2007 Mr. Riggs The Gaffer Shiraz (McLaren Vale)

For New Worlders, Australians are partial to oldsters, saw why when I met the Gafffer, the 2007 McLaren Vale Shiraz in Australian’s grand old style. Big, plush and friendly and faint memories of a good old sticky.

McLaren Vale winemaker Ben Riggs named the wine for his great grandfather, using the fond British slang for an old man. And Riggs’ ancestor was one of the country’s best farmers (of sheep too).

There’s no gaffe in this bottle: it starts with smoke and flowers in the nose, and then you are gripped in a thick puddle of plum jam and berries, with edges of licorice and pepper. The Mr. Riggs Gaffer 2007 ($19.99) won solid 90s from WS, ST and WE (the Wine Advocate gave 89 but predicted improvement in the bottle).

Already this is is remarkably ripe juice, that could intimidate a rack of lamb. Or replace it.

It’s proof that Riggs is one of Oz’s most innovative winemakers you‘ve never heard of. But you’re bound to know his taste: He‘s been a Flying Winemaker across southern Europe and Napa and is part of the crazy guys who put together Woop Woop, Penny’s Hill and the Black Chook, under the rattling umbrella of Galvanized Wine Group.

In that stable Mr. Riggs is Ben’s own label based on old family vineyards and character.

The Gaffer would be proud.

He might forgive the pink screwcap. I love it.

2007 Mitolo Shiraz Jester 15.99

Jesting aside, this is serious shiraz. Grower Frank Mitolo and wizard Ben Glaetezer put in hard work; grapes spend extra time on the skins and ferment more in the barrel. The result is pure, elegant pleasure. Oh so ready to drink, black coffee, chocolate and raspberry on the nose, big ripe and rich on the tongue like blackberry plum pudding with a tad of bacon fat or maybe Vegemite; fine soft tannins lead to a velvet finish. The laughline is the price , half what it could be.

91 Points, Chris Sherman
Staff Selection, August 2010

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.

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

2003 Guigal Hermitage Rouge (Rhone) 79.99

California syrah is over, the New York Times declared earlier this month. Wineries made too much, too soon and the public lost interest. Besides American winemakers made the wrong kind of syrah.

To oversimplify, the divide is between northern Rhone and Australia, or the aristocracy and the rabble.

The style of Hermitage and Cote-Rotie is nobly complex, tasting of black olives, bacon fat, herbs and forest, moderate in alcohol and best grown in cool climate.

The other and lesser style, the argument goes, is the jammy fruit bomb of Oz, sweet, over ripe, high in alcohol and grown in too hot an area.

Well, yes and also no. Sure we’ve leapt into syrah too much and too quickly. Syrah is overplanted and some of it is shoddy, red plonck of the moment that could be merlot or a cheap cab. That’s why syrah is in financial trouble, just too much of it. Happens with any trend bumper crop.

Yet after 20 years many growers do well with syrah and yes they follow both styles, sweet and sour. That’s much clearer than, say, the infinitely malleable chardonnay.

 

Vive la difference.

Some folks love black cherries and raspberries spiked with cinnamon, pepper and licorice. I bet they are in the majority. And we make some fine ones.

2005 Linne Calodo Rising Tides (Paso Robles) 59.99

For those with a taste for thorny freshness and earthy complexity, black olives, smoke, bay laurel and the rough mountain underbrush of garrigue and gorse, there are other choices and B-21 stocks them.

The Times saluted ten they considered a valiant few following the northern Rhone route, including Copain Wine Cellars in Healdsburg.

Right on. We have three of Copain’s single-vineyard syrahs from the 2005 vintage, the top being the smoky Thompson Vineyard from Santa Barbara ($39.99) which Parker accorded a 94.

We‘d also commend the good people of DuMol up in the chill of the Russian River Valley whose syrah regularly score in the mid-90s (and cost more). And you’ve got to try the adventurous Rhonesters at Linne Calodo on the west side of Paso Robes: we have five of their syrahs ($33.99 to $69.99) high-scoring and full of spice.

Not to mention Washington State where Charles Smith found enough bramble, herbs, game and roasted meat spice in syrah to be Food & Wine’s winemaker of the year last year.

It’s way too early to give up on American syrah.

Or as the no-worries makers of shiraz say, “She’ll be right, mate.”

- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler

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

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

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

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

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