Ettore Germano Piedmont Serralunga Barolo 2006

"When viewing the universe as a closed system, it also stands to reason the universe began in a state of high order, and when it ends, will be in a state of extreme disorder." Stephen Hawking on order and disorder.

Order - a full bottle of Ettore Germano Barolo 2006.
Disorder - an empty bottle of Ettore Germano Barolo 2006.

It stands to reason that Stephen Hawking is right. The man has never been wrong in his life. The Ettore Germano Piedmont Serralunga Barolo 2006 is simply quite stunning, and in the life of a Barolo, still very much an infant. Very dusty on the nose, the wine opens up with dusty dry morello cherries, ink, garden herbs and dried flowers. The palate is achingly dry like to nose with more morello cherries, violets and bitter chocolate all woven together by endless acid and tannins. A wonderful, wonderful wine.

Drink with steak au poivre
Drink till 2025+
97
Quality cork 13.%v/v $90 Seddon Wine Store

Prunotto Ochetti Piedmont Nebbiolo d'Alba 2008

My lament is that only one glass gets washed around here these days; Erin only having wine a few days a week, which is cool though. Pitiful lament I know. But its the case so half bottle season it is! The Prunotto Occhetti Piedmont Nebbiolo d'Alba 2008 is all bells and whistles; its really everyhting you love about Nebbiolo, or Barolo for that matter, only its in a little bottle and perfect for one glass - 2 1/2 really. Chicken or the egg meets tomato/potato kind a thing if you get my drift.

Drink with juicy lamb chops
Drink till 2020
96
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $40ish Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick

Chalmers Murray-Darling Aglianico 2009

They call Aglianico (pronounced a-li-a-nico) the 'Barolo of the South', the south being Campania in Italy; around the bottom of the shin of the boot for those trying to place it. A big call yes, but when its good, its very schmick.

Change of time zone and we're in the Murray-Darling of NSW and in the very capable hands of the Chalmers family. These guys have been propagating cuttings from the old world for yonks, and it has been of recent that they have been takings these cuttings and making their own wine. The finished product is a ripper.

For today's post, that finished product id the Chalmers Murray-Darling Aglianico 2009. Plenty of red in the glass, the wine offers a great mix of red fruit and garden herbs - think a pot purri of dried sage, rosemary and friends. You are greeted by crisp acid and furry tannins up front which are followed with more red fruit and an almost medicinal finish, or orange acid blast as I wrote down. I don't know if its just me, but I get a whiff of iodine on the nose which translates to cough drop in the mouth; this is a good thing I reckon cos it displays what a unique variety this is, and not just a garden variety fruit bomb. This is definitely one to look for.

Drink with mushroom ragu
Drink till 2015
92
Diam cork 14%v/v $32

Belated Bastille Day 2010 - Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2002

Yes, I know I am a couple of days late for my Bastille Day entry, but I gotta’ tell you, I have been flat chat busy with work, family and yes, a Bastille Day celebration on Tuesday night at the NGV.

So without further ado, here is my 2010 Bastille Day post; Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2002. I picked this up a few years ago on www.langtons.com.au for a miserly $210 a bottle – just the one bottle I’m afraid – and sensibly put it aside in a dark place. And like so many things in life these days, I completely forgot I had it until about two months ago when I was searching for a bottle of Barolo and shabam, right before my eyes was this beauty (as to was the Barolo I was looking for).

To tell you the truth, I didn’t grab my note book and enter in my thoughts; instead I just savoured what an amazing wine this truly was. And that’s just it. I don’t remember it for being savoury or sappy or tart; I remember it just tasting absolutely gorgeous. That’s why this wine is the perfect example why people like you and me fork out handfuls of cash for single bottle treats. People find it hard to believe I would spend this much on a bottle of wine, but it was a bottle of wine like this that revealed its true power to a friend of mine about eight years ago.

The story was that this friend really did not like drinking sparkling wine – ergo champagne. He thought it was basically just soda water mixed with dry white wine. But it was the day he had a glass of Krug 1990, a truly magnificent wine that changed him forever. I still recall the look on his face when he sipped his first sip; his eyes widened, his jaw tensed and he was simply a changed man. Not 10 minutes after this experience, he turned to me and said, ‘You bastard. How can I go back and drink a beer or a shiraz now that I have had this’. And it’s true. Ever since then when I have gone over to his house, there in the fridge I will find a bottle of champagne; every time!

I do love my wine, and I do enjoy the good things in life, and the Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot is one of those good things. So, a salute to you France for making such beautiful, beautiful wine. Bravo!

