winosandfoodies

Australian Shiraz from Heathcote Victoria

 

Since chemo screwed my tastebuds, I've not really felt like drinking wine.  Apart from a few celebratory bottles of Veuve and the extra special celebratory bottles of Cristal, I could count the number of glasses of wine consumed the past few years, on one hand. 

For months now, my choice of drink has been beer.  But I miss wine and have been thinking about retraining my palate and enjoying wine again.  When an invite to the Heathcote Wine Roadshow landed in my inbox, I wasted no time in opting in for the  masterclass,  Heathcote Horizontal - Heathcote Shiraz and the Rest of the World.

Heathcote, a former gold mining and logging town, is now recognised as a premier shiraz region on the Australian wine map. Being only112k  from Melbourne you can be there in a little over one hour of driving.

Our masterclass host Ben Edwards, President of Sommeliers Australia.

Winemaker at Galli Estate Ben Ranken, spoke on how the wine is influenced by the soil and climate.  Heathcote wine growing region stretches around 100k from north to south, with elevations between 160 m and 380 m. The north is drier than the south and receives an average of 5 - 10mm less rain per month during the vine's growing season (October - April). Southern vineyards are a little cooler with temperatures  lower by 1.8 - 1.4 Celsius, resulting in an extended growing season.

Never having been to the Heathcote region, Cambrian Earth was a term I had not come across before. Ben touched on it  a little, but  visit the Heathcote Shiraz website for detailed information.

The tasting was in two parts. First up  - 5  shiraz samples from the Heathcote region.

1. Galli Estate Artigino Block 2 2007
2. Tellurian Shiraz 2008
3. Munari Wines Beauregard Shiraz 2006
4. Sanguine Estate Heathcote 2007
5. Shelmerdine Shiraz  2007

This excercise was designed to show the different characteristics of Heathcote Shiraz. 

A show of hands  proved  Munari  Shiraz to be the most popular. For me it was an equal first with the Galli Estate.

Next up - a blind tasting to see if we could recognise the Heathcote style and pick it from the other samples from France and New Zealand.

I failed miserably at this, not even recognising the New Zealand Te Awa Syrah, a wine I sold when I worked for their distributor in New Zealand.

The wines included

1. Barfold Estate Shiraz 2006
2. Heathcote Estate Shiraz 2007
3. Greenstone Shiraz 2007
4. Te Awa Syrah 2009
5. Domaine Belle Crozes-Hermitage 'Les Pierelles' 2007

My preference was the Barfold Estate, which also was the choice of the majority at the Brisbane morning tasting.

Heathcote showcase wines of the region at their Visit Shiraz Heaven Food and Wine Festival on 2 - 3 October 2010.

A Pop Up Bar In Sydney

Pop up bars are the latest trend in marketing.  

Tourism Victoria will showcase the finest King Valley wines at the King's Vault, a pop up bar in Sydney. Over seven nights in November wine lovers can experience a series of intimate tastings and private events, held at a secret inner city location.

You need to register your name on the door list at the Where is King's Vault website.  The King's Vault location will be revealed by SMS on Wednesday 18th November.

All guests will have the opportunity to sample hot new Australian grown Italian varietals while eating food inspired by the King Valley's best chefs and produce.

Check the website Where Is King's Vault this week and enter to win a trip for two to the King Valley. This competition is only open to those living in Australia.

Shandy

Chemotherapy targets cancer cells and destroys them. It also targets other cells in the body and destroys them - good cells.  The mouth is one place it zones in on fairly early in treatment. My tastebuds are pretty much destroyed at the moment. Luckily they do repair once chemo is finished.

The one thing I can't enjoy because of the changes is a glass of wine.  So I turned to beer.  And I added lemonade to it.  In Australia this is known as a shandy.  Like wine not all beers are the same. They vary in taste and texture just like wine. With much tasting and with the help of the bartender at our local bar, Manos I've found Asahi beer makes the best shandy.

