Play it again, Spam.

This column was published in 2003 when the federal government, under John Howard, thought they could limit spam emails. Gosh that went well.

I t’s amazing how frmly impregnated such stuff becomes from watching television at 11pm on a school night in 1975, when what you learnt at 11am the next day was lucky to

Bowen Estate

Coonawarra Shiraz, 2022, $28. Despite being a whopping 15 percent this feels much lighter and sharper, and you could have it at lunch on a warm day rather than in front of the fre in the middle of winter.

9.1/10.

Bowen Estate

Coonawarra Cabernet

Sauvignon, 2022, $28. Coonawarra is an unlikely remain in your memory until 11.15. source of 15 per cent reds, yet both the Bowen’s reds register that high on the Richter scale from 2022. Mysteriously, they don’t seem like big wines and this cabernet could be a nice little winter warmer if you leave it alone until then or cool it a bit and have it now...which we did. 9.3/10.

Constant repetition by party bores for the next 25 years helped and there is an entire generation now who, despite never having seen Monty Python, know the material as well as their parents, yet can’t identify the origin and indeed often believe the stuff was in fact made up by those very party bores.

Bowen Estate Coonawarra Chardonnay, 2023, $25. Bowen are to

For instance a colleague just the other day revealed she had no idea where the song-line always look on the bright side of life...î originated, yet she knew all the words as if it were Grinspoon.

But I digress. I don’t get Spam, and I’m not happy about it.

People complain about it endlessly, you read about it in the papers, it’s on the be commended for keeping it simple. They make three wines, shiraz, cabernet and this. How uncomplicated is their life? Which kind of describes their chardonnay, perfect for a Friday night feel good feast with friends.. 9.3/10.

Cooks Lot ‘anything but f****ng’ Chardonnay 2023, $35. This is the chardonnay you have when you’re not having radio, everywhere. So why don’t I get any?

I mentioned this to a couple of nerdy types at work who get bucketloads of the stuff and they seemed pretty unhappy about it too. What did they want? More? Talk about greedy.

Co-incidentally I received my frst spam the very next day. Pretty raunchy it was too.

Then, just when things a chardonnay or you are willing to thumb your nose at those who think they are over chardonnay but who really just don’t know any better, which could lead to an argument. At least if won’t be a dry one. Despite the frivolity of the name and label, this is seriously solid chardonnay. 9.1/10.

Cooks Lot Gewurztraminer 2024, $35. This too has a lot were looking up, it appears the Government is going to ban spam spam - thank you Mam - altogether.

Oh well, advertising is pretty much lost on me anyway.

Aptly named letterbox droppings generally remain there well beyond the competition-closes-by date, while the only television ads I see are on SBS and nobody knows what they going on and is not your average, carefree, glugglug, white wine that you might be served at a function wishing you were somewhere else. You want to be in the room with this wine, so ignore the mayoral speech, pop outside and listen to your wine instead. The pick of the bunch for me, and bored arty types. 9.3/10.

Cooks Lot Viognier 2024, are advertising anyway. Nor do they seem to care.

However one form of advertising, I admit, does sneak through the quality control net at the winewriting factory, the free trial/sample/gift type, and you can’t get that via your laptop anyway. Here is the results of the latest free-trials in the Crus household (sorry, no steak knives).

$35. There’s so much going on in this, indeed in viognier generally, it’s hard to select an occasion or accompaniment, so just acquiesce and have it with apricot chicken. Are you old enough to know that dish?

Put some viognier in the mix too. It’s a delightfully, busily-favoured wine which adds character to the mix and makes dinner more fun for everyone. 9.3/10.