james halliday’s
ov E r 2 5 0 w i n E S r Ev i Ew E d
James Halliday’s wine companion • s h i r a z • 60 g r e at r e d s • w i n e a n d s p i c e • h u n t e r Va l l e y • c o c kta i l s a n d fo o d • n e b b i o lo
c o m p a n i o n er Hunt ey
Vall
t o hist
why we love shiraz
JAMES on
l
nEw wAvE vE
chardonna chardonnay cocktails and nd food together at last
0 6 south great touring
WinE and sPicE
whAt At to A drink with An indiAn fEASt
what africa s d e makes sa r S k good c i P m P AMAzing winE, Stunning vAluE
004 JUn/ JUl 2012
P FOR & AGAINST le NZ vS AuSSIe SAuv BLANC o pluS
nebbiolo HOPPy BeerS
n
ly
S team’ e h t veal we re
tO
wine good
Winemaker nick Farr win a hunter getaway
CONTENTS
04
IN THIS ISSUE JunE/ July
UPFRONT
EAT 66 73 74 77
48
Son of A Gun We chat to winemaker Nick Farr who’s following in his father’s footsteps.
DRINK 22 26 42 6
Letters
8
News
10
Events
14
Q&A
16
For & Against
18
Bin End
130
JAMES HALLIDAY’S
OV E R 2 5 0 W I N E S R EV I EW E D
C O M P A N I O N HUNTERY
VALLE
• SHIRAZ • SOUTH AFRICA • JA M E S O N C H A R D O N N AY • T H E H U N T E R VA L L E Y • INDIAN • C O C KTA I L S 004 JUN/ JUL 2012
JUN / JUL 2012
Welcome
JAMES HALLIDAY’S WINE COMPANION
www.winecompanion.com.au
Regulars
T HO IST
WHY WE LOVE SHIRAZ
JAMES ON
L
NEW WAVE
CHARDONNA CHARDONNAY COCKTAILS AND FOOD TOGETHER AT LAST
TOURING
60
WINE AND SPICE
WHAT TO DRINK WITH AN INDIAN FEAST
SOUTH GREAT WHAT AFRICA REDS MAKES S AMAZING WINE, STUNNING VALUE FOR & AGAINST NZ VS AUSSIE SAUV BLANC
PLUS
NEBBIOLO HOPPY BEERS
EAL THE WE REV
TEAM’S
CK TOP PI
GOOD WINE GOOD
WINEMAKER NICK FARR WIN A HUNTER GETAWAY
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Cover image / iStockphoto
11/04/12 8:56 AM
44 54 59 62
What makes a wine good?
We set out to find the answer
Shiraz
Wine and spice
Recreate our Indian banquet, complete with matching wines
Dining review
Delicious food and beer awaits at Bootleg Brewery in Margaret River
Winery chef
Meet Zac Ronayne from Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill in the Adelaide Hills
Matching food to cocktails
Our specially designed three-course meal pairs brilliantly with these warming cocktails
60 GREAT REDS See if you agree with James, Ben and Campbell’s selections
It’s still Australia’s favourite red wine
My Cellar
31 SPECIAL FEATURE
Writer John Birmingham’s top wines
Hops in brewing
The varieties making exciting beer
James Halliday on...
The evolution of chardonnay
Nebbiolo
TRAVEL 84
A surprisingly food-friendly, big red
Discover stunning wines, food and adventure – and incredible value
Memories of great wine
Wine writer Max Allen on his life-changing trip and bargain find
200
South Africa’s Cape Winelands
90 97
The Hunter Valley, NSW
This long-established wine region is the perfect haven for wine and food lovers
Hunter Valley treats
Just a handful of the region’s best to put on the itinerary.
TASTInG noTES
106 James Halliday’s tasting notes
• Ratings and reviews for 100 current Aussie releases • 50 great wines from Australian Wine Companion 2012, including nebbiolo, shiraz and semillon.
