Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts

Friday, December 8, 2023

Blood Of The Vines - A Clambake Of Queens

Pairing‌ ‌wine‌ ‌with‌ ‌movies!‌  ‌See‌ ‌the‌ ‌trailers‌ ‌and‌ ‌hear‌ ‌the‌ ‌fascinating‌ ‌commentary‌ ‌for‌ ‌these‌ ‌movies‌ ‌and‌ ‌many‌ ‌more‌ ‌at‌ ‌Trailers‌ ‌From‌ ‌Hell.‌ This week, we screen three films with the word "queen" in the title while wondering where a clambake fits in. Oh, and we have wine pairings for each film. And maybe for the clambake, too.

Let's start with the top queen in the deck, Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. There was a British sparkling wine released for her 70th anniversary on the throne. It was a 2016 vintage blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, of which Her Highness was presumably quite fond. Not that the royal public information officer was at liberty to release any such information. Let's get to the movies.

Barbarian Queen is a 1985 action-packed film from Argentina. I've seen it referenced as a classic, so it must be so. It is also hiding in some places under a different title, Queen of the Naked Steel. The one sheet for Barbarian shows off plenty of naked and plenty of steel. Roger Corman went to Argentina in the 1980s and they wouldn't let him leave until he had made ten pictures. This is one of them.

The film is a sort of female version of Conan the Barbarian. A group of women set out for vengeance against marauders who attacked on the day of a wedding in the village. There is plenty of violence involved in their revenge, both by and against the ladies. As you might guess, several of the women are subjected to sexual assault and torture. This movie may have its legion of fans, but you won't find it screening at Wokefest2024.

Australian producer Fowles has a line called Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch. This collection of styles, from Pinot Gris to Shiraz, gives a gentlemanly tip of the hat to the female hunter/gatherers from the land down under. 

1951's The African Queen pairs Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn as a boat captain and a British missionary. Their trouble-plagued trip down a river in German East Africa would make Colonel Kurtz green with envy. The film earned Bogie his one and only Academy Award. No statue for Kate? How did that happen? Oh, Vivien Leigh won it for Streetcar Named Desire. Okay, I guess I'll let it go. It still doesn't seem right, though.

The steamboat which bears the name African Queen was reportedly once owned by actor Fess Parker. Parker's name is also on a Santa Barbara County winery. How convenient. 

Fess Parker Winery makes a Syrah from Rodney's Vineyard, their main estate plot. Just a suggestion, as they offer a lengthy line of wines which capture the terroir to near perfection. 

Zsa Zsa Gabor stars in 1958's Queen of Outer Space. The film is set waaay in the future (cue the theramin and zoom the camera in and out) in 1985! Yes, the year when mankind would travel to Venus, the female planet. What a disappointment to get there and find that it is ruled by a cruel dictatrix. That's not Zsa Zsa, by the way. 

There is little to no surprise in finding out that it all works out well in the end. Zsa Zsa's character even gets a nice promotion, from beautiful tour guide to… well, I'll not spoil it for you, except to say that the tiara fits her to a T. 

Zsa Zsa reportedly taste-tested some California wines on The Tonight Show in the late 1960s, and found them to her liking. Did she single handedly catapult Napa Valley to wine world dominance with her blessing? More likely that credit goes to the Judgment of Paris, but it's nice to know that Zsa Zsa was on the right side of history. 

Hahndorf Hills Winery of Australia's Adelaide Hills region makes a Zsa Zsa Zweigelt. They say they were the first to grow the German grape in Australia, so they must know what they're doing. Do they know that Zsa Zsa was Hungarian? Who cares? How often do you get a chance to drink a Zweigelt wine?

If you are intent on having a clambake, or any sort of party-oriented meal featuring shellfish, try a Muscadet. The Loire Valley bottling is sometimes labeled as Melon de Bourgogne, even though it is not from Burgundy and has nothing to do with melons. You'll be pleased with it as a crisp accompaniment to a clambake, crabwalk, lobster party or crawfish boil. Well, actually, have a beer with the crawfish.  


Friday, June 12, 2020

Blood Of The Vines - I Want Your Blood!

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell.  It seems we are still safer at home.

As we do every so often with the Trailers From Hell gang, we take a look at vampires.  It's right that someone should, since they can't do it themselves.  Have you ever seen a vampire in a mirror?  Well, there ya go.  Besides, a fang dripping blood is a great way to introduce a red wine pairing.

