Red Wines from the Southern Hemisphere

Last week was the vernal equinox, the point in the year when the days are as long as the nights. This year, celebrate spring by drinking wines from the southern hemisphere. Below the equator, they are celebrating fall and looking forward to the cooler temperatures of winter. Here, we've got other things to look forward to: warm sunshine, the first cookouts of summer, the last pots of stew to keep the chill away during the spring rains. Red wines from Argentina and South Africa go well with all these foods and more, with their warm, spicy, fruity profile.

Here are my recommendations for very good QPR wines including a Malbec, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Shiraz-Pinotage Blend that will help you bridge from winter to spring to summer without missing a step.

2007 Bodega Septima Cabernet Sauvignon (suggested retail, $12; available for $7-$12) From Argentina, this luscious Cabernet has aromas of warm baking spices and currants, touched with herbal notes. The flavors are rich, too, with coffee and currants predominant. There is good acidity, and a juicy aftertaste. Drink now, or set aside for 12-18 months.

2008 Sebeka Shiraz-Pinotage "Cape Blend" (suggested retail, $7.99; available for $6-$8) This blend from South Africa features currant and plum aromas and flavors, accented with espresso and baker's chocolate. Like most red blends, it will pair nicely with a variety of foods including burgers, chili, and grilled chicken. Drink over the next 9 months.

2008 Diseño Malbec (suggested retail $7.50; available for around $9) Always a reliable choice in affordable Malbecs, this bottling has floral, blackberry, and truffle aromas. The blackberry and mocha flavors are silky in the mouth. At present the tannins are slightly drying, so give it some air if you're drinking it now or set it aside to drink over the next two years.

Full Disclosure: I received these wines as samples.

World Turned Upside Down? Time to Catch Up

Where did last month go? I don't know about you, but I'm totally upside down with work, work, family, and more work. (photo by Capture Queen)

Hope you are all fully recovered from the festivities of the Thanksgiving season. Lots of you were anxious about wine right up to the day before the Big Dinner, and I hope that you enjoyed whatever you picked. If you want to spy on what others popped and poured, it's always fun to stop by CellarTracker and see what the members there drank on the day. Looks like Pinot Noir was once again the winner among red wines, and Chardonnay was on top among whites.

Over the past few weeks I've been doing a bit of this and a bit of that, wine wise. Some of what I've done doesn't lend itself too well to GWU$20--I've been drinking bottles I've purchased in wine clubs or stores that cost more than $20. I've had some great wine--like the NV Cedric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Brut Inflorescence Val Vilaine (domaineLA, $61.99) which was a stunning example of Champagne. I loved its beautiful balance, the fine bead, and the delicate, clean flavors of pear and brioche. I also popped the cork on my 2006 Eric Kent Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Stiling Vineyard ($32.75 from the wine club; available online for $29-$50)I tasted it from a barrel sample in summer of 2007, and it was still a bit young to drink even now. It deserves a few more years in the bottle to further integrate its blackberry, clove, black tea, and vanilla flavors and aromas.

I've also been pulling wines out of the cellar that I purchased some time ago, like the bottle of Cameron Hughes Lot 38 Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. I got it from the winery in the summer of 2007 for $20, and it's still drinking beautifully, exhibiting aromas and flavors of cherry and baker's chocolate. There is less cedar now than when I opened my first bottle in March 2008, but additional fruit notes (blackberry, mostly) have emerged. Another summer of 2007 purchase that I opened this month was the 2005 Handley Gianoli Ranch Zinfandel ($21.40, winery; 2007 vintage now available for $25). It was even better now than it was when I tasted and purchased the wine, with delicious layers of black raspberry and boysenberry notes in the aromas and flavors. There was a peppery spice that played counterpoint to a candied apple note in the midpalate, both of which kept the wine lively and fresh tasting, as did the cool, menthol notes in the finish. Both bottles were nice reminders that cellaring wine--even relatively inexpensive wine--can be a sound investment in terms of taste.

