2008 R Wines Southern Belle Shiraz

Whiskey with a splash of water, is just fine, whiskey and Shiraz?, well that’s a bit different. So, therefore, the Southern Belle Shiraz is different from every other wine reviewed on this site, first of all the Shiraz was partially aged for 18 months in American oak barrels that were previously used to age Pappy Van Winkle Kentucky Bourbon and secondly the alcohol content is 17.6% (that’s 35.2 proof for you whiskey folks). The wines importer, Dan Phillips, says “that it’s his sincerest hope that this wine offends every sommelier and Frenchman in the world.” The winemaker, Chris Ringland, makes fantastic wines and brings as much skill to the valued priced wines as he does to his more expensive efforts. Fruit forward, tasty wines, that have excellent balance and polish, if anyone can tame the over the top Bourbon barrels and the 17.6% alcohol, it’s Ringland.

The color is a beautiful almost black red with a blood red outer halo. Nice fresh black and blueberries at first and then the nose gets real interesting, leather, molasses, orange peel, petroleum jelly and vanilla. Wow, this is not your usual fruit bomb shiraz, dark fruit upfront and then coffee, toffee, black cherry cough drops, brown sugar, orange zest and oak spice. There are almost as many whiskey flavors as there is wine flavors. This is a rich, nuanced wine, even with the huge alcohol level and the bold whiskey barrel oak, there is a balance to the Southern Belle Shiraz, it feels more expensive than it actually is.

A very unique, must try wine. It may not be your go-to everyday wine, but this Southern Belle is an experience. It would really pair well with a full slab of ribs from your towns best BBQ pit.

2009 Layer Cake Shiraz

100% Shiraz from sourced from vineyards in a variety of McLaren Vale micro-climates in South Eastern, Australia. Layer Cake has been making highly rated value priced wines for the last 5 years. 50% of the Layer Cake Shiraz has been aged, for an unspecified amount of time, in new French oak barrels. The wine is unfined, that means unfiltered, there might be chunks of grape and yeast residue in the bottle. The alcohol content is 14.9%.

A very purple red in color. The nose is very intense blackberry, christmas spice, pencil shavings and cigar store, an impressive nose, I probably could have found more scents, but it was time to start drinking and quit sniffing. A very rich Shiraz, blueberry, tart cherry, dark chocolate, the mid-palate has plum and a healthy wallop of Shiraz spice. The finish is much lighter than the main body of the wine, dark fruit with a touch of spice, anti climatic after all the fireworks going off before.

A big, bold fruit driven Shiraz. You can pair this with beef and pork dishes, but to me this is a wine to be drunk on it’s own, it would be a good choice by the glass or the bottle, if you find it on the wine list at your favorite Watering Hole

2007 Luchador Shiraz $13

100% Shiraz from grapes grown in the Barossa Valley (85%) and Langhorne Creek (15%) regions of Australia. 60% of the juice is aged in 2nd and 3rd use American oak, the rest is aged in stainless steel vats, so you will get some vanilla and spice from the oak, but not much in the way of aging properties. Parker rated the Luchador Shiraz at 90 pts, the 2006 vintage received a 92 pt. rating, I don’t know how much of the 2006 is available, but it might be worth seeking out. The alcohol content is 14.5%, which is downright tame for an Australian Shiraz.

Black cherry red in color with a strawberry halo. The nose is blueberry preserves, vanilla and some grassy notes in the background. The flavors burst out of the glass, rich blackberry, blueberry, plum and black Twizzlers, vanilla and oak spice on the mid-palate. Smooth almost sweet tannins and a lengthy vanilla Coke finish.

With a masked Mexican grappler on the label, you wouldn’t expect a well balanced, expertly crafted wine. Delicious with gobs of fresh fruit, but well structured, the Luchador would go well with a nice juicy steak and even better with some first class BBQ.

2008 Darby And Joan Chardonnay $10

Sourced from vineyards in the Riverland, Barossa Valley and Mclaren Vale regions of South Australia. Very small amounts of Riesling, Semillon and Verdelho were added to the Chardonnay, mainly to improve the acidity. The wine undergoes very little manipulation by the wine makers, wild fermentation, no malolactic fermentation, about 15% of the wine sees some aging in French oak barrels, the remainder is “on lees” for one year. The Darby and Joan Chardonnay was intended to be made as simply as possible, to showcase the Chardonnay grapes and not the winemakers bag of tricks.

