WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Happy Thursday! Why happy? It’s time for the Carpe Vinum Wine News and World Report and Announcement for the Tasting of Happy Friday! Why happy? It’s Australian wines! And those can always put a smile on your face. Last week we did the French Rhone, the folks that put the “Rhone-Style” on the roster. Now we’re doing Aussie wines, the place that made them bigger, more popular, and put cute pictures of animals on the labels. Heck, the Shiraz has become so popular coming out of Australia you’d think the Aussies invented the stuff.

Speaking of Shiraz (and not at all about a segue into the second paragraph) that’s what it seems Australia is all about. Shiraz, Shiraz, Shiraz. You can hardly swing a wallaby by the tail in Australia without hitting a Shiraz or two. But what about Shiraz’s partner-in-crime? Brother-in-Rhone? Shiraz’s behind-the-scenes-main-guy? We’re talking about Grenache! The two have been performing together in the Southern Rhone for ages and have very similar acts on the side. Both make a full-bodied and fruity wine, but whereas Shiraz can be on the meatier side, Grenache lends itself to the spicier end of the spectrum. Even though Grenache is the star player in the Southern Rhone, especially in the powerful Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas, Shiraz always seems to get the attention. So in the same way David Hasselhoff had to go to Germany to have his musical career taken seriously, so did Grenache have to move to Australia to blossom into its full potential.

Okay, okay. That seems to be downplaying the job Grenache does in the Rhone, and I certainly wouldn’t do that. It also seems to suggest that Grenache only does well in Australia, which also is not the case. As a lover of the Grenache I am always eager to see what it does in other places. The Aussie Grenache certainly does different things than the Rhone Grenache and lives up to a wholly different potential. I’ve been disappointed in the past year at how few straight-up Grenaches have been out there, and I find that there seem to be more made in Australia, and at a lower cost, than anywhere else. So tomorrow we’re doing all Aussie wines, but I thought we might call it a Focus On Grenache (F.O.G. for acronym-lovers).

So what got me started on this is, of course, the continuation of the Charity Pour as a way to sample wines that are generally way out of our budgets, and all for a good cause. This time around we got a bottle donated by Gordon Rappole and the Valley Wine Group/Mt. Hood Beverage. It’s the Clarendon Hills 2004 Grenache Hickenbotham, and it regularly retails for $60. That got me excited and all about the Grenache kick, since I wanted to see how a $60 Grenache measures up to the $10.50 Bitch Grenache, the $27 Burge Family Grenache or the Henschke $37 Grenache. At any rate, we only get one of them, so it’s best to get here early to get a sample of this treat . . . and all the other treats too!

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

Aussie Grenache!!!
Hewitson 2004 Miss Harry GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre), Barossa
d’Arenberg 2005 Grenache “The Custodian”, McLarren Vale
R Winery 2005 “Bitch” Grenache, Barossa
Fireblock 2003 Old Vine Grenache, Clare Valley
Tintara 2005 Grenache, McLarren Vale

More Aussie Grenache!!!
Burge Family Winemakers 2001 Garnacha, Barossa
Domaine de la Pallieres 2004 Johannes Garden, Barossa

Super-Super Grenache Pour!!! (Still for CFF!)
Clarendon Hills 2004 Grenache, Hickenbotham, McLarren Vale

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours, and $5 for the Charity Pour.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Mourvedre/Monastrell/Mataro! MMM . . .

M