If all goes according to plan I will finish chemo at the end of May. I'm halway through the 6 month course.  Sitting in the cupboard we call the cellar,  is my celebration drink for that day - a bottle of Cristal. 

Pink Muscat From Margaret River

I don't drink a lot of wine these days. It makes me sleepy. I'm not sure if that's my age or the result of the effects of my past sessions of chemo on my body.  So I have two choices - go for quality  - and that costs -  so naturally I'll drink less. Or look for a low alcohol wine.

Which is what I  like about Stella Bella Pink Muscat. It is only 7.7%. I can drink more than one glass and I can drink it with lunch and not spend the afternoon on the couch sleeping it off. It's pink, slightly sweet, slightly fizzy and very easy to drink. I drank it with a lunch of  Tortilla Espanola and Rocket Salad with Blue Cheese and Pears.

Recently I received a wonderful parcel of goodies from the charming  Chris at Mele Cotte. Amongst the carefully chosen pieces of yellow china and sweets was a packet of California Wine Wafers. If you haven't tried these yet you must. They look like a giant communion wafer.  If only communion wafers tasted this good! Chris had sent me the lemon vanilla flavoured wafers. I tried them alongside the pink muscat. Being sweeter than the wine the wine tasted less sweet.


Stella Bella Pink Muscat 2005
Grape Varietal: Muscat Blanc A Petits Grain
Price: Around AU$19 for 375ml.
Warning: Men are unlikely to enjoy this wine.

Support Febfast With An Alcohol Free Month

Can you go without alcohol for an entire month in support of Febfast ?  FebFast raises funds to support organisations working with young people struggling with substance abuse. This  initiative is based in the state of Victoria in Australia .  I'd be interested to know if any other countries have a similar challenge.  Wherever you are in the world it won't hurt to go  without alcohol for the month of February.

Say Hi To My New Friend Olivier

I laugh every time I watch Olivier. He is now the first blog I visit each morning when I turn my computer on. I love the rap intro at the beginning of each video. I apologise to any French girls that may find him offensive. I'm sure he is just joking.

Wine Rendezvous

Liqueur 44

44 coffee beans, 44 sugar cubes, 1 orange and 750ml vodka,  steep for 44 days. Whadda ya get? Liqueur 44, something that tastes remarkably like Grand Marnier . Not as syrupy as Grand Marnier,   Liqueur  44  is a well known  European home made aperitif.  I found the recipe in a Patricia Wells cookbook.

Not having access to 44 sugar cubes I replaced them with 9 tablespoons sugar. I also added a vanilla bean to give it another dimension. I put the vanilla bean in whole, next time I'll split the bean for a more vanilla flavour. The aroma is of orange with the coffee, smelling almost like chocolate,  following through.  On the palate the coffee taste hits first followed by an orange aftertaste.

To make your own liqueur 44 make small slits in the orange peel and stud with the coffee beans. Place in a large jar, spoon in the sugar and cover with  vodka. then leave to sit in a dark cool place for 44 days. Shake jar each day until sugar has dissolved.  After 44 days decant liquor into a bottle. Serve as an aperitif, after dinner liqueur or mixed with sparkling wine, for a long drink.

Others have been making their own booze too. Figs Olives  Wine  made creme de cassis. 18th Century Cuisine  has a recipe for cherry ratafia.....and here is a recipe for limoncello.  For the complete Liqueur 44 recipe  visit Food Downunder .

UPDATE: Cookiecrumb is at it too.

Wine Blog Discoveries

I've just discovered a  wine  blog using pictures instead of words to describe wine.

CHATEAU PETROGASM

Chalet Fleur de Lys Zinfandel

I'm really back into drinking wine again. When Elise  visited New Zealand back in June we got together for lunch.  She kindly brought me a couple of bottles of Californian wine.  This week we opened the Zinfandel from Chalet Fleur de Lys .  The Zinfandels I've tried in the past, and that is not many as there isn't much around in New Zealand, have been pretty ordinary. This bottle from the Sierra Foothills in California has changed by view. We drank it over two nights. The first night I served it with lamb backstraps which I pan seared, then splashed  some verjuice and merlot jelly into the pan to make a sauce.  A perfect match.  Not such a good match the following evening with a Beef Strogonoff.  It clashed with either the chili or the sour cream.  I found the wine a good balance between fruit and oak with some nice berry flavours. Thanks Elise for introducing us to a lovely Californian Zinfandel.   