One of the films with which we are pairing wine this week is the first Iranian vampire western - I'll let that sink in for a moment.  The 2014 classic A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was made by an Iranian-American woman and shot in the Kern County town of Taft, California.  Taft has a history all its own, which includes a string of previous names including Moron and Siding Number Two.  The town has also provided the backdrop for other films, like Five Easy Pieces, Thelma and Louise and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.  There were no vampires in those films, though.

Comparisons to Spaghetti Westerns and vampire classics like Nosferatu come easily.  The Girl With No Name wears a chador, basically a Persian cape.  She's a bit of a loner - you get that way when you kill anyone who comes home with you.  She takes no shit from anybody but does not chomp down on a cigar stub, a la Eastwood.  She skateboards.  She has a soft spot for a certain Middle Eastern lug.  She's the vampire with a heart of gold.  What will she drink?  Besides blood?

The lady will have a Shiraz, of course.  Syrah, if you like, but the city of Shiraz may have been the center of Iranian winemaking when there still was such a thing.  Booze was made illegal in Iran in 1979, so their Prohibition has lasted a lot longer than ours did.  Australia's Mollydooker makes a Shiraz called The Boxer, which is also the base wine for their Miss Molly Sparkling Shiraz, if you want some bubbles with your blood.

In 1997's Habit, parallels are drawn between the lives of vampires and drug addicts.  You could laugh it off by calling it The Girl Can't Help It, or She's Gotta Have It, or So I'm Dating a Vampire.  Hot sex isn't so much fun when it's paired with a blood donation.  Speaking of pairing...

The Habit wine company is run by Jeff Fischer out of Santa Barbara County.  He drains the blood from grapes grown in the Santa Ynez Valley and Happy Canyon.  We'll excuse him for the insensitivity of calling his wine club The Fix.  Like the gal in the movie, he just can't help himself.

And now, it's Hammer Time!  1970's Taste the Blood of Dracula was Hammer Films' fifth Drac flick and the fourth to star Christopher Lee as the count himself.  Mixed into the swirling broth of blood-sucking, death and reanimation is some good, old-fashioned revenge animus.  If you could pick on whose bad side to land, it should not be Dracula's.

Pairing a wine with Dracula is fairly simple.  Look to the east, where daylight breaks and drives vampires back into their coffins.  Eastern Europe, specifically Romania and Moldova, has a grape for the ghastly.  Feteasca Neagra is a red grape which Transylvania Wine - you read that right - turns into a blood-red sip branded as Castellum Dracula, unoaked of course.  They also offer spirits along the same lines.


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Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Australian Winemaker Helps Fire Victims

Australia's recent trouble with wildfires - 42 of them the last time I checked, 17 burning out of control - have prompted an outpouring of love from around the world.  It has also prompted at least one Aussie winemaker to donate the proceeds of the pouring they do in their tasting room to help in the effort. 

Two Hands Wine is donating, for a two-month span, the take from their Cellar Door tasting fees to the victims of the Cudlee Creek fires near Adelaide.

Publicist Donna White tells me that Australian Red Cross has, since July, assisted more than 18,600 people affected by the fires.  The New South Wales-based Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc., Australia's largest wildlife rescue organization, is accepting donations to fund the rescue and care of animals affected by the fires. Learn more at wires.org.au.

Two Hands Wine makes a bottling which they call Angels' Share Shiraz.  Medieval winemakers believed that angels watched over the wines, and that they took a share as payment.  It's a reference to the small amount of wine that evaporates from barrels while the wine is aging.

The Two Hands Angels' Share Shiraz 2018 was made from McLaren Vale fruit, in what the winery calls "a true Australian style that will appeal to both angels and mortals alike."  During the 16 days of maceration, the wine was pumped over three times a day to get the most color, flavor and tannic structure from the grapes.  Once the wine was in barrels, malolactic fermentation occurred.  The wine was unfined and unfiltered before bottling.  The wine aged for 14 months in oak which was 12% new American, with the balance being one to eight-year-old American and French oak.  Alcohol is somewhat typical for a wine down under at 14.2% abv.  The retail price sticker reads $30.

This wine is delicious.  It offers a nose of black and blue berries, shoe leather and a hint of black olives.  It’s a deep, rich bouquet.  The flavors are similarly dark, with berries leading the way again.  Black pepper and a nutmeg note also appear, with the fruit staying long on the finish.  There is a good tannic structure, easily enough for a steak or a beef stew.  The oak regimen was nearly all previously-used barrels, so the oak effect is quite nice, not a bit overdone.  Actually, the oak does exactly what oak is supposed to in a wine - accent it and highlight the grapes, not bulldoze them.


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Monday, December 16, 2019

A Tasmanian Devil Of A Pinot Noir

If you like your Pinot Noir from a cool climate, and who doesn't, the 2015 Handpicked Pinot from Tasmania is for you.  The island of Tasmania is the coolest of Australia's wine regions. 

The wine is crafted from grapes grown in the Tamar Valley and Pipers River area.  It aged for eleven months in French oak barriques, a third of which were new.  Alcohol clicks only 13.7% abv and it sells for around $45.  The label sports an image of billy button flowers, which the winery says represent Tasmania's natural beauty.

This wine surprised me.  I was expecting a dark, forbidding bottle of muscles and got instead an elegant Pinot Noir full of flavor and freshness.  The nose shows an immediate blast of coffee and tea, with an underlay of cola.  The cranberry and raspberry notes are ripe and beautiful.  The palate has some darkness to it, but it's like black chiffon rather than a black work shirt.  By this wine, I'd say Tasmania has a lot to offer.


Friday, November 1, 2019

A Beast Of A Cabernet

Terlato Wines tells us that Australia exports more wine to the U.S. than France, but that's a claim for which I could not find any corroboration.  In fact, the wines from Down Under appear to be the fourth most imported by the U.S. in dollars, behind Italy, France and New Zealand.  In any case, Americans are drinking more Australian wine than vice versa.

Australia's wine industry dates back to the 18th century, when vine cuttings were first brought to the continent from Europe and South Africa.  The country has no indigenous grapes of its own.  However, they do refer to Syrah as Shiraz, which has proven so popular that some other winemakers around the world have adopted the name.  Shiraz is the most widely planted grape in Australia.

Two Hands Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The 2018 Two Hands Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% McLaren Vale Cab, so it's not elegant as in Napa Valley, it's a brute, as in Australia.  The winemaker calls it "rich, brooding and powerful," and that just about nails it.  Alcohol hits 14.2% abv and the retail price is $33.

This wine is inky dark.  The nose is full of plums, blackberries and cherries, with a touch of bacon grease and earth.  More than a touch, actually.  The palate hits a sweet note amid the dark fruit and oak spice, although the latter stays in the background.  The tannic structure is young and firm, but not overpowering.  Tasted blind, I probably would have guessed Syrah instead of Cab. 


Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Australian Shiraz To Hold With Both Hands

Terlato Wines tells us that Australia exports more wine to the U.S. than France, but that's a claim for which I could not find any corroboration.  In fact, the wines from Down Under appear to be the fourth most imported by the U.S. in dollars, behind Italy, France and New Zealand.  Perhaps they were thinking of exports to the U.K.  In any case, Americans are drinking more Australian wine than vice versa, from a percentage standpoint.

Australia's wine industry dates back to the 18th century, when vine cuttings were first brought to the continent from Europe and South Africa.  The country has no indigenous grapes of its own.  However, they do refer to Syrah as Shiraz, which has proven so popular that some other winemakers around the world have adopted the name.  Shiraz is the most widely planted grape in Australia.

Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz 2018

Terlato made available to me several Shiraz wines produced under their Two Hands label.  The 2018 Gnarly Dudes is 100% Shiraz, made from Barossa Valley grapes.  That wine region is in the state of South Australia, near the city of Adelaide. 

Gnarly Dudes was aged in French oak barrels for a year, and only 13% of them were new.  The remaining wood was contained in puncheons and hogsheads that were anywhere from one to six years old.  The wine's alcohol content is somewhat restrained, at 13.8% abv, and it retails for $33.

This is one big, bold Shiraz.  The wine colors up as inky black as night and smells of black fruit, leather and meat.  On the palate, it's a large time as well, with plums and chocolate flavors laced with licorice.  Oak is pronounced, but it seems about right considering how brawny this wine drinks.  Tannins are somewhat mellow, however, so it goes down easily.


Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Aussie Cab Means Business

The South Australian winery Shirvington was founded in 1996 by Paul and Lynne Shirvington and their sons.  A plot of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon vines became their first vineyard, Redwind.  The red clay and limestone soil is in Willunga, just south of McLaren Vale.  There they grow Cab, Shiraz and Mataro, better known as Mourvédre.

Peter Bolte takes care of the vines, while Kim Jackson lends her Sonoma and Burgundy trained knowledge to crafting the wine.  The 2014 Shirvington Cabernet Sauvignon tips the alcohol scale at 13.5% abv and it retails for about $32.

