Words from a Wine Glass

Remember when everyone had a box of barbeque shapes in the pantry or cupboard for when people dropped in unexpectedly?  You knew there’d be very few left by the time the crowd decided to go home.  How good is it to know that you can go to the fridge, pull out a wine, not necessarily a white or a red, that you can pour into anyone’s glass knowing it’s going to hit the mark.  Thanks to some good value examples now available, Rosé is fast becoming the ‘barbeque shape’ of wine.  I think this fits the mould perfectly.

This Rosé has been built using “…early harvested merlot and shiraz”.  I have to say, the wine confused me to start with.  Tart raspberries balanced by sweet dried cranberries and a nice smooth texture.    It was savoury but I detected some sweetness, a deft touch of spice and some fine acidity had a say on quite a good dry finish.

In the end I felt this was a pretty cool, refreshing drink at a very good price, however  don’t chill it too hard would be my advice.  It’ll please anyone that pops in unexpectedly.

Robert Stein Website

Region: Mudgee, NSW     Price: $18     Source: Sample courtesy of Robert Stein Wines and Define Wine

I knew there were red grapes that had red flesh, and subsequently red juice, but I didn’t know they had a name.  That name is teinturier grapes.  Saperavi is a teinturier type grape.  I’m sure there are others but I only know of one other; Alicante Bouchet.  In French, teinturier means to dye or stain and, as much as Saperavi has the red flesh, I’ve no doubt the juice has been suitably dyed or stained by coming in contact with the dark skin of the grape.  I must say, it presents like a glistening puddle of deep purple goodness in the glass.

The grapes themselves are (generally) pretty big and thin skinned like pinot noir but not as temperamental.  Winemakers need to be careful with this grape variety because, from what I’ve read, it can come across as extracted and acidic.  Apart from the pleasant acidity this one has, it certainly didn’t come across as extracted.  The rich fruit was oh so perfectly dominant.

It’s typically Sapervi.  Pretty intense and full of flavour.  Blackberries, boysenberries and dark plums fill out the palate.  There’s an earthiness about it that’s sort of like fresh, out of your garden, beetroot (if you know what I mean) and there’s a downright delicious licorice note too that carries it all to a fruit filled finish.  All sorts of yum!

Another terrific wine at such a good price.  I don’t know how Marnie does it.

Matriarch & Rogue Website

Region: Riverland, SA     Price: $22     Source: Gift courtesy of Marnie Roberts

I feel a little sorry for Cabernet Franc.  It seems it’s the middle child of the Cabernet family, with Cabernet Sauvignon at one end and Merlot at the other end of the Bordeaux bunch of red grape varieties.  Not necessarily the ‘forgotten child’ of the family but almost.  In recent times it’s come out of the shadows and stolen the limelight, to a certain extent, from its siblings with one winning a trophy (or two if my memory serves me correctly) at Australian regional and/or capital city wine shows.  Now, it may not have been from this region or this wine but it was a Cab Franc nonetheless.

I have to admit, I’ve not had many straight Cab Francs.  I sort of knew what to expect but it wasn’t necessarily such good quality from this region!

From a certified organic vineyard in Orange, New South Wales, this certainly ticks a box or more for me.  Berries, cherries, some pepper and spice and more…and you don’t have to try hard to find all of these goodies as it rolls around every crevice of your mouth.  It’s deliciously medium bodied and ripe-ishly juicy without being over the top.  You can’t help but like this wine.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a wine that you need to sit in your cellar.  I don’t think it’s built for that and I reckon that’s a good thing.  It’s too nice a drink for that.

I wasn’t able to find it on the Tamburlaine website but I did find it here at Organic Wine

Region: Orange, NSW     Price: $25     Source: Swap (Thanks Simon Colwell )

This is my second Australian Sangiovese in four days.  Admittedly tonight, it was always going to be a Sangiovese.  When my daughter kindly said she was going to put together a very nice spicy tomato based pasta dish, this variety of wine had to be in a glass by its side.  Walking through the bottle shop, I spotted this one and it easily grabbed my attention.  To be honest, mainly because I knew the wine but, I don’t remember ever having a Pizzinia Sangiovese and this was the perfect opportunity.

