This week I attended a blind wine tasting hosted by Wine Australia, and I thought, "easy, I'm going to smash this", and although Aussie wines are some of my favourites, I haven't done any blind tasting since my WSET exams five years ago (gosh is it that long?!). I got it wrong. I got it all wrong.
We were given a piece of paper where we could write our notes, and given another which posed 7 questions about the wines, which we had to hand in at the end. Answer papers were marked and the top 4 people given recognition (no-one listed below the top 4, and no scores revealed - thus preventing any (my) embarrassment). It was a lovely experience and my fellow wine tasters were charming.
There were three flights of wine - Flight 1: four white wines, Flight 2: three red wines, and Flight 3: four red wines. We had to guess the single grape variety in each flight, decide which wines were from the same region in each flight, and identify the one wine of the day that was not from Australia (and where it was from). Straightforward right? It would seem... until you throw the way my brain works into the mix. Let me explain...
Flight 1:
My first thought was Chardonnay, of course these are Chardonnay, but hang on wine #1 is oily - in the way that cocoa butter is oily, and lemon aroma, so a bit like eating a Hotel Chocolate Lemon white chocolate. Yum. But not typical of chardonnay. There's a slight spritz on the tip of my tongue - again atypical for Chardonnay, hang on could this be Semillon? It has a full body - tick - and is not very complex (i.e. doesn't have many different flavours coming through - similar to a pinot grigio) - tick. Then I looked at the legs (the viscous drops down the side of the glass, which indicates alcohol level), and wiped it from my mind, no, no it can't be a Semillon, as Semillon has low alcohol, these thick legs mean high alcohol... so I continued tasting Flight 1 thinking the wines were Chardonnay (both wines 2 & 3 had buttery notes - typical of Chardonnay, but also possible for Semillon). But then, Wine 4 threw me - it was quite light and pale, with citrus and mineral, and dental floss (or, rather, a medical tasting eucalyptus flavour) - this can't be Chardonnay screamed the devil on my left shoulder! The angel on my left was too timid to remind me of the typical Chardonnay characteristics I had experienced with the other two wines.
I wrote Semillon on the answer sheet. These wines were Chardonnay. Then they asked which wine is from Barossa and although the eucalyptus is blatantly a clue for Wine 4, I wrote down Wine 1, because that white chocolate flavour made me think it had to come from a hot climate. I wonder now if that white chocolate is a result of a process during winemaking (such as Malolactic fermentation - I can cover this another day), rather than a characteristic representative of the terroir (the place where the grapes are grown). Bobbins!
Flight 2:
The wines were very pale in colour and had delicate aromas (i.e. you can't smell a thing), the wines had brownish edges, a sign of ageing. Wine 5 tasted of charries and burnt toffee, Wine 6 reminded me of eating fresh red fruits and buttered toast in the mountains, and Wine 7 felt like red velvet and made my lips tingle. It must be Pinot Noir - it's a widely-grown grape in Australia, it's pale, and ages well. But then, my brain switched again, I know that Austalians are using a much wider variety of grapes than we normally think of, and there was something distinctly savoury about these wines, and that brown colour that made me think it could be something else... ooh... Nebbiolo?! I wrote that down. WRONG - they were Pinot Noir - Doh! I saids wines 5 & 6 were made in the same region: wrong again! Wines 6 & 7 were.
Flight 3:
These wines showed characteristics of jammy fruit, blackcurrants, and vanilla. Where they differed to each other was Wine 8 had cooler climate sturcture (less jammy, higher tannins), Wine 9 was more Ribena-y and spicey and was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, Wine 10 had a brick colour to the edges, Wine 11 was cherries, chocolate, and a bitter finish, Wine 12 had a tar aroma. So the debate was Shiraz versus Cabernet Sauvignon. Now, none of the wines had the characteristic Eucalyptus found in Aussie Cab Savs, so these wines were more typical of Shiraz. However, cherries, chocolate and a bitter finish (Wine 11) are atypical for Aussie Shiraz, as is the roughness of a tar aroma (Wine 12). So I wrote down Cab Sav. What I didn't think to consider was Wine 11 was not an Aussie Shiraz, it was from Chile; and Wine 12 was a £9 bottle of wine, which caught me out! In my blindness, I wrote that Wine 9 was the not-Australian wine, and because a) I had convinced myself these were Cabernets, and b) my other favoured region for wines is California, I wrote down Cali as the origin of the non-Aussie wine.