This extremely dark wine offers a nose of rough-hewn blackberry with a tiny wisp of freshly sanded wood.  It's a fairly muscular package of aromas, and that heft carries onto the palate.  It's a pleasing bunch of flavors, but I wouldn't call any of them elegant.  This a Cab for a steak that's been bad and needs corporal punishment.  Dark fruit plays for the front row with some oak spice for support.  The fruit is fairly pure, though, and has an interesting dark flair which I find captivating.


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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Australian Old-Vine Shiraz

The Kay Brothers - Herbert and Frederick - formed a winery in 1890 in the Australian town of McLaren Vale.  The area is south of Adelaide in South Australia, right next to St. Vincent Gulf.  Their Amery Vineyard produces grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Nero d' Avola, Grenache, Mataro, Muscat Blanc and a little thing they like to call Shiraz.

The grapes for this wine come from Block 6 of the vineyard, hence the catchy name.  The winery says that Block 6 was planted in 1892, which makes the vines well over 120 years old.  The process of establishing the winery was meticulously recorded in a family diary, some of which is available to read on their website.  The brothers put their backs into running the winery for 57 years, before death claimed them just one year apart.  The following generations were led by Cud Kay, and now Colin KayDuncan Kennedy is the Kay Brothers' senior winemaker.

The 2014 Kay Brothers Amery Vineyards Block 6 Shiraz is the 32nd wine in the flagship series.  The grapes were handpicked from those century-and-a-quarter-old vines.  The 3½ acres which make up Block 6 have varied soil which the vines call home.  The winery says the earth ranges from red loam to heavy clay to gravelly alluvial soils. They say the underlying "South Maslin Sands" geology is extremely complex, with layers of glauconite, limestone, sandstone and siltstone.  Which translates to minerals, minerals, minerals.

The juice for the wine spent ten days on the skins after pressing for maximum color extraction.  Aging took place over a nearly two-year span, in French and American oak barrels, 40% of which were new.  The oak plays a supporting role to the fruit in the Block 6 wine, as it should.  Alcohol hits 14% abv and at $95 retail, the wine is by far the most expensive in the Kay Brothers line.

This Australian Shiraz has four years of age on it.  The dark wine displays a nose rich with flinty minerals, pretty flowers and black and blue fruit.  The palate shows similar, but a little heavier on the fruit.  Still, the earth is plainly there along with cigar box, sage and licorice.  There's a zippy acidity and some fairly youthful tannins which invite a pairing with your favorite steak.


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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Kosher Wine: Aussie Sauvignon Blanc

This Australian Sauvignon Blanc is billed as an inexpensive and refreshing white wine, which it is, but it’s also kosher. Under the Royal Wine global umbrella of fine kosher wines, Teal Lake is crafted by family winemaker Andrew Peace. He works from vines planted a quarter century ago in the dirt of the Murray River valley.

The wine hits 13% abv for alcohol and is Mevushal kosher. You can read up on Mevushal here - it's a fascinating explanation - but to boil it down for you, Mevushal wines are flash pasteurized (they used to be boiled) so they can be served to Jews by those outside the faith. This does some damage to the aromas and flavors, although reportedly not as much as boiling did. The wine retails for $12.

This kosher Australian Sauvignon Blanc smells lightly of grass, but not to the extent that a New Zealand SauvBlanc does. There are citrus and minerals, too, but it's altogether a fairly tame, and pleasant, aroma. Acidity is fresh, the palate shows Meyer lemon and minerals in a tasty, if not compelling, scenario.


Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Criminal Wine Marketing

Some wine companies go to extreme lengths to create unusual back stories for their product.  We've seen wines marketed using dogs, cats, bears, birds, bicycles and UFOs as attention-getters.  Now, criminals get their turn on the label.

The 19 Crimes line features a variety of Australian juice bottled behind the faces of people who were reportedly sent from England to Australia during Queen Victoria’s reign as punishment for one of 19 criminal offenses.

Different labels have different criminals, who can talk and tell their stories if you download the free smartphone app and view their faces through it.  It's hokey-tech, in a way, but alarmingly captivating.


Liquor barrel aging is another trick being used to market wines into different consumer demographics.  Usually, the barrels in question formerly contained bourbon, but The Uprising employs old rum barrels, to good effect.

The winery describes the reason for rum in The Uprising: it “pays homage to Australia’s Rum Rebellion of 1808.  Due to the Government's hindering of the rum trade, citizens and soldiers banded together to overthrow them.”  Like a Boston Tea Party, with a bit more of a kick.

This Australian rum barrel treatment gives a softer effect than the bourbon barrels that are popularly used these days.  The nose gives off a light caramel note along with the usual dark fruit one expects from South East Australia.  I hear it's a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, but I've seen no official word of that.  Tasty, bold, great grip, acidity, tannins.  Perfect with a rosemary grilled steak.