A few exciting new bottles have made an impression on me, too. Chief among them was the 2008 Ludwig Winery Dry Gewürztraminer Dry Single Vineyard Selection from Monterey County (domaineLA, $14) It's been a while since I've been truly excited by a Gewurztraminer, so I'm thrilled with the excellent QPR on this bottle. Layered aromas and flavors of mango, peach, white flowers, and a bit of vanilla bean gift a lift of clementine and apple in the midpalate. It was excellent with spicy Asian food. And I was delighted by the 2008 Mustilli Piedirosso Sannio (sample from Domenico Selections; contact importer for more information)--and reminded how much I love this grape from Campania. The pure, clear Bing cherry notes in the aromas and palate had herbal and floral notes flitting around the edges. Relatively light in body, it's sure to appeal to fans of Gamay and Sangiovese--and it's perfect with spaghetti and meatballs!

Full Disclosure: with the exception of the Mustilli bottle, which was a sample, I purchased all of the bottles described here.

Friday Nights IN: Steak House at Your House

Friday Nights IN is a regular feature at GWU$20 that's intended to trim a few dollars from your entertaining budget by replacing a meal out with a meal in. Some suggestions are dinners for four, six, eight, or even ten. Some are for romantic dinners for two. And some suggestions are perfect for when you need time to yourself!

There is no meal idea greeted more warmly in my house than "Steak House at Our House." For a fraction of the cost involved in going out to a nice steakhouse, you can have a splendid feast at home. And of course nothing goes as well with steak as a juicy, red wine.

The Recipe: this is less a recipe than a list of shopping suggestions, which you should scale according to how many people will be joining you for dinner.

Steak--about 6 oz per person. We prefer New York cuts or rib eyes, but whatever you like to eat is of course fine. Grilled, broiled, or pan-fried, the steak will make the most carnivorous guests happy.

Potatoes--we either eat a baked potato, done properly, in the oven with sour cream and chives, or I heat up some frozen Alexia Sweet Potato Fries. It is a draw in our house which is better, although at the moment the verdict is tipping towards the fries.

Sides--this is really up to you but some of the sides we enjoy are sliced tomatoes and red onions sprinkled with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper; grilled asparagus; sauteed mushrooms; and green beans. Plan on at least one side, but two side dishes never seems to cause complaint.

Salad--if ever there was a moment for iceberg lettuce, this is it. Serve wedges of iceberg lettuce and an appropriately 1970s salad dressing like Thousand Island, Blue Cheese, or Green Goddess. If you must be trendy, go with a simple toss of baby arugula with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. And if you really have to do it, Caesar Salad will also work but I think it's a bit much with everything else in this dinner.

The Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon is the classic choice here, but it can be difficult to find a truly affordable Cabernet that is drinkable straight out of the bottle without any aging or fooling around with decanters. Instead, try a Cabernet Sauvignon blend like the 2006 Wolf Blass Shiraz-Cabernet (sample; available for $8-$14). When you blend some Syrah (43%) into the Cabernet (57%), you get a very good QPR wine that is lush and bright straight out of the bottle. This blend is distinctive for its pronounced aromas of eucalyptus, mint, and red fruits. The flavors are in the bright, red category (pomegranate and cranberry), accompanied by some chalky mineral notes. There is a freshly mint and herbal aftertaste.

The wine will be perfect with the rich, full-bodied meat and the variety of side dishes that you prepare to go with it. Enjoy!

Decanting Old Wine: the '99 Mount Langhi Ghiran Shiraz

A few weeks ago I decanted a young red, and led you through the steps necessary to get your young, tight red to open up and strut its stuff. Today, I'm going to show you my efforts to decant an older red. I should admit at the outset that I made a huge boo-boo (see below, step #4). So take this as not only a step-by-step guide of what to do, but also a reminder of what NOT to do.

The wine up for decanting was a 1999 Mount Langhi Ghiran Shiraz that I purchased, complete with authentic cellar dust, from Garagiste back in September for $19.99. You can't get the wine from them anymore, but you can get your hands on a bottle from the auction market for between $30 and $40. I've never had a Shiraz this old, and the early notes on CellarTracker were all over the place--it was still tight, it was over the hill, etc. One thing was clear: it had sediment.

Sediment is common in older wines and it is the primary reason most people decant them. Wines that are old have already opened up in the bottle, and are showing subtle flavor complexities that are not apparent when the wine is young. So in the case of older wines, you don't necessarily want to open them hours ahead of time and let them sit in a decanter. This can expose the wine to so much air that it dulls the flavors. Instead, you want to decant a bit before serving in order to remove sediment and to give it a chance to breathe just a little bit.