1122 Ben Edwards on imports
• 50 international wines, including Italian nebbiolo and some South African wines to tie into our stories.
66 26
Contributors
Food writer Spice it up { p66}
Katrina MeyninK Katrina has developed the Indian-inspired recipes in this issue, which have been designed to be enjoyed as a banquet between friends – the perfect way to beat the chill. She is a freelance food writer and released her first cookbook, Kitchen Coquette, late last year, winning Best First Cookbook (Australia) at the World Gourmand Food Awards.
Sommelier and wine consultant Spice it up { p66}
HarsHal sHaH Harshal grew up in Sydney, where he was a sommelier before moving to Delhi, India, five years ago. Now a wine consultant to high-end hotels and other clients, he is also studying to become a Master of Wine. Harshal has provided some inspiring wine matches for our Indian banquet, proving wine and spice can work together beautifully.
i don’t want to havE to squint or um and ah or bE talkEd into liking it; i want to takE a swig and think, Yep, that wine’s a beautY.
30
59
Writer South Africa { p84}
Grant DoDD
46
8488
Former golf pro Grant fell so hard for wine that he bought a share in a winery. He lives near the Hunter Valley in NSW but when he’s not commentating golf for ESPN and Network TEN you’ll often find him in South Africa where he’s a partner in Stellenbosch-based winery Haskell Vineyards. Grant’s also a columnist and wine writer for Australian Golf Digest and co-authored the book Barossa Wine Traveller.
05
UPFRONT
WELCOME
06
welcome to our JUNe/JUlY issUe
Founder & author, australian Wine Companion
James Halliday editor
Campbell Mattinson managing editor
Amelia Ball publisher
Simon McKeown Contributing Writers
Max Allen, Gee David, Grant Dodd, Ben Edwards, Andrea Frost, James Halliday, Fiona Killman, Katrina Meynink, Sonia Paterson, Harshal Shah, James Smith, Tyson Stelzer, Nick Stock, Emma Ventura editorial enQuiries
I’ll never forget my first really spicy meal. A friend of my dad’s ran an Indian restaurant and for years, Dad had been trying to convince our family to visit. We – mostly my brother and me – were dead against it and as we all know, it’s the kids who hold the power. So we never dined there as a family. But when I turned 16, I called on the connection to land a part-time job at this restaurant. The tradition was that during a lull in service, staff would be fed. I was afraid of this; to this point, Keen’s curried sausages was the closest I’d come to spice. Oh no, I’d just eaten, I just didn’t feel hungry for some reason, I’ve just converted to the dietary theories of Pritikin... I tried them all and the owners just smiled and said, “It’s not as scary as you think”. They served me a bowl of lamb curry, rice with peas, a dipping bowl of raita and naan peeled straight from the wall of the tandoor. The smell of it – well, maybe I was a little peckish after all. I looked. I pushed some lamb pieces around. I blew and then I took the plunge. The spice wasn’t just heat. It didn’t just burn a hole in your tongue, it spread out sideways. The flavour was mouth-filling in a no-escape kind of way. I touched my forehead and it was clammy. It wasn’t just food; it was an invasion. I was about to run screaming from the room when a funny thing happened; I suddenly realised that both the flavours and the experience were enjoyable.
03 8520 6444 mail@winecompanion.com.au art direCtor
Dallas Budde design
Dallas Budde, Nigel Tan
i
digital ( pad) production Dallas Budde, Nigel Tan, Vaughan Mossop
I ended up working in this restaurant, off and on, for 10 years. I used to say to the owners, “I’m not working for the money anymore, I’m working for the food”. Later – after I’d fallen madly in love with wine – I remember lashing out on a bottle of Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz and really looking forward to bringing these two loves – of spicy food and red wine – together. It was a Friday night and I’d booked the restaurant for 6pm, bang on opening. I couldn’t wait. I was excited. I poured the wine and it tasted delicious – until the food came out. Suddenly it tasted sour and hard and unpleasant. I’ve never been a big fan of food- and wine-matching but clearly if you get it badly wrong, it’s not pretty. It’s one of the main themes running through this issue, as it should be. The incredibly foodfriendly nebbiolo; wonderful food and wine touring in South Africa; a profile on pinot noir specialist (duck, anyone?) Nick Farr; and yep, some wine and drink matches with spicy food. Though just quietly, our hand-selected 60 great reds might be worth a look too. Enjoy!