Stung on every question. I may have studied extensively and passed my WSET exams, but without practice you lose your touch. I intend to go back next month and try again, this time I hope to report better results! #practicemakesperfect
Thank you @Wine-Australia
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Monday, March 18, 2019
Monday, April 21, 2014
Hewitson Old Garden - Best wine ever?
I forgot just quite how amazing Hewitson's Old Garden is. We bought half a case from DVine Cellars and it has since almost doubled in price. I wish we'd bought a case. Or five.
Before you even taste it you can smell the complexity of the aromas and you know you're in for a treat. Then as you taste it, the flavours change over time. Last night I went through a journey starting with black fruits and chocolate, tobacco and eucalyptus. Then later I got notes of leather and buttered toast. Then it progressed to toffee and finally ginger biscuit. Delicious! The balance is perfect, it will age well, and its made from Mourvedre (aka Mataro).
It's such a treat, I highly recommend you get a bottle to try, even if it is just the once. If you can't justify the price, try the Baby Bush instead which is a cheaper version and also very good.
Before you even taste it you can smell the complexity of the aromas and you know you're in for a treat. Then as you taste it, the flavours change over time. Last night I went through a journey starting with black fruits and chocolate, tobacco and eucalyptus. Then later I got notes of leather and buttered toast. Then it progressed to toffee and finally ginger biscuit. Delicious! The balance is perfect, it will age well, and its made from Mourvedre (aka Mataro).
It's such a treat, I highly recommend you get a bottle to try, even if it is just the once. If you can't justify the price, try the Baby Bush instead which is a cheaper version and also very good.
No brainers for choosing new world wines
A friend of mine asked me "I've bought a Chilean Maipo Shiraz for £4 do you think it will be nice?".
NO!
To start with, you should never spend only £4 on a bottle of wine if you care about taste. Even if the supermarket says its RRP is £8, it is still only worth £4. My advice is to spend at least £7 on a bottle of wine. Think about all the factors that are involved in getting the wine to you, by the time money has been spent on bottling, shipping, marketing, distribution and taxes, there is little money left to pay the guy to actually make your wine. In a £5 bottle of wine, you are only getting about 20p of wine. For 20p how much is he going to care what actually goes into the bottle? See an earlier post on this here:
http://princessandthepinot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/why-pay-more-for-wine.html
Regardless of the price, a low cost shiraz from Chile is unlikely to be great. Chile is best known for its Merlot/ Carmenere, and well-known normally means they know what they are doing. For good value wines at low price points it makes sense to go for the varietals that are best known. Maipo specifically is actually better known for its Carmenere.
NB. Merlot and Carmenere are not the same grape, but many Merlot vines were planted later to be found some were Carmenere, but many producers still call their wine Merlot.
Also, Maipo is more of a gamble as a region in Chile as it is a flat valley and has some good sites and some less good sites. It would therefore be more reliable to choose a Chilean wine from a region that produces more consistently good wines, such as Colchagua or Casablanca.
It is also worthy to note, the more specific the region is on the label, the more likely it is to be better wine, e.g. Wine of Chile < Central Valley < Maipo. So if you see a label with "Wine of [country]" you should keep looking. Another one to watch out for is "Wine of South Eastern Australia" this is a cover-all label to say any grapes from anywhere could have been used, and it would be better to find "South Australia" or better still "Barossa".
New World is easy to find good value wines at £7-8 (except USA), so here are my no-brainers for the new world. If you find these in your price range, buy without worry:
Chile Merlot / Carmenere (specifically from Rapel / Cachapoal / Colchagua)
Chile Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay (specifically from Casablanca)
Argentina Malbec (from Mendoza)
South Africa Pinotage
South Africa Chenin Blanc
Uruguay Tannat
Australia Shiraz (from South Australia / Barossa)
Australia Cabernet Sauvignon (from Coonawarra)
Australia Riesling (from Clare Valley or Eden Valley)
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (from Marlborough)
There are better wines than listed above, but these will provide options at cheaper price points. I haven't included wines from USA, because they tend to export very basic wines and very good wines, so if you're looking for a good value wine at a low price point I would avoid USA. Although I will mention my very favourite wine at the moment is Ramey Russian River chardonnay, but at around £30, it doesn't get near this list. If you want something close to it, you could try a Californian chardonnay from Monterey or Santa Barbara.
Make a comment on this post if you would like me to write a blog on no-brainers for the old world, and remember to include your @handle if you want me to let you know when its up.
Hope this helps!
NO!
To start with, you should never spend only £4 on a bottle of wine if you care about taste. Even if the supermarket says its RRP is £8, it is still only worth £4. My advice is to spend at least £7 on a bottle of wine. Think about all the factors that are involved in getting the wine to you, by the time money has been spent on bottling, shipping, marketing, distribution and taxes, there is little money left to pay the guy to actually make your wine. In a £5 bottle of wine, you are only getting about 20p of wine. For 20p how much is he going to care what actually goes into the bottle? See an earlier post on this here:
http://princessandthepinot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/why-pay-more-for-wine.html
Regardless of the price, a low cost shiraz from Chile is unlikely to be great. Chile is best known for its Merlot/ Carmenere, and well-known normally means they know what they are doing. For good value wines at low price points it makes sense to go for the varietals that are best known. Maipo specifically is actually better known for its Carmenere.
NB. Merlot and Carmenere are not the same grape, but many Merlot vines were planted later to be found some were Carmenere, but many producers still call their wine Merlot.
Also, Maipo is more of a gamble as a region in Chile as it is a flat valley and has some good sites and some less good sites. It would therefore be more reliable to choose a Chilean wine from a region that produces more consistently good wines, such as Colchagua or Casablanca.
It is also worthy to note, the more specific the region is on the label, the more likely it is to be better wine, e.g. Wine of Chile < Central Valley < Maipo. So if you see a label with "Wine of [country]" you should keep looking. Another one to watch out for is "Wine of South Eastern Australia" this is a cover-all label to say any grapes from anywhere could have been used, and it would be better to find "South Australia" or better still "Barossa".
New World is easy to find good value wines at £7-8 (except USA), so here are my no-brainers for the new world. If you find these in your price range, buy without worry:
Chile Merlot / Carmenere (specifically from Rapel / Cachapoal / Colchagua)
Chile Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay (specifically from Casablanca)
Argentina Malbec (from Mendoza)
South Africa Pinotage
South Africa Chenin Blanc
Uruguay Tannat
Australia Shiraz (from South Australia / Barossa)
Australia Cabernet Sauvignon (from Coonawarra)
Australia Riesling (from Clare Valley or Eden Valley)
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (from Marlborough)
There are better wines than listed above, but these will provide options at cheaper price points. I haven't included wines from USA, because they tend to export very basic wines and very good wines, so if you're looking for a good value wine at a low price point I would avoid USA. Although I will mention my very favourite wine at the moment is Ramey Russian River chardonnay, but at around £30, it doesn't get near this list. If you want something close to it, you could try a Californian chardonnay from Monterey or Santa Barbara.
Make a comment on this post if you would like me to write a blog on no-brainers for the old world, and remember to include your @handle if you want me to let you know when its up.
Hope this helps!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
How to choose an Aussie red wine
The key to choosing and Aussie wine, and indeed many wines, is identifying location, location, location.
In Australia, there are eight main regions for red wines, two cool, two warm and four hot. You need to remember that each region will focus on the grape variety that grows best in the climate/ soil/ water conditions, but they may bottle other grape varieties too. The trick is to choose the region that is best for the grape:
Cool:
Yarra Valley - Pinot Noir
Mornington Peninsular - Pinot Noir
Moderate:
Margaret River - Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot
Coonawarra - Cabernet Sauvignon
Heathcote - Shiraz
Warm:
Hunter Valley - Shiraz
McLaren Vale - Shiraz
Barossa - Shiraz
So if you're looking for a more delicate wine, or a wine with low tannin, the red fruit in Pinot Noir from Yarra or Mornington might be to your taste. These wines can also be served slightly chilled if you're looking for a refreshing drink for warm summer evenings. You may even enjoy the Shiraz from Heathcote which should be more refined than a "normal" Shiraz due to the lower temperature.
However, Aussies are known for their BIG reds...
If you like something with complexity (a variety of flavours) and higher tannins, I'd say try one of the Cab Savs from Margaret River or Coonawarrra. One thing I love about Cab Sav from Australia that you don't get in the rest of the world is the flavour of eucalyptus, which gets picked up from the soil and air as the eucalyptus trees expel their oils. It makes these wines fantastic for anything that has red meat and mint/ rosemary/ thyme. The wine has high tannin which is good for steak and roast or grilled meat, and the eucalyptus matches the herbs. Top match for a roast lamb, lamb chops, or even Lebanese/ Greek kebabs.
