June 21 marked a black day for the Wig and Pen, Canberra’s oldest brewpub. “We’re launching a huge dark fest, featuring 10 dark beers”, says brewer Frazer Brown.
The exotic line up of malty winter warmers comprises four existing Wig and Pen favourites and six new brews, including a Pact and Pen collaborative porter.
Black beers signify sweet, malty richness, strong roasted-grain flavours – reminiscent of coffee, caramel and chocolate – and often accompanied by an elevated, warming alcohol content.
The line up includes traditional porter and stout styles, ranging from a thunder-in-the-brain Russian Imperial Stout (8.9 per cent alcohol) to a gentle, milk-coffee and chocolate-like London Porter (5.9 per cent). More exotic creations are Elephunk, a fusion between brown ale and IPA, and Bricks and Porter, a smoky Belgian porter style.
The Wig will offer all 10 beers for the first few days of Dark Fest, then a rotating set of five in the following weeks.
Beer reviews
Brewcult Gingerbread Maniac 330ml (Derrimut, Victoria) $8 Keeping with today’s dark and warming theme, Brewcult offers something sweet, spicy and alcoholic (eight per cent). Cinnamon and vanilla join ginger in the brew, but ginger dominates the aroma and sweet, tangy palate. It finishes fresh and clean, with an aftertaste of dark chocolate and ginger.
Pact Beer Co Brickworks Brown Ale (Canberra) 330ml 6-pack $25 Pact’s new release could easily pass as a porter or stout with its deep brown-black colour and rich, warming aroma. The palate combines the chocolate- and coffee-bean-like flavours of roasted grain, cut with pleasantly tart and tangy hops, which give a fresh, clean dryness to the finish.
Estandon Heritage Cotes de Provence Rosé 2015 $20 The Cotes de Provence part of France’s vast Provence region, specialises in light, soft rosé, which accounts for the great majority of the area’s wine production. The blush-pink colour and delicate, fruity aroma conjure images of summer haze, soft colours, the aroma of wild herbs and simple, fresh Provencal food. The wine sits light, fresh, round and soft on the palate, with a refreshingly fruity-savoury dry finish. It’s a blend of the red varieties grenache, cinsault and syrah – with a splash of white vermentino. The wine’s blush comes from a very brief maceration on skins before the grapes are pressed.
Katnook Estate Founders Block Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 $17.95–$20 Katnook’s wine connection dates from Coonawarra’s first vintage, when industry founder, John Riddoch, processed his 1896 vintage in Katnook’s woolshed. Though now part of Spain’s Freixinet Group, Katnook wines continue to be made by Wayne Stehbens who had his first vintage there in 1979. Coonawarra’s second largest producer shows its class and versatility with this pure and solid expression of the regional cabernet style. It combines cassis- and black-olive-like varietal fruit flavours on a medium-bodied palate, but through with the variety’s assertive, firm tannins. It’s a roast lamb or steak wine for sure and very satisfying.
Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Victoria Shiraz 2013 $17–$20 The Rathbone family’s Mount Langi Ghiran makes delightfully, peppery, fine-boned shiraz in Victoria’s Grampians region. Wines include one of Australia’s most exciting cool-climate shirazes, The Langi ($110–$120) and Cliff Edge ($27–$32, a more affordable yet still excellent example of the regional style. Billi Billi, the lowest priced of Mount Langi’s red, combines shiraz from the Grampians, Swan Hill and Heathcote. It leans more to bright fruit flavours and spice than the peppery, savoury character of the more expensive wines. But it echoes the house style with its medium body and fine, drying tannins.
Gramp and Son St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – wine of the week Coonawarra and Barossa, South Australia $55 In the fickle world of corporate wine marketing, St Hugo began life in the 1980s as a Coonawarra cabernet under the Orlando banner. Early this century, it joined cellar mate Jacob’s Creek’s portfolio in a failed bid to add an upmarket layer to the budget brand. Now, a revenant St Hugo stands in its own right, albeit with a nod in subtext to Gramp and Sons, Orlando’s founders. The new release – a blend of Coonawarra cabernet and Barossa shiraz – hits the right balance between fleshy, earthy, soft shiraz and elegant, firm cabernet. It’s a completely satisfying, elegant red with long-term cellaring potential.