And.....



Oui, je sais que je suis à quelques jours de retard pour mon entrée de la fête nationale, mais je gotta ' vous dire, j'ai été occupé par le travail, la famille et Oui, une célébration de la fête nationale mardi soir à la GMV plat chat.

Sans plus attendre, voici mon 2010 post fête nationale ; Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2002. J'ai ce capté quelques années sur www.langtons.com.au pour un avare de 210 $ par bouteille – juste une bouteille je crains – et judicieusement mettre de côté dans un endroit sombre. Et comme pour beaucoup de choses dans la vie de ces jours, j'ai complètement oublié je s'il avait jusqu'à environ deux mois lorsque j'étais recherche pour une bouteille de Barolo et shabam, droit devant mes yeux était cette beauté (qui était le Barolo je cherchais).

Pour vous dire la vérité, je n'a pas récupérer mon livre de note et entrez dans mes pensées ; je déguster plutôt juste quel un vin incroyable c'était vraiment. Et c'est juste. Je ne me souviens d'être savoureux ou sappy tart ; je me souviens il vient dégustation absolument magnifiques. C'est pourquoi ce vin est le parfait exemple, pourquoi les gens comme vous et moi, fourche hors handfuls de trésorerie pour seule bouteille traite. Gens du mal à croire je serait passer ce bien sur une bouteille de vin, mais il s'agissait d'une bouteille de vin comme cela qui a révélé son pouvoir de véritable à un ami à moi il y a environ huit ans.


L'histoire était que cet ami ne pas aime boire de vin mousseux – érgothérapie champagne. Il pensait que c'était fondamentalement juste soude eau mélangée avec un vin blanc sec. Mais c'était la journée qu'il avait un verre de 1990 Krug, un vin vraiment magnifique qui lui a changé pour toujours. Je me rappelle encore l'aspect sur son visage lorsqu'il sipped son premier sip ; ses yeux s'élargi, sa mâchoire tensed et c'était simplement un homme modifié. Pas de 10 minutes après cette expérience, il s'est tourné vers moi et dit, ' vous bâtard. Comment puis-je revenir en arrière et boire une bière ou un shiraz maintenant que j'ai eu cette '. Et c'est vrai. Depuis puis quand j'ai passée à sa maison, il dans le réfrigérateur va trouver une bouteille de champagne ; chaque fois !

J'aime la mon vin, je jouissent-ils les bonnes choses de la vie et le Jean Grivot Clos de Vougeot est l'un de ces bonnes choses. Donc, un hommage à France vous permettant de ces vins belle et magnifique. Bravo !

Terradavino Piedmont La Casa In Collina Barbaresco DOCG 2005

If you are living in Melbourne right now and not in a coma, you will have noticed how bloody cold it has been this month. Before I rant anymore I must add that I am a winter person with no real affection for anything north of about 28°C, but this current cold spell has me longing for Calypso cricket and my boardshorts. But this cold spell has had me in the kitchen cooking my world famous ‘Old Lady Stew’s’ (Thanks Pam). And when you have an ‘OLS’, you need a hearty wine; by gollies’ you do! The Terradavino Piedmont La Casa In Collina Barbaresco DOCG 2005 is just that wine.

First the stew. Now stew’s can pretty much take any veg and meat that you have hiding in the fridge and pantry. What makes the stew though, for me anyway, are the stock and the one or two additions that are not so garden variety. for this stew I used mushroom stock and some saffron.
Recipe:
1 tsp saffron threads
2 cloves
10 black peppercorns
5 cloves garlic
½ cup of chopped parsley
Sea salt
Olive oil
1 cinnamon stick
1½ kgs chuck steak
2 red capsicums, deseeded
2 onions, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
5 potatoes, cut into chunks
440gms of tinned tomatoes
½ bottle of red cooking wine

In a pestle, pound saffron, peppercorns, cloves, garlic, cinnamon stick and sea salt into a paste and transfer to a bowl with warm water. Heat oil in a large oven proof pot and fry off meat until browned then set aside. In same pot fry off cap, onions and carrots until soft. Return the meat to pot and add spice mix, wine and tomatoes and bring to boil them simmer for two and half hours. Sweet as a nut!


Now the wine. The Terradavino Piedmont La Casa In Collina Barbaresco DOCG 2005 is a 100% Nebbiolo from Piedmont and is quite often confused as a hoity-toity Barbera; not so. The Barbaresco area is strikingly similar to that of Barolo with soil, altitude, weather and grape all pretty much the same. It is in fact a very small zone, the production of which is about one third of its more famous neighbour on the other side of Alba.

