Saturday bliss

Marintaed white anchovies from Gervasi on Sydney Rd. From the pen of Jon Bon Jovi, they are slippery when wet and washed down with a beer too boot! Just bliss.

Tommy Ruff Barossa Valley Shiraz Mourvédre 2009 and a very, very long weekend

It’s almost over. The longest long weekend in living memory is as good as done. After what seemed an eternity in the car driving back from Aireys Inlet and a detour through Footscray thanks to some dopey cement truck driver on the Bolte Bridge lost his load and closed it both ways on one of the busiest ‘coming home’ days in, as I said, living memory.

Yes it was rough. So while sitting in traffic just out of Geelong I was thinking about wines that have been, well rough, and the wine that could double as a traffic snarl is the Tommy Ruff Barossa Valley Shiraz Mourvédre 2009. Now don’t get me wrong, this is a very good wine, but without decanting or food, this wine will be seen as nothing but mouth torture. Made by Tom Shobbrook – bit of a favourite for me right now – from fruit coming from Western Barossa, this wine is pure and simply a food wine. Deep crimson in the glass and a brooding mix of ash, dust and brambly fruit, it is in the palate that this bad boy hits its straps. Tonnes of tannin and acid with olive tapenade and licorice more than plentiful; it’s by no means a JABS, but it does need respect.

So there you go. A belter, but just keep it out of the right lane OK; needs plenty of time in the left side of the highway.

Happy Easter and of course, lest we forget.

Drink with bloody rib eye
Drink till 2014
93
Screwcap 14.5%v/v $30 Seddon Wine Store, Victoria St Seddon

For Nick - Scorpo Mornington Peninsula Noirien Pinot Noir 2010

In my last post I had a request for more dirty laundry and sub 80 wine scores. The dirty laundry bit I guess is something that needn't be aired; I'm trying to build a wine business, not torpedo it. The sub 80 wines; for me it’s, "if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all." But what I can do Nick is 'near sub 80' scores. And with that we have another tag line. Hooray!

So Nick, you’re in luck. In going through my ‘wine photos’ file this morning I have come across quite a few wines that fit in to the 'near sub 80', and here is where we kick it off. The Scorpo Mornington Peninsula Noirien Pinot Noir 2010. I reckon I have bypassed this wine at Dan’s a good dozen times; don’t know why, just never reached out for it I guess. So on the occasion I do grab it the realisation of why I didn’t grab it is there in spades.

In the glass the wine is almost rosé in appearance and the nose has an instant hit of strawberry. And that’s it. The palate mimics the nose with primary strawberry and what I believe is a relatively high residual sugar dose – very sweet. Once again I look at the wine and ask myself whether it’s supposed to be a rosé; dunno is all I’ve got.

There you have it Nick, one for you.

Drink with minute steak
Drink now
near sub 80
Screwcap (I think) 13.5%v/v $25 Dan Murphy’s Coburg

Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007

This is the best Central Otago Pinot Noir I have had for years! The Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 has all the characteristics of a pinot noir that hasn't been made in CO; it's got finesse, thus lacking in CO; it's got super fine tannins holding up elegant and tart fruit, something CO pinot noir has lacked I believe due to the warm to hot growing conditions towards the end of vintage. But it's all objective right, and I'm just a blogger who hasn't any idea what they are talking about. So says the sommelier-come-wine maker (sic) in their email to me earlier this week; but I'm not going to air my dirty laundry in this medium.

Geez, where did that come from! Anyhoo, the wine. Dirty red in the glass with a wonderful and secondary waft of aroma's floating up; brown spice, toffee with a touch of tart cranberry; wonderful and long in the palate with the acid still holding everything together with ease. A super wine, but very rare in Melbourne.

Drink with BBQ quail
Drink till 2017+
97
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $50 Tony's Cellars, Ryde NSW www.surveyorthomson.co.nz

Canella Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore and Justin Bieber

I just cannot believe the hype. Didn't really want to in the first instance (I am a champagne lush didn't you know). Prosecco. All the rock stars are doing it right now. I just can't subscribe unfortunately. The Canella Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG is almost off-bone in clarity, almost translucent actually. The bead is quite effervescent with an almost violent rush from bottom to top - bit like a Justin Bieber crowd sighting their idol. Wow, a Justin Bieber reference! Anyway, the wine in the mouth is dull - just like Justin Bieber's music! Ha Ha.