Penfolds Max’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, South Australia $35 Max’s cabernet continues the Penfolds tradition of multi-regional blending to achieve a particular wine style – in this instance a typically full, chewy cabernet that combines savoury richness with bright fruit and elegant structure. The bright blackcurrant-like varietal fruit and elegance probably comes from the cool-grown Limestone Coast components (Wrattonbully, Coonawarra and Padthaway) – with savour and chocolaty richness from warmer McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley. It’s a bright and fresh modern red, with distinctive Penfolds solidity.
Pikes The Assemblage Shiraz Mourvedre Grenache 2014 Polish Hill River, Clare Valley, South Australia $18–$23 From Clare’s cooler Polish Hill River sub-region, Pikes blend combines summer-berry-like fruit aromas with spice, and an underlying earthy, savoury character. The medium bodied palate reflects the aroma, giving richness without heaviness and finishing with soft, fine tannins. Winemaker Neil Pike writes, “The 2014 vintage was another really good year for shiraz-based reds in the Clare Valley”.
Ross Hill Pinnacle Series Pinot Gris 2014 Ross Hill Wallace Lane vineyard, Orange, NSW $30 It doesn’t get much higher or cooler in Orange than Ross Hill’s Wallace Lane vineyard at 1015 metres altitude. The cool site brings out the varietal character of pinot gris, and winemaker Phil Kerney captures it. He presses juice from whole bunches direct to tank for fermentation by ambient yeasts. The wine is pale and bright, with delicate pear-like varietal aroma and succulent, finely textured palate. Fresh acidity and a little bite of tannin give a clean, drying, savoury finish.
Red Knot Classified Shiraz 2014 Shingleback vineyards, McLaren Vale, South Australia $18.10–$19.95 Shingleback makes a couple of reds for Woolworths under the Red Knot label. “Classified” is a new product in the range, priced at about $6 a bottle above the standard McLaren Vale shiraz. Unlike the standard wine, “Classified” is all estate grown, selected for its greater flavour depth and body and all matured in oak barrels. The result is a very good McLaren Vale shiraz, offering medium-to-full body, rich, clean varietal flavour and solid tannin structure.
Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Riesling 2016 Jim Barry Lodge Hill vineyard, Clare Valley, South Australia $18.90–$22 Just four months after vintage the Barry family’s riesling’s in bottle and ready to drink. Bottling often mutes riesling, but this one wafts from the glass with exuberant floral and citrus aromas. The equally vivacious palate absolutely sings with the same floral and citrus varietal character. The sheer fruitiness takes the edge off the acidity, and makes for joyous, bone-dry drinking right now. But there’s flavour intensity, delicacy and texture here, too, and this points to good cellaring potential. It’s a wine to give drinking pleasure now in its youth and across the next decade as the flavours change with time.
Six Point Brewery Bengali (NY, USA) 355ml $4.80 Six Point Bengali appeals for it glowing golden colour, dense, white head and inviting citrusy, hoppy aroma. The syrupy rich, 6.5-per-cent-alcohol palate provides the body and malt sweetness to arm-wrestle the extraordinary thrust and bitterness of the hops which, in the end, win the struggle to give a powerful and bitter but fresh finish.
Fuller’s Past Masters 1910 Double Stout (London, UK) 500ml $12 Fuller’s claim to brew this dark and brooding 7.4-per-cent alcohol stout from a hand-written recipe of 1910. The palate combines intense roasted-malt flavours reminiscent of dark chocolate and espresso coffee. Malt sweetness offsets the espresso-like bitterness, derived from both the roasted grain and hops.
Sidewood Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2014 $20.90–$25 David Metcalf included Sidewood 2014 in a recent masked shiraz tasting, alongside wines from the Grampians, Victoria, and the Barossa Valley, South Australia. The deep, savoury character of the Grampians wine and the more powerful, chocolaty Barossa, contrasted with the buoyant, sweet-berry character of the Adelaide Hills shiraz. The wine’s juicy, sweet-fruited palate, and attractive spicy undercurrent, pointed to a cool ripening area. The inclusion of whole berries in the fermentation also contributed to the wine’s lovely, pure, fruitiness. It’s soft and delicious and will probably never drink better than it does now.
Calabria Family Wines Hilltops Tempranillo 2015 $15 Griffith-based Calabria Family Wines sources grapes for this wine from the cooler Hilltops region. The region’s depressed grape prices – reflected in established vineyards currently selling at land-only prices (or discounted further for the cost of removing vines) – no doubt partly account for the wine’s modest price. The quality, however, is good and the wine captures tempranillo’s varietal character. The blueberry-like aroma carries through to a fresh, fruity, medium-bodied palate, cut with the variety’s distinctive tannins, which give a savoury edge.
Yering Station Yarra Valley Village Chardonnay 2015 $19.20–$24 The Rathbone family’s Yering Station makes four chardonnays: Little Yering ($14.40–$18), Village ($19.20–$24), Yering Station ($32–$40) and Reserve ($96–$120). There’s a correlation between price and quality, but it’s not a linear relationship, and the lower priced wines offer many of the features found in the top ones. The just-released Village Chardonnay, for example, offers mouth-wateringly ripe varietal flavours, deeply meshed in the pleasing textures and flavour subtleties derived from fermentation and maturation in oak barrels, new and old. Wine club members can buy it for $19.20. But even at full retail price of $24 you get a real drinking thrill for your money.
Canberra, look out for a slew of new winter beers from our local breweries.
One of the beers is an election special from Pact Beer Co – it surely had to happen and it could only happen in Canberra. Brewer Kevin Hingston created this beer just for the election and called it the Double Dissolution Disillusion Double Bitter. Try saying that quickly 10 times after a few pints.
In a pun filled email, Hingston writes, “We put the Double Dissolution Disillusion Double Bitter down today. It’s an English style double bitter – a labor of love with a liberal amount of green hops.”
The best bit? “We are calling it a double bitter, but that’s just an empty election promise – it’s actually a normal strength one,” Hingston says.
The election beer isn’t the only thing that Pact is putting out this winter. It will join the Brickworks, an American brown ale style which is being relaunched for the Canberra winter.
And you can also look out for three intriguing new beers at microbrewery BentSpoke in Braddon. Ever-inventive master brewer Richard Watkins has tapped several extraordinary winter beers ready for BentSpoke’s second birthday which is being celebrated this month.
Who needs wine when you can enjoy Cluster 18, an 18 per cent alcohol sextuplet IPA. Or grab a balloon of the Descent 16 – a 16 per cent alcohol imperial stout. These are beers with a flourish.
But if you’d like something a little more comforting and traditionally wintry, don’t despair. For less adventurous palates, Watkins has created Hot Off the Press, a hot, mulled, spiced cider.
Mount Majura Graciano 2015, Touriga 2015 – wines of the week Mount Majura vineyard, Canberra District, ACT $29 Winemaker Frank van de Loo’s latest releases show the impact of Canberra’s changing climate. “We’re picking earlier every year”, writes van de Loo, “but it allows us to explore varieties that might previously have been too late-ripening for our climate”. These two Iberian Peninsula red varieties, planted in 2002 and 2005 respectively, were picked on 16 April, two weeks after shiraz. Each offers medium bodied drinking with a distinctive flavour. Graciano’s exotic berry, spice and brisk acid–tannin combo tastes like no other red. Touriga combines fresh berry and savoury characters with a silky texture and fine, firm, drying tannins.
Mount Majura Mondeuse 2015 Mount Majura vineyard, Canberra District, ACT $29 Like Mount Majura’s graciano and touriga reviewed today, Savoie variety mondeuse noire would once have been considered too late a ripener for Canberra’s climate. DNA analysis by Jose Vouillamoz in 2008 discovered mondeuse noire to be either a half-sibling or grandparent of shiraz – explaining why it is sometimes known as grosse syrah (shiraz). Mount Majura’s first release of the variety shows typically dark colour, though the palate is fresh and medium bodied, combining fresh fruit flavours with savouriness and soft but plentiful tannins.
Murrumbateman Winery Riesling 2015 Four Winds vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW $30 In a quiet reboot of one of Canberra’s oldest wineries, Bobbie Makin and Jennifer Lawrence refreshed the label, increased production, and began buying additional grapes from neighbouring vineyards – including Four Winds (source of this riesling). A winner of silver and three bronze medals, the wine offers floral- and citrus-like varietal aromas. Bracing, fresh acidity cuts through a comparatively full-flavoured and dry palate. Watch this winery.
Ross Hill Isabelle Cabernet Franc Merlot 2014 Ross Hill Griffin Road vineyard, Orange, NSW $25 In a blend based on the red wines of Bordeaux’s St Emillion sub-region, winemaker Phil Kerney combines the heady, floral aromas and flavours of cabernet franc and the earthier, fleshy, more tannic character of merlot. It’s an harmonious combination and immediately appealing because of all that perfume and seductive, fleshy fruitiness. Fine, drying tannins give gentle grip and a dry finish to a drink-now wine of considerable character.