Contributing photographers
Catherine Sutherland, Vincent Long David Hannah, Jed Soane, Visual Thing illustration
Tanya Cooper
advertising enQuiries
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national advertising direCtor
Tracey Dwyer traceydwyer@hardiegrant.com.au senior aCCount manager
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This product is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources Recognised in Australia through the Australian Forestry Standard www.pefc.org.au
campbell mattinson Editor
PuBLISHED By HARDIE GRANT MAGAzINES managing direCtor
Fiona Hardie
alsao ble
l ava io n
ipad
spice it up / p66 Our Indian feast shows you just how well some wines can work when paired with aromatics and spice.
60 great reds / p31 special FeatURe James, Ben and Campbell have each chosen 20 great reds that are well worth seeking out. son of a gun / p48 Nick Farr has been doing his own winemaking thing since he was 21, as Campbell reveals.
melbourne
wiN
e book publ is h
of th er y e a r *e
Ground Level, Building 1, 658 Church Street, Richmond VIC 3121 tel: (03) 8520 6444 fax: (03) 8520 6422 Cover price is recommended only. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine, no responsibility can be accepted by the publisher for errors or omissions, and in particular no responsibility can be accepted for the quality of goods and services supplied by advertisers, prices quoted or printers’ errors. All material copyright © 2012 to Hardie Grant Magazines. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part either electronically or conventionally without the written permissionof the publisher is strictly prohibited. *Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
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22
good wine
what makes
good wine
good?
JUN / JUL 2012
www.winecompanion.com.au
ThE EASiEST quESTiONS CAN SOmETimES bE ThE hARDEST TO ANSwER, buT ThAT hASN’T STOPPED uS FROm TRYiNg TO DETERmiNE whAT ExACTlY mAkES A wiNE gOOD.
I
/
WORDS ANDREA FROST ILLUSTRATION TANYA COOPER
t comes when you least expect it. There you are, chatting in a circle, drink in hand, talking to someone new. They seem nice, you’re in the middle of a conversation and then... “Oh, you write about wine? You’d know what a good wine is then?” And suddenly you’re shaking your head and checking among the haze for an appropriate answer. What makes a wine “good”? Is that like asking for your favourite movie of all-time? It would help if it really was the easiest question for a wine person to counter. People ask it all the time as if they think there’s a secret room that holds all of wine’s answers, written on the walls like the alphabet and times tables.
This kind of question calls for a snappy quip and I suspect, also a remarkable wine recommendation so extraordinary that when the bottle is opened it launches the first firework of a spectacular life-long show. Not that many such wines or quips exist. And anyway, a good wine according to what? What do you normally drink? What do you like? At what price point? What food do you like? Most other specialists can provide a number of options relating to their own field. Ask a travel agent where to go on holiday and they will send you ideas that are bang on brief. Food people are always ready with suggestions too. And sure, I can tell you some good wines I have recently tried, but this fundamental question always seems bigger than that, so I set out to find the answer. What the Wine judge says Who better to ask what makes a good wine “good” than someone who judges this very thing. Iain Riggs, Brokenwood’s managing director and chief winemaker, is also the chairman of judges at the Sydney Royal Wine Show. He says they use a set of parameters to judge not only whether a wine is good, but also how good. According to Iain, these factors include the appropriate tinges and hues, an aroma indicative of the wine’s style, plus oak use that is supporting, integrated and the correct type for the wine. Further attributes include a wellbalanced palate and tannins, lack of bitterness and a long, pleasing after-taste. Wines should also show all the traits of their variety and region. That is, a Barossa shiraz should taste like a Barossa shiraz, even if it’s a good imitation of something else. As you’d expect, gold-medal and trophy wines need to go that bit further. “[They] have to have an extra level of quality. More finesse, better structure and better finish,” Iain says. But even with such clear parameters, there are still grey areas. For instance, can a wine be good quality and faulty at once? It’s a discussion more recently arising from the increasingly applied whole-bunch winemaking technique of crushing not just the grapes but the stems too, particularly in shiraz and pinot noir. “Traditionalists, generally from warmer regions, see [the flavours from grape stems] as an unripe character in shiraz,” Iain says. “Young winemakers in cooler regions see it as complexity and as a way ➺
23
We can never kno knoW for certain that something is good. it is still a matter of taste
A KING ISLAND DAIRY PRoMotIoN
A match made in heaven King Island Dairy master cheesemaker Ueli Berger shares his tips on matching wine with cheese. Meet Ueli Berger Swiss-born Ueli was destined to make cheese. The grandson of a cheesemaker and the son of a dairy farmer, he has an inexhaustible passion for cheesemaking. After studying the craft in Switzerland, Ueli was chosen to work for an Australian cheese company. His fondness for the country saw him settle in Tasmania before moving to King Island in 1998. He became King Island Dairy’s head cheesemaker and it is under his watch that the five King Island Black Label cheeses were created. With a career spanning more than 30 years, Ueli has earned acclaim nationally and internationally with awards for King Island Dairy cheeses. These include from the likes of the New York Fancy Food Show and World Championship Cheese Contest, as well as the Australian Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association Show and the Australian Grand Dairy Awards.
The King Island Dairy philosophy All King Island Dairy cheeses are created and matured exclusively on Tasmania’s King Island. Its indulgent dairy products are made purely with sweet King Island milk, produced from the herds that graze on some of the lushest and cleanest pastures in the world. King Island Black Label is the artisan range, made by hand under the tutelage of Ueli Berger and is only available in specialty delicatessens, restaurants and hotels. It is focused on the finest King Island Dairy styles offering just five cheeses: Loorana Brie, Double Brie, Triple Cream Blue, Cloth Wrapped Cheddar and Black Wax Cheddar.
Ueli’s tips
for matching wine with cheese 1 Balance the flavour of the cheese with that of the wine. For example, the stronger and more mature the cheese, the richer and heavier the wine should be. The whiter and fresher the cheese, the crisper and fruitier the wine should be.
www.kidairy.com.au for entertaining tips and recipes, visit www.facebook.com/KingislandDairy
2 Sweetness in wine counter-balances the salt in cheese, which is why blue cheese partners so well with dessert and fortified wines.
3 Perfumed or floral reds can be too overpowering with cheese, as are heavy tannic wines, which tend to steal the nutty richness of the cheese. 4 Generally speaking, if you had to select just one grape variety over any other to have with a cheese board, the best wine is a pinot noir or a crisp white. 5 Experiment with cheese and wine matching to discover your own preferences.
60 GREAT REDS Just in time for the cooler months, we set our team the task of each selecting 20 great red wines. The criteria? Standout current-release reds that deserve to be singled out for their style. The result is an exciting and eclectic mix of sensational wines.
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James Halliday
Campbell Mattinson
Ben Edwards
WINE AUTHORITY
WINE COMPANION MAGAZINE EDITOR
International WINE AUTHORITY
7/04/12 1:04 PM
60 GREAT REDS
32
My
20 GREAT REDS
James Halliday WINE AUTHORITY
In choosing these
20 red wines, I was not attempting to combine a list of the greatest red wines that have been released in the last six or so months, simply 20 great wines. You will also see they come from many different regions, including Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Geographe, Granite Belt, Heathcote, Hunter Valley, Margaret River, McLaren Vale, Mudgee and the Yarra Valley. They also cover the varietal spectrum, so I hope you enjoy this wide selection.
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2010 Farr Rising Geelong Pinot Noir Excellent pinot noir colour; the first of four regional wines made in identical fashion to explore the impact of different terroir; a strikingly fragrant, richly robed pinot with dark plum and spice aromas and flavours, tannins and French oak promising a long life.
RRP $40 / www.byfarr.com.au
2010 PHI Single Vineyard Yarra Valley Pinot Noir Clear red-purple; a complex wine from start to finish, doubtless the reason why it walked away with multiple trophies (including Best Wine of Show) at the National Wine Show ’11. Despite the depth and savoury complexity the wine has, its dark berry fruits also have purity and length.
2010 Boireann Granite Belt Shiraz The vivid purple-crimson colour does not deceive; this is yet another beautifully balanced, beautifully structured shiraz from Boireann, astute selection of fruit from across the Granite Belt conjured by the inspired winemaking of Peter Stark into a wine sitting comfortably with the best wines of the southern and western states of Australia.
RRP $60 / www.phiwines.com
RRP $40 / www.boireannwinery.com.au
2010 Audrey Wilkinson Winemakers Selection Hunter Valley Shiraz
2010 Cape Mentelle Margaret River Shiraz
Excellent purple-crimson, deep but clear; a wine of great complexity and power that will flower magnificently over the next three decades and beyond; blackberry, plum, licorice and French oak are all there, but it’s the tannins that will steer the wine into the far future.
Deep but clear purple-crimson; the bouquet calmly announces its cool-grown origins, with fragrant, almost flowery, red fruits and spices; the medium-bodied palate is supple and smooth, building impressively on the finely structured finish thanks to exactly poised tannins.
RRP $35 / www.audreywilkinson.com.au
RRP $40 / www.capementelle.com.au
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33 60 GREAT REDS
2010 Patritti JPB Single Vineyard Shiraz
2010 Wirra Wirra RSW McLaren Vale Shiraz
Giovanni Patritti arrived in Australia in 1925, and sold his wines under the ‘John Patritti Brighton’ label, commemorated here. It’s a surprise to find the 50-year-old vineyard is in Blewitt Springs, an area known more for its elegance than power. That to one side, this is an awesome wine, so full of flavour that it burst out of my mouth, not once, but twice, on a shirt that is unlikely to ever be the same again. This is liquid blackberry, dark chocolate and licorice, oak and tannins mere support players. The cork in both wines is of high quality, and correctly inserted.
Deep crimson-purple; both the bouquet and palate command immediate attention, exhibiting a near-perfect paradigm for McLaren Vale shiraz. Medium- to full-bodied, but without any obvious alcohol warmth, it has an unbroken stream of black fruits, licorice, dark chocolate, cedary oak and fine, ripe tannins; the balance, line and length reflect the very good vintage and equally good winemaking. The 20-year drinking span is nominal, for the wine will undoubtedly thrive well past 2030. Available from July.
RRP $45 / www.patritti.com.au
RRP $65 / www.wirrawirra.com
2010 Willow Bridge Estate Black Dog Geographe Shiraz
2009 Angove Warboys Vineyard McLaren Vale Shiraz
2009 Huntington Estate Special Reserve Mudgee Shiraz Strong purple-red; right up there with the best of Huntington Estate Special Reserves released over the years; has great structure and balance, fruit, tannins and oak all in harmony, red and black cherry and plum flooding the palate yet not threatening the balance or elegance of the wine.
RRP $34 / www.huntingtonestate.com.au
2009 Kalleske Johann Georg Old Vine Single Vineyard Barossa Valley Shiraz
Bright purple-crimson; low yield shiraz is open-fermented, hand-plunged and matured in French oak barriques for 18 months, onethird new. The bouquet positively sings of red and black fruits, with some floral overtones, while the medium-bodied palate provides an interplay between juicy, freshly squeezed, red and black fruits, spice, cedar and fine-grained tannins. A seriously lovely wine.
