[wine] Aussie wines at Sapor

----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 17:18:44 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Aussie at Sapor on Thursday User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i We're going to Sapor at 6:30 on Thursday. Style du jour is Australia. $5 per person in leu of corkage. Part of their wine list is on their web site. If you happen to bring something that's on the list or the shelf (easier than you might think. Ask Russ about a split of something obscure he'd bought at a winery that was on their shelf as well.... ) we'll just save it for another week. We're never short of wine. http://www.saporcafe.com/ 428 N. Washington, Mpls 612 375 1971 Yes/Guess: Warren/Ruth Betsy Bob Nicolai Jim More guesses.... Lori Roger LeClair Annette S Dave Sapor is very close to Sam's Wine Shop (closes at 8:00 M-Th). A Match Made in Australia By ERIC ASIMOV YOU have to hand it to the Australians. By virtue of their geographical isolation, they were liberated from the ironclad wine rules of the Old World. Unlike the Americans, who have largely operated within the confines of European winemaking custom and tradition (though you can't always tell that from what's in the bottle), the Australians have freely tossed aside convention. Or maybe it was simply necessity that resulted in unorthodox grape blends like cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, one of Australia's noteworthy contributions to the world of wine. The hidebound lords who control French appellations would be aghast at the thought of combining cabernet, the mainstay of Bordeaux, with the northern Rhone's syrah, as shiraz is known elsewhere in the world. But to the freewheeling Aussies, it was a neat solution in the 1960's, when the demand rose for cabernet at the expense of shiraz, but not enough cabernet was available. Either way, the cabernet-and-shiraz combination is now featured in countless red wines, from cheap, fruity and easygoing labels to a few of Australia's most prestigious and expensive bottles. To get a taste of this unlikely duo, the Dining section's wine panel tasted 25 cabernet sauvignon-shiraz blends from different areas of Australia, covering vintages from 1999 to 2004. Florence Fabricant and I were joined for the tasting by a husband-and-wife team of wine consultants: Scott Mayger, who, incidentally, is Australian, and Beth von Benz. First, a few words about the Australian rules that govern such blended wines. For an Australian wine to be called by the name of a single grape, at least 85 percent of the wine must have been composed of that grape, as opposed to the California rule, which requires 75 percent. If no grape reaches the 85 percent threshold, then each grape must be named, up to a total of five, providing each is at least 5 percent of the blend. The grapes must be named in order, from highest proportion to lowest. Thus, a cabernet-shiraz would have more cabernet than shiraz, while the reverse would be true of a shiraz-cabernet. Got that? Let's give Australia the benefit of the doubt and assume that combining the grapes was a bold move borne of an experimental disposition. Cabernet, after all, provides a firm structure of tannins, while shiraz offers opulent fruit and power. Wouldn't the combination of aromas and flavors achieve a greater complexity than either grape would separately? Perhaps so, although when it comes to blends like these, evidence suggests that even the Australians have a conscience. Serious cabernet-shiraz blends do exist, but they are in the distinct minority among high-end wines. The Reserve from Yalumba, a $125 wine, is one. Penfolds's 1962 Bin 60A, half cabernet, half shiraz, is a legendary wine, and for the first time since then, in 2004, Penfolds produced another Bin 60A. In an auction at Christie's in New York last fall, a six-bottle lot sold for more than $4,900. Even the famous Grange, primarily a shiraz, sometimes has cabernet blended in. Yet these are the exceptions. At the top level, for the most part, Australia has taken a more conventional approach, sticking to tried-and-true Bordeaux or Rhone blends. The majority of cabernet-shiraz blends are moderately priced wines that epitomize Australia's skill at making soft, fruity crowd pleasers. Only five of our 25 wines cost more than $40. Nine were $10 and under, and six more were under $20. Frankly, the identity of the grapes in the blend turns out to be largely irrelevant, for these are juicy wines that may offer a lot of pleasure but have little character or individuality. "Somehow I think they're all the same wine," Mr. Mayger said, expressing the disappointment we shared at the lack of distinguishing characteristics in these wines. What these wines do offer is a sometimes extraordinary ratio of quality to price. Our No. 2 wine, the 2003 Oxford Landing (60 percent cabernet), was our best value, at $7. Bright and enjoyable, it blends the aromatic qualities of cabernet with the softness of inexpensive shiraz. Terroir? Don't trouble your pretty head. This is a wine for guzzling. Not far behind were three more wines: a 2003 Stonehaven (53 percent shiraz) for $9; a 2002 Salomon Estate Norwood (55 percent cabernet) for $12, and a 2001 Coriole Vineyards Redstone (80 percent shiraz) for $9. Each of these wines managed to be especially attractive for the price and stopped short of the overblown sweet fruit-bomb style that too many inexpensive Aussie reds possess. What was surprising about this tasting was how much we preferred the cheap wines over the high-end bottles. Only two of the seven wines that cost $40 or more made our list. One was clearly the best wine in the tasting. That was the 1999 Yalumba Signature (56 percent cabernet), a big, complex wine with aromas of licorice and coffee, and plenty of fruit. It far overshadowed the other expensive wine, the 1999 Mountain Blue from Rosemount (51 percent shiraz), a wine of ponderous fruitiness, which was matched by overpowering oak. But other wines, including the most expensive bottle at $70, the jammy, overripe 2000 Malleea from Majella, seemed too sweet, too oaky, too heavy, or all three. Perhaps this reflects on the stylistic ambitions of some Australian winemakers, who value power over any semblance of finesse. But it also indicates once again how the Aussies have mastered the mass production of pleasant, inexpensive wine, which impresses not only because it is good but because it's not bad. "In the end," Mr. Mayger said, recalling one of his father's fondest sayings, "they're such bargains you can't afford not to buy them." Tasting Report: Fruity Combinations That Please the Masses Yalumba Signature Barossa 1999 $45 *** Thick, tannic and complex, with lots of juicy fruit, good structure and lingering flavors. (Importer: Negociants USA, Napa, Calif.) BEST VALUE Oxford Landing Eden Valley 2003 $7 **� A bright, enjoyable crowd pleaser; smells like cabernet, tastes like shiraz. (Negociants USA, Napa, Calif.) Stonehaven South Eastern Australia 2003 $9 ** Restrained and pleasing, with good fruit and backbone. (Banfi Vintners, Old Brookville, N.Y.) Salomon Estate Norwood 2002 $12 ** Fresh, fruity and juicy, with a silky texture. (Testa Wines of the World, Port Washington, N.Y.) Coriole Vineyards Redstone McLaren Vale 2001 $9 ** Dense fruit, with mint, herbal and oak flavors; put together well. (Robert Whale Selections, Washington, D.C.) J. J. Hahn Reginald Barossa Valley 2002 $33 ** Lots of bright fruit with equally pronounced flavors of oak; tastes expensive. (Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, Pa.) Penfolds Bin 389 South Australia 2001 $22 ** Tannic, with flavors of raspberries, flowers and anise. (PWG Vintners USA, Napa, Calif.) Barwick Blackwood Valley 2000 $9 *� Somewhat simple, with flavors of sour cherry and eucalyptus. (Great Sunsan Wine Imports, New York) Rosemount Estate Mountain Blue Mudgee 1999 $50 *� Both a fruit bomb and an oak bomb. (Rosemount Estates, Sonoma, Calif.) Leasingham Magnus Clare Valley 2002 $16 *� Big, thick and fruity with noticeable tannins and acidity. (International Cellars, Gonzales, Calif.) ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *