Regretfully, due to the pressures of other events, I will not be able to do a full column, with tasting notes, this week. I hope that the following, abbreviated version will be of some use.
The theme of Saturday’s release will be Australian wines, with ports (the vinous kind, not harbours) as a sub-theme.
Australia, with its hot, dry climate, has earned an enviable reputation as a wine producing country, and Australians producers grow just about every kind of grape imaginable. The country is reputed to be the fourth largest exporter of wine in the world. The major red varietals, however, are cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, although pinot noir is starting to taking hold, especially in the cooler climate of Tasmania. By way of whites, Australia produces mostly chardonnays and sauvignon blancs, although rieslings are also becoming more common.
In many ways, Australia pioneered the new world popularity of shiraz, and produces vast quantities of it. Australian shiraz is often mixed with a little petit verdot. The latter varietal adds a little structure and acidity to shiraz, which, left to itself in an extremely hot climate, has a tendency to slightly over-ripen and become plummy. Shiraz is also often mixed with grenache and mourvedre (all three of which are in common use in the Rhone and southern France) to produce GSM’s (grenache, shiraz and mourvedre). Grenache, which has high sugar levels and low tannins, contributes alcohol and lighter flavoured, berry fruit. The shiraz imparts full bodied darker fruit – eg. blackberry and black current - tannin and (often) green and/or black pepper, while the mourvedre adds structure and acidity, with flavours of leather, tobacco, and plum.
Well made Australian shiraz can be delicious, although I have noticed some tendency (with some producers) toward the use of riper fruit lately, which produces a less well structured, more fruit forward wine. Many people like this “sweeter” version of shiraz, but my own tastes run more toward a more structured wine, without overly jammy fruit.
Australia also does cabernet sauvignon very well indeed, and Australians cabs are some of my favourite house wines. They are approachable early as a result of a long, hot growing season, and are usually big, bold wines, bursting with fruit flavours, but with good complexity and mouth feel. Despite the fact that they are (mostly) ready to drink upon purchase, I find that a year or so of cellaring will improve even less expensive versions quite dramatically. You don’t need to do anything special to cellar them – just keeping them in a cool, dark area of the basement will do.
Amongst whites, Australia’s chardonnays tend to stand out because the long, hot growing season imparts a level of richness that few other countries can match. I’ve had chardonnays from the Yarra Valley that were able to carry alcohol levels as high as 17% (12.5% is about the norm) because the fruit was so rich.
Best recent years in Southern Australia: 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Best recent years in Western Australia: 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005
Port wines are fortified wines from the Douro river valley in (you guessed it) Portugal. There are basically five main port grapes, including Touriga Francesca (the most common), Touriga Nacional and Tempranillo, although many more varietals are permissible. Almost all ports are blends of grape varieties and vintages, although vintage ports (which use grapes grown only in a single year) are produced in extremely good years.
Ports are usually served as dessert wines, and match extremely well with strong flavoured cheeses. They are made by adding distilled grape spirits to the wine to increase alcohol content to approximately 20%. Many ports need to be decanted and filtered before consumption, but almost all will keep in an unopened bottle for many years.
There are many different kinds and styles of port (including pink and white ports) as well as the traditional red. Ruby port is generally the cheapest, and does not improve in the bottle, while Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) is generally the sweetest. My favourite ports tend to be Tawny’s, which are aged in wooden barrels for at least 7 years, and are generally only medium sweet with nutty flavours.
It will come as no great surprise to know that you can spend virtually as much as you want on a bottle of port, but you can often snare a quite decent tawny in the $18-$25 range.
