The Wine Bottle

Spring is finally here and what better way to celebrate than with a glass of chilled Rosé from your wine library. For the last decade good Rosé has been in the wilderness. It has been missing in action, so to speak. There were actually very few Rosé wines to choose from and most were too sweet to be taken seriously. After all, most of us don’t want our wine to taste as sweet as a slice of chocolate cake.

But that’s all changed now. Wine fashion is taking a long trip back to the seventies and our wine producers are finally starting to make drinkable and enjoyable Rosé. Respectful Rosés are popping up from all over Australia and now is the best time to open a bottle and enjoy a glass.

Rosé is actually made with red grapes.The wine gets its fantastic pinkish colour from spending a short amount of time, only two or three days, soaking with the red grape skins. It can be made using any grape variety, and most in Australia come from Grenache, Shiraz and Pinot Noir. Rosé comes in a dry or sweet varieties.  The majority of modern Rosé wines tending towards the drier side. This lovely dryness makes Rose perfect for spring time dining and entertaining. The lovely colour also adds to the novelty of drinking rose. Something about the colour invites festive thoughts take over.

Rosé is perfect for outdoor dining or an afternoon drink in the sun. It is cool and light enough to enjoy with a simple mixed green salad but also has the stuffing to stand up to a piece of fresh fish or rump straight off the barbeque.

When buying Rosé always go for the last vintage from your wine library. Rosés are made to be drunk young and most don’t age well. Enjoy them sooner rather than later.

Consider buying your next bottle or case of Rosé from Crackawine.com.au. They will give you $25 spending money towards your first purchase.

I love the Wine Regions of Western Australian. I especially love the majestic beauty of the Margaret River. Picture, if you can its pristine white beaches that disappear into the horizon. Envisage, if you can, the rolling sand dunes sitting next to a vibrant native forest. See for yourself a western sunset that glitters and shines over the Indian Ocean like a dance. It’s no wonder this amazing place is home to so many praised wine producers. This is a beautiful place that produces some of Australia’s best wine.

The Margaret River region is without doubt one of our greatest fine wine areas boasting over 120 wine producers. Local names such as Moss Wood, Cullen and Leeuwin Estate sit comfortably among the greatest Australian producers. Their wines are now highly sought after both domestically and overseas.

The winemakers here aspire to not only make wines that stand up to the best from Australia but match up as great wines of the world. They deliver brilliance in each and every bottle they produce.

Quality Wines have been coming from Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Vasse Felix, Cullen, Cape Mentelle, Howard Park and Pierro for a long time. They have collectively been responsible for producing the region’s greatest wines.

These guys should be keeping a close eye on the wine coming from Woodlands and the newly revitalised Xanadu wineries. Voyager Estate is another rising star from the Margaret River.

The original vines of what is now Voyager Estate were first planted in 1978, under the name of Freycinet Estate. In 1991, these vineyards were bought and significantly expanded on. The area has since become known as the ‘Golden triangle of Chardonnay’ due to the quality of the wines from producers in the area.

The current releases from Voyager Estate include three absolute knockouts. I recommend you try them all:

1. The Voyager Chardonnay 2006 ($35) has powerful white peach and citrus fruit on a taut and youthful palate with a little creamy leesy complexity and brilliant length. It is one of the best 2006 Margaret River Chardonnays.

2. My favourite, at least for drinking now, is the 2005 Shiraz ($35). The Margaret River is generally not known for making a standout Shiraz, but this is a wonderful example of a dense cool climate Shiraz with clove and blackberry fruit trimmed with hints of wild violets. In the mouth there is such a youthful feel and plenty of vitality that it will only get better over the next decade.

3. The best known of the wines from Voyager Estate is the Cabernet Merlot ($60), with the 2004 release one of their best so far. This wine is really built for the long term with gravelly cassis and blackberry fruit rounded out nicely with some subtle notes of olive and oak. In the mouth there is great generosity of fruit that is currently bound up in its significant structure. In ten to fifteen years it will be a wonderful drop, so keep it sleeping for a while, if you can.