Sourced from vines on the northwestern corner of the estate Warboys Vineyard, with a southerly aspect exposed to breezes from the Gulf of St Vincent, and matured in French oak; a barrel selection of 176 dozen bottles ex French oak. It has exceptional mouthfeel, superb fruit in a soft swan’s down pillow of tannins, and a lingering finish.
From a single block of vines planted in 1875, and made in a very small quantity, the product of a single open-top fermenter, finishing that fermentation in French and American oak, where it remained for the next two years. It is very complex and intense, yet little more than medium-bodied, having a tapestry of aromas and flavours similar to Eduard, with great length. How great will the ’10 be?
RRP $65 / www.willowbridge.com.au
RRP $35 / www.angove.com.au
RRP $100 / www.kalleske.com
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winemaker
son of a gun Nick Farr’s reputation – as winemaker at both Farr Rising and By Farr – is growing at great speed. But there’s more to this man than first meets the eye. WORDS campbell mattinson // PHOTOGRAPHY Vincent lonG
w
hen Nick Farr was 18 he was determined to be a tennis coach. He was born into a wine family but planned to study human movement. He was out on the tennis court up to five days each week and played footy too, on weekends. It was on the wide, grassy, footy fields that the course of his life was altered. One afternoon, a rival player landed on his shoulder so hard that it took 40 minutes to re-set the dislocation. He has not set foot on a tennis court since – over 10 years later – and still can’t lift his left arm much above shoulder height; if he tried to serve, he wouldn’t be able to execute the ball toss. He had to find another career. His father Gary Farr is a pioneering legend of Australian pinot noir – having put the iconic Bannockburn winery near Victoria’s Geelong on the map, before establishing the similarly prestigious
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By Farr – but Nick did not automatically choose wine. He’s the oldest of three children and although he lived with vines growing outside his window – and knew first-hand the effort that went into their upkeep – he was a sports nut more than anything. Even now, during vintage, he can’t wait to get back out on the rope; his interest in water-skiing isn’t far off obsession. “The thing I miss about footy isn’t so much the games, but the times after the games, just sitting around with the guys,” he says. He started an agricultural science degree – “mostly about broad-acre farming but it’s good training for helping you understand the soil” – but when he finished, he succumbed to expectation and started making wine. Not as an underling, mind you. Under his own steam, and his own name. Remarkably, at 21 – in 2001 – he started his own Farr Rising brand. ➺
5/04/12 9:56 AM
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Wine authority
James Halliday
How to appreciate the
evolution of chardonnay Australian chardonnay has seen the dizzying heights of demand and also been left behind. As more elegant chardonnay styles hit the market, there is plenty of reason to explore this great white wine, as James Halliday writes.
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Champagne, listing them as “plant blanc, or white pineau”. Small wonder chardonnay used to be called pinot chardonnay by winemaker Murray Tyrrell, confounding the confusion by abbreviating it to pinot when blended with riesling in Bin 61 – “pinot riesling” brought incredulous looks from overseas experts. The explanation that it was really a blend of chardonnay and semillon (once called Hunter River riesling) only made matters worse. ➺
Photography // Corbis / illustration // iStockphoto
C
hardonnay arrived in Australia in 1832 along with the other 361 surviving varieties collected in James Busby’s epic trip through Spain and France the previous year. He collected cuttings from Clos Vougeot on December 16, 1831, describing it in his Journal of a Tour as “pineau blanc or chaudeny – white. Produces indifferently; is the only white grape cultivated in the best vineyards”. Just to complicate the matter, the following week he also collected cuttings from
5/04/12 3:05 PM
how to…
55
BY THE NUMBERS
Australian Chardonnay Crush (tonnes per year)
445 17, 500 120,000 211,000 329,000 428,000 298,000 {1976}
{1986}
{1997}
{1999}
{2004}
{2008}
JUN / JUL 2012
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www.winecompanion.com.au
Photography // iStockphoto / Getty Images
{2010}
5/04/12 3:05 PM
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spice it up
Who says you can’t pair wine with spice? Warm up this winter with an easy Indian feast and discover these brilliant wine matches. RECIPES KATRINA MEYNINK • DRINK MATCHES HARsHAl sHAH PHOTOGRAPHY CATHERINE sUTHERLAND • FOOD STYLING sONIA PATERsON
cumin and pistachio kulfi
This makes eight to 10, depending on the size of moulds. Find them in Indian grocery stores, otherwise you can use dariole moulds or other glassware. You will need to start this recipe one day ahead of time.
