June Picks - Wine and BeerMartin Field
Punters Corner Jimmy Watson Trophy release This week saw the release of the 2000 Jimmy Watson Trophy winner - the Punters Corner Coonawarra 'Spartacus' Reserve Shiraz 1999. There's not a lot of it about according to PC principal, David Muir, "Only 711 dozen. It retails at about $AU60.00." We tried some with scrambled eggs for breakfast at the Moonee Valley racecourse. Spartacus meanwhile, (a handy winner of various races, now retired to stud) gambolled (do horses gambol?) in the background. A glass-staining crimson-black, with a peppery inky nose. Full concentrated blackberry-like palate with pleasant integrated wood (American hogsheads and Russian barriques). Warm (14% alcohol) and lengthy finish. Cellar: to 2010. Rating: X X X X X Distributors: Prime Wines. Beer Academy Awards Last night a wheat beer, Schofferhofer Kristallweizen, from German brewery Binding-Braueri AG, was announced as Grand Champion Trophy winner at the Australian International Beer Awards. The competition, third largest in the world, attracted 490 entries from 79 breweries in 28 countries. Schofferhofer Kristallweizen, a wheat beer, is a light, clean and bone dry style - so dry in fact that it puckered this jaded palate. I much preferred the Champion Ale, Monteith's Saison Biere from New Zealand, a beautifully balanced brew, full in the mouth with a pleasing citric edge and a firm, bitter finish. Pity that Fosters doesn't enter its commercial beers in the competition - maybe the Awards committee should introduce a class for entries such as - commercial lager, minimum annual production three squillion litres. For list of winners see: Major Awards. Desert Island Wines The single most frequently asked question I get from wine students (plug: Jimmy Watson's Wine Courses) is "What is your favourite wine?" It's akin to that much discussed topic of which single CD, book, food, wine etc. one would choose to take in the event of being marooned on a desert island. Well, given that the sinking ship has a well-stocked cellar my first choice would be Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, any vintage. If ever a label was consistently true to high quality, to style, to varietal, and to typicity, this is it. Vinolinguistics Wine writer Tim White quoted himself recently in the Australian Financial Review: "Deep, deep nose, savoury, and molasses licorice scented, with fruitcake below - has roast, stocky demiglace too and old wood whiffiness." And he went on to say, with some humour, that he only writes about what he smells and tastes. Who could argue with that, or with Tim's descriptions of the sensations that glide across his palate? I suppose the ultimate taste test for the everyday wine drinker reading Tim's or, for that matter, my columns, is whether our subjective/objective descriptions are comprehensible and useful as a guide to buying or not buying wine. Wine stats Latest trend estimates on domestic sales of Australian wine from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show an increase of 6.9% in the year April 2000 to April 2001. For that period white wine sales increased by 4.8% and red and rosé sales by 12.1%. In the same year exports increased by 38.5%. Wine etiquette Astrid of Alphington asks about the feasibility of keeping wine in the freezer: "I've often wondered whether freezing wine is the solution to the problem of only needing a small amount of white wine occasionally for a risotto, sauce etc and not wanting to open a whole bottle or resort to chateau cardboard. When we were away for a weekend recently a friend left a bottle of sav blanc in the freezer overnight so we got the chance to test the theory. It smelt and tasted fine the next day, no obvious damage at all, although admittedly this wasn't long term deep freeze or anything. I also happened to catch an episode of Nigella Bites recently where she admitted to freezing wine for cooking. So...is it heresy, and if it is, what other options do you have when you need half a cup of wine for cooking?" Well Astrid, my advice is, freeze away. Your cooking wine will keep indefinitely in the freezer - ice cubes are a good size for portion control - put them into an airtight container when frozen. We do the same with lemon juice when we have an excess of lemons, and use the same trick with leftover tomato paste. And I guess freezing should also work good drinking wine. As an experiment the next time I open a bottle of Grange I'll freeze a glassful or two into ice cubes. After a few months I'll thaw it out and suss out the quality. PS. You're obviously an adventurous type - did you try any of Nigella's recipes? I wasn't game. Surfing the Vintnernet Humour: Chateau L'Ego Reuters: Australian wine to use DNA coding to fight theft BRW: Foster's takes loss on Wine Planet Harper's: More oxidised than corked Herald Sun: Ozzie wine boring? Wine Spectator: Australia's BRL Hardy forms $100 million joint venture with U.S. wine giant Guardian: Winegrowers fight to save their 'scrotum' Financial Times: Solution found for corked wine Chicago Tribune: Is that glass of wine giving you a headache? The Times: Powdered wine pills USA Today: Update on Burgundy wine scandal Australian Financial Review: De Bortoli in HIH loss Links Wines Beers and Spirits of the Net: Comprehensive list of world booze links Bookfinder: Book meta-searcher - especially good for rare and out of print wine and food books. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation: List of Australian Wine Regulations
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