Dry River Craighall Amaranth Riesling '98

A glass of '98 Dry River Craighall Amaranth riesling and suddenly my day improved.  It started out badly, very badly. I decided to get a couple of tickets for  Cirque de Soliel  to give to Chris for Christmas.  From time to time he earns his living doing this

....that's him in the blue shorts....and this

..him again in the black outfit.  (Click on the photos to get a larger picture.)

So you can see getting really good seats was important. Sadly I was too late for the best seats and had to settle for Row G.

Then I noticed a major store had a 30% off women's clothing for the day.  I gathered a few items together and went to the changing rooms.   As I was removing a shirt over my head the swing tag flicked back and the corner hit me in the eye.  Wow that hurt I said to myself and continued with the next outfit.  My eye felt a little watery as you would expect. When I looked up to see my reflection in the mirror this creature from a horror movie stared back at me. The white of my eye was completely red.  More than a little concerned I hurriedly got back into my own clothes and walked down the street to my doctor.  Seems the tag hit a blood vessel which caused the eye to bleed. Apparently it is like a bruise and will go purple and then yellow before I look normal again.

Back home and I managed to burn the first batch of crostini I was preparing to serve with a topping of sour cream and salmon.

So how was the riesling you ask. Brilliant. I'd invited a wine industry friend and his wife over because I knew he would appreciate it.  He always brings great wines when he visits so he deserved to be rewarded.  I was given the honor of tasting the first mouthful.  Bliss. I felt a smile spread over my face. Thankfully it wasn't corked. It took alittle while for the aromas to come through and when they did they were quite minerally. The taste was citrusy with lots of lime and  lemon flavours with a hint of honey and a long finish. A little too dry for Bryan but the rest of us loved it.

Visit the winery web page and read the production notes here.

Elderton Barossa Shiraz 2001

After 8 months without a glass of wine last Saturday night I opened this bottle Elderton Barossa Shiraz 2001 .   I can tell you it was worth the wait. 

The colour was intense, I swirled the wine around the glass releasing some nice aromas of chocolate, vanilla, plum, a faint touch of liquorice and finally the taste was a good balance between oak and fruit.

I'm packing a bottle to share with friends in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Christmas Gifts for Winelovers

If I didn't already have a  set of Riedel  tasting  glasses it is what I would want for Christmas.  Last year I  was lucky enough to attend a Riedel  wine tasting when a member of the Riedel family was on a visit to their  New Zealand distributor . 

Four wines were presented for tasting.  Each wine was poured into three glasses  - a regulation wine tasting glass, another wine glass and finally the glass designed for that particular wine.  The differences in taste were markedly different.  I'm not a big  fan of chardonnay, but in the correct glass I could drink it without pulling a face.

Check out the Distributor's page  of the website for your local supplier.  If you are really lucky you might even find a tasting session in your city.  This would be a great gift for a loved one with an interest in wine.  The four glass tasting session is ideal for anyone wanting to learn  more about wine.

WBW _ Small Production Wines

This is the platter of food we were given (that's right no charge) when we visited Vin Alto vineyard in Clevedon a couple of weeks ago.  We hadn't had this point even bought any wines.

When Gastronomie announced the theme for this months Wine Blogging Wednesday I thought it would be all too difficult to find a wine with production of less than 250 cases.  Then I remembered, amongst the bottles we had bought at Vin Alto that day was an Amarone style wine. Maybe it was only made in small quantities.  A quick phone call to Vin Alto and I was right. They  only made 50 cases of the Retico 1999 .

It was ready for drinking so WBW became the excuse for opening it.