First things first: the morning of Decantation Day, set the bottle upright, so that any sediment in the bottle has a chance to settle into the bottom. Put it in a cool, dark place. Then, when you are about 20-30 minutes from drinking it, begin to decant the wine.

1. Gather equipment. This is still a good idea, since it puts everything you need within arms reach. Here's we see corkscrew, foilcutter, wine (complete with dust, for those with sharp eyes), decanter, funnel, and the screen that will help catch sediment.

2. Inspection time. Open the bottle, checking the cork for signs of damage which can indicate the wine is flawed. Pour yourself a bit, and take a taste to make sure it isn't corked or over the hill. You can tell if it's corked because it will smell like moldy newspaper. You can tell if it's over the hill if the flavors are completely flat (don't get me started on the white Chateauneuf-du-Pape that I forgot I had and which was undrinkable by the time I found it--but trust me, you'll know if this has happened). Good news here: the wine was lovely, bright and complex. I did feel it would benefit from some time in the air, so I decided to let it sit for 45 minutes because in my experience, this wine--for all its age--really was still just a bit tight and coiled.

3. Decantation time. Put the screen in the funnel, and the funnel in the decanter. Gently start pouring the wine through the screen. This is not the time to bottoms-up the bottle, or all the sediment will come out and the point of the exercise will be lost.

4. Stop pouring before you reach the sediment -- because sometimes, sediment is fine. In this case, I merrily poured my bottle, and the wine was a beautiful true garnet in color, and I thought "what's all this sediment everybody keeps talking about?" That's when the dregs of the wine hit the funnel, the abundance of fine sediment hit the screen--and went straight through. This rendered the wine a cloudy purple--not what I was hoping for. It didn't make the wine gritty, or spoil the taste, but the sediment did detract from the wine's aesthetic beauty. If you've ever seen an old movie where a butler pours a wine into a decanter with a candle behind the bottle, this is why: so you can see when you are getting to the sediment and STOP POURING. (bad shot of fine sediment clinging to bottle, but you see my point). So you lose a little wine.

5. Enjoy--even if you got some sediment in there despite your best efforts. What did the wine taste like after decanting? It was unlike any other Aussie Shiraz I've ever had: powerful but with balance and finesse. Aromas and flavors of deep plum, smoke and sandalwood kept this wine interesting all the way down to the very last drop. The sandalwood was particularly nice, and hinted at things old and rare. We had the wine with grilled rib-eyes and all the fixings, but given its complexity I think it would have been even better with lamb, as it would have been more softly suited to the wine.

For just under $20, this was very good QPR, especially for those who don't like the sensation of being hit over the head with a mallet when they open an Australian Shiraz. Given this experience, I will be tempted to let some of my reds from Down Under age just a bit longer in my cellar.

Red, White, and Tasty All Over

If you think there is something weird about blending red and white wine, think again. As I've mentioned before on GWU$20, I love the mixture of shiraz or syrah and viognier that produces wines that have all of syrah's spiciness, but with floral aromas and a silky quality. And I'm not the only one to like wines that are red, white, and tasty all over. Gary Vaynerchuk is a big fan, too, and you can watch him tasting a few shiraz-viognier wines over at Wine Library TV.

The 2002 Maxwell Four Roads Shiraz-Grenache-Viognier was a lovely example of what makes these red-white blends so appealing. ($14.95, Chronicle Wine Cellar; between $18 and $25 from other merchants) Maxwell Vineyards is a family-owned and operated vineyard in the McLaren Vale region of Australia that was started in 1979. They are well known for being the largest producer of mead--fermented honey wine--in the Southern Hemisphere. But they make excellent grape wine, too, as this bottle proves. (picture of 2003 bottle for reference; the 2002 label does not have the grenache mentioned on the label but it is in the wine nonetheless)

When you open this wine you might be taken aback by the smell of apricots along with spicy red fruit. But you'll find that the flavors are more familiar to red wine lovers, and are based on the varietal characteristics of shiraz and grenache: blackberry, red raspberry, and peppery spice. All of these flavors are wrapped up in a silky package, with the viognier bringing not only enticing apricot aromas but a nice lift to the wine when you hold it in your mouth. The flavors weren't hugely persistent, as they are with many Australian shirazes, but the wine is so bright and lively that I found it irresistible nonetheless. Very good QPR at under $15, and even if you have to pay more I suspect you will agree. What to have with your red-white wine? Thai beef curry, a spicy beef stir-fry, or even a bowl of chili would be perfect.

