I really cannot see the appeal of skiing. Every winter, flocks of people rush off to far flung countries, dress up in clothes that look like sleeping bags with legs and fling themselves down a slope with two planks attached to their feet. Then, when they have got to the bottom of the slope, they clamber onto a chair lift that is almost certain to not have a legitimate health and safety certificate, go back to the top of the hill and do it all again.For a week.
At least.
I’d understand if you could get a clear run on virgin snow, where you are the first to venture down the slope. I still remember the thrill it gave me, rushing out and making the first footprints in the garden after a heavy snowfall when I was a child, and it is more than likely I’d do the same now if I lived further inland so snow actually fell where I live. However you don’t get that sort of winter graffiti opportunity when you go skiing.
Venturing to your mountainous destination, you have dreams of clear slopes, log cabins, wood fires, lots of hyper-attractive people, champagne flowing freely and your skill as a skier is surpassed by no-one. The reality is far from that. The slopes are packed with skiers, the log cabins are, in reality, sheds, the wood fires are electric heaters, the attractive people are anything but, the champagne is too expensive and your skills at skiing involve counter balancing your forward momentum by sticking your backside out whilst one foot heads east and the other south west. It never lives up to it’s reputation as a holiday that you would remember for the rest of your life and if it does, it is more than likely you have done a Sonny Bono.
To sum it all up, skiing is over hyped and a massive disappointment.
Which brings me to top end Australian Shiraz. The iconic Shiraz of most Australian producers are like a skiing holiday. Despite being built up in your estimation as an Alpine orgy, the reality is they are a massive disappointment, offering little of what you were told it would and costing you a fortune. Take Battle of Bosworth’s White Boar Shiraz. This producer makes lovely wines in lower price points, their Shiraz Viognier is great value at around ten pounds as is their Chardonnay Viognier. But when the price creeps across the twenty pound mark, things go wrong.
The White Boar, when opened, is like drinking Bovril. Thick and dark, with lots of meaty characters and a massive spicy streak running through what little fruit shows. All that hits you is a jammy mess and a long, bitter finish. Giving it a day in a decanter does lighten things up a bit and brings out a lot more fruit, but it is still a sweet catastrophe with it’s arse out and it’s legs going in all directions.
Glaetzer’s Amon Ra is a similar beast. Whilst much more balanced than the White Boar, the Amon Ra is still far too big and jammy. Liquorice and leather abounds on the palate with lots of tannin, and you can’t help but wonder what you are spending your money on. With both these wines, there seems to be a preoccupation with extracting as much out of the grape as possible, then putting a huge emphasis on it being drunk young, which is almost as daft as saying you can make it from the top of the slope to the bottom without having to take drastic action to avoid ploughing into a novice skier.
But over the past couple of days, I have seen a couple of top Australian reds that have not been an over extracted jam fest, and they have done one thing to make their Shiraz better. Add Cabernet.
I am a big fan of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, it always seems to be more balanced than a winemaker’s shiraz. I asked a winemaker why he didn’t make a Cabernet, when he had plenty of grapes available, and his reply was “because no bugger will buy them!” Maybe it is this reason why the Aussies have taken to making wines that are a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, which, lets face it, are now as Australian as Crocodile Dundee swigging on some Fosters while cooking a Kangaroo steak on a barbecue.
I’ve always being reluctant to try Cabernet Shiraz blends after being informed by someone influential in my early days in the trade that “Cabernet and Shiraz should not be found in the same bottle”. I’d followed this school of thought now for numerous years, avoiding these two varietals when found together. Then, my taste for Australian wines in general waned and they just never came up on my radar again. Until yesterday.
I was presented with four wines from Yalumba – all Cabernet Shiraz, and was won over by them. I’ve liked Yalumba’s wines for a year or so now, their Y (read entry) Series is decent for the money, and their mid teen priced wines show a lot of balance and great, subtle fruit. However their top wines were uncharted territory to me and I found that they are wines you really should try as good examples of this Australian blend.
I’m not saying you should rush out and buy them all, some of them are way too expensive for that, but if you ever get the chance to sample these wines, you should. I started off with the 2006 Yalumba 'The Scribbler'. Priced around £12, with a third Shiraz and two thirds Cabernet, this is a light, clean, juicy wine full of cherry and a whole punnet of raspberries rammed in your mouth. Then things get serious with lovely green pepper that you get from Cabernet coming through with a finish of bramble and mint. This is a seriously nice bottle of wine. 8.5/10. Moving on, and up in price is 2001 Yalumba The Reserve Cabernet Shiraz. A split of 74% Cabernet and 26% Shiraz, and coming in at around forty pounds, the nose immediately gives off roast chicken juices, all herby and covered in cranberry sauce! Then you get grippy tannins, quite savoury with lots of green pepper, blackcurrant and some tobacco box and liquorice. I love these big, veggie wines, and whilst there is a little heat on the finish, it is still super. 9/10
So far we are getting the Skiing holiday we want, but with the forty four pound 2004 Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Shiraz we have a near miss with a tree. There is just a bit too much tannin on this wine. Delightful mint, bramble and a little cream on the nose, leads to gentle cherry flavours, a touch of black pepper and lots of blackberry stalk. There is a nice cocoa dusted berries flavour, but the tannin stops this being brilliant. Given time, that should soften down, but unfortunately the majority of this wine will be drunk too young and so I have to score it on that. 8.5/10
Finally, the 2004 Yalumba FDR1A (Fine Dry Red 1A) is outstanding, Rich, dark aromas of dried fruit, coffee and toffee. Gentle sweetness envelops the dark liquorice and spice flavours, caressing the teeth with just a little tannin. The palate then has a green pepper element coming through, with cocoa, leather and cinnamon bundled up and then melting in your mouth disappearing one by one. 9/10
I still don’t get skiing, probably never will, but I now get Cabernet Shiraz. You need a good winemaker, a load of great Cabernet Sauvignon and just a touch of Shiraz. Throw them all together and you get an outstanding bottle of Australian wine. Now all I need to do is find out how to get a perfect skiing holiday.
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