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My tastebuds, sense of smell, liver damage and gut grew up and out over many courses of Barossa Shiraz. I had put myself on a two year break on purchasing Shiraz yet occasionally one pops up that is hard to go past. The Hemera Shiraz 2012 is all that I love about wine without the cricket bat assertiveness of some of it’s big ass Barossa neighbours. The wine is as comfy as a pair of fleecy trackies. I like rocking out in a new shirt or jeans but the comfort of the tracksuit pant is beyond measure. It makes you feel at home…if home is place where no one else is around putting demands on your time, energy or attention. Run DMC rocked out in casual adidas tracksuits because they could. I rocked out the Hemera Shiraz 2012 because I could. While in the cinema watching Brad Pitt in the movie Fury, I just happened to have a bottle with me and a plastic cup from the ‘candy store’. The nose is plummy, blueberry and the palate has dark cherries and chocolate with silky

I was making a baked chicken dish and cracked a bottle of the Tyrrells Pokolbin Semillon 2008. The wine is six years old and it looks like it will go another sixteen. The lime on the nose and high acidity on the palate suggests you can put a six pack down for your unborn grand children. It was a little tight and green when it was first opened straight out of the fridge. However, the ten degrees of extra warmth opened up the wine and the palate became beautifully elegant with a long finish. The chicken fillet, sliced in half and filled with fontina, thinly sliced prosciutto and sage was phenomenally well matched with the semillon. Accompanying the chicken were oven baked organic potatoes coated in home grown sage, salt and pepper. Sometimes food and wine just works. It is good to know that I will be able to have the same baked chicken dish and 2008 Tyrrells Pokolbin Semillon for a few more years. Hunter Semillon. Respect it.

Spring time and sangiovese are as good a pairing as David Bowie and Major Tom, something different yet it warms the cockles of your taste-buds. Chalk Hill Sangiovese 2013 is a bright, strong red colour with dark cherries and dried flowers on the nose. The beer while cooking had gone down well but I felt like a wine that wasn’t too big or bold would be a good addition to meal time. The tannins were firm so I double decanted it which opened up the dark cherries from the nose to a delicious blackforest cake on the palate. I had enough ingredients to make a second burger but decided that a fourth glass of the Chalk Hill Sangiovese would be my dessert. Finishing the bottle was a good choice. Make a good choice for yourself and buy half a dozen for spring and summer time. Chalk Hill, you have really made the grade. [caption id="attachment_1406" align="aligncenter" width="480"]

A simple premise, a simple plan... To break bread, share a glass and have a good old chin wag with some great people. This was the mantra we set out with when we first said “hey we should have a Grenache dinner to celebrate International Grenache day”. And after a few tweaks and re-interpretations, that is exactly what we ended up with on Friday the 19th September. The back drop to this was the stunning shop front and workshop that is home to The Props Dept and Justin Hermes Design. And a better place we could not have asked for to have our guests, no not guests, our friends, join us for dinner. First drop off the rack was Year Wines 2012 Mclaren Vale Grenache and the words I heard a lot were “SO GOOD” (and not in reference the Delta Goodrem endorsed milk!). A beautiful way to start off the night - Luke and Caleigh make small batch Grenache from vines dating back to 1958 and the 2012 was their debut wine under their own label - and a pretty impressive one at that. [caption id="attachment_1350" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Luke from Year Wines talking us through the process they used to make their delicious 2012 Grenache.[/caption] Kate from Richard Hamilton was on hand to take us through the Burton's Old Bush Vine Grenache story whilst we tried Georgie from El Choto's first treat of the night in the form of some Banderillas Gildas; pickled garlic, white anchovies and Basque pepper skewers. Both the wine and food were delicious - a teaser of what was to come as by now the smell of our Paella cooking away had filled the room. [caption id="attachment_1351" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Kate from Richard Hamilton sharing with us that the Burton's Old Bush Vine Grenache is the staff favourite - it's one of them at winedirect.com.au too![/caption] We ushered our mates through to the dining area where Lino and Nino were the stars of the next course - Andy and Angela introduced their Lino Ramble 'Treadlie' GSM to the crowd who sat down to Nino’s cured pork loin, some La Boqueria Longaniza Chorizo and Black Garlic - the added earth and spice of the GSM complimenting the cured treats brilliantly. [caption id="attachment_1352" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Andy and Angela from Lino Ramble sharing a few chiidhood stories[/caption] Cometh the hour, cometh the paella - and what a paella; slow sherry braised rabbit and morcilla paella with artichokes. The morcilla (Spanish black pudding) gave the paella such a depth of flavour that the 2010 Schwarz Thiele Rd Grenache had a fair challenge on it's hands to match it. But match it did and the combo was definitely a highlight amongst many for the evening. [caption id="attachment_1353" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This was one helluva paella - thanks Georgie![/caption] [caption id="attachment_1354" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 2, 4, 6, 8...[/caption] If Year Wines Grenache was a bloody good start then Oliver's Taranga Banished Fortified Grenache was a brilliant finish. The 20 year old fortified’s sweet vanilla and apricot flavours were the perfect foil for the Gorganzola Piccante and Cave Aged English Cheddar with caramelised figs. A perfect end to a perfect night. Self-indulgently I had set up a dining experience I’d liked to have gone to - sh*t-hot wine paired with sh*t-hot food in an amazing space with a soundtrack that included everything from early Misfits and the MC5 to Nick Cave, Neil Young and Elvis Costello! All with a group of people who seemed to embrace everything that food and wine should be about. Thanks to all that came - we had a blast! A simple premise, a simple plan... To break bread, share a glass and have a good old chin wag with some great people.

