“Ask not what your country can do with my grapes, but what my grapes can do for your country.” Err, sure thing, Berlusconi.
An essay submitted for the 2012 Lorenzo Galli Estate Wine Scholarship
By Krystina Menegazzo
WHY AND HOW ARE ITALIAN GRAPE VARIETIES IMPORTANT TO THE AUSTRALIAN WINE INDUSTRY? DISCUSS FOCUSING ON AT LEAST TWO VARIETIES.
Tags: Australia, Essay, Grape Varieties, Italian, Scholarship, Viticulture, Wine
MONTEVECCHIO Rosso 2011
Heathcote, Victoria
RRP $23.00
Tags: Hirsch, Montevecchio, Occhipinti, Review, Reviews, Wine, Wine Review, Wine Reviews
It happens to the best of us. You drink too much red wine and then are left with the problem of what to do with the remnants that have gone past their best after a week exposed to air. There are a few options to consider: Continue reading
Referring to the upper advertisement, not the lower, but don't take my advice...
An excerpt from ‘Sleeping and Waking‘ [December, 1934] in F.Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘On Booze‘ notebook.
My own experience with night pests was at a time of utter exhaustion – too much work undertaken, interlocking circumstances that made the work twice as arduous, illness within and around – the old story of troubles never coming singly. And ah, how I had planned that sleep that was to crown the end of the struggle – how I had looked forward to the relaxation into a bed soft as a cloud and permanent as a grave. An invitation to dine à deux with Greta Garbo would have left me indifferent.
But had there been such an invitation I would have done well to accept it, for instead I dined alone, or rather was dined upon by one solitary mosquito.
Tags: Louis Armstrong, Random, Story, Venting
An excerpt from the memory banks [2008] of La Donna del Vino
Precariously climbing barrels. Scene from Zorro's Romance.
QUARTIER by PORT PHILLIP ESTATE Arneis 2011
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
RRP $30.00
People tend to match wine with food and vice versa. It is an aspect of working with wine that I adore. Food AND wine? How could you not? However I also have an alternate matching battle going on in my head. Not only am I constantly thinking about food, but my mind has the habit of immediately wandering which song might suit the style, the flavours and the whole package of the wine before me. I’ll admit, it’s a bit strange.
Unashamedly, it turns out that my choice of Caribbean-style melody and dance seen in Kaoma’s 1989 version of ‘Lambada’ was the perfect accompaniment. This may seem non sequitur, considering that we are talking about the locally grown Italian white grape called Arneis, but allow me to explain as there is always a method to my madness.
Tags: Plan Pegau, Port Phillip Estate, Review, Reviews, Ulithorne, Wine, Wine Review, Wine Reviews
Recap: Elio is my grandfather, my Nonno. For someone who is known around his hometown as the man with a perpetual smile on his face, I can only hope to be as content as he is one day. These are simply the stories that he has recounted to me with a twinkle in his eye and that I hope to keep alive by writing them down.
To read ‘Chapter One – The Journey Over’ click here.
To read ‘Chapter Two – School & The Depression Era‘ click here.
Tags: Australia, Biography, Grandfather, Italy, Migration, Nonno, Story, Tale
It began with an array of memories that washed over my mind. Then there were the Steely Dan songs I heard aired on the radio. Then I was outside gardening and loving the feeling of dirt between my fingers.
All this developed into a deep longing. I recall the sensation as it was building: A palatable excitement…A nervous grin…An itch…
Penfolds Grange is unquestionably Australia’s most famous red wine and has reached celestial heights in terms of adoration and expectation. From its experimental inception in 1951 by winemaker Max Schubert, Grange has been lovingly crafted to shine as a uniquely Australian wine of longevity, power and class.
“Grange’s aesthetic quality and remarkable aging potential is the stuff of legends.”
Andrew Caillard MW
In line with the 20-year celebration of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, an event was arranged that could commemorate the significance of this anniversary. Two bottles each of Penfolds Grange 1971 and 1976 (tested by the clinic in 2011) were obtained from a close friend of the owner of my workplace. The extensive museum Italian wine list was pulled out for perusal. It was like being a kid in a candy store as eight other wines were chosen that hail from Italy which would sit alongside Australia’s most iconic wine. The wines selected are classified in the upper echelon of quality and come from the most respected producers. These include rare wines such as Ceretto Bricco Rocche Barolo Brunate 1990, Produttori del Barbaresco Montefico 1985, Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino Schiena d’Asino 1990, Tedeschi Amarone della Valpolicella ‘Monte Olmi’ 1991, Castello di Ama Chianti Classico 1997 and even the famous Toscana IGT wine Antinori’s Tignanello 1985 and Bolgheri’s inimitable Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia DOC 1987.
In total, the combined age of these wines is over 200 years. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one that I feel privileged to have been able to pour at. Below is a visual diary of the evening with small commentary made as to the condition of the wines.
La Donna del Vino savouring a glass of Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1971
Tags: Barolo, Event, Food, Grange, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2012, Penfolds, Sassicaia, Tasting, Tignanello, Wine
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