I should note that some of Maxwell's Four Roads from the 2002 vintage were bottled under Stelvin closures and some under cork; my bottle was under a cork. If anyone has has the screw-top bottle, I would be interested to know if you found the viognier even more apparent in either the aromas or flavors. But under screw top or cork, I think you will really enjoy this tasty and affordable red wine from Down Under.

A Heroic Wrap-Up of an Epic WBW #30

In case you don't know yet, Tim Elliot's pipes burst right over his wine cellar which required some hasty use of saws and soldering irons, resulting in not only a hole in his cellar ceiling, but a smoldering rafter fire.

Despite this (face it, it would have been enough to send most of us straight into the wine cellar for vino!), he managed to pull together a wrap-up for last week's Wine Blogging Wednesday on New World Syrah that boasted the largest turnout in WBW history.

Head on over to Winecast for links to all 50 (not a typo) reviews of 70 (not a typo) wines ranging from $10 to $80, including:

38 Syrah
30 Shiraz
1 Grenache/Syrah
1 Mourvedre

From the following regions:

3 Argentina
27 Australia
25 California
1 Canada
5 Chile
1 New Zealand
3 South Africa
5 Washington State

I think that all these great write-ups from fellow wine lovers and bloggers will keep us rolling in shiraz and syrah for the foreseeable future. Thanks to Tim at Winecast, our fearless leader who bravely continued despite utter mayhem at home, and to all those who participated by sending in their notes. As soon as the theme for WBW #31 is posted, I'll be sure to announce it here.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #30 Announced

Join host Tim Elliott from Winecast for the next edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday on February 7, 2007. On that day, bloggers throughout the world will be sampling New World Shiraz/Syrah and writing up their reviews.

I've developed something of a serious Syrah addiction over the past few months as I find that the prices are very reasonable, the quality is high, the taste is delicious, and they are easy to pair with a wide variety of foods. Just a few days ago I posted a review of a Chilean Syrah (and a great mac and cheese recipe from John at Brim to the Dregs, in case you missed it!), so I'll have to hit the cellar and stores again to find another likely contender.

Full details, with Tim's guidelines and instructions for how to get your information to him before the roundup, can be reached by clicking on the highlighted text. Don't have a blog? No problem, you can just email Tim your tasting note and he'll post them in the roundup. After a few months of intriguing and challenging WBWs, it's a nice to have a change of pace and return to a simple varietal assignment. See you all back here on February 7, if not before.

2003 Kangarilla Road Shiraz

Foods that warm up the house and everyone in it are highly desirable on the Sonoma Coast in November. Stews, things baked in the oven, roasts--all fit the bill perfectly. We decided on a beef stew with a twist for dinner, an unusual Singapore-influenced curried beef stew from Cooking Light. It starts with an aromatic paste made of green onions, orange juice, ginger, jalapenos, and other sweet and spicy ingredients. After long, slow simmering the beef, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, celery, and carrots are tender, the whole house smells delicious, and you're sitting down to a perfect early winter meal.

What to serve with it? I love shiraz or syrah wines with stews, and even though this had some oriental influences to it, I felt that the opulent fruitiness of an Australian shiraz would be perfect. We opened the 2003 Kangarilla Road Shiraz to go with dinner ($14.99, Costco). It is still widely available throughout the country, based on my internet search. I purchased this wine in March and it's been stashed away in our cool, dark windowseats ever since.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the right shiraz for this meal. It looked like a shiraz--deep inky purple--and even smelled like a shiraz with blackberry and earthy aromas but it drank like a grenache. This is an austere red, and on the mouth there are tastes of dusty and brambly black fruits, spice, and smoke. There is a real pucker of tannins in the finish, but I wasn't convinced that this would become smoother or rounder over time. Instead, I think it is what it is--and what it's likely to become.

This wine would be much better with grilled meats or even barbeque than with a stew. I don't think it would do well with tomato-based dishes, either, which is often a good match for syrah/shiraz wines. Because the varietal characteristics were a bit skewed on this wine, and given its cost, this gets a rating of good QPR. If you like grenache, however, and find shiraz too fruity for your tastes, this would be a good option for you.