Cooking

WBW 3: Australian Shiraz

Melissa and I find the news deeply disappointing this morning, but it's Wine Blogging Wednesday, the day when bloggers around the world write about wines based on some particular theme. When the aptly titled Seattle Bon Vivant announced a theme of Australian Shiraz, I was skeptical. I don't typically like Australian Shiraz. I haven't had many, but I find them as a rule jammy and uninteresting, manipulated to appeal to the masses. I know that as a Californian I'm supposed to like sculpted and manicured wines, but I prefer the best Old World style, with its kiss of earth and stone and a sense of the vineyard reaching out of the glass to embrace you. Admittedly, Australian wine would have a hard time tasting of its vineyard: most Australian wine is made by blending from a vast geographic spread of land.

But our entry, the 2002 Heathvale Shiraz, does come from a single vineyard in the Eden Valley near Adelaide in southern Australia, a 24-acre plot "nestled amongst the big Red gums and rolling hills above the Barossa Valley" where "the higher altitude, cooler climate and ancient soils of Eden Valley blend to create a unique microclimate." (everyone says they have a unique microclimate, by the way). One does have to wonder how this bottle from such a small production found its way to a wine shop in Oakland.

Name: 2002 Heathvale Shiraz, Eden Valley Barossa
Price: somewhere between $25 and $30 (I lost the price tag) at Paul Marcus Wines in Oakland
Tasting note: Violet-pink edges darken to an opaque deep-red center. This wine smells of plum reduction and has the notable meatiness Syrah sometimes gives you, with hints of dustiness, rosemary, and nutmeg. Plum dominates the taste as well until soft leather takes over, with a mintiness eventually appearing at the end of the long finish. The solid acidity and soft tannins are well-balanced and enjoyable.

General thoughts: This wine was more complex than we imagined it would be. Its soft tannins suggest you should drink it sooner rather than later (and I'm not sure I agree with the website's assertion that you should decant this for an hour; our bottle was fine without it). It lacked what I consider typical Syrah character (Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape), though Melissa smelled the telltale pepper notes more than I. This is a wine we'd buy again.

Food: I served this with a roasted magret with a side of yellow beets and their greens, all sitting in a pomegranate reduction sauce. This was, oddly, an attempt to use up leftovers. Magret is the breast of a duck that has been raised for foie gras. The wine went with this dish really well, one of those times where the wine and the food are in perfect balance. It's a pairing I'll keep in mind.

- Wtn: 2001 Dashe Zinfandel, 2002 Jc Cellars Syrah
I liked Lenn's theme for this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the Internet-wide tasting group. Find the winery closest to your home, he wrote, and taste their wines. I assumed his theme deliberately coincided with August's "Eat Local" challenge,...

- Wtn: 2001 Syrah, Paschal Winery, Rogue Valley
2001 Syrah, Paschal, Rogue Valley - $23 Every couple years Melissa and I drive to the tiny town of Ashland in southern Oregon to take in some plays with our friends Pavel and Kathleen. Theater is the focus, but now that I'm into wine, I make a habit...

- Wbw 5:wacky Brands Of Wine
I wish I thought of Pim's great theme for the latest Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly event where food and wine bloggers write about a particular type of wine on a given date. Former hosts all picked quasi-educational themes. One might almost...

- Wine Blogging Wednesday 4: New World Riesling
Some consider Spy Valley Wines to be one of New Zealand's best-kept secrets, which is perhaps appropriate given the winery's name, derived from Wairau Valley's nickname—a government satellite communications monitoring facility dominates...

- Wbw 4: New World Riesling
In the previous three Wine Blogging Wednesdays—the monthly wine blogging event concocted by Lenn—the hosts selected themes of New World Merlot from outside the U.S., Spanish Reds, and most recently Australian Shiraz. Enough with the reds...

Cooking