In the glass this wine has a very deep garnet colour with an aroma packed with spice, red cherries and bacon. It is balanced beautifully in the mouth with elegant firm tannins, lively acidity and bright fruits ranging from currants to tart cranberry the longer in the glass. An absolute cracking wine and a fair dinkum Susan for this stew.

Drink with my saffron stew
Drink till 2017
93
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $28 from Mediterranean Wholesalers in Brunswick

Marcarini Piedmont Barolo La Serra 2001

Indulge me, it’s my birthday!

Barolo, you sexy beast, you. I first saw you on my travels to Italy when I was young and fanciful and only really liked two types of wine – red and white.

There I was, alone, vulnerable and staring into another empty glass of wine. That’s when you appeared. Dark and brooding, you stood tall and handsome in front of me with a stately world view, yet seemed too easy with a commonly rustic charm. Your breath was warm and savage; your scent strange yet wonderfully alluring. You came at me. It was strange and I was overwhelmed. What was this in front of me?

I was trapped. I wanted to run away but was somehow drawn back to your sweaty elegance. It was over; my lust could not be contained. Seconds seemed like hours, minutes turned into days – I had to have you, I had to have you now.

My Visa in hand I returned again and again. Soon I had nothing left. My craving for this ancient beast had left me with nothing but a hunger and a need for more. There was nothing left.

I decided then that the only noble and proper way to have my craving restored was to write a message in big letters on a white sheet and take myself down to Kennington to watch the annual AFL game and hold aloft my plea:

Send money now Mum!!!

And the wine, the Marcarini Piedmont Barolo La Serra 2001 - pure and utter perfection.

Drink till 2023

Drink with the curtains drawn and a little Barry White

100/100

Quality cork 13%v/v $90 five years ago

Top 10 Wines for 2009

Yes, it is the end of yet another year with 2009 over in a little over 48 hours; I think there is a definite correlation between how fast a year travels and how old you are. Anyway, with the end of my first year as a wine blogger, I thought it apt that I compile my ‘Top 10’ wines for this year. The judging of this is based on the ‘Decanter Top 100’ wines where it is not always the highest ranked wines that make No. 1 but the wines that have had the greatest impact. So without anymore dilly-dallying, here we have my Top 10 for 2009.

10. Pierro Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot ltCF 2005 – never been a big fan of this blend from Australia but this wine really stood up and slapped me bang on the nose; am now a convert and a fan. 96

9. M. Chapoutier ‘Deschants’ 1997 Saint-Joseph Marsanne – this was a wine that sort of got forgotten about in my cellar but turned out to be an absolute cracker. 95
8. Punt Road Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2006 – a surprise winner at The Bledisloe of Wine at The Point Albert Park this year during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. And to think, the Kiwi winemakers thought it was one of theirs - silly buggers. 93
7. Oakridge Yarra Valley 864 Chardonney 2006 – probably one of the best Chardonnays I have had from the Valley and I got it for $30 a bottle when I did vintage there in 2008. 98

6. Merricks Creek Mornington Close Planted Pinot Noir 2006 - the best Pinot Noir ever from the Peninsula and proof that when you believe in something, you give it plenty of time to become something special. 95
5. Ngeringa Adelaide Hills Syrah 2006 – a relative new comer to me but by no means a wall flower wine; the only wine that I have not blogged on so here are my concise findings. Heavy and dense colour with a little touch of leather coming through early but definitely not hiding the licorice all-sorts. More licorice in the palate with mouth smacking tannins that would be lovingly soaked up by a juicy rare rum steak purchased from North Carlton Butchers on Nicholson St Carlton; I scored this 97.


4. By Farr Geelong Shiraz 2007 – I still standby my comment that this is the best Shiraz in Australia, simple! 98
3. Pio Cesare Piedmonte Barolo 1997 – The reason I fell in love with Nebbiolo and the reason why wines like this need plenty of time in the bottle. 99
2. Felton Road Central Otago Block 3 Pinot Noir 2006 – one of the most perfect New World Pinot Noirs I have ever had. If you see one out there, grab it! 99


1. M. Sorrel ‘La Grael’ Hermitage 2001 – an absolute pleasure to drink this one with real elegance and how a wine made with shiraz grapes should taste like. 96

So there you have it, my 2009 retrospective. Tomorrow night I will compile my Top 10 Naughty wines, or more general, Top 10 wine moments for the past 10 years.

Toodaloo!

