Back in April 2011 I wrote my first published blog post/wine review for Gram Magazine. Fast forward 66 issues later and I’ve just handed in my last submission as they take the magazine in a different direction.
At this stage I’m not sure if I will keep up the monthly wine post. If anyone is actually interested to read more of the crap that comes out of my mouth about wine then let me know and perhaps I will. Otherwise I fear this ship has sailed.
SAVE OUR SOULS Sangiovese 2015
Yarra Valley, Vic
RRP $26
Friends and business partners, Jason Searle and Bill Downie, have long been producing wine under their Save Our Souls label. Only recently have they dappled in making a Sangiovese with fruit from the Yarra Valley. The recognisable cross on the label is differentiated from the rest with the use of flocking on the label, which achieves a texture of velvet under your fingertips where once it was smooth. Good for grip and excellent if you are in the mood for caressing a bottle.
This delicious wine pours with a warm garnet red in the glass and is defined by aromas of black cherry, violets, slate and cassia bark. This medium-bodied wine screams for cured meats or pizza, with a more savoury palate showing notes of black cherry liqueur to start with a fine tannin finish.
Stockists: Wine Republic, Fitzroy and Windsor, and poured at Fancy Hanks, CBD and The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy.
I was cleaning out the cellar at my old workplace a number of months ago and stumbled upon a gem – an old magazine article wrapped in plastic from The Age published April 13th 1982. The writer is David Dunstan and he recounts his experiences shopping in Melbourne wine stores. If only wine stores had cellars like this nowadays.
The first person to comment with the right answer gets a jolly good cyber pat on the back 🙂
BRASH HIGGINS ‘MRLO’ Merlot 2014
McLaren Vale, South Australia
RRP $37-40
I like that Brad Hickey, an American winemaker, made this Merlot. Why is that, do you ask? Back in 2004 there was an American film about wine called ‘Sideways’, that changed the opinion of many a wine drinker on Merlot when the protagonist angrily shouted, “If anybody orders Merlot I’m leaving! I am not drinking any [insert expletive] Merlot!” Such a statement was enough to dampen sales of Merlot around the United States. It was even felt here. Merlot became daggy to the industry and remained the humble comfort wine for those who chose not to care. So to have Mr Hickey make such a great example of the Merlot grape under his Brash Higgins label and subsequently tear down the daggy barrier sort of makes this come full circle. Merlot is back.
This example was not made just like any other wine. It was fermented in clay amphora vessels for six weeks, spent a little time in seasoned oak and had a wee 10% addition of Nero d’Avola to add acidity, tannin and some exoticness. The result is a wine with a hint of purple fruits but dominated by savoury characteristics such as black tea, marzipan and schist – a similar character that I have found in Brash Higgins’ other wines that were fermented in amphora. You will notice some smokiness to the finish and great balance with a restrained ripeness despite this being 14.5% alcohol.
Only 55 cases were made so keep an eye out for the Brash Higgins effect, which will turn old opinions on their heads.
Stockists: Harry & Frankie, Port Melbourne and The Town Mouse, Carlton
"'Just living is not enough,' said the butterfly. 'One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.'" - Hans Christian Andersen
La Donna del Vino 