Pale straw yellow in color. The nose is light melon, pear, a touch of vanilla and a hint of flowers, all very subtle. The flavor is velvety white peach and pear, a touch of acidity in the back of the palate, and then a decent light pear finish. The various textures and tastes are all well integrated, no one component leaps out.

An every day white wine, that can double as a food wine. Subtle and balanced, should drink well throuugh 2015.

2009 Diddley Bow Riesling $19

The grapes are sourced from the Frankland River Region (south of Perth) of Western Australia. Part of the Southern Gothic Series of wines by R Winery and Chris Ringland. 90 points Robert Parker.

The color is a crystal clear straw yellow. The nose is fresh lemons and flower garden, a beautiful and refreshing aroma. The flavor is not too tart grapefruit, lemon, some minerality, then a bit of sweetness in the mid palate with a burst of tangerine. The acidity and the sugar are very well balanced. The finish is a long lasting lemon/ lime.

A very delicious Riesling, not sweet and not too acidic, it has very clean, fresh flavors. The Diddley Bow Riesling has wonderful balance, it is very much a food wine. Enjoy it at an up-scale Asian joint.

Could Be Because Good Wine Has Gotten Cheaper, While Good Beer Costs More

Australians ‘don’t give a XXXX’ as they abandon beer for wine

Beer consumption in Australia has dropped to a 60-year-low as the younger generation abandons the “amber nectar” in favour of wine.

By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney

Think of Australia and the immediate associations are beaches, kangaroos and, of course, beer.

The legendary love for lager Down Under has been perpetuated by cultural exports including Barry “Bazza” McKenzie and Paul “Crocodile Dundee” Hogan and reinforced by memorable marketing campaigns including the Castlemaine XXXX adverts featuring the tag-line: “Australians wouldn’t give a XXXX for anything else.”

But according to new statistics, the worship of the “amber nectar” has gone flat, as beer consumption has dipped to its lowest level in 60 years.

The party-loving nation has not gone teetotal, however. Instead, the younger generation has developed a more refined palate, swapping cans of lager for bottles of wine.

Australians drank 11.3 pints of lager per person in 1979, but last year consumption sank to just 7.9 pints, the lowest amount since the 1950s.

In contrast, wine consumption quadrupled between 1960 and 2000, and has maintained a steady increase of about four per cent per year since, according to the Wine and Brandy Corporation.

In 2009, for every four units of wine available, there were five of beer, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

If growth rates continue as predicted, it is just a matter of time before wine overtakes beer as the country’s favourite tipple.

Experts attribute the changes to the broader availability of wine and increasing sophistication in the palates of Australia’s drinkers.

“There has been an ongoing shift towards wine and away from beer consumption over the past 20 years,” said Prof Steve Allsop, the director of the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University.

“We have gone from being a beer drinking nation to a nation that now enjoys drinking quality wine.” The increase in wine drinking showed that the palate of Australians had evolved beyond beer, he said.

“Yes, there are people who stand in the pub having a yarn and drinking beer, but a lot of people in Australia now consume alcohol in different ways, over food or out with friends.”

He also attributed the shift to wider availability of higher-quality wine. “Twenty years ago you couldn’t go into a pub and ask for a glass of wine and not expect to get something horrible out of a cask.” Wine availability and consumption has risen across all parts of Australian society.

In cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, professionals regularly indulge in glasses of shiraz or sauvignon blanc after work. But there has also been significant growth in wine consumption among poor rural communities, after changes to tax legislation made cask wine cheaper than tap beer.

Many experts and drinkers have hailed the diversification of the Australian palate as a positive development. But others are doing their best to reverse the trend.

Stephen McCaughey, from Melbourne, estimated he drank about 15 pots — about 10 pints, five to six days a week.

“Mate, I’m doing my bit,” he told the Herald Sun.

taken from telegraphuk.co.uk

2006 Yangarra Cadenzia GSM $16

A single vineyard, Estate grown GSM (Grenache 68%,Shiraz 27% and Mourvedre 5%). Yangarra is located in the McLaren Vale Region of Australia. The Cadenzia is aged in oak for 18 months, the Shiraz in new French oak, the Grenache and Mourvedre in used barrels or neutral oak. Alcohol content is 15% .

A deep dark clear see thru burgundy red. The nose is black cherry, menthol and milk chocolate. Big lush fruit, bold flavors, blackberry, rich dark chocolate, tart cherry. Really terrific mouth feel, the flavors burst into your mouth. Good soft balanced tannins, you know they are there, but they don’t intrude into the luscious fruit. A long fruit driven finish.

