Desert Island Wines

by Martin Field

Len Evans is reported to have once said that he’d hate to be marooned on a desert island with nothing but goats' cheese to eat and sauvignon blanc to drink. With that in mind I conducted a straw poll of Australian wine writers (and one cheesemaker), based on the premise used by the BBC’s Radio 4 show, Desert Island Discs. That’s the long-running program where celebrities are invited to choose music to take with them in the event that they are about to be marooned on a desert island.

The hypothetical situation set for the writers was that they were about to be stranded on a desert island and they could only take with them two currently available Australian wines, a dozen of any one red and a dozen of one white (including bubbly).

Here’s what they said.

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Posted by Martin Field at 08:23 AM
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Picks of the mostly Oz bunch

by Martin Field

Caves de Beblenheim Pinot Blanc 2004 - Around $17 to $18
Appellation Alsace Contrôlée. Juicy aromas of ripe pears. Lovely mouth-filling style with flavours of pears and Granny Smith apples leading to a firm zesty finish. Excellent aperitif and solid entrée accompaniment.

Brown Brothers Vermentino 2005 (cellar door release) - $16-ish
Very pale, edge of green. Distinct citrussy fragrances on the nose. Quite a dry style with lots of mouth-watering, acid tang and noticeable alcohol (14.5%) warmth. Flavours are of citrus and maybe hay – not unlike a good semillon.

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Posted by Martin Field at 08:17 AM
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Australian Tasting Notes

by Martin Field

Chapel Hill Unwooded Chardonnay 2005 – around $14 (Australian dollars)
Fresh grapey juicy nose. Youthful and refreshing in the mouth, showing bags of ripe fruit – dried pears? and zingy acidity. Excellent as a chilled luncheon aperitif.

Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2004 – around $20
Compôte of stone fruits and hints of toasty oak lift the nose of this one. Soft and rich in the mouth, flavours of apricot conserve are dominant while the finish is firm enough to suggest entrée style accompaniments.

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Posted by Martin Field at 09:31 AM
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Six ways to ease the Aussie wine glut

by Martin Field

The old brain has been chugging away addressing the ongoing problem of over-supply of wine grapes and wine in Australia. Although the 2006 vintage is not a record one the wine glut has seen grapes rotting on the vine, wineries going broke and, as you’d expect, corporate ethicists from larger wine companies inventing more devious strategies to dishonour contracts with grape growers.

But I have a few strategies of my own to suggest and these, if applied across the board, will undoubtedly transform excess into success.

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Posted by Martin Field at 09:18 AM
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