[Wines] Tasting the Wines of Australia – Part 2

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

« [Wines] Tasting the Wines of Australia – Part 1

Starbucks Mooncakes ft. the Origin of Mooncake »

[Wines] Tasting the Wines of Australia – Part 2

October 6, 2010 by Mr.

During my last post, I discussed the delicious food and wine pairings at this event; but there was much much more — over 70 types of wine was presented for tasting, and I did what I can to try them all. Here’s a list of my favourites.

Notable wines

I’d like to make it clear that I’m by no means a wine connoisseur. This is a new found appreciation, so if you are a seasoned wine drinker, you should take what I have to say with a grain of salt. However, if you are a beginner yourself, you’ll likely find my opinions useful.

For more information on Australian wines, please visit www.wineaustralia.com

Chardonnays

I’m a big fan of Australian Chardonnays. I prefer their weaker oak taste and stronger fruity notes. They are great for wine beginners. My favourite was the Cooralook Chardonnay from Mornington Peninsula (left), the Evans & Tate Chardonnay from Margaret River was a close second. Both are under $20.

Holiday Reds

As a beginner, I prefer the softer and lighter palates of Pinot Noirs. The Cooralook was the most easy-drinking of this category, but the taste of fresh grape is a bit too transparent, making it taste like grape juice.

Gift Wines

This category is a bit confusing, it has a bit of everything. The bubbly moscat wines deserve a special mention. This was the first time I’ve ever tried moscat wine, and in sparkling form, it’s sweet, light and very pretty (in pink). Both the De Bortoli Emeri Pink Moscato (left) and Innocent Bystander Moscato are worth a try; the latter comes in a 375ml half sized bottle, which makes perfect sense since you can’t exactly save it after opening.

Stellar Cellar

This category contained the more expensive wines of the group. The priciest wine, the E&E Black Pepper Shiraz from Barossa Valley (left) comes in at a hefty $100. Spicy, oaky, rich, full, dark, and deep are all good words to describe this wine. And although it’s likely a delectable treat for red wine lovers, it hit my taste buds like a grenade. It’s not made for beginners. The Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir of this category is an easy-drinking wine that I could get used to.

Festive Fortified

I have a pretty limited knowledge base for desert wines, but Hardys Whiskers Blake Tawny Port appealed to me out of the list. It’s mellow yet sweet, with a bit of a bite and a hint of coffee.

A+ Australian Wine

This was the focus of this event, a selection of fine wine that represents the “face” of Australian wine. Each wine/vineyard has a unique story behind it. They are truly unique wines; even for a beginner myself, it was quite easy to separate the A+ wines from the rest of the groups. However I found that a few of them tasted rather strange. I suppose I have to give myself some time to get used to the common wines before moving on to the more distinctive types.

Kudos to Wine Australia and Energi PR for putting this event together, and Chef Dino Renaerts for his delicious “food pairings”. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun learning something new!

I hope you will consider bringing more wine into your life, not only it’s good for you health, it makes good food taste even better.

Posted in By Invitations, Culinary Events, Mr., Vancouver, Wine Pairing, Wine Series | Tagged A+ Australian Wine, chardonnays, food pairing, fortified wines, gift wines, holiday wines, Pinot Noir, Stellar Cellar, Wine Australia, Wine Tasting | 2 Comments

2 Responses

on November 24, 2010 at 4:14 am | Reply RED WINE

this blog is something admiring and good piece of wine taste presentment. i enjoyed reading and would expect to come to this kinda post frequently. thanks for the post

LikeLike
- on November 24, 2010 at 1:35 pm | Reply Mr.
  
  Thanks for the comment! It’s readers like you that makes me want to write more… and to think before I was just doing it for the booze…
  
  LikeLike