Spring is finally here and what better way to celebrate than with a glass of chilled Rosé from your wine library. For the last decade good Rosé has been in the wilderness. It has been missing in action, so to speak. There were actually very few Rosé wines to choose from and most were too sweet to be taken seriously. After all, most of us don’t want our wine to taste as sweet as a slice of chocolate cake.

But that’s all changed now. Wine fashion is taking a long trip back to the seventies and our wine producers are finally starting to make drinkable and enjoyable Rosé. Respectful Rosés are popping up from all over Australia and now is the best time to open a bottle and enjoy a glass.

Rosé is actually made with red grapes.The wine gets its fantastic pinkish colour from spending a short amount of time, only two or three days, soaking with the red grape skins. It can be made using any grape variety, and most in Australia come from Grenache, Shiraz and Pinot Noir. Rosé comes in a dry or sweet varieties.  The majority of modern Rosé wines tending towards the drier side. This lovely dryness makes Rose perfect for spring time dining and entertaining. The lovely colour also adds to the novelty of drinking rose. Something about the colour invites festive thoughts take over.

Rosé is perfect for outdoor dining or an afternoon drink in the sun. It is cool and light enough to enjoy with a simple mixed green salad but also has the stuffing to stand up to a piece of fresh fish or rump straight off the barbeque.

When buying Rosé always go for the last vintage from your wine library. Rosés are made to be drunk young and most don’t age well. Enjoy them sooner rather than later.

Consider buying your next bottle or case of Rosé from Crackawine.com.au. They will give you $25 spending money towards your first purchase.

I love the Wine Regions of Western Australian. I especially love the majestic beauty of the Margaret River. Picture, if you can its pristine white beaches that disappear into the horizon. Envisage, if you can, the rolling sand dunes sitting next to a vibrant native forest. See for yourself a western sunset that glitters and shines over the Indian Ocean like a dance. It’s no wonder this amazing place is home to so many praised wine producers. This is a beautiful place that produces some of Australia’s best wine.

The Margaret River region is without doubt one of our greatest fine wine areas boasting over 120 wine producers. Local names such as Moss Wood, Cullen and Leeuwin Estate sit comfortably among the greatest Australian producers. Their wines are now highly sought after both domestically and overseas.

The winemakers here aspire to not only make wines that stand up to the best from Australia but match up as great wines of the world. They deliver brilliance in each and every bottle they produce.

Quality Wines have been coming from Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Vasse Felix, Cullen, Cape Mentelle, Howard Park and Pierro for a long time. They have collectively been responsible for producing the region’s greatest wines.

These guys should be keeping a close eye on the wine coming from Woodlands and the newly revitalised Xanadu wineries. Voyager Estate is another rising star from the Margaret River.

The original vines of what is now Voyager Estate were first planted in 1978, under the name of Freycinet Estate. In 1991, these vineyards were bought and significantly expanded on. The area has since become known as the ‘Golden triangle of Chardonnay’ due to the quality of the wines from producers in the area.

The current releases from Voyager Estate include three absolute knockouts. I recommend you try them all:

1. The Voyager Chardonnay 2006 ($35) has powerful white peach and citrus fruit on a taut and youthful palate with a little creamy leesy complexity and brilliant length. It is one of the best 2006 Margaret River Chardonnays.

2. My favourite, at least for drinking now, is the 2005 Shiraz ($35). The Margaret River is generally not known for making a standout Shiraz, but this is a wonderful example of a dense cool climate Shiraz with clove and blackberry fruit trimmed with hints of wild violets. In the mouth there is such a youthful feel and plenty of vitality that it will only get better over the next decade.