 
Eyes:                        Red with brick around the edges
Nose:                        Chocolate
Mouth:                 Soft tannins, a bit too much oak for me, but a nice hint of chocolate.
Verdict:                Not  bad for a New Zealand amarone style.

Vin Alto is open for wine tasting luncheons on the weekend. Check out the current menu. It's worth the drive out to the Clevedon hills as there are now several cellar doors open to the public. Margaret and Enzo at Vin Alto will make you feel like you're a family friend.  Our last visit was only to taste wine but it is such a lovely dining room we are going back for lunch. 

Thanks to Gastronomie  for hosting this months Wine Blogging Wednesday.  Drop by to see the final round up next week.

WCB #1

Hey Whitey .  Look at me.

Wine Blogging Wednesday - New World Pinot Noir

Akarua Wines are from Bannockburn in Central Otago. Which also happens to be the home of my  favourite  New Zealand Pinot Noir. This particular bottle of Akarua was a  gift from  South American friends who visited us earlier this year.  Their schedule only allowed time for  one vineyard visit while driving through the South Island.  I  suggested they call at  Akarua where they could  lunch at the Lazy Dog restaurant and taste some wines at the cellar door.  They arrived just before midday to discover it was closed due to it being a public holiday.  Through the cellar door window they could see movement inside and knocked on the door.  A woman came to the door and informed them the restaurant would open at 1.00pm. They asked if they could wander through the vines while waiting. The woman happened to be the viticulturist and was about to drive through the vineyard doing whatever viticulturists do on a public holiday. She offered to give them their own personal tour of the vineyard.

For my friends, it was the highlight of their week in the South Island.  And to show their appreciation of my suggestion I was the lucky recipient of three bottles of wine presented in wooden boxes.

Akarua Pinot Noir 2003
Details:             From the Winemaker
Eyes:                    Polished rubies.
Legs:                   So long you can still see them above the second A.
Nose:                  Cherries and violets.
Mouth:             Elegant and lingering.
Buy:                     NZ$40 .  World distributors  page.
Verdict:        I wish I'd left it in the cellar for another couple of years.      

Thanks to our host this month at Cincinnati Wine Garage.  Call by there for the round up next week.

Meme with Two Tails

Cat lover Clare over at Eat Stuff  has tagged me for the Meme  with two tails - The Best in the Last 30.  This latest meme began life with Beau at Basic Juice .   Follow the meme here  .

It is a two part meme and I get to tell you about the best wine I've had in the past 30 days. Catherine at Food Musings  will be sharing the best meal matching wine she has enjoyed in the past 30 days.

I don't even need to think about this.  Actually I do.  As  it is exactly 30 days since we drank our one and only bottle of  Penfolds  Grange 1990.   That obviously was the best, but I'm going to exclude it for this meme as it is such a rare occurence. 

I'm selecting the first New Zealand Pinot Noir I've really enjoyed.  My first glass was when a friend brought it along  to  this  party.   I loved it so much I went out and bought some for this  event.  With a few contacts in the industry I rarely pay retail for my wine.  This is the one wine I won't think twice about paying the retail price.

It is the  - drum roll please -

Olssens  Jackson Barry Pinot Noir 2003.

And now I'm tagging Caroline, the lovely Irish lady at  Bibliocook  for the foodie tail,  and for  the wino tail  - Ben at Pinot Island  who knows all about wine in Tasmania. 

Check out Beaus  post on the difference between the two tales tails.

Ze Round Up from Clotilde

Wine Blogging Wednesday round up is out.  Read about  it  over at Chocolate and Zucchini.
Thanks to Clotilde for hosting this month.

WBW _ Like Wine for Chocolate

When this months Wine Blogging Wednesday host Clotilde  set the challenge Like Wine for Chocolate , my plan was  to drink outside the square.  I would find something other than sparkling  or dessert wine to match the very delicious melt in the mouth chocolate  cake recipe   Clotilde had posted.

