Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! It’s been snowing outside, if you hadn’t noticed. That’s always a bit exciting around here since it doesn’t happen that often. And what makes it so exciting? It’s the fact that the whole town falls into utter chaos! Everyone starts hoarding the water and batteries and duct tape! The big dump is upon us!

Alright. So that didn’t happen. . .THIS time. The snow didn’t stick. But the fact that we saw some fluffy flakes was kind of nice. Just when we thought spring was upon us. We’re not quite there yet! However . . . you know where there’s a place where there is no snow? It’s the featured region of the week: Australia!

Okay, okay. I did some online searching, and found some Aussie ski resorts, so apparently they do have snow, although most of the continent is tropical or high arid desert. However, they don’t have snow right now, since it’s summer there. And that means the Aussie grapes are lazily basking in the sun, gathering the power and flavor that comes out in the wines. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve had an Australian wine that I didn’t like to some degree, and that brings me my next topic: The Australian labels.

Wine snobs everywhere, critics, professional tasters, columnists, sommeliers, stewards, and shop owners (the pretentious variety, mind you) have come down on the Aussie wines that often feature animals, or some other theme to have fun and keep things interesting. Some of this pretentious bunch discount the wines for just that reason. Who cares if the “Rabid Wallaby 2003 Shiraz” was sourced from the finest vineyards . . . the name alone (and possibly the frothing wallaby on the label) will keep it off the critics’ lists and reduce the score in the magazines. Well, as an unpretentious wine guy, I’m here to fight against such blatant discrimination.

Just for fun, I’ve assembled a group of Australian wines primarily by the way the names intrigued me. (Also, because I needed a theme.) So the first five of the wines are all named after people that you would go see if you needed something specific done for you. If you need some wood cut for you, you’d need a woodcutter (See Wine #1). If you needed some cleaning done, you’d need a custodian (See Wine #2). Even if you needed some sheep shorn. Or something ripped. Is that what a ripper does? Or does this wine refer to the “Jack the –” type of “Ripper”? Ah, whatever.

For the last two wines, I just liked the names. Part of this experiment is to prove that Australian wines are at such a consistent quality that a random selection can, indeed, yield all wonderful wines. It’s also just to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover, and sometimes it’s okay to choose a wine by the name. But not by the picture on the label. . .let’s not be silly!

So Friday, March 10th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Aussie Wines Named After One’s Occupation!!
Kaesler 2003 Woodcutter’s Semillon, Barossa Valley
D’Arenberg 2001 “The Custodian” Grenache, McLarren Vale
The Gatekeeper 2003 Shiraz, McLarren Vale
Hope Estate 2003 “The Ripper” Shiraz, Western Australia
Longwood 2004 “The Sheep Shearer” Shiraz, McLarren Vale

More Aussie Wines!!
Glaetzer 2003 Wallace, Barossa Valley
Coriole 2002 Lalla Rookh, McLarren Vale

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting Barbera!

***Rabid Wallaby is not a real wine. If it were, I’d still drink it.***

M