3. The best known of the wines from Voyager Estate is the Cabernet Merlot ($60), with the 2004 release one of their best so far. This wine is really built for the long term with gravelly cassis and blackberry fruit rounded out nicely with some subtle notes of olive and oak. In the mouth there is great generosity of fruit that is currently bound up in its significant structure. In ten to fifteen years it will be a wonderful drop, so keep it sleeping for a while, if you can.

At the core of every visit to the Hunter Valley are the vineyards and quality wine. The Hunter Valley has been producing wine since the 1820’s. The regions semillons and shiraz are well known for their unique style.

There is no other wine globally that matches the low alcohol (normally around 11%), fresh zesty style of semillon that can age remarkably well due largely to its balance of flavour and high acidity. So much so that there are many wines from the 70’s and 80’s that are still drinking well. If only they had been bottled with a screwcap, then some of this wine could be almost immortal.

In a market that is in some places moving towards lower alcohol levels, Hunter Valley semillon is a very neat fit for aging as well as drinking relatively young. The local shiraz has a more moderate body and alcohol combined with earthy, gamey mood. The Hunter River Burgundy has a reputation for its silky and earthy complexity. These wines can age well as illustrated by some of the Lindemans releases from the 1960’s.

Even more remarkable is that the wines from Maurice O’Shea were made under harsh conditions including without electricity and, in some cases, during the last years of the Second World War. Chardonnay is also a local strength driven largely by the wines of Max Lake and Murray Tyrrell. Both wines can age magnificently well, despite the warm Hunter climate. The modern style is much leaner than some of the older heavily oaked and worked examples. Then there is Cabernet Sauvignon – one wine grown on a South-Easterly facing red volcanic hill. Many locals believe is the area’s best piece of dirt. I am, of course, talking about Lake’s Folly. Max Lake was always bucking trends and turning his nose at the establishment.

No better place is this illustrated than in an old bottle of Folly such as a recently shared 1985 Lake’s Folly Cabernet at 12% alcohol from a good but not great vintage that is still singing its varietal and regional origins.

While there is certainly great history to the Hunter, perhaps its strongest suit, for the moment, is a new generation of winemakers exerting greater influence over the local styles, which will continue for some time to come.

Ascend into the small towns huddled around the towering Mount Macedon such as Woodend or Kyneton, which are located an hour North-West of Melbourne, and you can’t fail to miss the faintly Northern European feel of the place. Perhaps it is the crisp bite of a cool Spring day, the historical streetscapes or even the patches of greenery from recent Winter rains but this is a very unique and beautiful landscape; not just in geography but also the climate that envelops it.

Unsurprisingly within this cool environment, which encompasses a multitude of hills and valleys, are pockets of vineyards that are creating exquisite, modern styles of Australian wine. Despite the potential and some brilliant wines the Macedon remains surprisingly unknown to many.

The lack of any one strong brand driving the region’s fortunes certainly doesn’t help. No big company would even consider large-scale plantings here – the challenges are just too large and the yields too low. But for those vignerons that identify the right site and then put their all into grafting a quality product, there are tremendous rewards to reap. To date, the best known wines of the Macedon have been the local pinot noirs and chardonnays from the likes of Curly Flat and Bindi, with others such as Lanes End and Paramoor also showing promise. There is an Aladdin’s cave of potential sites yet to be explored; it seems more than likely that the quality of product in the Macedon is destined to go from strength to strength over the next ten to twenty years.

Recently at the Macedon Show I was again reminded that, while pinot noir and chardonnay have driven the region’s fortunes to date, the region also has a knack of consistently turning out some of Australia’s greatest Sparkling wines. back in the old days that may not have meant so much but from cool mainland regions, today lead by the Macedon, as well as Tasmania, more and more locally produced wines are really challenging the quality of fine French Champagne. The Macedon in particular instils in its best wines a delicacy and purity of acidity that is remarkably reminiscent of fine French bubbly. It’s no surprise in that vineyards in both the Macedon and Champagne are some of the coolest. The resulting wines their much-praised elegance while keeping intact a rigid core of acidity.

