When choosing wines last week for a birthday dinner, I realized that I've reached that important stage in one's life when one ought to know a few things about wine. I believe my first education on the subject occurred while while watching "Sideways," see clip here (and, consciously or not, I've never bought Merlot since then). There's definitely room for improvement!
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I'm getting a little frustrated with our kamikaze approach to buying wines. We don't remember any of the bottles we've tried. Or, we realize too late that we actually didn't like it! I decided that I'm going to start a wine journal to document the good, the bad, and the ugly. One option is splurging on a Moleskin "Passions Wine Journal" available at Indigo (pictured above), which provides a comment template.
For now, I'm going to take photos of the labels and create my own digital book. There are websites set up to do this already (like here). I will keep you posted with my progress!
Here are a few that we purchased recently. The Garnacha is reasonably priced (less than $10) and is always a crowd pleaser. Do you have any wines that you would recommend?
A lot of people in this country pooh-pooh Australian table wines. This is a pity as many fine Australian wines appeal not only to the Australian palate but also to the cognoscenti of Canada.
ReplyDeleteBlack Stump Bordeaux is rightly praised as a peppermint flavoured Burgundy, whilst a good Sydney Syrup can rank with any of the world's best sugary wines.
Château Blue, too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and its lingering afterburn.
Old Smokey 1968 has been compared favourably to a Welsh claret, whilst the Australian Wino Society thoroughly recommends a 1970 Coq du Rod Laver, which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: eight bottles of this and you're really finished. At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour.
Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is Perth Pink. This is a bottle with a message in, and the message is 'beware'. This is not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.
Another good fighting wine is Melbourne Old-and-Yellow, which is particularly heavy and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.
Quite the reverse is true of Château Chunder, which is an appellation contrôlée, specially grown for those keen on regurgitation; a fine wine which really opens up the sluices at both ends.
Real emetic fans will also go for a Hobart Muddy, and a prize winning Cuivre Reserve Château Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga, which has a bouquet like an aborigine's armpit. (courtesy Monty Python)
This is important research!!
ReplyDeleteAmazon has a promotion for the same wine journal for less than $20!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.ca/Passions-Wine-Journal-Moleskine-Phwn3af/dp/8862933169/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327416527&sr=8-1