My favourite Aussie red is a Shiraz. Yum. Big fat blackberries. Alcoholic Ribena. Telly wine. Easy drinking, no food required, warms you up and goes down a treat. Most should have a lovely spicy finish, peppery. I would always recommend a Shiraz from Barossa as a starting point, you can't go much wrong. If you're not a connoisseur then price will mostly make the difference of how long the flavour, and bottle, will last. It's a good idea to drink a Barossa Shiraz slowly as the warm climate tends to encourage a greater alcohol content. Boozy!
TIP: The longer-lasting the flavour of the wine, the longer it takes for the flavour to disappear, and the longer between sips. You/ I/ we tend to take sips more frequently with short-lasting wines.
If you are a connoisseur, then I recommend you move on from Barossa Shiraz and try Barossa Mourvedre, an element in GSM (something everyone should try), and very delicious in its own right. These wines go great with mushroom, veal, beef, pasta, BBQ, duck with cherry jus... or on its own.
You can really get carried away with Barossa wines, I certainly do, as I bought a case + 3 bottles of a wine that isn't available yet + a magnum that cost £100 at the Hewitson & Elderton wine dinner at DVine cellars a few weeks ago. http://www.dvinecellars.com/ so the best tip I can give you is that so long as the label says "Barossa" on it, it will be a good quality wine. If it says "South Eastern Australia" it won't be a bad quality wine per se, but it means the producer has taken grapes from all over Australia to make the blend. This ensures their wines have consistency, and therefore more reliable (once you find a wine like this you love, you can buy it over and over again, and that's what the big guns are aiming for), but it means they don't have to pay attention to the wine when they make it, and that's what's special. "Barossa" on the label might make the starting price higher, but you can stay low without risking quality.
TIP: If you like big Aussie reds, look out for "Barossa Shiraz" on the label.
My favourite Aussie red is Rockford Rod & Spur Cab Sav & Shiraz. Tip top wine. http://www.australianwinecentre.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Rockford.html
If you want to look for an easily identifiable brand, you can't go wrong with Wolf Blass Yellow Label. It doesn't say "Barossa" on the label but it does say "South Australia" and all the Shiraz vineyards I listed above are in South Australia, so its good enough.
In Australia, there are eight main regions for red wines, two cool, two warm and four hot. You need to remember that each region will focus on the grape variety that grows best in the climate/ soil/ water conditions, but they may bottle other grape varieties too. The trick is to choose the region that is best for the grape:
Cool:
Yarra Valley - Pinot Noir
Mornington Peninsular - Pinot Noir
Moderate:
Margaret River - Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot
Coonawarra - Cabernet Sauvignon
Heathcote - Shiraz
Warm:
Hunter Valley - Shiraz
McLaren Vale - Shiraz
Barossa - Shiraz
So if you're looking for a more delicate wine, or a wine with low tannin, the red fruit in Pinot Noir from Yarra or Mornington might be to your taste. These wines can also be served slightly chilled if you're looking for a refreshing drink for warm summer evenings. You may even enjoy the Shiraz from Heathcote which should be more refined than a "normal" Shiraz due to the lower temperature.
However, Aussies are known for their BIG reds...
If you like something with complexity (a variety of flavours) and higher tannins, I'd say try one of the Cab Savs from Margaret River or Coonawarrra. One thing I love about Cab Sav from Australia that you don't get in the rest of the world is the flavour of eucalyptus, which gets picked up from the soil and air as the eucalyptus trees expel their oils. It makes these wines fantastic for anything that has red meat and mint/ rosemary/ thyme. The wine has high tannin which is good for steak and roast or grilled meat, and the eucalyptus matches the herbs. Top match for a roast lamb, lamb chops, or even Lebanese/ Greek kebabs.
My favourite Aussie red is a Shiraz. Yum. Big fat blackberries. Alcoholic Ribena. Telly wine. Easy drinking, no food required, warms you up and goes down a treat. Most should have a lovely spicy finish, peppery. I would always recommend a Shiraz from Barossa as a starting point, you can't go much wrong. If you're not a connoisseur then price will mostly make the difference of how long the flavour, and bottle, will last. It's a good idea to drink a Barossa Shiraz slowly as the warm climate tends to encourage a greater alcohol content. Boozy!
