Tag: Shiraz

Wine Week: The Four Best Wines in Australia

Posted by GoGoKitty: Big Steve on November 30, 2009

To mark our milestone 100th episode we thought we would have a special episode where we look at the four best wines in Australia. To narrow it down a little we decided to break it up into four categories.

The first category is a white, and unusually for us the top wine is a chardonnay, and not a riesling. It’s a great drop from the Margaret River region and will be no shock to anyone being named Australia’s best white, especially given the current vintage.

Our next top wine is a cult wine, from a relatively new producer. It’s a big, powerful, red from a Barossa producer who has a legion of fans across the globe thanks to some great reviews from the top wine writers. But it’s not all about power with this red, as a splash of viognier adds subtlety and grace to the super old shiraz vines.

Of course no list of Australia’s top wines would be complete without our next wine. A true icon of Australian winemaking, the name is known across the world. People who don’t drink wine know this wine’s name and know it’s reputation as Australia’s finest drop. This red is ideal for cellaring for the long term, and is the wine that so many Australians have celebrated important milestones by opening.

To round things out we thought we would include a wine that is uniquely Australian. The fortified wines of the Rutherglen region are truly distinctive and recognised as singularly exceptional when at their best. Some producers from the region have stock of old wine dating back many generations. Our pick has dipped into some incredibly old wine to offer a blend that is exceptionally rare and worth every dollar of it’s high price tag.

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Wine Tasting: 2004 Marquis Philips Sarah’s Blend

Posted by GoGoKitty: Big Steve on June 24, 2009


If you love full blown, upfront, loud New World wines then this is for you! Don’t get me wrong as I equally love a backward, sensual old world wine too. Like blonds and brunettes I love them all. There are occasions that I lust over new world wines and there are other moments I yearn over the liquid poetry of old world classics. The Marquis Philips wine is a joint project between overly talented Sarah and Sparky Marquis and Yankee importer Dan Philips. Doesn’t that give you a hint that something BIG is coming along the way? The Sarah’s Blend is a Pseudo-Bordeaux style blend but very un-Bordeaux like due to its very ‘new world’ style and it’s 60+% Shiraz content! The nose was assertive with showy concentrated ripe black current cassis, black plum intermixed with sweet vanilla spicy wood. In fact, the resemblance of a British Maynard black wine gum on the nose is profound! The full body wine was fruity, juicy, upfront and had much weight sitting on my tongue. Eucalyptus, cola, black licorice and dark chocolate to follow. The tannin was sweet and supple and the acid too was well balanced. The finish was generous but the alcohol (at 15%) finally emerged with some hotness. This wine can age for 5+ years. At Cad$20 for a $50 quality wine - a steal. US Viewers- this is even cheaper at discount stores! (Rating 91-93 points) by Michael Lam of the Beverage Review.

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Why is Barossa Shiraz so Special?

Posted by GoGoKitty: Big Steve on June 14, 2009

The hallowed grounds of winemaking, The Barossa, is internationally renown for its great red wines and primarily its Shiraz. Shiraz from the Barossa is used in the production of Penfolds Grange, Australia’s most famous wine. Henschke Hill of Grace also uses Barossa Shiraz for their wine.

The Barossa is located north of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. The Barossa is made up of two different regions – the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley.

Stretching all the way from Williamstown in the South all the way up to Kapunda in the north, the Barossa Vally covers quite  a sizable area of land. The rainfall here can be up to 50% less than in Eden Valley however The Barossa has the advantage of more fertile red-brown soil.  Temperatures are generally about 2ºC warmer.

The geography for Eden Valley ranges from Truro in the north down to Mount Pleasant in the south. This region averages for 400 to 600 metres abouve sea level with the wine growing areas being situated in the higher sections of land. Soils are rocky and acidic and winter rainfall is plentiful, averaging 255mm more per annum than the Barossa Valley. Growing seasons in this region are longer due to the cooler temperatures.

A number of wine aficionados may be wondering what this all means, well to put it bluntly – great growing conditions!

There are about 550 growers in the Barossa, some of them sixth-generation Barossans.  When combined, the total growing area is over 8,000 hectares which yields around 55,000 tonnes of grapes each season.
A unique aspect about the Barossa is that it has managed to avoid phylloxera By avoiding phylloxera this has allowed growers to keep their root stocks and have some of the oldest vines in the world today.

Even though the Barossa represents about 5% of Australia’s national crush, the fruit produced is premium quality. The constant premium quality of wines produced in the Barossa makes them Australia’s most internationally influential regions with a large number of Barossa wines being categorized in the super-premium class.

Its easy to see why Barossa Shiraz is held in high regard amongst wine connoisseurs.

 

Follow the link for more information on Barossa Shiraz .

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Wine Tasting: 2004 Marquis Philips Shiraz from Australia

Posted by GoGoKitty: Big Steve on April 26, 2009

This wine from Sarah and Sparky Marquis is made from Shiraz. Wow! The nose…blackberry, black current, cola, toffee, black Maynard wine gum, sweet potpourri, violet, spicy wood and cream vanilla all emerged out. Forward and upfront, this powerful full bodied aromatic wine is packed with complexity that rivals the Sarah’s blend…this time it’s even fruitier with a hodgepodge of spices, black pepper, dark chocolate, black licorice and incense. The tannin is sweet but ripe. This is another full blown new world excitement especially especially accounting for the price. Viewers should make attention that Sarah & Sparky will not longer continue this project with USA importer Dan Philips after the 2005 vintage. Sob, sob, sob…hurry up — get the remaining stocks for Cad$20 for a $40-50 wine! Can age further for 3-5 years to gain complexity! (Rating 91-93+ points) by Michael Lam of the Beverage Review.

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Wine Tasting: 2004 Black Rock from South Africa

Posted by GoGoKitty: Big Steve on April 24, 2009


The Black Rock is a true Rhone blend consisting of 76% shiraz, 14% Carignan and 10% Grenache. The first impression from the nose is the wine is rustic…sweet ripe cherry fruit, cherry stone and cherry based cough cordial, earthy and with a hint of volatile alcohol. (*** Mistake on the video: Not sherry nose but Shiraz or Syrah nose ***) The wine when tasted offered more assertive waxy cherry stone character intermixed with dry wild flowers, wild berries, game, burnt earth, smoke and black pepper. This upfront, full body and reasonably complex wine still has a film of grippy tannin and is somewhat hot and spicy. The finish is quite long with a feel of hot peppery attack. This is a marriage of new world fruit and old world rusticity? A delight to drink with wild game or a lamb roast because of it’s slightly elevated acidity as well as spiciness. I am curious to see what the 2005 has to offer in comparison but this is this is definitely my first steal of 2007. (Rating 87-89 points) by Michael Lam of the Beverage Review.

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