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Rediscovering Australia
Courtesy of
30 Second Wine Advisor
By
Robin GarrIf you're like me, I expect you go through
inexplicable phases in your wine-tasting choices. As hard as I try
to spread my wine interests around the world in order to experience
as many grape varieties and wine regions and styles as I can, those
traditional favorites - red wines, mostly, from Italy and France,
California and maybe Argentina - keep turning up on my table.
But variety is not only the spice of life, it's also one of the
most appealing things about wine-as-hobby for me, and it doesn't
take much of an impulse to jar me out of my rut.
A crisp, elegant invitation that arrived just the other day, sent
up from Down Under by my good friend Warren Mason, prompted me to
realize how long it had been since I've reported on some good
Australian wines.
The invitation, announcing the 2006 awards presentation and
banquet for the Sydney International Wine Competition, was a kind
gesture but not really practical for me with the banquet just a week
or two off. But the Australian wine part? That was easy.
When I think about wine in the context of "Old World" versus "New
World" styles, I tend to think of Australian wine as being
distinctly New World, perhaps even more so than the wines of
California, typically defined by fruit-forward, mouth-filling and
often strongly alcoholic characteristics, often showing a distinct
presence of oak. Of course, Australia turns out a lot of wine, not
all of it alike, and all generalizations are dubious - even this
one.
In selecting a red and a white for today's tasting, I steered
clear of Barossa Valley Shiraz, stereotypically the most
blockbusterish and one- dimensional of Australian wines, in favor of
a red from the lovely McLaren Vale (on the other side of Adelaide
from the Barossa) that softens the Shiraz with a measure of
Sangiovese; and for the white went to Western Australia, a region
that's building a reputation for wines of relative elegance.
The results? They both still seemed essentially "Australian" to
me, but there's nothing wrong with that. Thanks, Warren, for the
reminder. I wish I could jet over to Sydney for the banquet.
For those of you who are closer to the land Down Under, the
Competition's 2006 Awards Presentation Banquet is a memorable wine-
lover's event, well worth the toll. A dress-up event calling for
black- tie or lounge suit, it's Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006, in the
Grand Ballroom of the Shangri-La Sydney Hotel, 176 Cumberland Street
at The Rocks. Price per person is AUD$200, or AUD$1,900 for a table
for 10. Events will include a Premier Tasting of the Competition's
Blue-Gold Award Winners for 2006, followed by aperitifs and a
five-course banquet with courses chosen to complement the three top
wines in each of the Competition's five Style Categories.
It has been my great pleasure to judge the Sydney International
Wine Competition twice, and I regret that a scheduling conflict
forced me to miss a turn this past year. I look forward to getting
back over in the future. Meanwhile, if you're within range of Sydney
this month, the banquet would be well worth attending. For more
details and booking information, you'll find information and a form
at
http://www.top100wines.com/events/events.cfm
And no matter where in the world you reside, if you love wine and
food, you should visit the Sydney International Wine Competition
site often. In my mind, it's the world's best wine judging because
it rates all its wines in compatible style categories and judges the
winners not only on their own merits but also on actual tastings
with food, each wine accompanied by appropriate dishes made to
match. The Website includes extensive tasting notes from judges past
and present (you'll even still find some of my comments there), as
well as lots of recipes for Jacquie Mason's outstanding dishes.
Highly recommended for your wine Internet bookmarks:
http://www.top100wines.com/ |
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CORIOLE 2002 "CONTOUR 4" MCLAREN VALE SANGIOVESE-SHIRAZ ($14)
This is a blend of 55 percent of the Italian variety Sangiovese
(perhaps best known as the leading grape in Chianti) with 45 percent
of the Australian Shiraz (Syrah), grown in the lovely McLaren Vale
wine region not far south of Adelaide. It's dark garnet in color
with a reddish- violet edge. Pleasant wild-cherry aromas lead into
fresh and bright red- fruit flavor with a whiff of spice and a
distinctly oaky edge, with crisp acidity to provide structure. I
don't think I would mistake it for Chianti in a blind tasting, with
its New World fruit-forward character, mouth-filling texture and
perceptible oak. But it shows its Italian ancestry in its inviting,
quaffable flavor and food-friendly acidity.
U.S. importer: Robert Whale Selections Ltd., Washington, D.C. (Feb.
11, 2006)
FOOD MATCH: It paired very nicely with an Italian-style
dinner of polpettine (veal mini-meatballs) over spaghetti with a
"pink" sauce of fresh tomatoes and a bit of cream.
VALUE: The mid-teens seem a fair range for this inviting
table wine.
WHEN TO DRINK: Not made for long-term cellaring, but I see
no reason why it wouldn't keep for several years on the wine rack.
WEB LINK: The winery Website is online at:
http://www.coriole.com/
For a fact sheet on this specific wine, see the importer's
Website.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Look up prices and locate sources
for Coriole "Contour 4" Sangiovese- Shiraz on
Wine-Searcher.com. |
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PLANTAGENET 2004 "HAZARD HILL" WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SEMILLON-SAUVIGNON BLANC ($11)
Although it appears at a glance to be the same blend as White
Bordeaux, this Australian white reverses the usual proportions with
a predominance of Semillon (75 percent) over Sauvignon Blanc (25
percent). The transparent straw-color wine bears little resemblance
to a French wine, either, with its fruit-forward frapefruit and
mango aromas, which carry over intact on the palate, juicy and
snappy tropical fruit nicely shaped by crisp acidity, with a prickly
petillance that tickles the tongue. U.S. importer: Robert
Whale Selections Ltd., Washington, D.C. (Feb. 12, 2006)
FOOD MATCH: It worked well enough to wash down pork chops,
but its fruit flavors are so intense that it tends to dominate the
fare; maybe be best suited as a quenching summer aperitif.
VALUE: Certainly reasonable at this price in today's
marketplace.
WHEN TO DRINK: Best drunk up over the coming year while
all that exuberant fruit and prickly carbonation remains young and
fresh.
WEB LINK: Here's a link to the winery Website, which
features its Plantagenet and Omrah labels as well as the
budget-price Hazard Hill line:
http://plantagenetwines.com/go/
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check vendors and compare prices for Plantaganet's Hazard Hill wines
on
Wine-Searcher.com. |
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