Monday, March 5, 2018

Sparkling Shiraz And Australian Rules

"Sorry about the girl."  That's how the email started.  Paringa WinesDavid Hickinbotham wrote me over the weekend after my article about his Sparkling Shiraz appeared on Now And Zin Friday.  I had mentioned how Australian Rules Football had turned a momentary attraction into disappointment.  He apparently understood how someone could have such a strong interest in the sport.  The girl is mostly forgotten, but I still like Australian Rules.  And sparkling Shiraz.

He explained that he has attended the Grand Final, the Australian Rules version of the Super Bowl, since 1971.  He's also been growing grapes that long, and making wine for export since 1999.  Hickinbotham is understandably proud of his Paringa and 3 Rings Barossa labels, with both having stirred positive comment from reviewers, including me.  He told me that he started Paringa at about the same time another winery, in Victoria, came up with the idea.  Both used a local landmark of the same name as their naming beacon, a town in his case and a road in the other's. 

Hickinbotham told me that his family's connection with Australian Rules Football is his great grandfather Dave Hickinbotham, pictured from the Australian Football website, who played for Geelong.  That team has won nine Grand Finals since 1925, and his father, Alan, played a handful of games with them.  Alan was a successful businessman, a less successful politician and a well-remembered AFL player and, later, coach.  South Adelaide renamed their home field, Hickinbotham Oval, after him.

David has informed me that I should schedule a trip to Australia during the season, and he promises to take me to a game.  I hope it's at Hickinbotham Oval, and I hope we can bring in his sparkling Shiraz to the game.


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Friday, March 2, 2018

Bubbling Up From Down Under

The Paringa website declares that the Hickinbotham family has been in the Australian wine biz for some eight decades.  The current generations are David and Dena Hickinbotham and their son, Alan.  The founder, Alan Robb Hickinbotham, is reportedly considered to be the father of professional winemaking education down under, for his work with Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia.

David Hickinbotham loves Australian Rules Football.  That makes him okay in my book.  I don't understand the rules, which are apparently a big part of the sport, but I love to watch the games, especially the officiating.  Those guys in the white smocks declare scores and infractions with such gusto.

Long ago, I was attracted to a woman from Australia and I asked her out to dinner.  At the restaurant, she revealed that her brother was an ARF referee.  For the rest of the evening, that's all I could talk about.  She finally said, "Look, why don't I give you HIS number?"  She never went out with me again.  She didn’t give me her brother's number, either.  But I still like Australian wines, especially really good ones.

My love of Australian sparkling Shiraz is similar. I am fascinated by it.  It's dark ruby, but it has bubbles.  At its best, it is a very complex wine that really sneaks up on the sipper.  For a winery that delivers value wines of quality, it's a great choice.  Alcohol is a reasonable 12.5% abv and the wine sells online for well below the $20 mark.

The Paringa Sparkling Shiraz 2016 is a dark wine with a big, grapey nose and a blast of leather and meat coming right behind.  It's an interesting combo, such a simple beginning that turns complex on a dime.  The palate is just as brash, with subdued bubbles, keen acidity and a dark, fruity taste.  Think Lambrusco, but bigger.  The earth profile hits late and stays on the finish.  It's fun, but it's serious, too.


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Monday, February 13, 2017

Catching A Cab From Australia

The McPherson MWC wines are crafted by winemaker Jo Nash, who just celebrated her fifth year as the head of the cellar at McPherson in 2016.  She’s also married to a winemaker and they have a brood of grape-stomping kids at home.

Victoria is the Australian state in the extreme southeastern part of the land mass, just north of Bass Strait from Tasmania. This location results in a cooler expression than you may be used to with Australian wine. Their Sinclair Vineyard, along the Goulburn River sits next to the winery. The Croftwood Vineyard is in the huge Murray Darling region.

The MWC line was introduced two years ago and is just now making its breakthrough in the U.S. They call the wines "rustic" and say they are, "soft, savoury, earthy styles with a European influence."

Nash says of the weather in her part of Victoria, "Cooler climate means slower ripening." The Australian state is about the size of Oregon.

The MWC Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is a full varietal estate wine from Victoria's Goulburn Valley. Their Sinclair Vineyard offers "old vine" - 16 years - Cabernet planted on sand.  The wine was aged between six and 12 months in French oak barriques, with alcohol sitting at 14.5% abv. It sells for about $20.

