellar Potential :: Don’t even think about it, drink it young and fresh!
Score :: 91 Points
Music Match :: This Rose is a deliciously dry delight, so it needs some deliciously dry music to match. With the wines German heritage you need some German music to really match this well. Dry German music doesn’t sound very appealing but one brilliant pop song fits the bill. It’s got to be the most popular Cold War-era protest song ever, 99 Luftballons by Nena.
The Summary :: Australia has been plagued for years by overly sweet Rose wines. But the tide is finally turning with drops like Hahndorf Hill Trollinger/Lemburger Rose. On the nose I got a blast of raspberries, strawberries, apples and marmalade. Many of these notes continued onto the palate with the berries dominating. Texturally this wine is silky smooth with great mouthfeel. It finishes bone dry, inviting another sip… Then another.. Then another… Dangerous but delicious summer barbie wine, ditch the Banrock Station White Shiraz or Rockford’s Alicante Bouchet and grab a bottle of this.
STAY TUNED FOR PART FOUR or GUMERACHA (IT’S GOT MORE THAN A BIG WOODEN HORSE)
2006 Max Off The Leash Shiraz Viognier
2006 Max Off The Leash Shiraz Viognier
Price :: Around $20
Cellar Potential :: Up to 3 years
Score :: 85
Music Match :: A dog of a wine… A dog of a tune might just help you get your mind off this wine! Crank Boom Boom by Paul Lekakis to get your mind off the wine and back in the 80s…
Summary :: The Lane has one of the most picturesque Cellar Doors/Restaurants in the country. They also make some stellar white wines, such as the Gathering which I have reviewed previously. Off The Leash is their entry level range, the name has something to do with a dog called Max. Seriously, another dog related wine label?? Come on now people, I know they are cute and man’s best friend and all but enough already. Plus it’s disrespectful to name your crappest wine after your best mate! From the first sniff this wine was disappointing. Unusually for a cool climate region this wine smells of overcooked stewed fruits. This is ever so slightly tempered by apricots, berries, a hint of spice and white pepper. On the palate the stewed fruits are masked a little by the Viognier component. As a result you get some reasonable cherry and dark berry flavours. The Viognier also adds a little textural interest, making the wine smooth on the palate. It makes the wine bearable, but by no means great. The finish on this wine is very short and slightly bitter. All in all, a disappointing wine given the price and the wineries pedigree. It’s a little bit unrefined and basic for my tastes. Off The Leash? If they’d kept the wine On The Leash (ie. more controlled and focused) this wine could have been better. But them’s the breaks.
Another thing I love is taking photographs, so occasionally i’ll be a little self indulgent and put up some of my favourite photos from my travels around Australia.
The images in this selection are:
- The York-Beverly Turf Club in Western Australia :: I stumbled across this while driving to York in WA. I loved the backdrop and the feel of a traditional, no-frills country racecourse.
- Open Air Chapel, Northern New South Wales :: Not trying to get all religious, but thought this was a striking image in a beautiful part of the world. Well and truly ‘God’s country!’
- Lake’s Folly Cabernet Vines, Hunter Valley :: Lake’s Folly is one of my favourite wineries and I love this image of the vines which, literally, revolutionised the Australian wine industry by being the first new vines planted in the Hunter in the 20th century. Cheers Max.
- View of Bowral from a lookout.
- The Pinnacles, WA :: Stunning rock formation in WA that seems to come out of nowhere. Easily the most spiritually powerful place I have been in Australia.
- Sunset on Daringa Street :: Amazing sunset on a summer’s night in Mile End, Adelaide.
- Inner City Lights :: Love the curves and lines, view from a Sydney hotel.
- The Beach at Burleigh Head :: Morning shot of the Gold Coast skyline
- Hindmarsh Island Road Rules :: Great spot for a 100km/h sign, at an intersection.