Ingredients B/c cup pistachios, finely ground
(fine to replace with
B/e cup pistachio paste)
2 tsp ground cumin 150ml condensed milk 100ml milk 100ml thickened cream
Method
1 / Blend all ingredients in a blender until it’s a coarse puree. Spoon the mixture into the moulds and freeze overnight.
This page // White wine tumbler from Schott Zwiesel Words // Amelia Ball
2 / Serve in the mould or glass. Alternatively, remove the moulds from the freezer and briefly run their ends under hot water. To loosen, turn them out onto plates and serve. Chopped mango and pomegranate seeds work well with this dessert if desired.
Wine Match
“Ideally, a delicate, aromatic tea, like the Kashmiri kawa chai,
would be perfect to round things off with this dessert. But a delicate moscato from Australia or a Moscato d’Asti from Piedmont, Italy, would also suit. This style of moscato often has hints of mint and fennel, and even coriander seeds, so it will complement the sweetness and nuttiness of this dessert. It is appropriately sweet not to be overwhelmed by the dish and the fizz will leave the palate refreshed after every bite.”
67
hunter
the
The hunTer Valley is ausTralia’s mosT VisiTed wine region – almosT Three million people TraVel here each year, for good reason. This is a wine and food playground jusT Two hours from sydney. words // emma VenTura
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Photography // Hunter Valley Tourism; Tourism NSW; Alamy
hot list
5/04/12 10:50 AM
91
✚ Photography // Hunter Valley Tourism; Tourism NSW; Alamy
ONE MINUTE you’re dining in a fancy winery restaurant with former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins in your line of sight, the next you’re unceremoniously picking your way through the mud after a boggy landing in a hot-air balloon. Such might be a typical weekend in the Hunter Valley, where the experiences over a few days can be as rich as the regional history itself. It can make honing your weekend hit list a daunting process, so we’ve prepared a list of favourites to get you started. PICTURED
Cellar doors, vines and inspiring scenes are just some of the delights to be had in this New South Wales wine region.
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tasting notes
106
Wine authority
James Halliday
James Halliday’s
tasting notes
t Culreraesn es re
Each edition, we bring you the tasting notes for 100 current release wines in a bid to help you navigate the ever-growing world of Australian wine. We have categorised the selections into groups of varietals and blends, which also represent almost every wine region in the country. We hope you enjoy these recommended wines and find something new to enjoy.
JUn / JUL 2012
www.winecompanion.com.au
How we rate them
94
94 – 100 PointS Outstanding / Wines of the highest quality,
90
90 – 93 PointS Highly recommended / Wines of great
87
87 – 89 PointS Recommended / Wines of above-
84
84 – 86 PointS Acceptable / Wines of good commercial
81
80 – 83 PointS Over to you / Everyday wines, usually
often with a distinguished pedigree
quality, style and character, worthy of a place in any cellar
average quality, fault-free, and with clear varietal expression
quality, free of any significant fault.
cheap and with little or no future, needing more character and flavour
bbbB wINERy STAR RATING
Where relevant, each winery’s star rating has been placed. This references James Halliday’s own ratings in his book, Australian Wine Companion 2012.
RING C 2020 CELLA While intended to be used as a guide only,
each wine has been given a suggested year that indicates the length of time a wine should drink at its best.
GREAT VALuE
While the aim is to present as many great value wines as possible, this icon has been placed on those examples that stood out as particularly great buys.