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Mitolo’s Jester’s no joke: A funny thing happened on the way to the throne room.
2006 Mitolo Shiraz Jester (McLaren Vale)
The Mitolo winery takes its fun seriously. The silliest thing on their labels is a Jester of the classical kind in suit of motley colors, belled hat and a fake scepter. This kind of joker goes back to before Shakespeare, a professional funny man hired to amuse and mock the court and king, with license to be truthful and mirthful, a precariously fine line.
It’s a clever image for wines; like Mitiolo’s Jester Shiraz ($15.99), a playful wine with soft approach, but ultimately straightforward and powerful. For extra grins, Mitolo’s back label honors a real jester, Richard Tarlton who was Queen Elizabeth’s favorite jokester and possibly the first comedian to become a superstar.
Given the royal standards for wit, I’d say the chances are slim for a 2108 Aussie shiraz dedicated to Adam Sandler.
How old is old? Yalumba charter has an answer.
2008 Yalumba Y Series Chardonnay Unwooded $9.99
Yalumba, one of the oldest and most innovative wineries in Australia, doesn‘t go in for much silliness on labels. I’m sure they have good times a plenty and the wines can be great fun. Still their labels are straight forward, saying for example that a chardonnay is unwooded or made by wild ferment.
But that’s a choice of style.
What concerns them is principle and meaning, say of words like “old vines” which can be a cause for skepticism or pride especially in the Barossa Valley. So they launched “The Barossa Old Vine Charter”. Asking others to sign on.
Under the Charter:
- Vines 35 years of age or more, can be named Barossa Old Vines.
- Those over 70 will be Survivor Vines;
- 100 years will be Centurion Vines;
- 125 years Ancestor Vines.
I’d sign that.
2005 Bacchantes ‘The Dancer’ Shiraz Gomersal Vineyard (Barossa, Australia)
2005 Bacchantes 'The Dancer' Shiraz Gomersal Vineyard (Barossa) 14.99
No contest. This fat and juicy shiraz wine knows it can dance tonight and 10 years from now. And leap and twirl, wearing a perfume of blackberry, fennel and pepper, surprisingly delicate and poised for such a voluptuous wine with strong backbone. Credit that to its single-vineyard roots in 120-year old Gomersal and young partner Ben Glaetzer, Oz winemaker of the year in many books, and the first Aussie to collect 100 pts. from Parker. A rich taste of Glatezer style for pennies.
91 Points, Chris Sherman
Staff Selection, July 2010
What were we drinking: Open-faced cheeseburgers and zucchini chips
Actually it wasn’t we, just me bach’ing for a while and left to my most evil inclinations like burgers NOT made from lean ground beef. Nope these were as fatty as nature intended, with a sharp Polish cheese, roasted garlic and whole grain mustard. For the vitamin counters there was frilly lettuce and a sliced zucchini, crisped up in the skillet with pepper and herbs.
In short, the Lonely Guy’s Dream Dinner with a modest amount of pretension.
2007 Wolf Blass Shiraz/Cabernet (South Australia) Reg: 9.99 On Sale: 7.99
But I respect hamburgers. Luscious, red and juicy and in Guy cuisine, not that far from a steak.
To Guys, a good burger calls for a steak wine; to call for a lightweight red is dissing the burger. And any good steak wine is happy to dance with beef in all forms.
My answer was Wolf Blass’s 2006 Gold Label shiraz ($17.99) from Barossa. This one was fat with flavor, berries and plums with hints of licorice and smoke. Not monstrous in weight or harshness, despite a full load of alcohol (15.5%) a very luscious drink.
It would have liked an inch-thick Delmonico — and it made the burger taste just as rich.
The Wine Speculator puts it at 91, and I agree. Especially at $17.99. You need a couple.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
Trumps again: Harvey Steiman lifts a glass to Charles Cimicky
2008 Charles Cimicky Trumps Shiraz (Barossa) $14.99
Harvey Steiman took a trip through Australian reds and among his 90 pointers was our fave from Barossa’s most serious winemaker, Charles Cimicky’s Shiraz Trumps.
“A juicy mouthful of plum, berry and tobacco flavors, hinting at clove and nutmeg as the finish lingers effortlessly. Drink now through 2018.”
