Vale India Pale Ale (IPA) 330ml 4-pack $14.99 The McLaren Vale Beer Company operates the Vale Inn Taphouse and Kitchen in McLaren Vale and a brewery at nearby Willunga. Their IPA tones down the style a little, but still delivers a big hit of resiny hops aromas and flavours, support by a full, round, rich … Continue reading Beer review — McLaren Vale Beer Company and Bootleg Brewery
In the past, Australian breweries have produced beer in PET plastic bottles, principally for safety at large-scale event – protecting people from liquor fuelled violence or simply keeping benign drunks out of harm’s way. Recently, however, Fluid Wholesalers, Sydney, introduced a plastic-packaged Belgian beer to the market, promoting its environmental as well as safety benefits. … Continue reading Belgians launch PET-packed beer in Australia
PHI Heathcote Syrah Grenache 2010 $35 About five years ago the De Bortoli and Shelmerdine families launched the PHI label, for wines made by Steve Webber (husband of Leanne De Bortoli) from fruit grown in Shelmerdine family vineyards. The original releases – chardonnay, sauvignon and pinot noir – came from the Lusatia Park Vineyard, Yarra … Continue reading Wine review — PHI, Mr Riggs and Yalumba
Whoosh! There goes 2011. What a year. Foster’s decided grape and grain didn’t mix; Constellation Brands USA sold the historic Leasingham winery to Clare winemaker, Tim Adams; Woolworths and Coles share of domestic wine sales hit 79 per cent; and winemakers across eastern Australia endured the coldest, wettest vintage in over a decade. Under these … Continue reading Whoosh! There goes 2011
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $19.80–$35 Wynns’ dark, crimson-rimmed favourite presents a distinctly Coonawarra side of cabernet, including black-olive and cassis-like flavours, bound up in sweet, spicy oak. It’s a buoyant, balanced cabernet – generous but elegant, with fine, firm tannins. It remains one of Australia’s best value, long-term cellaring wines. It’s … Continue reading Wine review — Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Cumulus Wines and Seppelt
We always want what we don’t have and value the scarcest things most of all. Australian winemakers value acidity – tasting berries anxiously as an ascendant sun pushes sugar levels ever higher as acid levels decline. In the Mosel, it’s the opposite. There the winemakers value sugar, something Australia produces in abundance. At 50 degrees … Continue reading Mosel with Heiko Fass and Ernie Loosen
Cumulus Wines Climbing Pinot Gris 2011 $18–$22 Orange, New South Wales The difficult, wet and cool 2011 vintage caused much devastation in vineyards across Australia. However, some white varieties, including pinot gris, seem to have benefited from the cool conditions – for example, in the recent local wine show, Mount Majura Vineyard won a gold … Continue reading Wine review — Cumulus Wines, Dopf au Moulin, Voyager Estate, Coolangatta Estate, Ingram Road and Barwang
Stanton and Killeen Classic Muscat $40 (500ml) Rutherglen, Victoria Every so often this classic wine passes our lips and we fall in love with it all over again. It’s produced from the variety muscat a-petit-grains-rouge and fortified with spirit shortly after fermentation begins. This leaves a strong, sweet red wine that takes on a magic … Continue reading Wine review — Barwang, Illuminati, Louee, Lubiana and Stanton and Killeen
Dog Trap Vineyard Canberra District Shiraz 2010 $12 Dr Dennis Hart bought the Dog Trap vineyard, then contracted to Hardys, on the outskirts of Yass in 2003. He makes a small quantity of cabernet sauvignon on site but sells much of the fruit to other makers and has part of his shiraz crop vinified at … Continue reading Wine review — Dog Trap Vineyard, Yangarra and Wynns
How did Jim Murphy thrive in Canberra’s competitive liquor retail environment over all those decades? He set up shop in the late seventies, just as the Trade Practices Act (aided in Canberra by liberalised licensing laws) precipitated a complete restructuring of wine production, distribution and retailing Australia wide. Yet Jim successfully stepped from the genteel … Continue reading Farewell Jim Murphy — Canberra’s tenacious retailer