Barry Weinman: 3rd February 2022
Drinking wine during a hot Australian summer can be a challenging experience. The wines can heat up quickly, leaving the whites tasting flat and unexciting and the reds overblown, flabby and alcoholic.
There is no easy solution, and care needs to be taken to keep the wines at an appropriate temperature. Whites are fairly easy. Small amounts can be served cold from the fridge and allowed to warm up a little in the glass while drinking, with the bottle returned to the fridge to stay cool.
Reds are more challenging, as I prefer to drink my red wines at 18 – 20 degrees. A wine left on an outdoor table or kitchen bench may well be too warm to support an optimal drinking experience. So I have a few solutions that I turn to.
The simplest is to pop the red into the fridge for 30 minutes before serving small amounts and keep returning it to the fridge periodically. My preference however is to pop a decanter into the fridge for a few hours and then decant the wine (taken from the cellar at 18 degrees) prior to serving.
Again, small pours are helpful, and returning the decanter to the fridge may be required from time to time.
Then again, we could all just drink delicious sparkling Shiraz!
Sparkling Shiraz is a wine style that I tend to overlook when I am choosing a wine to drink. Memories of overly sweet commercial wine has embedded the notion that they are a difficult wine to match with food.
Fortunately, there are a number of serious sparkling Shiraz on the market that are dry enough to enjoy with food, yet still drink brilliantly on their own.
Below are a few of the panel’s picks from a recent sparkling Shiraz tasting that we held. The styles varied, but the quality was uniformly high. And the best part is that these wines are not particularly expensive given the care and attention they receive.
Happy drinking!
Reviewed
Faber – Noir de Noir – Shiraz – 2017. This is more serious and structured, with dense Shiraz fruit with real depth and power (liquorice, plum, cherry cola). The well-judged residual adds to the package. A complex, serious wine that just happens to be sparkling. 93pts – N/A.
Mitchell – Sparkling Peppertree – Shiraz – NV. Black olive is a defining feature here. Dense, powerful, impactful… Redolent of mint slice (chocolate), with excellent length. Despite the dosage, this feels quite dry, the inclusion of 8-year-old fortified Shiraz in the dosage adding depth. Most impressive and enjoyable, and a very distinctive wine. 93pts – $45.
Seppelt – Original Sparkling – Shiraz – NV. The aromatic fruit here is clearly cooler spectrum, with red berry fruit to the fore. The palate is pretty, fresh and vibrant, with well-judged dosage. Not the most complex wine in the tasting, but this is great drinking and good value to boot. 93pts – $25.
Sittella – Sparkling Shiraz – NV. The colour here is notably lighter. The key feature here is the fresh, bright fruit that is balanced by refreshing acidity and texturing tannins. Not the driest wine in the tasting, but well balanced and a most enjoyable drink. 90pts – $35.
St Hallett – Black – Shiraz – NV. Dark fruit in the cherry and plum spectrum. This is drying, savoury and delicious., with the medium weight fruit adding to the enjoyment. Good length, modest dosage and a touch of bottle age make for a great drink. 92pts – $50.