Clonakilla Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2009

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
― John Keats, Endymion: A Poetic Romance

Not knowing how long forever may be, the Clonakilla Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2009 was, and will be no doubt, a thing of beauty. Opened and finished last Saturday night, all I could write was 'majestic'. You're a good egg Mr. Kirk. More beauty please.

Drink with something stonkingly good
Drink till 2025+
100/100
Screwcap 14%v/v $105 Seddon Wine Store

Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2008

Its Australia Day. Happy Australia Day everyone, and to celebrate its going to be this real Aussie classic, not the formulaic Ben Folds wines; play on words if you know what I mean. The Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2008 will be opened when I get home tonight, but lets re-visit from about three months ago.

Deep red in the glass. The nose is full of soft tart red fruit, red licorice and subtle dried herbs. The palate is a kaleidoscope of ink, violets, faint spice, milk chocolate, game; just keeps going - the sip that never quits! Almost Burgundian in finish. Remarkable wine!

Drink with Haute Aussie BBQ while listening to Cold Chisel
Drink till 2020+
99
Screwcap 14%v/v $$$$

Eden Road Canberra/Hilltops ‘The Seedling’ Shiraz 2009

There is one thing I have found since acknowledging my addiction to wine, and that’s that it is arbitrary. What I think is great, someone else will think is shite. Bit like one persons terrorist is another ones freedom fighter. So wine is arbitrary; just remember that The Princely one next time you have a whack at me!

So, where was I? Yes, the Eden Road Canberra/Hilltops ‘The Seedling’ Shiraz 2009. Quite simply a ripper. Plenty of blackberry and cheery and juice and just a little bit of acid and ever so polite tannins. The best thing though it is $15. $15? Yep, $15. Baaaaarrrgggainnn. It’s a steal, and the best thing is it is not trying to be Cornas or Hermitage or whatever Jonny Rock n’ Roll is waffling on about. It’s just a great wine. And its $15!!

There you go; wine is arbitrary. If you want to go and lick coconut skins then do it. Thats arbitrary too.

Drink with a lamb burger
Drink till 2014
92
Screwcap 14%v/v $15 Blackheart & Sparrows, Fitzroy North

Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2008 and Marco van Basten

Pedigree. In all aspects of life, pedigree is a major factor to getting it right! Pedigree is raw talent that is moulded from something into something!! But pedigree comes from somewhere; as stated in The Concise Macquarie Dictionary – pedigree /’pɛdəgri/, an ancestral line, or line of descent, esp as recorded: lineage.

Pedigree. It’s where you come from. Just like the Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2008 with Bryan Martin at the helm. And where did Bryan Martin come from (and still works with)? Clonakilla and Tim Kirk. It is safe to say that Tim Kirk is Australia’s main man when it comes to the Côte-Rôtie blend and Bryan Martin has obviously been watching Tim over the years to with his 2008 wine one of the best local Shiraz Viognier’s I have drunk. A lovely mix of fruit and savoury aromas and flavours define this wine with chalky tannins holding it altogether; there’s also a hint of green in the form of eucalyptus, but it is the dark and brooding flavours of olive tapenade and subtle brown spice that keeps me heading back to Dan’s for this gem.

Now if the Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2008 was a footballer, I would suggest that it would come in the form of Holland’s Marco van Basten. Discovered by the Godfather of Dutch football, Johan Cryuff, van Basten was thrust into AFC Ajax Amsterdam as a 19 year old and dominated the centre forward position there until his departure to the powerhouse AC Milan in 1987. It was the following year in the 1988 European Championship where is flower blossomed by not only being the top scorer in the completion, but also being a member of the winning nation and scoring quite possibly the best volley ever. EVER!

Bryan Martin/Tim Kirk:Marco van Basten/Johan Cryuff. Its kismet baby!

Drink with calves livers
Drink till 2015
94
Screwcap 14%v/v $30 Dan Murphy’s Coburg

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

I made it myself!

I love cooking. I also love plating up food the way it should look on a plate – simple and super gorgeous, and not just plating up since George and Gary and the hairy cravat said it was cool.

I love cooking and this is what I did when Henry was sleeping and Imogen was at Grandma and Papa’s house:

‘Twice cooked chicken on roasted lemon peepers with smoked garlic and chilli glaze’ - it needs another colour and bigger font because, as George would say, it was the hero of the blog!
So good Erin wanted it two nights in a row - so we did! Oh yeah, we also had a lovely bottle of Clonakilla Canberra Districts Riesling 2009, but I’m not going to talk about the wine because it will only steal the spotlight from my chicken dish, so tonight the wine is going off Broadway. That and it has been blogged by about 30 or so bloggers – no offence Mr. Kirk.

Spirituality and Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

Spirituality is important in our busy modern world. With over 6 billion people crammed on to this rock, we all need to have our quiet time of peace and reflection. I take my lead from the Wino-sapien and share with you three items that are currently stabilising my inner peace.

How to see yourself as you really are – His Holiness, Dalai Lama; this is something I picked up last year when my career was heading south, with one passage having very real meaning:
‘A person whose mind is distracted dwells between the fangs of afflictive emotions.’

This is a nice segue for Hurry up and Meditate – David Michie; a very user friendly book to the art of blocking out all the shit and focusing on all that is good:
‘Once we accept that body and mind form a systemic whole, the idea of focusing all our attention on only one part of the system - the body – while excluding the other – the mind - seems more than just a little crazy.’

This leads us to my Clonakilla allocation that arrived yesterday – peace and harmony people!

Even Keel Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2006

Sighhhh. That feels better.

With number one child about 70 km away with the grandees, number two child gradually getting used to falling asleep not in my arms, but in his cot, a glass of wine on the go and other stuff leisurely falling in to place I can sit down in our cluttered study and not be disturbed while writing this blog. Just listen to the peace.

Anyhoo, on with the wine. Now after such a rousing introduction it would be remiss off me to write about something that is just plain nice. So here is the Even Keel Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2006. A belter it is!!

Based down in the Mornington Peninsula, Samuel Coverdale has got 4 hectares under vine on Red Hill, but it is not only from here where he gets his fruit. With a large net, Simon sources his fruit from all over the east coast; Orange, Clare Valley, Tumbarumba and of course the Canberra District.

The wine is a very dense red/purplish colour with a sort of crimsonish hue. The nose is a lovely marriage of savoury chocolate and apricot, with neither of them dominating the olfactory. In the mouth this wine has many identities with lovely grainy fine tannins up front and a great whack of acid which tells us that this wine will develop very nicely indeed. Once the acid blows off a bit, the apricot comes back in the guise of apricot crumble, very rich and very long – sexy stuff this one!!

Wonderful balance, huge length and a real complex hit of spices and perfume, this wine will please time and again for a few years to come. Mucho fantastico!!

Again, sexy stuff this one!!

Drink till 2018
Drink with Joue de bœuf
18.7/20
Screwcap $29