At the 2009 Macedon show, two sparkling wines, in particular, really impressed, and both from the same producer. The first was the Mount William Blanc de Blanc from 2001, a sparkling chardonnay that is still remarkably fresh and alive. And the second is the Mount William ‘Jorja Alexis’ Pinot Noir Rosé from 2003, a very pretty and subtle wine with multiple layers of red berry fruit with subtle earthy nuances in a supremely balanced and silky package.

There are few if any Australian wine regions that can quite match the majestic beauty and splendour of Western Australia’s Margaret River. The pristine white beaches that stretch up and down the coast. Behind the sand dunes lie rolling hills punctuated by the occasional outcrop of beautiful forest. This is a place that draws people closer. The mix of natural beauty, attractions and the idyllic lifestyle.

But the sailing in Margaret River has not always been so calm. In the mid 60’s when the first ideas were floated of grapes being grown here, the area was in a slump. The once popular timber industry had almost disappeared. The locals were looking for something to help bring them out of the economic dip they had fallen in to. And along came Dr John Gladstones, whom after a little study reckoned that Margaret River might be a special place to grow grapes. Soon plantings began and the area would be changed forever.

First Tom Cullity at Vasse Felix, then Di and Kevin Cullen at Cullen and finally Bill Pannell at Moss Wood put experimental vineyards in the ground, wines from which quickly proved the areas potential. Now with over 120 producers in the region, Margaret River is without doubt one of our greatest Australian fine wine zones, and the equal of icons such as the Barossa and Yarra Valleys. Local names such as Moss Wood, Cullen and Leeuwin Estate sit comfortably among the greatest Australian producers, with their wines highly sought both here and overseas.

One of the region’s most enduring qualities is the vitality of the local people. The Margaret River has much to offer. The winemakers aspire to not only make wines that match up to the best from Australia but stand up as great wines of the world. You see it in the eyes of producers such as Keith Mugford from Moss Wood, Mike Peterkin of Pierro and Vanya Cullen of Cullen. There is a great self-assuredness that never stretches towards arrogance. And they back it up with brilliance in each and every bottle.

In terms of quality, while the old firm of Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Vasse Felix, Cullen, Cape Mentelle, Howard Park and Pierro still are generally responsible for the region’s greatest wines, underneath there is a growing band of producers knocking on the door. Woodlands and the revitalised Xanadu immediately come to mind as two wineries with great potential but probably the most exciting of such ventures, and one that is quickly rising to be among Margaret River’s best, is Voyager Estate.

The original vines of what is now Voyager Estate were first planted in 1978, under the name of Freycinet Estate. These vineyards, in 1991, were bought and significantly expanded on.. This was a masterstroke because the area has since become known as ‘Golden triangle of Chardonnay’ due to the quality of the wines from producers such as Voyager Estate, Leeuwin Estate and Devil’s Lair.
When in Margaret River, it is impossible to miss Voyager Estate. South of the township and closely located to Leeuwin Estate, it is marked by a huge flagpole as well as the large Cape Dutch style building which sits amongst magnificent grounds. While the built environment is slick, it is what’s in the local vineyards and winery that really impresses. What is clear here is that in all facets of the Voyager Estate operation everything is done with perfection. And no one better exemplifies this than winemaker Cliff Royle

I first met Cliff before a tasting of some barrels that would end up in his Cabernet Merlot blend from the highly acclaimed 2007 vintage, and he was a little nervous. Not because he didn’t believe in the wines rather it was more like a father for his child – he wasn’t quite ready to let his wines out into the big, wide world in case they didn’t put their best foot forward, as young wines often do. Well he needn’t have worried because they were absolutely superb and a real treat, although the 2007 vintage won’t be released for at least another couple of years.

