Movies and Booze
Wine Details 20th Jan 2012.
With thanks from O’Brien’s Wines
www.o’brienswine.ie
Martin Moran MW
Minister Roisin Shortall has created controversy with her comments on alcohol abuse and proposals for minimum pricing. It’s an important issue but there’s another alcohol debate that’s been going on for a while now in the wine industry that has nothing to do with its abuse or price. No that debate is about flavour and style.
Average alcohol levels have gone up over the last 25 years, by probably 1.5 to 2 degrees. Some say today’s wines don’t work well with food. “Ah, that’ll be global warming” some say. Maybe partially but a bigger culprit to my mind is fashion.
American critics like Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and the Wine Spectator have championed fuller flavoured wines made from riper grapes and producers have reacted by making more of them, but now there is a backlash amongst critics looking for more food friendly wines.
Personally I don’t judge a wine by a number on the label but on how it tastes. Is it balanced or is it over extracted or over oaky or too thin. Red wine can work at 15% or 12% or it can have an alcoholic burn or taste too thin.
If you want something lighter whites work best and in particular 10.5-11.5% Semillon from the Hunter Valley in Australia and 8-9% Riesling from the Mosel and 11% in other regions. Those who want bang for their buck should go for New World reds, in particular varieties like Shiraz, Grenache and Zinfandel. In Europe, look to the Mediterranean rim for the full throttle wines.
Minister Shortall’s problem isn’t black and white either as Homer Simpson so eloquently illustrated when he once memorably declared “Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems”.
Wines Tasted on the Show
Denman Vineyard Hunter Valley Semillon 2010, Australia, 10.5%, Tesco €7-11.
Light on alcohol but big on flavour with intense citrus notes, particularly lime and good length. Great with Asian dishes or shellfish. Tesco yo-yo the price but it’s often on promotion.
Man O’War Dreadnought Syrah 2009, Waiheke Island, NZ, 14.5%, €29.99 O’Briens.
It’s big but it’s beautiful and balanced, even elegant in its own way and its berry and spice flavours won’t overwhelm a red meat dish despite 14.5% alcohol.
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