Dunque alla fine il dado è stato tratto! Niente trucioli nei vini DOC e men che meno DOCG. Meno male.
Via libera invece per IGT e vini da tavola. Così ha deciso il ministro Paolo de Castro per decreto.
Ecco qui la lista dei vini IGT per i quali si potranno liberamente impiegare in vinificazione i trucioli di pregiato rovere.
Virtues and Necessities
by Martin Field
Wine is all about the senses. About sensory evaluation, sensuality and consensual enjoyment. And wouldn’t it be awful to lose your sense of taste, of smell, of touch, of sight?
It happens. Years ago, a wine-loving colleague went through a devastating course of chemotherapy to treat cancer and was cured. Afterwards he told me he had permanently lost his taste for wine. He sold his not inconsiderable cellar soon afterwards. Another friend had an operation on his nose that left him without a sense of smell. He’ll drink a glass of wine with dinner but admits to being indifferent to its finer points.
Best Shiraz in Australia
by Martin Field
Announced on 27 October was this year’s winner of the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge – the irrepressible Geoff Merrill, with his Geoff Merrill Reserve McLaren Vale Shiraz 2002.
Twelve years ago the search for the best shiraz in the country saw the creation of the inaugural challenge competition. This year 370 wines competed for the prestigious trophy and were judged by a panel of leading palates – James Halliday, Stephen Henschke, John Duval and Geoff Merrill. Merrill admitted at the awards ceremony that he was the only judge to give his own wine (unidentified at the time of judging) a low mark.
My tasting notes for the winning wine read, ‘Rich, dry red with a nose of blackberry, a hint of mocha and toasted oak. Mellow on the palate, with plums, sweet oak and lasting fine tannins.’
Runners-up were, in second place, the 2004 Clayfield Grampians Shiraz; third place, the 2004 Howard Park ‘Scotsdale’ Shiraz. The award for best under $25 wine went to the 2004 McLaren Wines Linchpin Shiraz.
Ever heard or read a conversation like this? ‘It’s been a long and exciting journey. I feel empowered when I’m making wine. I’m passionate about it. I have a commitment to quality and have a vision that our product will one day become an Australian icon. I’d like to thank my mentor.’ ‘Absolutely!’ Yuck!
Writing about wine sure brings out the clichés but I reckon reporters, copywriters and publicists easily outgun wine writers in over-spicing their paragraphs with hyperbole. A little while back, I ran the word wine – combined with some of my least favourite psychobabble words – through Google’s News Search. (For example, enter wine +passion, in the News search window.)
The wine and passion combination brought up 643 news items, while passionate rated 274. Journey rated 674; commitment – 603; absolutely – 790; vision – 499; mentor came up with 201; icon scored 269; empowered rated 22 and empower 33. Wine and pretentious scored 56. Remember, these results are from current daily news sources.
A straightforward Google web search for wine and passion scored over 12,000,000 hits. I quit while I was ahead.
I hope I’ve engaged you with this research – admittedly, the context in which the words are used in news items varies considerably – but you get my drift.
by Martin Field
Matilda Bay Crema $15 the 750ml bottle \_/\_/
‘Would you like a coffee with that beer Sir? In the one glass?’ Yep, this is a beer made from malted barley and wheat and Arabica coffee. Sounds unusual, but it’s not all that uncommon to hear beers described as having coffee flavours – so why not brew some in? Orangey gold in colour. Nose of malt and café latte. Full and soft in the mouth with an edge of bitterness and a tang of mocha.
Yellowglen Vintage Crémant 2004 up to $17 \_/\_/\_/
Pale gold. Nose of white flowers, pears and lightly toasted bread. Creamy texture on the tongue and pleasing peachy flavours. Finishes off-dry with an edge of lemon zest. I served this blind to a wine class recently – they loved it and went out the next day to buy a case or two to share.
Pauletts Polish Hill River Clare Valley Riesling 2006 Cellar door price $18 \_/\_/\_/\_/
Near water pale, green-gold edge. Nose of lime flowers and lemon. Clean, quite dry, elegant palate of mixed citrus fruits and minerals. Zesty lasting finish. Cellar to 2016.
Tahbilk Viognier 2006 up to $19 \_/\_/\_/
Will be released mid November. Nagambie Lakes Victoria. Pale straw, hint of green. Aromatic, grassy, apple skin, kiwi fruit nose. Dry, with more kiwi fruit on the palate and tangy acid. If you tasted this blind you might think it was a riper style of sauvignon blanc. Lovely main course white.
Phi (Φ) Lusatia Park Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005 around $55 \_/\_/\_/\_/
Yarra Valley Victoria. One definition (www.answers.com) of phi that might apply here is ‘A shorthand representation for an aromatic functional group in organic chemistry.’ Another is a super-premium Yarra Valley collaboration between Yarra Valley makers De Bortoli and the Shelmerdine family. Rosy, mid red appearance. Generously perfumed nose of strawberries, cherries and smokey oak. Stacks of juicy, bursting ripe pinot berries in the mouth supported by fine tannins and beautifully integrated oak. Delicious.
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 about $15 \_/\_/$
South Australia. Mid crimson colour. Plummy ripe nose, hint of oak. Mid weighted style showing more of the plumminess, ripe berries leading to a firm warming finish. Well priced dining red.
Shingleback McLaren Vale Grenache 2005 up to $25 \_/\_/
This is the first wine I’ve tried from the company that won this year’s Jimmy Watson Trophy. Bright mid-ruby. Fresh, juicy fruity nose. An approachable red that offers plenty of sweet fruit flavours and soft tannins leading to a smooth finish. Will suit people who find bone dry reds intimidating.
Majella Coonawarra Shiraz 2004 $28 \_/\_/\_/\_/
Purple edged mid crimson. Nose of blackberry conserve, white pepper and sweet charred oak. Blackberries again come into play on the palate along with a hint of minty eucalyptus. The mature berries are nicely supported by fine drying tannins and integrated oak flavours. Finishes firm with persistent fruit intensity.
Spitbucket rating system
Five gold spitbuckets \_/\_/\_/\_/\_/ – brilliant
\_/\_/\_/\_/- classy
\_/\_/\_/ – first-rate
\_/\_/ – everyday drinking
\_/ – spit it!
An added $ denotes excellent value for money. Prices in Australian dollars.
Arid Australia
by Martin Field
My daughter, who studies these sorts of things, says we shouldn’t think in terms of drought in Australia. She argues that Australians will eventually have to accept that we live in the driest populated continent on the planet and that the 100 year ‘drought’ we’re experiencing at the moment is simply a variation on what is in fact a permanently arid environment.
Warning, at the end of this post there is a fun vidéo clip so please read to the end!
On the banks of the Black Sea there is a beautiful country, with high mountains, and a climate that is ideal for growing grape vines: Georgia.
Attention, à la fin de ce mesage il y a un clip vidéo très amusant, donc lisez jusqu’à la fin!
Il existe un pays très beau, sur les rives de la Mer Noire, avec des montagnes très hautes et un climat idéal pour la viticulture : la Géorgie
Attenzione, alla fine di questo post ci sarà un video molto divertente, quindi leggete tutto fino in fondo!
C’è un paese probabilmente molto bello, bagnato dal Mar Nero, con montagne altissime ed un clima ideale alla coltivazione della vite: la Repubblica Georgiana
In un post precedente avevo sostenuto che il 2006 in Liguria non sarà ricordato come un buon millesimo. In realtà probabilmente mi sbagliavo e da vigneron ansioso e dilettante avevo sopravvalutato gli effetti negativi delle intense precipitazioni di Agosto e Settembre.