The current releases from Voyager Estate include three wines you have to try. The first is their renowned Chardonnay from the icy Margaret River vintage of 2006. Reds have been difficult for some in 2006, the whites are superb with intense fruit and acidity. The 2006 Voyager Chardonnay ($35) has powerful peach and citrus on a taut and youthful palate with a little creamy complexity and brilliant length. It is one of the best 2006 Margaret River Chardonnays. My favourite for drinking now is the 2005 Shiraz ($35). The Margaret River, not normally known for producing standout Shiraz, but this is a wonderful example of dense cool climate Shiraz with clove and blackberry fruit lifted by hints of violets and licorice. In the mouth there is such a youthful feel and plenty of vitality that it will only get better with time. The nest known wines from Voyager Estate is the Cabernet Merlot ($60), with the 2004 release one of their best so far. This wine is really built for the long term with gravelly cassis and blackberry fruit rounded out nicely with some subtle notes of olive and oak. In the mouth there is great generosity of fruit that is currently bound up in its significant structure. But in ten to fifteen years it will be a wonderful drink.

In the past you could expect to see people drinking wines at family dinners, special occasion, weddings and other types of events. Wine was considered as a privileged drink to be savored by the wealthy who were supposed to know all of the inner workings of wine drinking. This has now completely changed and these days in various places around the world you can see many people enjoying wine at wine bars.

Unlike the wine bars of yesteryear where the wine server (like a bartender) would look like his was the only opinion on wines that mattered, today it is the customers who make the choice of what they want to drink. While many people still enjoy less expensive wines, more and more people are prepared to pay more for more refined wines.

Wine bar patrons tend to be in their 20s to mid-30s. And they are better informed as to the varieties of wines available and how each type is supposed to taste. In addition these people are not afraid to drink new varieties of wine. This openness to new wines, however, does not mean that today’s wine bar patrons will guzzle anything you put in front of them. Wine presented to savvy wine bar patrons must not only be affordable, but must also look palatable.

The new breed of aficionados have been learning how a fine wine should be sampled. While this knowledge is not that vast there is practical experience to back the ideas up. This means that the patrons of wine bars will look to see if their wine is a good color and they will sniff the wine to get the first impression of the wine. While few will claim to be an expert in these wine bars there are many who can tell if they are drinking a Chardonnay or Riesling.

To cater for these discerning wine lovers wine bars have revamped their look and they now sport a good selection of wines from various countries that produce good quality wines. You will be able to find expensive wines alongside inexpensive but still good quality wines. There will be a selection of red wines and white wines, sparkling wines and sweet wines. In short you can expect to see many known and new varieties of wines at these wine bars.

As wine bars have become more popular, so too has the idea that the wine bar experience can and should also be enjoyed at home. This means that more or less average people are now beginning to collect and store wine in ways that used to be the exclusive purview of professional establishments or “connoisseurs” or professional collectors. It doesn’t take long to amass a few dozen to a hundred bottles or more. And this creates a problem as to how to properly store and possibly display that many bottles in an average sized apartment or home.

Fortunately, the Danby DWC166BLSRH, a 166-bottle dual zone executive wine cellar offers the perfect solution for the aficionado with a mid-sized collection of wines that need to be cared for. This unit features dual temperature zones, independently regulated, which is ideal if you need to store both red and white wines at their individual perfect temperatures. Any bottle can be retrieved easily thanks to the cherry-wood stained shelves which slide out gently and easily. Standard incandescent bulbs waste energy and generate heat that can damage fine wine, so the DWC166BLSRH features “Cool Blue” LED track lighting to illuminate the interior. Both the shelves and the tinted tempered glass door (which can be locked) are trimmed in stainless steel, complementing any kitchen decor.

So while it looks like the trend toward increasing popularity of wine bars will not go away any time soon, those who enjoy wine bars now have options for taking the wine bar experience home with them with the Danby DWC166BLSRH.

If you're trying to pick the best wine of the month club, you may be absolutely overwhelmed by all the choices out there. From the California Wine Club to The International Wine of the Month Club to so many others that operate locally and online, a wine lover can easily be distracted by all the choices and feel tempted to throw in the towel and just go back to purchasing wine one bottle at a time.