I must say this is the easiest  flour less (well almost) chocolate cake recipe I have baked.  Just melt the butter and chocolate, add the eggs, a spoonful of flour, pour into the tin  and bake.   And it was best made the day before, which suited me as I had a very busy day before planned.

The previous weekend I'd been drinking the Olssens  Jackson Barry Pinot Noir '03 and I'd done a little taste test with a  Baci chocolate.  Maybe  this would be my "outside the square" wine.  Also included in my tasting were bubbles and a late harvest semillon.

Sunday afternoon and my invited "to offer their opinion" guests arrived.  My friend the French Horn player had brought along a Nevis Bluff Pinot Gris '02 to add to the table.  The wines were poured into glasses and everyone was  instructed to taste a mouthful of wine,  eat a little cake then finish with  another mouthful of wine.  I wanted them to notice the changes in the wine before and after the cake and then decide their preference.

We started with sparkling, then the pinot gris, next the pinot noir and finished with the late harvest semillon.   Everyones preferences were  noted one to four and the one with the most votes would be the winner.

The French horn player wanted more instructions as he felt he might have a different preference if it was lunch or dinner.  His final choice was for the pinot gris at any time of the day.  I suspect all that horn blowing has damaged his taste buds!   His wife thinks he chose it  because he has shares in the company.

As much as I desperately wanted my Pinot Noir to be the winner of the chocolate match it only came in second.  It was a great match with milk chocolate but today we were eating dark chocolate. It was voted best wine of the day though.  It is a stunning wine and  here is a link to the distributors page.

I expected the Sileni   Estate Selection Late Harvest Semillon  '03  to be a more suitable match than it was.   Clearview  Sea Red Dessert Wine 2004,  a cabernet franc/merlot blend from Hawkes Bay, would have been a better choice.

There are shiraz or syrah wines that will go with chocolate and I'm sure other bloggers will go down this path.  There isn't a  shiraz in my cellar I was confident would match this chocolate cake.    I thought about opening my last bottle of Masi Amarone '95 but that is marked for a special meal coming up soon.

Finally we all voted the sparkling as the best match.  Not expensive sparkling either.  The  Italian Riccadonna Asti.   The slight sweetness of the wine allows  the chocolate flavours to shine without overpowering them.   

I like this description of Riccadonna Asti  from the 2003 edition of  Drink Drank Drunk by Ben Canaider and Greg Duncan Powell - Think of a bowl of strawberries that have been dressed with a sprinkle of caster sugar, a dash of tokay, and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. 

 Doesn't that sound like something you'd like to drink with  chocolate cake? 

Post for Cork Dorks

Benjamin over at Wine by Benito  put out a challenge for bloggers to gather their corks and sort them out. I resisted the urge to sort them into countries.

655 - wine bottle corks   
34 - champagne corks    
97 - Sparkling                      
   8 - Synthetic corks            

This tally doesn't include all the screw caps  or the wine we drank in restaurants ,  on holidays overseas  and at friends. Add in another 200 or so for the  corks used for making cook boards. I once made a cork board for a friend with corks from the bottles we had shared over  12 months.

This collection represents 5 years of wine drinking and a quick play with the calculator tells me we spend about $100 a week on wine.

 

Max Schubert - You're the Best.

It was worth the wait. ....and it was good. 

So good in fact we sat for 15 minutes with our nose in our glass enjoying the aroma.   There was coffee, liquorice, plum,cassis, flint and even a faint hint of eucalyptus.  The colour was intense - a ruby red still showing plenty of blue tinge.   On the palate it was well balanced, soft tannins, complex and a looooong finish.  Two days later and I can still taste it. 

While Peter put the finishing touches to the Osso Buco, we chatted over a glass of Riesling.   I was relieved I wasn't the one required to come up with the menu. Peter and Linda decided on the Osso Buco  with polenta and green beans and it was a great match.   

There was an entrée and a dessert and Lynda's signature dish of  ginger and almond cake, coffee and Lindt chocolates, pinot noir and Sauternes  - and everything was fabulous -but all I really remember about the evening was The Grange.