The wine is extremely dark, black, with no light coming through it. The nose offers blackberry fruit aromas and earthy minerals, with a slight anise and eucalyptus note coming through behind it all. The palate has a minty sense as well, but that dark fruit and extreme earthiness steal the show. The herbal aspect rises again on the finish to cap a delightfully different Cab experience.

Pair it with meat, of course, or even a strong cheese. after dinner, do some chocolate with it.


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Monday, December 26, 2016

Cooler Side Of Australian Shiraz

The McPherson MWC wines were shared with a collection of wine writers in a Twitter-based tasting session.  Winemaker Jo Nash was on hand to give us all the information we craved. Nash celebrated her fifth year as the head of the cellar at McPherson in 2016.  She’s also married to a winemaker and they have a brood of grape-stomping kids at home.

Andrew McPherson's family started the wine business in 1968 in New South Wales. In 2000, he found some land he liked near Nagambie in central Victoria and that’s where the winery is today.

Victoria is the Australian state in the extreme southeastern part of the land mass, just north of Bass Strait from Tasmania. This location results in a cooler expression than you may be used to with Australian wine. Their Sinclair Vineyard, along the Goulburn River sits next to the winery. The Croftwood Vineyard is in the huge Murray Darling region.

The MWC line was introduced two years ago and is just now making its breakthrough in the U.S. They call the wines "rustic" and say they are, "soft, savoury, earthy styles with a European influence."

The video stream featured Nash live in Australia with Henry Hudson of Hudson Wine Brokers. It was 5 p.m. in L.A., but 11 a.m. in Victoria. It was noted that it's always 5:00 somewhere.

Jo talked a bit about her inspiration. Like a lot of wine folks, she worked in bars and restaurants in college, tasting lots of wine along the way. Then, a trip to Europe prompted a winemaking class. Hooked.

As far as grapes go, she says she likes Chardonnay and Shiraz the best, and she works a lot with both of them. She tries to "capture the grape's varietal expression in the glass" and likes to "allow the vintage to speak in the wines." She credits her status as a female for causing her to be attracted to more elegant, balanced wines. "Cooler climate means slower ripening," she explains of the weather in her part of Victoria. The Australian state is about the size of Oregon.

How does she like having her creations under a screw cap? "We steered away from cork due to inconsistency," she said, while Hudson noted that "almost all the 45 wines we bring in are under screwcap." Tom chimed in that he has “seen waiters who looked like they wished there was a screw cap” on a bottle that was giving them trouble.

Hudson thinks the Shiraz/Mourvèdre  is a good wine to make people think of something other than the jammy style people may expect from Australia.

The MWC Shiraz/Mourvèdre 2014 is 93% Shiraz, 5% Mourvèdre and 2% Viognier, although the label omits the Viognier and calls it 95% Shiraz. It gets between six and 12 months in French oak.  Alcohol sits at 14% abv and the wine retails for about $20.

This Shiraz/Mourvèdre blend has big fruit on the nose - cherry, black cherry - with notes of campfire smoke and lavender popping in. It's medium dark in color, but gets a bit deeper on the palate. Fruity, definitely, but not a bomb. In fact, there are dark savory flavors carrying the black cherry flavors along. The finish is savory and quite long-lasting. Acidity is nice and fresh, and the tannic structure is firm.


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Monday, November 21, 2016

Australian Pinot Noir

The McPherson MWC wines were shared with a collection of wine writers in a Twitter-based tasting session.  Winemaker Jo Nash was on hand to give us all the information we craved. She celebrated her fifth year as the head of the cellar at McPherson in 2016.  She’s also married to a winemaker and they have a brood of grape-stomping kids at home.

Andrew McPherson's family started the wine business in 1968 in New South Wales. In 2000, he found some land he liked near Nagambie in central Victoria and that’s where the winery is today.
Victoria is the Australian state in the extreme southeastern part of the land mass, just north of Bass Strait from Tasmania. This location results in a cooler expression than you may be used to with Australian wine.

Their Sinclair Vineyard, along the Goulburn River sits next to the winery. The Croftwood Vineyard is in the huge Murray Darling region.

The MWC line was introduced two years ago and is just now making its breakthrough in the U.S. They call the wines "rustic" and say they are, "soft, savoury, earthy styles with a European influence."

The MWC Pinot Noir 2014 is 100% Pinot Noir and has alcohol at 14% with a retail price of about 20 bucks. This wine is medium-dark and aromatic. It smells a bit of raspberry, but cherry notes and strawberry come through, unusual for a Pinot Noir. It's ripe on the tongue, too. Rich, juicy cherry and a slightly dark, slightly tart mouthfeel deliver a fairly solid experience. While it won't knock a Russian River Valley or Sta. Rita Hills Pinot off the top shelf, it can stand on its own with most other California Pinots.