Taylors Promised Land Shiraz 2015 Limestone Coast, South Australia $9–$15 Clare Valley based Taylors delivers outstanding value for money with their latest shiraz. At the time of writing it’s on special at retailers for $9 a bottle in case lots. For that price you get a deeply coloured, vibrantly youthful shiraz of mouth-filling, ripe, fleshy flavours and soft, easy tannins. The wine comes from Padthaway and other locations on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, which stretches from the Murray mouth down to Mount Gambier and east to the Victorian border.
Ad Hoc Straw Man Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 Margaret River, Western Australia $18–$21 Exuberant and fruity, Straw Man bounces across the palate with the unique passionfruit-like and herbaceous flavours of this Western Australia specialty. A little bit of oak fermentation and maturation fleshed out the palate, adding to its juicy, drink-now appeal. Winemaker Larry Cherubino writes, it “reminds me of dried straw and fresh cut grass”.
Ask a committee for a horse and you get a camel. But what happens when you ask a committee of brewers for a special beer?
The delicious answer is Saison a Trois, a one-off variant on the French farmhouse ale style. Released for the Australian International Beer Awards in May, it was brewed collaboratively by the winners of the small, medium and large brewery categories of last year’s competition.
Chris Willcock (4 Pines Brewing Co), Matt Houghton (Boatrocker Brewing Co) and Marcus Cox (Thunder Road Brewing Company) set to work on 29 February to create the dark, malty, 6.5-per-cent-alcohol ale.
Despite the dark colour and high alcohol content, it remains light and refreshing, with a very clean, fresh aftertaste. Though it was consumed at the AIBA dinner and following GABS festival, organisers might consider offering next year’s collaborative brew to a wider audience.
Beer reviews
Orkney Brewery Skull Splitter (Scotland) 330ml $7.50 Orkney’s “wee heavy” delivers the dessert-like richness of traditional, strong Scottish ale. Forget about hops and bitterness. This is all about rich, sweet malt flavours – including caramel- and –molasses-like characters – combined with a heady 8.5 per cent alcohol. It’s a delicious, harmonious, winter warmer – in fact, far from skull splitting.
Stone and Wood Stone Beer 2016 500ml $10 Each year Byron Bay’s Stone and Wood makes a stone beer by adding hot stones to the kettle. This intensifies malt flavours, partly through caramelisation caused by the heat. This year’s brew pours black as stout, with warming coffee- and chocolate-like aromas, sweet, malty palate and dry finish, with a pleasing espresso-like bitterness.
Pierre Peters Cuvee de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Brut NV Champagne $64–$80 Melbourne-based Prince Wine Store imports Pierre Peters’ impressive Champagne and offers it at $80, discounted occasionally to around $64. Few Champagnes at this price offer such stunning quality. Refined, delicate and utterly delicious – with the impressive structure that comes only from prolonged ageing on yeast lees – it’s an all-chardonnay blend from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. This is the heart of Champagne’s chardonnay territory, rated “grand cru”, the region’s highest ranking – and source of great Champagnes such as Krug Clos du Mesnil ($2400) and Salon S ($700). Prince operates stores in Melbourne’s South Melbourne and Essendon, and Zetland, Sydney and sells online at princewinestore.com.au.
Pikes Clare Valley Les Campaneros Shiraz Tempranillo 2014 $17–$20 Winemaker Neil Pike reckons Australia’s old workhorse, shiraz, and Spain’s tempranillo make good companions. Shiraz gives the blend traditional rich flavours and soft tannins, while tempranillo injects vibrant, fresh, ripe-berry character and savoury, drying tannins. Pike made the wine in a drink-now style – meaning lots of juicy, fruity flavours, tannins that give backbone and finish, but not hardness, and a modest alcohol content (for the warm Clare Valley) of 14 per cent.
Ross Hill Lily Orange District Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $20 The Orange region’s cool climate produces comparatively delicate, restrained sauvignon blanc, well removed from the market-leading styles from Marlborough, New Zealand. The Robson family’s new release gives a pure, light, refreshing view of the regional style, with herbal- and citrus-like varietal flavours, a delicate but juicy mid-palate, and zesty, dry finish. Winemaker Phil Kerney says it’s a 50:50 blend from two company vineyards at dramatically different altitudes: Griffin Road at 760 metres, and Wallace Lane at 1018 metres.