We will try again. The palate is clean and simple and lifeless; quite briny actually. And that is what remains. Dull briny fizzy stuff - no Justin Bieber references sorry.

Just to prove that I am not a Justin Bieber fan I'm listening to Radiohead's new album, 'The King of Limbs', with 'Morning Mr Magpie' now playing.

Drink with popcorn
Drink now
80
Cork 11%v/v $25 Blackheart and Sparrows Brunswick

One last thing. Thats not Justin Bieber in the background, thats my son Henry. He to does not suffer from the 'Bieber Fever' also.

Cheerio

Hào Phong, 136 Hopkins St Footscray

Its 7.30ish on Monday night. So of course I’m in the study typing out a post. Not only is ‘Glee’ on, but it’s on Oprah; Glee and Oprah – TV gold, yeah-nah!

So as I said, I’m in the study and writing a post. Something about wine; like before – yeah-nah. Instead of wine I think, how about food. In just 94 days, me and the family will be heading north to sweaty Vietnam for a 22 day trek from south-to-north. To get everyone ‘tummy-ready’ we have decided to go nuts on Vietnamese food. So first stop Footscray!



With a recommendation we head to Hào Phong on Hopkins Street -136 to be precise. On our way there we see another Vietnamese restaurant that has a few people inside (no Vietnamese – what was I thinking) so we chanced our arm. Big mistake. Looking down the menu read of the best from the 70’s & 80’s – beef and black bean, sweet and sour pork, Mongolian beef. Just to be safe we thought we’d order some rice paper rolls. The reply, ‘sorry, they have not defrosted yet’. You can imagine the awkward silence. With our apologies we bidded our farewell and legged it to Hào Phong. It was only 5.45pm.


We arrive for the second time and manage to get a table for 4. Ten minutes later there is a line at the door – good timing. The menu’s come and it looks awesome – AWESOMELY AWESOME!!!! And if you’re wondering, there are no photos of food, just us eating it!

We order in 10minutes and it as follows:

• 1. Prawn and chicken rice paper rolls $7.00 for 4
• 10. Satay chicken on skewers, or chicken on a stick for my 2 year old son Henry - $4.50 for 2
• 99. BBQ pork with vegetables with plum sauce - $13.80
• 141. Scallops with ginger and shallots - $19.80
• 1. Prawn and chicken rice paper rolls $7.00 for 4 …. again
• Special - Shallow fried soft shelled crab - $18.80 for 4. That’s right, 4!!!!

Not a rice dish in sight I tell ya! All this and a bottle of Tsing Tao beer. The bill arrives and we are $88 lighter – plus tip.



There’s only 94 days to go but I can bet you we will be back a few times before we head off. And I would book. As I said, by 6pm there was a line. What a place!!

Hào Phong is my 1st ‘Hooters chicks with Birks’ rating


Where – 136 Hopkins Street Footscray 9689-8373

By the way, thanks Ronnie for the recommendation. Bisou Bisou!

Clonakilla Murummbateman Syrah 2006 and Ryan Giggs

Oh the joys of luxury!!

Just imagine if your wage represented $250,000 a week! Just think of all of the goodies you could get your hands on:

• A new pair of undies everyday
• A house far away from the northern suburb hoons
• Your own private carriage on the Dandenong line
• No more ‘home brands’ in the shopping trolley
• Lots of super wine!

Yes it is lovely to imagine all the things you could do with all that cash. Ryan Giggs would know. He’s been on that coin for a long, long time. And rightly so I say. Possibly one of the best players of his generation, and that generation has been going since 1991 when he made his senior debut with Manchester United. So that not only makes him one of the best in his generation but in also the two subsequent generations that have followed, and he just signed on for the 2011-12 season. Silky skills, super temperament, born leader; just a few qualities the hairy one has.

Now if Ryan Giggs was a wine he would undoubtedly be the Clonakilla Murrumbateman Syrah 2006. Simply a wine of its generation with very few peers. Gorgeously long on the nose and also in the palate with licorice, white pepper and subtle hints of tart red fruit. This is almost like the question of what came first – the chicken or the egg. Either way these two have, and will, outlast the completion.

Drink with steak tartare
Drink till 2020+
98
Quality cork 14%v/v $60 mailing list back in 2008