Best recent years for Ports: 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2004
* * *
DESSERT WINES
Look for the Offley Barao de Forrester 10 Years old Tawny Port ($24.95)
SPARKLING WINES
Try the Louis Bouillot Perle D’Ivoire Blanc de Blancs Brut ($18.95) from Burgundy
WHITE WINES
Try any of:
- Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($24.95) from South Australia
- Xanadu Chardonnay 2008 ($19.95) from Western Australia
- Simi Chardonnay 2008 ($19.95) from California
- Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($13.95) from Chile
- Cathederal Cellar Chardonnay 2007 ($13.95) from South Africa
- Nicholas Maillet Macon Verzé 2007 ($22.95) from Burgundy
RED WINES
I had two favourite red wines in this release, but from very different parts of the world, and very different styles:
- My value pick is the Kililanoon Killerman’s Run Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($20.95) from South Australia. I bought a case. This is a very reliable, tasty wine that I can drink now, but it will be better in six months to a year. It will go with red meat of almost any description, as long as the cut isn’t too lean
- Le Serre Nuove Dell’ Ornellaia 2007 ($59.95) from Tuscany. I buy this wine every year as well, and especially wanted it this year. It’s the younger brother of the Ornellaia which I recommended a couple of releases ago (and which was about triple the price). This is a special wine for a special occasion – an occasion that could be as much as ten years from now. When you open it, your only regret will be that you didn’t buy more.
I can also recommend:
- Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2008 ($23.95) from the Barossa Valley, Australia
- Torbreck Old Vines Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre 2006 ($20.95) also from the Barossa Valley
- Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2006 ($39.95) from B.C.
- 7 Deadly Zins 2007 ($24.95) from California (a good zinfandel)
- Chakana Reserve Malbec 2008 ($16.95) from Argentina
- Terra Noble Gran Reserve Carmenere 2007 ($16.95) from Chile
- Cathederal Cellar Triptych 2006 ($16.95) from South Africa
- Coudelet de Beaucastel 2007 ($29.95) from the Rhone
- Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2007 ($59.95) from the Rhone (This may be in short supply)
- Monte Antico Sangiovese/Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($14.95) from Tuscany (very good value)
- Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella 2005 ($49.95) from Veneto (My favourite, moderately priced amarone)
- Descendientes de J. Palacios Petalos 2007 ($23.95) from Spain
The theme of Saturday’s release will be Australian wines, with ports (the vinous kind, not harbours) as a sub-theme.
Australia, with its hot, dry climate, has earned an enviable reputation as a wine producing country, and Australians producers grow just about every kind of grape imaginable. The country is reputed to be the fourth largest exporter of wine in the world. The major red varietals, however, are cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, although pinot noir is starting to taking hold, especially in the cooler climate of Tasmania. By way of whites, Australia produces mostly chardonnays and sauvignon blancs, although rieslings are also becoming more common.
In many ways, Australia pioneered the new world popularity of shiraz, and produces vast quantities of it. Australian shiraz is often mixed with a little petit verdot. The latter varietal adds a little structure and acidity to shiraz, which, left to itself in an extremely hot climate, has a tendency to slightly over-ripen and become plummy. Shiraz is also often mixed with grenache and mourvedre (all three of which are in common use in the Rhone and southern France) to produce GSM’s (grenache, shiraz and mourvedre). Grenache, which has high sugar levels and low tannins, contributes alcohol and lighter flavoured, berry fruit. The shiraz imparts full bodied darker fruit – eg. blackberry and black current - tannin and (often) green and/or black pepper, while the mourvedre adds structure and acidity, with flavours of leather, tobacco, and plum.
Well made Australian shiraz can be delicious, although I have noticed some tendency (with some producers) toward the use of riper fruit lately, which produces a less well structured, more fruit forward wine. Many people like this “sweeter” version of shiraz, but my own tastes run more toward a more structured wine, without overly jammy fruit.
Australia also does cabernet sauvignon very well indeed, and Australians cabs are some of my favourite house wines. They are approachable early as a result of a long, hot growing season, and are usually big, bold wines, bursting with fruit flavours, but with good complexity and mouth feel. Despite the fact that they are (mostly) ready to drink upon purchase, I find that a year or so of cellaring will improve even less expensive versions quite dramatically. You don’t need to do anything special to cellar them – just keeping them in a cool, dark area of the basement will do.