Viv Thomson made Bin 0 Claret in 1967 from shiraz vines planted by Henry Best in 1866. Generic labelling as ‘Claret’ was OK back then. So was the use of ‘Hermitage’ as a synonym for shiraz. The magnificent old red was a highlight of Best’s 150th anniversary tasting at Jimmy Watson’s bar, Melbourne, on 8 May 2016. My reviews of two Best’s wines today are based on that tasting. Photo: Chris Shanahan.
Best’s Great Western Foudre Riesling 2015 Best’s Concongella Vineyard, Great Western, Grampians, Victoria $35 In 2012 as Adam Wadewitz handed over winemaking to Justin Purser, a 2500-litre oak vat showed up in Best’s winery, to the surprise of owner Viv Thomson. As best they could, the winemakers scoured the new, woody flavour from the foudre before filling it with riesling juice for a spontaneous fermentation. The resulting wine put a smile on Thomson’s face, removing any trace of scepticism about the new vessel, and became the first of a new riesling style from Best’s historic Concongella vineyard. Skin contact, spontaneous fermentation, and the use of oak rather than stainless steel adds textural richness and subtle flavours to the riesling, which remains lemony, fresh and delicate. It’s a delicious drink, reminiscent of Alsace riesling in flavour and texture, albeit in a more delicate style.
Best’s Great Western PSV 141 Pinot Noir 2014 Best’s Concongella vineyard 1868 block, Great Western, Grampians, Victoria $150 In 1866, Henry Best bought Concongella, a Great Western property, and established vines from 1867. In 1920, seven years after Best’s death, William Thomson bought the business, which is today owned by fourth generation Viv Thomson and his wife Chris. Marking Best’s 150th anniversary in May, Thomson released four remarkable reds including two from a vineyard Best planted in 1868. Within that vineyard, lies a plot of gnarled old pinot meunier vines. And sprinkled among the meunier, are 141 pinot noir vines, believed to be the world’s oldest. Bunches from those vines were sealed and fermented in a vessel for three months before being pressed to barrel for maturation. The result is stunning and potentially long lived – a limpid pinot of great flavour concentration, combining fruit, savour and a firm, fine tannin backbone.
Clonakilla Viognier Nouveau 2016 Clonakilla V and L 2 Block, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW $25–$28 Clonakilla goes against the trend with its popular, fresh, easy drinking viognier – a variety given to heaviness on the palate and slow sales. Winemaker Tim Kirk says to keep Nouveau light and fresh he makes it as he does riesling – gently separating the juice from the skins, using a whole-bunch press and fermenting it cool in stainless steel tanks. The process keeps the wine fresh and bright and captures the variety’s distinctive ginger- and apricot-like flavours. The rich texture and grippy finish add to the wine’s distinctive character. It’s a style to drink fresh each vintage.
Ross Hill Maya and Max Chardonnay 2015 Orange, NSW $20 Oak barrels are in indispensable part of chardonnay making. But using oak barrels adds to the expense – not just in the cost of oak, but also in the extra labour required. Winemaker Phil Kerney builds a complex chardonnay and contains price by using a combination of oak barrels and stainless steel tanks. Maya and Max combines bright fresh, nectarine-like varietal flavour with smooth texture and a funky note from the barrel-fermented material.
Rymill The Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Coonawarra, South Australia $17–$23 From the Rymill family’s extensive Coonawarra holdings, winemaker Sandrine Gimon makes a range of cabernet styles, including the fresh, fruity, drink-now Dark Horse. The aroma and palate show great vitality in Coonawarra’s distinctive ripe, red-berry varietal style. The elegant palate appeals for its juicy, fresh fruit flavour, which is offset by fine, grippy cabernet tannins.
Ad Hoc Avant Gardening Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec 2014 Riversdale vineyard, Frankland River, Western Australia $17.95–$21 Though comparable in price, Larry Cherubino’s Avant Gardening heads down an entirely different path to Sandrine Gimon’s Rymill Dark Horse cabernet reviewed today. The wines share some of the bright, fresh, aromatic berry character of young cabernet. But there the similarities end. Gimon’s wine remains on the fresh, fruity path, while Cherubino’s goes to darker, grittier places. Malbec no doubt plays its part in Avant Gardening’s deeper colour and firmer tannins. But the different origins – South Australia’s Coonawarra versus the West’s Frankland River – also influence the wines.