Pio Cesare Piedmont Barolo 1997

One of the best food wines I have ever had. The Pio Cesare Piedmont Barolo 1997 is an absolute monty for a Susan when paired up with osso bucco or cep risotto. An achingly dark colour with the nose throwing an abundance of roses, ripe strawberries, tart cherry, spice, earth and tar – busier than Bourke St mall in December! Even though it has 12 years on it, I would still decant this wine using a Pomerol decanter; this one has a very small egress as not to allow too much air contact with the wine. Thick tar on the palate with the acid still very relevant. A long, elegant finish with plenty of time left in this one – simply incredible!

Drink with osso bucco
Drink till 2025
99
Cork 13.5%v/v $$$$ from http://www.langtons.com.au/

Paesi Tuoi Piedmont Barolo DOCG 2003

Do me a favour; just humour me for a sec. You know the song they play at baseball games where it ends with, ‘Charrrrrge!!!’ When I first had this wine, all I that was happening in my head was the baseball Charge song, with ‘yum yum yum yum yum.....’ – It was a Kodak moment I guess. Anyway, that wine was the Paesi Tuoi Piedmont Barolo 2003, and it was fantastic!

Yet another find from Mediterranean Wholesalers on Sydney Road, this wine gave me everything I wanted for a very good price, for Barolo anyway. There is plenty of SO2 in this wine so give it a good decanting before drinking. The colour of this wine had a real deep red garnet to it, yet still had a subtle translucency with the onset of an orange hue. As I said, give it plenty of time in the decanter – it needs it, and after a while the nose shows plenty of dried apricot and tar. The palate is puckery dry with a very distinct cranberry tart flavour about it; lovely and long and very Nebbiolo. Mucho Fantastico!!

Drink with Corsican slow braised beef with papadelle
Drink till 2035
97
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $45 at Mediterranean Wholesalers.

Desert Island Wines on a rainy Brunswick Saturday morning....

At about 6.40am this morning, I was abruptly pulled away from my game of beach cricket with Sanath Jayasuria and Ian Healy; I do not know why these two cricketers were there, but I do know that Jayasuria is a bad sport, and for about $150 an hour someone will be able to explain the meaning of this dream. For now though, I will have to just let this one go through to the keeper you might say.

And it is now while I sitting in the kitchen looking out the back window and listening to the hum of the heater that my mind wanders back to the game of beach cricket. Not just content with the outcome of said game, I try to imagine what refreshments were available in the blurry distance, and it is here my mind again wanders further down the beach and tries to envisage what would comprise my desert island wine cellar.

Now like all good desert island wish lists, this one has a limit. I stopped it at four wines; aperitif, white, red and dessert. But four may not do the trick with the island menu changing with the seasons, so island management have allowed two of each.

So to kick it off we have two aperitifs:

Ruinart Rosé NV, Reims Champagne. Rosé is my favourite style of Champagne. There is so much to like about this wine with its big flavour, simultaneously showing restraint and elegance. The longer in the glass this wine offers subtle roundness with a lick of spice at the end. Enjoy this with oysters freshly shucked in a chilli and ginger dressing (all produce available on the island of course).
Romate Don José Oloroso, Jerez Spain. A sherry that can be either consumed sitting on the beach waiting to be rescued or with the fish stew that is bubbling away in your Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Lovely warmth and alcohol with a gamey end and the famous Oloroso mid palate disappearing trick.

I was a bit torn with my decision here. Yes I do love Chardonnay, but surely there is something else out there in white world that is befitting my island cellar. There wasn’t, so it is two Chardonnay’s, one new world, one old world.

Domaine Ramonet Montrachet, Burgundy France. You may be wondering, ‘why not the DRC Tim?’, and this is a good question, but the DRC to me is too tight and takes far too long to open up. Yes I know there isn’t much to do on the island, but the fresh whiting that is sizzling on the hot plate needs that citrus and liquorice powder straight away.
Giaconda Chardonnay, Beechworth Victoria. Australia’s King of Chardonnay – simple. To be enjoyed with braised Rockling in the cooler months when the Celsius gets down to as low as 28!!

The reds for me were a no brainer; one Pinot Noir and one Barolo.

Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges Victoria. It was inconceivable of me not to have any Bindi in the beach cellar, and Block 5 I think is the obvious choice. This wine consistently brings finesse and perfume to the glass with longevity one of its strong suits. Drink with pheasant or duck from the north side of the island (hey, it’s my island dream OK).
Vietti Rocche Barolo, Piemontese Italy. This wine is going to take a while to open up, so it is lucky I have plenty of Block 5. An exquisite wine with achingly gorgeous violet and tar held up with intense acid and savoury appeal. Have with the wild boar hunted from the islands interior.