Amongst whites, Australia’s chardonnays tend to stand out because the long, hot growing season imparts a level of richness that few other countries can match. I’ve had chardonnays from the Yarra Valley that were able to carry alcohol levels as high as 17% (12.5% is about the norm) because the fruit was so rich.
Best recent years in Southern Australia: 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Best recent years in Western Australia: 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005
Port wines are fortified wines from the Douro river valley in (you guessed it) Portugal. There are basically five main port grapes, including Touriga Francesca (the most common), Touriga Nacional and Tempranillo, although many more varietals are permissible. Almost all ports are blends of grape varieties and vintages, although vintage ports (which use grapes grown only in a single year) are produced in extremely good years.
Ports are usually served as dessert wines, and match extremely well with strong flavoured cheeses. They are made by adding distilled grape spirits to the wine to increase alcohol content to approximately 20%. Many ports need to be decanted and filtered before consumption, but almost all will keep in an unopened bottle for many years.
There are many different kinds and styles of port (including pink and white ports) as well as the traditional red. Ruby port is generally the cheapest, and does not improve in the bottle, while Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) is generally the sweetest. My favourite ports tend to be Tawny’s, which are aged in wooden barrels for at least 7 years, and are generally only medium sweet with nutty flavours.
It will come as no great surprise to know that you can spend virtually as much as you want on a bottle of port, but you can often snare a quite decent tawny in the $18-$25 range.
Best recent years for Ports: 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2004
* * *
DESSERT WINES
Look for the Offley Barao de Forrester 10 Years old Tawny Port ($24.95)
SPARKLING WINES
Try the Louis Bouillot Perle D’Ivoire Blanc de Blancs Brut ($18.95) from Burgundy
WHITE WINES
Try any of:
- Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($24.95) from South Australia
- Xanadu Chardonnay 2008 ($19.95) from Western Australia
- Simi Chardonnay 2008 ($19.95) from California
- Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($13.95) from Chile
- Cathederal Cellar Chardonnay 2007 ($13.95) from South Africa
- Nicholas Maillet Macon Verzé 2007 ($22.95) from Burgundy
RED WINES
I had two favourite red wines in this release, but from very different parts of the world, and very different styles:
- My value pick is the Kililanoon Killerman’s Run Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($20.95) from South Australia. I bought a case. This is a very reliable, tasty wine that I can drink now, but it will be better in six months to a year. It will go with red meat of almost any description, as long as the cut isn’t too lean
- Le Serre Nuove Dell’ Ornellaia 2007 ($59.95) from Tuscany. I buy this wine every year as well, and especially wanted it this year. It’s the younger brother of the Ornellaia which I recommended a couple of releases ago (and which was about triple the price). This is a special wine for a special occasion – an occasion that could be as much as ten years from now. When you open it, your only regret will be that you didn’t buy more.
I can also recommend:
- Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2008 ($23.95) from the Barossa Valley, Australia
- Torbreck Old Vines Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre 2006 ($20.95) also from the Barossa Valley
- Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2006 ($39.95) from B.C.
- 7 Deadly Zins 2007 ($24.95) from California (a good zinfandel)
- Chakana Reserve Malbec 2008 ($16.95) from Argentina
- Terra Noble Gran Reserve Carmenere 2007 ($16.95) from Chile
- Cathederal Cellar Triptych 2006 ($16.95) from South Africa
- Coudelet de Beaucastel 2007 ($29.95) from the Rhone
- Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2007 ($59.95) from the Rhone (This may be in short supply)
- Monte Antico Sangiovese/Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($14.95) from Tuscany (very good value)
- Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella 2005 ($49.95) from Veneto (My favourite, moderately priced amarone)
- Descendientes de J. Palacios Petalos 2007 ($23.95) from Spain
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