Month: August 2014

Best’s Bin No.1 Shiraz

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Wine’s a wonderful thing. It tastes great, is full of mystery and romance, tells a fascinating story and evokes memories to treasure time and time again. Not your bog average wine which has no providence, the favourite of the chain store and bargain bin, but wines with a rich heritage, or back story. Best’s Bin No.1 Shiraz 2012 $25 from Great Western, Victoria. The Great Western region has long been a favourite of mine, so much so I indoctrinated Rachael into it’s seductive charms, and we got married there. Not at Best’s but down the road at Seppelt, outside Vine Lodge. Great Western and I go back a ways, from the obligatory speeding ticket outside Ararat (more cops per square mile than anywhere on earth!) on the way to the Great Western Cup, to drunken wine tours at Seppelt fancifully called “conferences”. Suffice to say, we got ourselves barred from most of the motels in Stawell and Ararat at one stage or another. The Great Western Cup is a ripper race day (Australia day weekend) on …

Point Leo Road Lagrein

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Have you every had a time when you put your foot right in it, without any way of retrieving the situation without looking like a dick? Well….this wine did just that! Point Leo Road Lagrein 2011 $28 @ Blairgowrie LG My mate down at Blairgowrie loves this wine, strongly recommended it, so I bought it. Better be good, Chris!? Never heard of the varietal before, Lagrein, which comes from northern Italy, and is a cousin of Pinot Noir and Shiraz amongst others. Point Leo Road winery is, surprisingly, on Point Leo Road…..Red Hill Sth! God’s own country, Mornington Peninsula! So far, so good. Trying new styles is always interesting, helps broaden your mind to the possibilities, and provides a nice change of wine scenery. There’s only so much Shiraz you can wash down with a roast leg of lamb! Roast lamb, open fire, bottle of red….perfect! Have I mentioned my hatred towards all reds 2011? No? My mantra to all who do, or don’t, listen…..never buy 2011 unless absolutely no alternative. It was a stinker …

Massey Wines

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Why do we pick the wine to buy that we do? Is it because we know and respect the brand? Or do we like the varietal, or vintage, or region? Or was it something recommended to us?! Price? The whopping big display smack bang in the front of the store! Choices are endless. Me, I just ask a mate to pick something for me, which is what Noel from Red, White & Amber Wine Merchants did. A choice between a fancy Italian number of unpronounceable name and origin, or a wine from Massey Wines in the McLaren Vale. The shallow character I am decided on the Aussie if for no other reason than the name of the wine, and the fact Noel raved on about how good it was! Massey Huey’s Patch 2008 Shiraz @ $35 from Red, White & Amber in Hawthorn. I have to admit I’d never heard of this wine before, never seen it anywhere, hadn’t read about it…nothing. Just another of the hundreds of wineries out there battling for recognition in …

Yarnbomb by Corrina Wright

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One of the joys of working in the wine industry is, ahem……..drinking wine! I have plenty of contacts, and good understanding of varietal/vintage/region/maker, a reasonable understanding of what is (and isn’t) a good drop………….and an expense account! So, how about I pick a wine each week, picked randomly by either myself or by recommendation from learned wine folk, and force myself to drink it (with Rachael, of course) and ruminate… Nothing over $40. Unless its impossible to say no! So, here goes… YARNBOMB by Corinne Wright 2012 McLaren Vale Shiraz $22 @ Dan Murphy’s What, not a Dromana Estate Pinot to start things off, you ask? Well I don’t want to come across as a complete tightarse, so just take it as given that it is a brilliant wine, and c’mon people..buy some! I know. Of all the retailers, I pick the biggest first. Still, they do have quite the selection, prices are keen….and we just happened to be passing when I developed a thirst. This wine is made exclusively for Dan’s, has a great …