Burning the taste buds of a bragging colleague

Don’t you just hate it when you have a know-it-all colleague who’s stubbornness means you’ll never ‘win’…?

I was having a nice conversation today with our VIP work experience student (that’s how I like to call him – he’s the son of the sponsor of a Very Important Group in the world of wine), who was asking me about the best wine I’ve ever tasted.

Hard question, but I’ll come to that another time. Anyway, he was actually quite interested in Australia and I expect being young he hasn’t yet been contaminated with the general snootiness of the rest of Europe to Aussie wine.

He was asking me about the drought problems when my colleague piped up mumbling about some oenologist he once met who said that Australian wine was all tainted with chemicals. I didn’t catch the whole story.

I asked: “Have you ever actually drunk any Australian wine?” To which he said: “I’ve tried to minimise any damage in that area.” Which I took to be a no. And on saying so to him, his response was: “You’re destroying the world with chemicals”, and the evidence of this is “it’s a known fact”.

Profound philosophical stuff for a Thursday afternoon. It disappoints me that despite all the good quality wine in Australia, will still can’t get ourselves respected through the wilful ignorance of our European counterparts. We’re talking about someone who works in the wine industry and it’s disturbing that there is no desire to develop the palate with other worldly adventures.

Maybe I’ll have to accept the fact that generally, Europe doesn’t care about Australian wine. The upside is that Australians don’t really give a frig about stuff from Europe either. And that’s a great thing for both consumers and producers in Australia as enjoying local wine is exactly what we should be doing.

A recent discussion on our Ozwine group forum showed that drinking habits in Australia are generally kept close to home and no-one strays too far from the back paddock. I don’t mind so much but in the interests of diversification, it would be nice to see the old world and the new get to know and appreciate each other – rather than mud-flinging chemical accusations.

Finding French wine in Australia (to then import to Europe)

Who says the Europeans know better than us? Welcome to the new world, in all its laidback professionalism.

I’ve had the rather strange situation of contacting an Australian wine shop, all the way from Italy, as part of our famous ongoing acquisition of Romanee Conti (2006 vintage this time). I expect it put a wry smile on the face of the guy who owns the shop.

Anyway, the point of this post is that my boss, in asking me to do this, requested that I make specific enquiries as to the “security” of these bottles – that is how they would be transported, covering them with insurance etc.

The thing that amuses me is that while Rathdowne Cellars might be small fry compared to what we’re used to, they were far more pleasant and professional in their response than other interactions I’ve had.

We’re very good at buying willy nilly all over the world, and the idea that more care was required just because we were considering a purchase in Australia, narked at me just a little (see my comments on jet lagged wine from the US for example).

Rathdowne Cellars gave me a quote on shipment from Australia to Italy which was not necessarily cheap, but neither was it outrageously expensive.

No cheaper shipping options are available though. Why? Because in the words of Cameron Kidd, store manager: “This is via my preferred air carrier with door-to-door freight. We do not use cheaper options like sea freight, as for small quantities I cannot guarantee it will go in temperature controlled containers.”

And to think I couldn’t even get wine shipped from England to Italy, with Christie’s (largest auction house in the world) preferred shipper in a refrigerated truck.

Picchi rosé vs Bloodwood "Big Men in Tights": Big Men wins

I’m just finishing off what is probably my last rosé for the summer as temperatures are already dropping and I’ll head back into more red wine drinking.

But I’ve managed to find myself a fine Italian rosé from Picchi, producers in the Oltrepò Pavese region. It’s a region just south of Milan, around the city of Pavia which is making a name for itself with its efforts in riesling. Most of the riesling comes from the “italico” variety and not the “rodano” variety, generally considered the more prestigious of the two grapes, though you can find some of the latter around.

I found the Picchi rosé in my local bottle shop, and the owner of the shop was happy with the purchase as he buys directly from the wine maker. It’s not a shop with a large choice but it turns out the owner is informed but not a snob, who understands the price range you’re looking at and doesn’t try to flog you his expensive stuff because no-one else will buy it.

The Picchi rosé is made from “rara” grapes which is a native Italian variety, and it has a lovely rosy, soft raspberry colour, with brilliant clarity. In my opinion, it is exactly what the colour of a rosé should be.

It is light on the nose with perfumes of red fruit, particularly raspberry, but the best thing about this wine is its acidity. It really leaves you with a clean palate, and none of that sweet aftertaste some rosés suffer from.

I’m not a rosé drinker by nature and I was quite snooty about the wine at the beginning of my wine drinking experience because I considered rosés some dodgy half-way point for who couldn’t decide between red and white.

But they have their place in the wine spectrum, though I prefer mine exclusively for summer drinking, in the right dose and with the right food. While it would be interesting to try it, Antonio Galloni writes of the Vie di Romans from Ciantons which he says is a rosé “with the structure to stand up to the richest of foods”; which in my mind is not what I look for in a rosé, this being aged in oak and bottled without filtration.

My rosé drinking was awakened in 2007 by Bloodwood’s “http://www.bloodwood.com.au/styles.htm” – what a marvellous name and a great addition to the Bloodwood portfolio! The guy at the drive-in bottle shop in Orange, Australia, deceptively knew his stuff and said it was a wine that once opened, required finishing because it was a glass-refiller. And he was right.

From what I remember of this wine, it had more of deep cherry colour, and wonderful roundness in the palate, along with some great complexity for a rosé – in the end, I don’t think rosé is an adequate label. Big Men in Tights was much like its name – a great package hidden in humble red, and for anyone who hasn’t yet read Stephen Doyle’s descriptions, what the hell are you waiting for?! A sample for this wine: “Keep the dastards honest, stick this in the fridge, splash it in a glass and remind yourself once more, all this will pass!”

Photo | Bloodwood