We agree, this is a ripe shiraz, big on fruit and earthier flavors, and a keeper for the cellar. Only thing off is Wine Spectator tags the price as $19. C’mon down to B-21; it’s only $14.99.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
Nibbler’s Pick: 2008 Morse Code Shiraz
2008 Morse Code Shiraz
2008 Morse Code Shiraz (Padthaway, Australia)
SALE: 8.99
“Invite this Aussie shiraz to the barbie this weekend. Pure ripe fruit explodes in holiday fireworks: Red cherries, white pepper and blueberries. A blast in a bottle.”
90 Points!
Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
And just what is a Barossa?
2007 Earthworks Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa Valley) $11.99
The question came up at dinner, the great wine valley north of Australia sounds Italian, maybe aboriginal?
Would you believe Spanish? Named by a British soldier and abetted by bureaucratic error but Spanish indeed.
How so? The valley is named for the Barossa Range. The Range was named by the English officer exploring it for a great battle in the Napoleonic wars along Barrosa Ridge near Cadiz. Somehow the spelling got goofed. I know that can happen, especially in Oz. Consider Earthworks 2007 cabernet sauvignon, a tight spicy cab from Barossa ($11.99). No question that its home in one of the valley; main town specifically n-u-r-i-o-o-p-t-a , is a word of the native peoples (it means “meeting place”).
My word processing program is not so multicultural and renders my attempt of the home place as “neuropath,” which sounds like a very pretentious psychopath.
Is it trying to tell me something?
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
Many Shades of Shiraz: 2005 Bacchantes The Dancer
2005 Bacchantes 'The Dancer' Shiraz (Barossa) $14.99
Wow, the image on the label is shy and graceful but this shiraz is so juicy and lusty it should be Dancing with the Stars.
Which is not to say classless. No sequins here. His is elegant stuff with a grand posture bursting with black fruits and a touch of white pepper. This shiraz is from an old vineyard in the Barossa called Gomersal, and the finest new-generation winemaker, Ben Glaetzer. Anything from Glaetzer is high on my list, and Parker thinks so too.
Not to mention that 2005 is an Australian vintage to savor.
It’s also brought to us by Bacchus Wine, a smart small importer who brings us Glaetzer’s Amon-Ra, Charles Cimicky Kaesler, Mitolo and other prestigious labels from well beyond the Yellowtail range.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
The many shades of shiraz: Strong Arms
2008 Strong Arms Shiraz (South Australia) $9.99
In Australian hands and climates, shiraz has a strong character and yet infinite expressions.
The Grateful Palate crowd and resident genius Chris Ringland bring us many faces of shiraz under a variety of stage names.
Strong Arms 2008 ($12.99) seems one of their humbler, more civilized performers yet it captivates me.
Perhaps it’s the Mel Kadel paintings of hard-wroking women that are so fetching.
What’s in the bottle, came of age in a rich and ripe year down under. It could have been aggressively full bodied, but instead its richness — 15% alcohol and still a residual sweetness — is restrained. Soft in texture, brimming with plummy fruit, this is elegant stuff, that survives every day with charm and heart intact.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
What were we drinking? After-dinner cigars and tawny port from Oz
Dutschke Old Codger Port $14.99
Keeping the fires burning after dinner when one of my friends lit a prime stogie, I found a good match for the other side of the globe: Old Codger Tawny Port, a 10 year blend from Wayne Dutschke.
Dutschke makes more expensive stuff but this $14.99 is delicious in the true tradition of Australian stickies. Indeed he dedicates it to a nameless old vineyard worker who taught the young Dutschke that a glass of tawny was the best end to a hard day in the cellar. He’s done the old man proud: the Barons of Barossa named him winemaker of the year, James Halliday gave the label five stars. And this lowly offering gets 90 from Parker.
It’s a rich blend from crazy-quilt solera of old fortified wines. The final blend is thick and rich and honeyed, with flavors of caramel toffee, butter scotch and roasted nuts. Not exactly smoky but big flavors. A fine complement to a good cigar, I have it on good authority. Or a substitute for us non-smokers with as much postprandial pleasure on a spring night.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler