Maverick Twins Barossa Valley Shiraz 2006

Firstly apologises for the lack of posts recently, work commitments have meant that I haven’t had much time of late to do any writing, but I’m back now.

So, moving on.... Firstly, I wanted to talk about Maverick Twins Barossa Valley Shiraz 2006, which was featured in Oz Clarke’s top 10 wines to try in 2009.
Though it says Shiraz on the bottle, this only makes up 93% of the wine; with Cabernet Sauvignon making up the other seven.

The wine had a deep, opaque purple colour, with pronounced developing aromas of plums and dark cherries, with spicy aromas of black pepper and liquorice. All of these aromas came through on the palate giving the wine a wonderful depth of flavour. Combined with the juicy ripe tannins and good acidity, it blended to produce a beautifully balanced and complex wine.

Perfect for a dinner party, match it with a roast or lasagne as I did and you’ll look like the perfect host!

If you ever find this wine on the wine list, or on your local merchant’s shelf, then grab a bottle while you can. This is an absolutely stunning wine I would highly recommend, and I can see how it made it to Oz Clarke’s No3 red to drink!

A Nice Fruity Little Beaujolais

I decided to buy myself a bottle of Georges Dubœuf Fleurie 2007 the other night. I was after a smooth, fruity red, and this one did not disappoint!

Fleurie is one of the 10 crus in Beaujolais, the other nine being Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin á Vent, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly. These wines are all produced from the Gamay grape, with Moulin á Vent and Morgon being the most powerful and full bodied, which allows them to improve with bottle ageing. There is some oak used in the ageing of these wines, though usually in large vats rather than small casks.

The wine in question had a wonderful bright crimson colour, and delightfully youthful aromas of Cherries, Strawberries and Blackcurrant. On the palate you had the flavours of Blackcurrants and Strawberries with silky smooth tannins and a good level of acidity. Put all of these together, and you an excellent wine that is youthful, bursting with flavour and well balanced.

Recommendation; a highly enjoyable light, fruity red which, if that’s what you are after then you can’t go wrong with this.

Peller Estates Ice Wine Oak Aged Vidal 2004

Earlier in the year I got the opportunity to taste the marvels of Canadian Ice Wine, namely those from the Inniskillin winery. This had been the full extent of my knowledge regarding these desert wines. Until now that is, when a friend brought me back a bottle of Peller Estates Ice Wine Oak Aged Vidal 2004.

Vidal Blanc, which is often just referred to as Vidal, is a hybrid. Which means it has been created by pairing two other varieties together, in this case Ugni Blanc and Seibel?

For Ice Wine they wait till the temperature drops to around -8°c before harvesting the grapes, resulting in a very small amount of intensely sweet juice once pressed. Before this wine is bottled it is aged in French Oak for four months, which adds yet another dimension.

The final product had a beautiful amber colour, with developed aromas of jam, tropical fruit, stone fruit, and honey. To taste, the wine did not disappoint, the fruit and spice all worked wonderfully with the sweetness and acidity of the wine, to produce a beautifully balanced wine.

If your looking for a desert wine then go for a Canadian Ice Wine, they are lusciously sweet with wonderfully intense aromas and flavours that can’t be found anywhere else. The only problem with them is the bottles are simply just not big enough!

The Gaming Comunity Comes to the World Wine

First there was the Simms, then came Roller Coaster Tycoon and now we have Wine Tycoon!

According to Chris Scott on www.thirtyfifty.co.uk the new computer game is being launched in the US next month, and lets the players fight it out to become the next, as the title says, Wine Tycoon.

The game allows the players to create vineyards in 10 of the most prestigious regions in France such as Bordeaux and Burgundy. As part of the game you will have to build a winery, plant and maintain the vines, organise staff for the harvest and then produce your wine.

With the game you will also get a Wine Encyclopedia full of wine terms, grape varieties and regions to help you achieve your goal. The game is produced by Got Game Limited for the PC and will retail at $19.99. I do hope they bring it out on the PS3 as well.

Lower Alcohol Wine - Just Add Water!

I read an interesting article on Sunday, by Victoria Moore, the Guardians wine critic, all to do with low alcohol wines. There have been many attempts to produce palatable, low alcohol wines over the years, as consumers demand has increased. The biggest launch this year probably being that of Plume, which use uses a process called reverse osmosis. This removes the alcohol, but with that, it also removes other aspects to the wine, such as flavour!

If you’re after a wine that is low in alcohol, go for one that has been produced to be this way, as opposed to one that has had the alcohol taken out. There are many wines like that about, as Victoria mentioned, Hunter Semillon from Australia is a good example coming in around the 10% mark. If that doesn’t float your boat, take a look at Brown Brothers, who produce several wines ranging between 5% and 9%. Whilst these are all from Australia, the new world, there are plenty of old world ones (European) out there too.

A trick you could try, according to Victoria, is to add water! Bizarre I know, but apparently, by diluting the wine you don’t lose any of the flavours or structure, you just reduce the alcohol content.

Whilst EU regulations don’t allow the addition of water to wine (who wants watered down wine in the pub!) There’s nothing to stop you doing it. Many people already do by asking for a spritzer!

Personally, I’m not sure about this. Unless you’re an expert, an even then you might not know, you have no real idea how much you have reduced the alcohol content. It must also diminish the intensity of the wine, and possibly spoil the enjoyment of it.

Will I give it a go? Possibly, but I certainly won’t be trying it with any of my quality wine.