TIP: The longer-lasting the flavour of the wine, the longer it takes for the flavour to disappear, and the longer between sips. You/ I/ we tend to take sips more frequently with short-lasting wines.
If you are a connoisseur, then I recommend you move on from Barossa Shiraz and try Barossa Mourvedre, an element in GSM (something everyone should try), and very delicious in its own right. These wines go great with mushroom, veal, beef, pasta, BBQ, duck with cherry jus... or on its own.
You can really get carried away with Barossa wines, I certainly do, as I bought a case + 3 bottles of a wine that isn't available yet + a magnum that cost £100 at the Hewitson & Elderton wine dinner at DVine cellars a few weeks ago. http://www.dvinecellars.com/ so the best tip I can give you is that so long as the label says "Barossa" on it, it will be a good quality wine. If it says "South Eastern Australia" it won't be a bad quality wine per se, but it means the producer has taken grapes from all over Australia to make the blend. This ensures their wines have consistency, and therefore more reliable (once you find a wine like this you love, you can buy it over and over again, and that's what the big guns are aiming for), but it means they don't have to pay attention to the wine when they make it, and that's what's special. "Barossa" on the label might make the starting price higher, but you can stay low without risking quality.
TIP: If you like big Aussie reds, look out for "Barossa Shiraz" on the label.
My favourite Aussie red is Rockford Rod & Spur Cab Sav & Shiraz. Tip top wine. http://www.australianwinecentre.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Rockford.html
If you want to look for an easily identifiable brand, you can't go wrong with Wolf Blass Yellow Label. It doesn't say "Barossa" on the label but it does say "South Australia" and all the Shiraz vineyards I listed above are in South Australia, so its good enough.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Challenger Wine #5
Brown Brothers Special Late Harvest Orange Muscat & Flora, Victoria Australia, 2010
I'm not really sure why Badger risked a dessert wine - I don't tend to like them, not unless they're special, which normally demand high prices, a marmaladey Tokaji (pronounced Tokai) a recent favourite. But risk it he did.
Its a very fragrant wine, orangey, like summer in a citrus orchard, the colour of hot bright daylight. The aroma is outstanding, possibly the best thing about this wine. It has a slight spritz which makes it quite refreshing, and could possibly even be drunk as an aperitif. I taste orange, tropical fruits,with unfermented sugars hinting at Opal Fruits (Starburst). The flavours seem artificial almost, reminding me of a juice drink, so this would probably be a good wine for those of you who are less keen on dessert wines. Although I think you'd be better off saving yourself for a very good dessert wine.
We agree on the quality, a 3, its a "good" wine. Badger loves it, attempting to give it a 5, and I can barely finish the glass so stretch to give it a 2. We have to agree on a score for this challenge, so I give in and allow a 4 for likeability, because perhaps for sweet wine drinkers its enjoyable.
7/10 - begrudgingly. Next time I'll fight my corner. If I was more experienced in stickies I might have fought harder this time. Actually, looking at the label, the fact they have said "Victoria" and not a specific region, this should probably be classed as "acceptable" for quality. I'm re-scoring it with a sneaky 6/10.
I'm not really sure why Badger risked a dessert wine - I don't tend to like them, not unless they're special, which normally demand high prices, a marmaladey Tokaji (pronounced Tokai) a recent favourite. But risk it he did.
Its a very fragrant wine, orangey, like summer in a citrus orchard, the colour of hot bright daylight. The aroma is outstanding, possibly the best thing about this wine. It has a slight spritz which makes it quite refreshing, and could possibly even be drunk as an aperitif. I taste orange, tropical fruits,with unfermented sugars hinting at Opal Fruits (Starburst). The flavours seem artificial almost, reminding me of a juice drink, so this would probably be a good wine for those of you who are less keen on dessert wines. Although I think you'd be better off saving yourself for a very good dessert wine.
We agree on the quality, a 3, its a "good" wine. Badger loves it, attempting to give it a 5, and I can barely finish the glass so stretch to give it a 2. We have to agree on a score for this challenge, so I give in and allow a 4 for likeability, because perhaps for sweet wine drinkers its enjoyable.
7/10 - begrudgingly. Next time I'll fight my corner. If I was more experienced in stickies I might have fought harder this time. Actually, looking at the label, the fact they have said "Victoria" and not a specific region, this should probably be classed as "acceptable" for quality. I'm re-scoring it with a sneaky 6/10.
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