Monday, March 3, 2014

Kalyra Muscat

A little bottle can hold a lot.  The little 375 ml bottle that holds the Kalyra Muscat dessert wine also currently holds my attention, along with my intermittent fascination with sweet wines.

I love sweet wines, but I don't love them all.  Those that I do love, I don't love all the time.  This one carries the qualities that do make me drink sweet - flavor, balanced sweetness and acidity.

Winemaker Mike Brown is Australia-born, but now operates out of Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley.  His dessert wines have been favorites at our house for a number of years, and the little bottle of Muscat pictured and written about here was purchased at the winery on our first visit there, a number of years ago.

This one is a non-vintage wine, and it appears to be slightly different than the current offering in that it has a little more kick to it.  This one hits 18% abv, while the current Kalyra Muscat comes in at 16%.  It's made from Black Muscat grapes and is fortified with brandy.  Also, this older bottle is described on the label as a "product of Australia," while the current product is sourced from Madera County, in California's Central Valley.

The Kalyra website says that the wine has been "aged in the Solero style, which is quite common practice in some regions, particularly in Australia."  Brown says it is "best paired with contrasting flavors like French Vanilla Bean ice cream or crème brulée."

The wine's color is dark brick red, almost brown, like a red with some age on it.  The nose is heavily laden with alcohol (18% abv) and raisiny caramel notes.  It smells like liqueur or sherry with a shot of cognac back.  The palate is just as rich.  Thicker, it might be molasses; sweeter, it could pass for raisin pudding.  The caramel notes are burnt just right and the acidity is rippingly fantastic.


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Chardonnay In A Little Box

Boxed wine holds no special attraction for me, as most of my consumption is at home, where I love the heft and feel of a wine bottle.  I don’t carry wine around with me very often.  In Southern California, I don’t believe alcoholic beverages are even allowed on the beaches - or anywhere in public - but I have seen folks tipping plastic cups of wine at outdoor concerts and at the Hollywood Bowl.  In each case wine was for sale on site, and there may be restrictions on bringing your own wine into the venue.

Vendange Chardonnay is an Australian non-vintage wine in a 500ml Tetra Pak box, completely unbreakable and portable.  It's "bottled" in California and can be taken anywhere very easily..  They say the contents will yield three glasses, but it's more like two if you like a generous pour.  The retail price of four bucks certainly makes for an attractive offer.

The packaging  touts convenience, freshness and earth-friendliness while promising a taste that’s "full-flavored & fruity with hints of apples, pears & toasted oak."  The ecological angle is bolstered by the notice that the Tetra Pak is 90% less wasteful than regular wine bottles and 97% recyclable.

Personally, I rather like opening a bottle of wine.  The act of wielding a corkscrew and using it properly satisfies me.  You get  no such opportunity with the Vendange.  The twist-top closure automatically slits the inner foil container when opened, so no special tools are needed.   Alcohol content hits a moderate 13% abv.

Once out of the box, the nose shows the advertised fruit and the oak has a surprisingly light touch.  On the palate, fruity and fresh is a good description, with medium acidity and a slight oak flavor that becomes a little more strident on the finish.

Vendange is not the great Chardonnay of the ages, but you weren't expecting that when you got change back from a five.  It will suffice anywhere drinking is permitted, but glass bottles are not.  The question is, how badly do you really need to drink?


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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Friendly Skies Not So Wine-Friendly


Airline wine.  What a disappointment.  Two choices, red or white.  Fox Grove Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon or Red Tree Chardonnay, I think it was, shoved at me by the flight attendant who was a lot more concerned with getting her cart down the aisle than discussing the merits of the wine in her plastic drawer that served as her airborne cellar.  I didn't expect a sommelier 's attention, but it was quite a soulless exchange.  "May I have your credit card please?"  With a swipe of it, I was the proud owner of an Australian Shiraz-Cabernet in a tiny plastic bottle.

Fox Grove Shiraz-Cab is a Southeastern Australia blend of 70% Shiraz and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, clocking in at 13% abv.  I could find little else about it online, and frankly I didn't really want to.  The jug wine formula name (iconic image + nature reference) does not bode well.

An oaky nose with blackberry and cherry aromas leads to a palate that's full and juicy with not much complexity.  There is red berry and black pepper, so at least it tastes alright.  The oak I discovered on the nose is not as pronounced as I feared it would be, but still a tad overdone.  The bite of the tannins are more suited for beef than bar nuts.