To complete the cellar I have chose one fortified sherry and one Botrytis.

McWilliams Botrytis Semillon, Riverina NSW. A wine that has graced this blog already. A gorgeous wine to sip in front of the fire on the beach while enjoying orange and coconut crumble.
Romate Pedro Ximenez Sacrista Sherry, Jerez Spain. If it all gets too much being on your own and you just want to have a good cry, have a sip of this belter and you will quickly realise this is far too good to share. Super stuff!!

So there you have it. It is now raining harder in my backyard and Henry is in need of a nappy change. I think it only fitting that I put ‘Weezer’ on my iPod and listen to ‘Island in the Sun’

‘on an island in the sun, we’ll be playing and having fun,
and it makes me feel so fine I can’t control my brain...’


Cue end credits.

Melbourne's real 'Little Italy' - Mediterranean Wholesalers - 482 Sydney Road Brunswick

There is no mistaking the sounds and smells of Italy. When I first visited Italy in 1998, I spent the best part of three months working in Bardolino, a wine town on the eastern shores of Lake Gardi in the Veneto. When you live or work in Italy, there is a certain respect that needs to be heeded to the locals and local customs. In Bardolino, and I am sure in many other towns of Italy, it was that whatever was put in front of you was to be eaten or drunk – no questions. That spring I put on 5 kg’s while performing manual labour.

Every morning there was the unmistakable smell of coffee; the aroma was that robust that it would dead-set wake you up. Breakfast was generally a small affair (it was for me anyway) with everyone in the vineyard gearing themselves up for morning tea, or the Italian version of morning tea anyway. More coffee, cheese, ham – lots and lots of ham, salami and masses of bread. Lunch was generally grilled fish and dinner was huge.

Each evening the vineyard crew would sit down to what can only be described as a feast; pasta to start with, plates of olives, artichokes, sardines, anchovies, eggplant and a copious amount of other delicacies. Then there came more fish, braised lamb, plenty of veggies and then plenty of more other stuff – every night I tell ya! To finish off we would have a digestive; grappa, amore, strega – whatever and usually home-made.

Like I said, an extra 5 Kg’s.

10 years on and I am living in Brunswick (which we know) with my family and have sadly not been back to Italy since 1999. This brings us to Mediterranean Wholesalers on Sydney Road.

From the outside it’s just another Sydney Road facade, but as soon as you walk thru the doors the smells instantly transport you back to Italy. Everything, and I mean everything you want that is Italian and yum is here. EVERYTHING!!!

Coffee, pasta, cheese, salami, hams, lentils, anchovies, prosciutto, grappa, Barolo, Bardolino, canoli’s, bread, cake, sardines, tinned tomatoes, amore, beer, strega and even retsina. You know what, there’s even more.

Mediterranean Wholesalers is like Bunning’s – you go in there for some basil seeds and come out with three trailer loads of stuff that you don’t need, but hey, seemed like a good idea at the time.

Located at 482 Sydney Road, Mediterranean Wholesalers seems like it has been there forever. It is essentially split in too two areas – dry goods and deli area on the right and alcohol, coffee and bread on the left. The centre isle is essentially pasta heaven; any sort of pasta you can think of is here. The deli is down the back, but you already know this when you walk in from the scent of cheese and meat smallgoods. On the left there is a great assortment of wine, stuff that you will only find here, liqueurs, digestives and imported beers. And the beer is genuine, like the Stella Artois – this one is brewed in Belgium, not Sydney, and only $14 a six-pack – gold!

Also on the left is one coffee machine with one patrone behind the grips. You will not find any chai or soy or vanilla syrup. This guy makes coffee; cafe latte in the morning and espresso and macchiato in the afternoon. And if you get your daughter to ask nice, he will make a little hot chocolate for her.

Mediterranean Wholesalers is Italy in Melbourne. Lygon Street Carlton thinks it is Melbourne’s answer to Italy, but is so far off the mark when it comes to authenticity and quality. Mediterranean Wholesalers has the smell, or the stink - a really sweet stink, sound and soul of the Italy that I experienced 10 odd years ago (yeah yeah, I know it sounds corny).

By now you know I have a Birk rating for eateries. Now Mediterranean Wholesalers is not what you would call an eatery, but it has everything, so it is going to get a Birk – a gold one.

Buy your pasta there, buy your wine there and buy your cheese there. Just get there.