Grange was conceived by Max Schubert  when he was the winemaker at Penfolds back in 1950 .  Wine Spectator magazine named the 1990 Grange "The Best Red Wine in the World".  Read the official winemaker notes  here .

We could have waited another 6 or 7 years to open the Grange and I still think it would have been as good as it was on Saturday night.   I have worked out it  will cost around what I usually spend on wine every 6-8  weeks to purchase another bottle of the 1990 vintage.

Penfolds Grange 1990

Tonight we drink the Grange.    This morning I removed the bottle from its cradle on the bottom  shelf of our cellar where it has waited quietly for this day.  After 6 or 7 years there it  is suitably covered in a layer of  dust.  It would no longer be needing the little  note it has worn around its neck all these years. The little note reading DO NOT TOUCH. 

I confess there have been days where I have been in the cellar and touched the bottle of Grange. I would carefully take the Grange out of its bed and hold it lovingly, imagining the day we would carefully remove the cork and pour this great juice into our glasses.

I can't remember the exact year we won the Grange - 98 0r 99.  It was the top prize in a Wine Options competition at the Auckland Club.   We came away with several of the wines that evening after we won 5 out of  the 6 rounds.  I don't wish to boast -  but -  back then we won the Wine Options two years in a row.   

Around seven this evening we will drive over to  the home of our team mates from the  evening, Peter and Linda, where they will have prepared a feast fit to accompany this great wine.  Please Lord, don't let it be corked.  Our back up wine is no where near as exciting.

WBW12 Roundup

Lenn  has written his round up of the 43 or is that 45 entries in the latest Wine Blogging Wednesday. Check it out here .   Who would have thought - they make wine in Tennessee.  With the theme drink local we get to hear about many  US wines but Australia, France and Spain also get a mention.

Alder presents The Wine Comedy

Check out this brilliant piece of writing from  Alder  at Vinography.

Wine Blogging Wednesday - Drink Local

Sorry Lenn I've cheated a little with this months Wine Blogging Wednesday.  On the anniversary of this great event, I'm hoping our founder and host Lenn   will forgive me.  Our mission was to drink local....and I did....but I went back in time a little to do so.

From my home in Takapuna I could have gone west to Henderson  - but most cellar doors there grow their grapes elsewhere.  Or maybe south to Clevedon  , across the water to Waiheke  or possibly the nearest of all - north to Matakana.

But I decided to step back in time and drink locally from where I used to live.   Where I grew up actually  -  Margaret River .  This is not just any wine from any vineyard.  This is wine from the Wine Company that bought our family farm and turned it into a vineyard.  The grapes in this bottle, aren't actually from the old farm that is now the vineyard. These grapes are from further down the road, but still near enough to be considered local.

Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Details:            From the Winemaker  (for the 2001 vintage).

Colour:           Red, with a brick colour around the edges.

Legs:                  Long enough for me.

Nose:                  Savoury, earthy and a hint of chocolate.

Taste:                 Soft tannins, a hint of cassis, chocolate on the finish.

Verdict:            Oh dear,  I should have bought more back on that 2001 visit.

Buy:                     Here

Trivia:               My father named our farm (as you do in Australia), Jindawarrabelle.  Xanadu have retained the name Jindawarra for a range of their wines. Go  here  to read what they have done with the property this year.

Wine Oz

click to enlarge
We found a terrific wine store on the Gold Coast (Queensland) - The Liquor Superstore.   Armed with a list of Australian wines from Wine Waves   and Cam  we managed to find all but two wines on my list.  No Black Chook Shiraz Viognier '04 but Dave the Wine Manager did recommend the Zontes Footstep Shiraz Viognier.  It turned out to be the favourite of them all.  Dave's other recommendation we also  enjoyed was the O'Leary Walker Polish Hill River Riesling 2004.

Next time your on the Gold Coast go see Dave at the Liquor Superstore, corner of  Ferry Road and Cotlew Streets, Bundall.