But before you give up on a membership to a great wine of the month club, let us help you decide on what to look for and how to separate the good from the bad when it comes to clubs.

First, find out how long the club has been in business. There's nothing to say that a new club won't do a great job in choosing your monthly wine, but it's usually best to entrust your membership with someone that has been doing this for some time. There are many wine of the month clubs that have been around for ten years or more and these are the clubs that you probably want to stick with.

Also, what are you looking for in a wine of the month club? Do you have a particular preference when it comes to wines such as red or white and would you like to be able to make your own choice in this regard or will you like anything that the club will send your way? Some wine clubs allow you to enter some of your preferences while others simply choose what they feel is best and may just split their choices between red and white, or whatever they feel is best that particular month. How many bottles of wine are delivered per month? Can you opt to a lesser or higher numbers per month or are you limited to a specific numbers by the wine club?

Ask how the wine of the month club makes their options. Far too many simply choose closeout options or mass produced wines. Obviously they are just choosing whatever is cheapest and aren't giving much thought as to how the wine will actually taste. Some other wine clubs personally hand-select each and every month's selection, and this means you'll be getting a higher quality wine every month.

Check out the past selections of the clubs. Look up these selections in a separate guide and see how they are rated. If you can find them in other guides and they are highly recommended then you know that this wine club is making their choices on flavor and quality. If you cannot find an outside review of any of their choices, it may be a warning sign.

And you'll want to see about their policies to opt out of the club. If you join and don't like the first few choices, then what? If you find a wine of the month club that allows you to opt out after a few months then you know your choice will be much safer. You never want to join any wine club that forces you to join for a long period of time. If they do then it is usually because most of their members are not satisfied with the service, price or selections of wines that have been delivered.

It is probably a rare wine drinker that walks into a fancy restaurant and tells the wine steward, “Bring me some of your finest Turkish wines.” The country of Turkey is not typically known as being a producer of fine wines and isn't always given the respect and regard that it deserves because of its wine production. However, once you start to learn a little bit about wines from Turkey, you may find that indeed it would be good if your favorite restaurant began serving this choice!

Interestingly enough, wine drinking was actually banned in Turkey for some 500 years during the rule of the Ottoman empire, but fortunately for us today wines from Turkey have made quite a comeback and are being rediscovered by wine connoisseurs around the world. Also, because the country is now looking to be more competitive economically, wine growers are realizing the importance of producing a product that is palatable to a worldwide audience. What makes them so high-quality?

The Climate of Turkey

One of the reasons that Turkish wines are so high quality is because of the climate of the country. Their warm and dry Mediterranean summers and mild winters make for some of the best grape harvests there are. Even inland away from the Mediterranean, there are pockets of wine producing regions, some more successful in grape growing and harvesting than others.

Grapes Grown in Turkey

There are actually some 1,000 different grapes that are grown in Turkey, but the vast majority of them are used for fruit or raisins. Only about 40 types of grapes are made into Turkish wines. However, these grapes include many local types, including Bogazkere, Kalecik Karasi, Karasakiz, ?alkarasi, and ?k¼zg¶z¼ for the red variety, Emir, Narince and Sultaniye for white wines. With the fourth-largest vineyard area in the world, but with such a small percentage of those grapes for wine growth, it is no wonder that the few wines they produce need to be of the best quality.

Looking Forward to the Future

Despite the one-time ban on wines from Turkey due to religious taboo, they are now becoming more competitive on the worldwide market and because Turkey is looking to compete on a global scale both economically and culturally, the future can only hold good things for their winemakers. While they may have some catching up to do when it comes to being competitive with their nearby countries, it's likely that Turkey will appreciate the natural gift they have of a beautiful climate that is perfect for grape growing and winemaking. Certainly the future holds only good things for those who love and appreciate Turkish wines.