Adventures in wine

Introduction 

This page of the blog has been a long time fermenting, in my head, for 67 days and 3,000km, to be precise. I am not sure how to go about this, but one has to start somewhere. This is the place where we (using the Royal we) rave and rage about the multitude of wine consumption en route, the cellar door visits, the wine tastings, the browsing through bottle shops and the random rendez-vous with the vinous love, the people who make it and drink it (or both). This is NOT the place where we lecture or judge. This is just some personal wine story telling, for our own records and because we love to share. 

Given my literary limitations in mastering the English language, both written and spoken, please forgive me if it sometimes sounds a bit like 'swinglish' - which is not the word for English when intoxicated, but English with a touch of Swiss German. But my better half (including a better palate) will make sure that I keep things in check. 

The post on day 4, "First adventure on the wine route" shared some insights on the idea of adding a (not so serious) Australian wine element to our Coddiwomple adventure. Since then many glasses, well, to be fair, bottles, have been had and enjoyed. And undoubtedly there are many more to come. Not all of them could be considered a 'wine adventure' but some drops certainly took us out of the comfort zone. And if you include Eric's house blend (please see post day 16), then there definitely was adventure.

So here we go, grab a glass of something delicious, swirl, sniff and slurp to your hearts content.

December 2021 - A special bottle to mark the end and new beginnings

We all have that one bottle (or two) that we keep saving for a special occasion. And often, the special occasions come and go, and you are pleased to notice that that special bottle survived another anniversary, Christmas lunch, grand final win. But when that special bottle meets that special moment, then magic (or in the case of Scott Morrison, a miracle) can happen. On the eve of our departure from our community and the Clare Valley, we booked a table for two in one of our favourite restaurants in Clare (Seed), a place where they know a hell lot about wine and a place where they know us well enough that it is okay, to bring our own bottle on this special occasion. The bottle is a 1979 Cabernet Malbec Shiraz from A.P. Birks Wendouree Cellars. This bottle was gifted to us, by Tony and Lita, during our very first meet and greet at the winery back in 2014. I recall the moment so clearly and I still struggle to breathe normally thinking about the enormity of the gesture back then. And then of course, 1979 is Louise's year of birth. 

Magic moment.

Is it possibly the best bottle of wine I ever tasted? I say yes, but... wait, I hear some of you say "but you are bias", and yes, of course I am, but in that special moment, it was! Memories of 10 years living in the Clare Valley came flooding in and waves of excitement about the unknown ahead crashed down on us. The laughs, the tears, the work, the friends, the life - we could taste it all in the glass in front of us. Plus the sheer joy in young Stacey's eyes, when she managed to pull out the 42 year old cork with grace and unharmed. The wine was magnificent and so was the moment around it.

And so we were off to a pretty good start to the wine adventures in the year ahead. 


June 2022 - More Merlot in Queensland (Hughenden)

It can't be denied that a label design often plays a role in the selection process, especially when one is limited for choice and the small bottle shop set-up, often adjacent to the local hotel, leave you thirsty for more options. This demands a bit of outside the box thinking when chosing a drop. Sometimes you go by color, sometimes by name, sometimes by price and when following those guidelines, it often seems to lead to Merlot. A variety so often forgotten and ignored, sometimes for good reasons, but it can be a jolly good companion for a night in a cabin in a caravan park that requires a little stimulation for the senses. It is an uncomplicated variety, can be enjoyed in plastic cups without doing much harm and you don't have to feel guilty filling the glass to the rim. No swirling and sniffing required. It should be called "Morelot" because it's just a bit more giving, especially on the alcohol side of things. And quite often it's great value for money. So we had a jolly good time with this wine and it matched with Louise's cabin cooked bolognese perfectly. It's funny, if I had to allocate a red wine variety to each state or territory of Australia, I think Merlot and Queensland would be a happy pairing. And if nobody is watching, you could also throw an ice cube into the cup and stretch the quaffing good time a little further. 


Comments

  1. JulietteJune 24, 2022 at 2:30 PM

    I am looking forward to when you are appointed as senior wine writer for the Gourmet Traveller magazine.

    ReplyDelete

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