Really good start thanks to aromas of spicy dark cherries and blackcurrants of which were delicate yet abundant at the same time.

It’s deliciously full on yet sitting nicely medium bodied.  Definitely dark cherries with their skins still attached, juicy plums are part of the game, terrific soft smooth tannins that linger too with the addition of a savoury element that brings it home.  Just so you know, it’s pretty easy to drink and gee it proved popular with my family.

What a great value wine.  Whether it be with family, friends or anyone else in between,  you really need to find, buy, try then drink this wine.  They deserve it and so do you.

Pizzini Website

Region: King Valley, Victoria     Price: $28     Source: Retail Purchase

I reckon when this wine was bottled it took an oath.  An oath along the lines of, “I promise to show the fruit, the whole fruit and, to a certain extent, nothing but the fruit so help me god I swear”.  It’s lived up to that promise.

Everything about this wine is vibrant, fresh, juicy and eminently drinkable!  Juicy red fruits lead the charge on both the nose and palate.  There’s some definite cherry characters on the flanks with some smooth savoury tannins bringing up the rear.  By the end of our Friday night, the bottle was empty.  I’m pretty sure the angels didn’t get their share so it’s not hard to guess where the contents ended up.

Main & Cherry Website

Region: McLaren Vale, SA     Price: $25     Source: Online Purchase

Grenache was, and probably still is, used for fortified wines.  It is my view that both of these are so under-rated in Australia.  Let me explain.

In this country, we have some extraordinary fortified wines made from old material that are so damn cheap.  We are spoiled as far as I’m concerned.  It is no different with Grenache.  Australia has some of the oldest Grenache vines in the world (so I believe) and yet we, I, you, pay very little dollars for quality old vine Grenache and I’m very grateful.  I just think it is not only under-rated, it’s also under appreciated.  If there was ever a prime, consistent example of this, Yalumba Old Bush Vine Grenache is it!

It’s typically Grenache when it comes to the colour.  Quite light yet a vibrant red.  Great on the nose.  That vibrancy doubles up when it comes to the aromas with lots of red fruits and savouriness here too.

The colour doesn’t tell you what to expect on the palate.  Those red fruit characters are obvious but they seem to be a bit more robust without coming across as extracted.  They are nice and juicy almost juby but not in a sweet way.  There’s a very nice subtle herbal note too, it’s savoury and deliciously spicy and the tannin influence is nought.  An absolutely brilliant, bargain wine.

Yalumba Website

Region: Barossa Valley, SA    Price: $24 (Cheaper if you shop around)    Source: Online purchase

Nero d’Avola in Italian means “Black of Avola”.  Avola is a decent size seaside town in southern Italy.  From some of the photos I’ve seen on the internet, it looks like a beautiful place.  I can’t believe I didn’t check this out before.  Here I was thinking it was just a grape variety, originally from Sicily, that was made into inky coloured, bold, full bodied red wine.

Even to use the word ‘just’ shows my naivety of the variety.  Apparently it is the most important grape variety in Sicily!  I don’t think it’ll be long before a well deserved imprint of the ‘boot’ of Italy will be obvious on my behind.

It’s quite a pretty, deep and youthful darkish purple.  It smells rich with yummy black fruit aromas.  It’s not as dark fruity on the palate though.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty bold and generous but it has more juicy boysenberry, blueberry and plum fruits with an almost a spicy cherry character on the finish.

Now, it’s pretty full on but not full bodied.  Marnie Roberts, the winemaker, has done a mighty fine job with getting the balance right this variety.  It’s bloody delicious and so very easy to drink.  As far as the Peters household is concerned, it has a drinkability factor of 10/10.

Matriarch & Rogue Website

Region: Riverland, SA     Price: $22 (ridiculous value)     Source: Thank you Marnie