This is a sexy wine, bold, curvaceous and challenging, yet firm and muscular. Drink it with a meal you love or with a person you love or better yet, both.

P.S. interchange love and lust, if needed

2008 Cycle Buff Beauty Malbec/Shiraz $14

80% Malbec and 20% Shiraz, sourced from the Claire Valley in South Australia. 14 months in French oak Barrels (mostly 2nd and 3rd fill). The label is 1960’s biker movie meets a Russ Meyer flick – not your everyday wine label, but then again this is an Australian wine and weird is normal.

The Cycle Buff Beauty has aging potential, the winemaker suggests drinking it within the next 8 years. In checking for information on this wine, I found that the % of the blend changes, some bottles are 85% Malbec and others are 80%, so this will probably taste different depending on the blend.

The color is Thanksgiving cranberry sauce red. The nose is dark red fruit, raspberries, black cherry, along with blackberry and plums, but not fresh fruit, more like cooked fruit stew. Velvety mouth feel. Big fruit upfront, blueberry, some cherry and strawberry and  french vanilla, then the oak and tannins kick in, along with a healthy dose of spice. The finish is spicy vanilla creme.

Young, big and fruity, but it has structure. Drinks nicely now, but give it a couple of years and it should really hit its peak.

2008 Bong Bong Red Shiraz $8

An  Australian Shiraz, the grapes are sourced from vineyards all over the South Eastern Region (south of Sydney) . With the state of the wine glut that’s hitting Australia, they should have their pick of some pretty good juice. The name Bong Bong is supposed to mean “meeting of the waters”, but it sounds more like a chant I used to hear in college.

The color is liquid strawberry jelly. The nose is red fruit, Junior Mints, a little bit of earthy, grassy notes. Nice velvety mouth feel. The flavor is fresh blueberry and blackberry with just a light touch of spice. The fruit falls away and the spice with a touch of cola continues to the finish.

Good tasting, unpretentious back porch wine. Would pair really well with BBQ or just about anything cooked on the grill.

Checking out a new wine bar with Rusden’s Dennis Canute

Checked out a new wine bar in Barrington Illinois, an affluent suburb 32 miles northwest of the Windy City that was really hurting for something to do at night.

Park Avenue Wine Bar is an awesome setting to meet up with friends, chill and enjoy some wine from their list of 70 wines by the bottle (or 25 by the glass). This place is a sophisticated, friendly and comfortable hang, and I’ll definitely be back.

Anyway, it was packed on a Tuesday night due to a wine tasting event held there by Rusden Wines out of Tanunda, Barossa Valley Australia.

I spoke with Dennis Canute, the friendly owner who seemed to lighten right up when asked some questions about his wines that showed a real appreciation of what I was drinking. I expect that he had been putting up with the typical wine tasting douchebags shoving glasses in his face, wanting him to shut up and pour and not knowing what they’re drinking (or even caring). His is a small production, family-run winery (his son makes the wine, his wife runs the front office and his daughter-in-law designs the labels) that makes a Chenin Blanc that never sees the states. He was pouring:

• 2006 Driftsand, a 60% Grenache 40% Shiraz blend that got 92 points and sells here for about $27.
• 2006 Ripper Creek, a 60% Cabernet Sauvignon 40% Shiraz blend that got 90 points and sells here for about $35.
• 2006 Christine’s Vineyard Grenache, a 100% Grenache that got 91 points and sells here for roughly $50 (this one was one of my faves).
• 2005 Full Circle Mataro, a 100% Mataro (that’s the Mourvedre or Monastrell grape) that got 93 points and sells for roughly $60 here.
• 2005 Boundaries Cabernet Sauvignon that totally reminded me of a spicy Bloody Mary and sells here for $65.
• 2005 Crookshed Zinfandel that got 93 points and sells here for $84.
• 2005 Black Guts Shiraz. Love the name, and definitely my fave of the night! It got 97 points and sells here for $110. Dennis said that if you drink enough of it, it’ll turn your guts black, thus the name! And from the way everyone’s teeth look after an extensive wine tasting, I believe him.

Now none of these wines qualify to be written up on this site (we try to stick to an under $20 price point), but they certainly qualify to be enjoyed again by the likes of me.

Thanks Dennis – keep up the good work, and hope to see you at the Wine Cellar in Palatine, Illinois next year. Also thanks to the Park Avenue Wine Bar in Barrington, Illinois for giving me the opportunity to be introduced to a world-class wine guy right in my own back yard.

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