Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Lucky Country Shiraz



The Lucky Country Shiraz is a refined and sophisticated wine, in vivid contrast to last week’s Boxhead (Boxhead Shiraz was perfectly enjoyable, but in a different way). Although equally young (both are 2008 vintage), The Lucky Country Shiraz has the feel of a mature, fully evolved wine. Equally easy to drink and a pleasure to savor, the Shiraz finishes very smoothly. This is a second label effort from Two Hands Wines, and the anticipated quality was delivered.

This Shiraz carries an opaque black purple color. You’ll get aromas of blackberry, licorice, plum and prune. The tannins are fine-grained and very smooth, leaving an aftertaste of plum, spice and pepper. The Lucky Country Shiraz is ready to drink today –and you’ll be glad you did- or it can be cellared for 2-3 years.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Boxhead Shiraz 2008


It turned out that clients of mine from the social event video world are the owners of Vine Street Imports, a wine importer. Naturally, I had to try one, so I picked up a bottle of their 2008 Boxhead Shiraz.

This is from the Barossa region of Australia, and is a very fruit-forward wine. The fruit practically leaps to the nose, and the wine is a classic tooth-stainer. There is a bit of spice in this young, full-bodied wine, and the finish was very smooth and tasty.

I think this would be an outstanding wine for tailgating, and it would go really well with burgers or ribs. It would also be a nice fire-side wine.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

A 2700-Year Old Beer?

Earlier this year, I read about some of the interesting projects under development at Dogfish Head Brewery. One that caught my attention was an ale being created from a 2700-year old “recipe” that was decoded from pottery discovered in a tomb in central Turkey.

The story goes that University of Pennsylvania archeologists discovered what could have been the tomb of the real King Midas. Taking the Iron Age drinking set back to Penn Museum, a molecular archeologist analyzed the reside, providing the formula that became Dogfish head’s Midas Touch ale. I thought that whole process was fascinating.

So the ale includes barley, honey, white Muscat grapes, and saffron. To drink it quickly is to taste a honey beer. To savor it is to find the subtle flavors and the particular soft taste from the saffron. The scent is also very soft, pretty far removed from the hoppy beer that I often prefer.

Dogfish Head also has an ale developed from a 9000-year old recipe. I’ll get to that one of these days.