It was a welcome return to wine grapes, as my stay in Texas had been heavily populated with fruit wines and Muscadine, not that those options are bad in and of themselves.  I would not, however, seek out this wine if more than two choices were available.  I was left wondering if maybe the Red Tree Chardonnay might have been a more enjoyable choice.  Or a Muscadine.


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Friday, July 13, 2012

Whole Foods Wine: Summer Twitter Tasting #2

Part two of the Whole Foods Summer Wine Twitter tasting event came on July 12, 2012, right when we needed a little something to keep us cool.  In my part of the world, it was not only warm outside, but unusually humid, too.  An opportunity to taste a few nice chillers was welcome.  For an overview of the event, and the wines, check out the earlier article on Whole Foods’ Top Ten Wines for Summer here.  The notes on Twitter Tasting #1 are here.

This time around, we once again have two white wines and a red.  There is once again a good international feel to them as well.  These summer wines hail from Greece, Australia and Spain.

People tweeted their thoughts on these wines from New England, Columbus, Southern California,  New Jersey, Vancouver, BC and Maui, to name just a few locales.  The participants tweeted about each wine in turn, and many lodged a vote for their favorite near the end of the hour.  As is customary, many Whole Foods Markets from across the U.S. were hosting in-store tastings at the time.  All the tweeting occurred in the hashtag #WFMwine.

One of my favorite tweets came from the global wine team at Whole Foods, @WFMWineGuys: “Peloponnese locals bash their octopi on the rocks to tenderize it, then grill & pair it with this snappy sipper.”  They were referring to the first wine in the lineup, which is said to pair spectacularly with calamari, bashed or otherwise.

Kyklos Moschofilero 2011

This white wine is made by Voyatzis, a winery located in the north-central part of Greece, fairly close to Albania and Macedonia and not all that far from Bulgaria. It is fashioned from 100% Moschofilero grapes, aromatic and spicy with generally good acidity.  On the label, this wine is called a “New Generation Moschofilero,” but since this is my first experience with the grape, it’s possible I don’t know what I’m missing.  The alcohol content is very reasonable - 11% abv - so it shouldn’t weigh us down too much. 

The wine gives a pale color in the glass, with a nose that’s made for a summer day.  Tropical fruit and spicy aromas float over a floral base.  In the mouth, the acidity is immediately noticeable.  Flavors of orange peel, cantaloupe and honeydew come forward, and the acidity lasts right through the finish.  There’s a great sense of minerality here, too.  Whole Foods suggests pairing with seafood - Calamari Pasta specifically - or a Mahón cheese.

Yalumba Christobel’s Eden Valley Riesling 2011

Yalumba Winery was founded in Angaston, South Australia in by Samuel Smith in 1849.  Yes, beer lovers, THAT Samuel Smith.  He apparently tired of brewing and went to Australia to make wine.  Its name is taken from Christobel Hill Smith, who was the hostess at the winery for 50 years.  In her memory, the bird-and-flower label is placed with love.  The wine is a low, low 10.5% abv, so it’s even lighter that the Greek entry. 

The acidity is also a little less thrilling than in the Moschofilero, but it’s still nice.  Pale in the glass, this Riesling gives the greek wine a run for its money in the aromatics department.  The nose is bursting with stone fruit, lemon peel and pineapple notes.  I don’t find an awful lot of minerality, but there is a trace of rocks underneath all that fruit.  The wine is off dry, with a nice touch of sweetness on the palate.  I love it when Rieslings employ a “sweetness meter” on the back label, and this one points to “medium sweet.”

Whole Foods recommends a pairing with apple pie and cheddar cheese, which doesn’t sound bad at all.  They also say Sesame-Peanut Noodles  would be good with it, or Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog cheese.

Pallas Tempranillo  2011

From the sandy, rocky soil of La Mancha comes this Jorge Ordoñez selection.  If you're not well-versed in Spanish wine, find one imported by Ordoñez and you'll find a good one.  La Mancha occupies a large portion of Spain’s central plateau.  Any place with windmills, Manchego cheese and Tempranillo gets a star next to it my travel planner. 

This deep red wine smells of plums and cherries and a bit of rosemary.  The palate is fleshy and ripe with dark fruit, and a dusty, rustic characteristic was the buzz of the Twitter tasting.  Whole Foods says pair this with barbecue, shish kabobs, and Spanish chorizo.  They cite  Spanish chickpeas and chorizo as a good choice. The cheese pairing they recommend is Solé Gran Queso.



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