News - May 2006
By Franz Scheurer
Winners are Grinners
– Redoak Takes Trophy
It’s fantastic to see that Redoak Brewery wins the ‘Grand Champion Trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards, held in Melbourne on 11th May 2006 and has also been the most awarded brewery against the strongest local and international competition in the awards’ 17 year history. Redoak’s Special Reserve has been judged the highest scoring beer against a record number of 974 beers from 31 countries. This is the first time in seven years that the award has been taken out by an Australian brewery.
Congratulations to David and Janet Hollyoak!
Wine Closures – Help
with a Survey
Paul Tudor is a wine writer from New Zealand and in preparation for the final part of his Master of Wine examinations, the Dissertation; he is researching acceptance levels of screwcap closures. The scope of the research is international, specifically targeting four key markets: Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the USA and you can help by filling in the short survey at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=262752102772
Aberfeldy Shiraz
Centenary Release
Tim Adams is celebrating the planting of the Aberfeldy vineyard in 1904
with the Shiraz Centenary Release. The wine is a vivid magenta (almost electric
purple) with aromas of red and black berries and lots of spice including
cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg with some bitter chocolate in the finish. It’s a
powerful wine that will benefit tremendously with proper cellaring.
For more information contact: sales@timadamswines.com.au
Mistletoe Petite
Muscat 2005
This wine is made from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and Mistletoe is probably the only vineyard growing this variety in the Hunter. This is an unusual dessert wine as pure grape juice has been fortified with neutral spirit. This allows the delicate aromas and flavours of the grape to speak and makes for a clean, fresh and un-cloying wine. The nose is very similar to an Italian Moscato and the aromas are grapey with a hint of Turkish delight. This wine will be fabulous matched to Gorgonzola!
Available from the winery at RRP $ 17.50 per bottle
For more information: http://www.mistletoewines.com
Wine Storage, Temperature and Entertaining at
Home
Optimum
wine storage means a vibration free, dark, temperature and humidity controlled
environment. Many wine aficionados will have invested in a cellar incorporating
most of the above but what do you do when you’re entertaining? The answer is
the new EuroCave Compact 059 cabinet and the option of a sleek stainless steel
finish. Specifically designed for kitchen installation, the Compact 059 cabinet
is the new generation in under-bench wine storage and service. This cabinet
features all the latest EuroCave technology and can be built into any fitted
kitchen, enabling wine lovers to have all their wine close at hand. The Compact
059 is available in two versions, single temperature for maturing wines or
multi-temperature for serving wines. The multi-temperature unit is unique to
EuroCave. This model offers five typical temperatures, which provide optimal
conditions for a range of wines, including full-bodied red wines (18°C), Pinot
(14°C), Chardonnay (12°C), Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling (8°C) and Sparkling and
Champagne (6°C). Compact 059 cabinets feature EuroCave’s intelligent control
panel, which allows for constant monitoring of humidity levels and temperature
and is fitted with an innovative sound and visual alarm system to protect the
wine. For more information:
http://www.eurocave.com/site/pages/home/index.php
McLaren Ridge 2004 Shiraz
If you’re
visiting McLaren Vale then the place to stay is in the luxury vineyard
accommodation of the McLaren Ridge Estate and when you come ‘home’ from an
exhausting day’s worth of wine tasting you can be secure in the knowledge that
the McLaren Ridge 2004 Shiraz is an absolute cracker. Obviously picked quite
ripe it’s mouth-filling, juicy and full of fruit but held together with a lot
of oak. Although quite vanilla forward right now, the flavours will marry
beautifully in the next few years. Buy it now and put it away for a ‘rainy
day’.
For more
information: http://www.mclarenridge.com
Brown Brothers
Patricia Range
Brown Brothers have just released their top of the line Patricia range. These are serious wines, competitively priced. I am particularly enamoured with the Patricia 2003 Chardonnay. Although most definitely a ‘New World’ wine it has an austerity seldom encountered with a white wine of 14% a/v. The fruit (55%) is from the Brown Brothers Whitlands vineyard and the balance from the Jarrot’s vineyard, which is at an elevation of 500m. The high altitude guarantees a slow, long growing season, imparting minerally characters to the wine. Aromas of citrus (specifically over-ripe grapefruit) compete with minerally, slightly anti-septic under-tones. The fruit develops and opens up on the palate but stays aloof and acerbic with aromas of fresh figs on the finish. This is a wonderful wine paired with Armando Percuoco’s deep-fried zucchini flowers!
For more information: www.brownbrothers.com
Boutique Wine
Festival
Diary entry: Don’t forget to visit the Boutique Wine Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on the 14th -16th July 2006. Over 60 boutique wineries will exhibit and Pigs Fly, the microbrewery from Bowral will showcase their Australian style ale.
Cost: Early Bird (until 10 July) $25, door tickets $30, students and pensioners $15, Trade and media free with ID
OrangePlus+
Join Peter Bourne in the launch of OrangePlus+, a unique dozen designed to pitch the best wines from Orange against their counterparts from around Australia and the rest of the world. The inaugural dozen is made up of flights of Rosé, Shiraz Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc with two wines of each style from Orange’s top winemakers together with comparison wines from other areas in Australia and overseas. You will taste all twelve wines on the night served in flights of four and accompanied by an appropriate canapé - just as it’s served back at the Union bank in Orange. Cost: $30.00 per person. Numbers are limited and bookings are only confirmed on receipt of payment. The evening starts at 6.30pm and finishes at 8.00pm, on Wednesday May 31, 2006 at the tasting room – Level 3, 123 Harris Street, Pyrmont (above Porter’s Pyrmont Cellars)
Peter Bourne - The Wine Man
Level 3, 123 Harris Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009
Phone: 61 2 9552 2366 e-mail: thewineman@peterbourne.com
Andrew Blake heads
for the mountains
Zirky’s Restaurant, Z Café and Zirky’s Bar and Bistro all are going to benefit from Andrew Blake’s love for the snow and his culinary know-how, as he’s applying his knowledge for the clients palates’ benefit. The idea of ‘après’ tapas seems particularly enticing. So if you’re heading to Hotham check out what he’s doing and for up-to-the-minute snow season updates, check out www.hotham.com.au
Sean Connolly wins
Chef of the Year
Sean Connolly, head chef and restaurant manager of Star City’s fine diner Astral, was presented the award of Chef of the Year at the 2006 AHA Awards for Excellence (Accommodation Division). Congratulations to Sean and his team for a well deserved award!