VINEgeek

Tuesday night I opened a bottle of Stickleback Red 2008 from the Aussie winery Heartland. It was a Costco grab that intrigued me with it’s mix of grapes: the back label says it’s a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Shiraz, 5% Lagrein and 4% Dolcetto. Tastes more like 100% Smuckers. This is a major dark [...]

Mourvèdre Monday is back after a few weeks off around the birth of my baby girl, Lucy. I’m easing back into regular blogging. Let’s get things restarted with a bang… This is one of the priciest varietal Mourvèdres on the planet. So I’m glad to be able to include it in the Mourvèdre Monday series. [...]

For this week’s Mourvèdre Monday, we’re hopping in the wayback machine. I mean waaaaaaaaayback. I’m talking the oldest known Mourvèdre vines in the world. I’m so excited I just might wet myself. Producer: Hewitson Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre Appellation: Barossa Valley, Australia Vineyard: All the grapes for this wine come from the “Old Garden” planted in 1853. [...]

Aussie Shiraz is approaching Merlot-backlash territory in terms of becoming a wine style that some people wouldn’t be caught dead drinking (à la Sideways). Maybe that’s just in wine geek circles (not sure I have the most objective perspective on these things), but that’s where it starts, right? But there’s usually a reason a wine style [...]

Producer: Sylvan Springs Grapes: Shiraz (presumably 100%, but it doesn’t say so on the tech sheet) Appellation: McLaren Vale (Australia) Vineyard: Soils are “grey sand over ironstone gravel layer over orange permeable clay.” At least some of the fruit comes from the Blewitt Springs sub-region. Winemaking: No new oak – the wine spent 12 months [...]

Producer: Trevor Jones (Boots label) Grapes: Grenache Appellation: Barossa (Australia) Vineyards: Old bush vines Winemaking: This wine sees some time in French oak, but just how long isn’t clear from the label or website. Alcohol: 14.5% Price: $12-13 My tasting notes: Very light color. Bright nose of pine forest, cherries (cherry cough syrup, really) and [...]