Within the mixed dozen I purchased was the McLaren Vale Cavalier Curtis Shiraz and due to it’s rrp I was saving it for a special occasion. It is a tidy number, deep plum in colour with forest berries on the nose and palate. It is a very well structured, balanced wine with fine tannins and there is generous mulberry, blackberry and raspberry character. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I have fallen into the habit of wanting something different; something punchy, surprising, delicate or simply great bang for buck. It is a lovely wine reminding me of the late 90s when I was fully into big regional varieties. If you happen to have a bottle within a dozen purchase, double decant it and see if it does a little more than I thought I did.

Decanting can be useful for a couple of reasons. Firstly it allows older red wines to be separated from any sediment that may have developed in bottle.

Debate rages currently over the merits and pitfalls of various wine closures. Cork has the longest tradition of usage and the best examples are considered a very good option for long-term wine storage. Cork, at its best and free from taint will allow a wine to age gracefully for up to 25 years. Unfortunately, not all corks are alike, some will fail earlier than this time. The application process can also sometimes result in damage to the external surface of the cork, causing very slow leakage and/or quicker oxidation of the wine. This is particularly upsetting if you like to drink your wines with a little age on them. The longer you age, the higher the chances that some of your ‘rainy day’ wines will be affected by random bottle oxidation. It is a popular myth that cork allows a slow, flavour positive exchange between wine and oxygen. Cork is chosen for its ability to prevent additional oxygen from affecting wine once in bottle. Wine in bottle will contain a very small amount

For those of you who think it would be great to have a gig where extensive wine tasting is a job requirement.... just spare a thought for the crew here at Wine Direct on those days when there are dozens of wines lined up to be tasted. And would you believe it’s like trying to herd cats to get us all together in one hit to get on with the task in hand??? Nah, seriously...we love our work and wouldn’t swap it for quids. There are bloody good wines aplenty lined up which we happily slurp, swill and spit. Yes, it’s time to get the Tasting Panel hard at work to select great wines that we can offer you at a great deal...... the hardest part is deciding where to start. [caption id="attachment_1317" align="aligncenter" width="452"]

I love people who jump in and then find out how cold the water is, people who listen to that obscure concept album from an unknown Swedish black metal act before judging it. And I really love people who put their faith in a wine tasting where there is very little Shiraz and no Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or Riesling within cooee! In Europe this would have been a wine tasting, here in Adelaide it was a showcase of the less known! And as the many people who rocked into the National Wine Centre on Saturday came with eager faces it was clear that people are ready or at the least interested in something new. With help from some friends at Lino Ramble, 919 Wines, Chalk Hill, Coriole and Geoff Hardy we drew up a set list that included Dolcetto, Teroledgo, Petit Manseng, GSM’s and Rousanne Marsanne Viognier amongst others. For good measure the guys at Chalk hill (in between trying to stitch up Andy from Lino with a very very peppery - literally - glass of wine!) were kind enough

Less a reinterpretation of Alpha Crucis wines as an experiment of an individual winemakers influence on a wines character and being. Indeed less tribute album and more like handing the same musical notes to Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder and David Bowie and seeing what music they all created. Starting with a small batch of Shiraz grapes from Chalk Hills Heritage Lot, Tom Harvey chose six winemakers to help bring his idea to life. Born only out of curiosity, the wines singularly are not intended to be judged, instead designed to be tasted for their range of characters and flavours born out of the creators varying influences. From here it was completely up to the six winemakers to determine how to produce their wine, from picking through