Wine tasting! 5 S! See wine, swirl,

Wine Tasting

Wine tasting is more than just pouring a small amount of wine into a glass and sipping it. Wine tasting over the years has evolved into an art.

One does not drink wine. One contemplates wine, savors wine and discusses wine with other wine connoisseurs. There is wine etiquette to perform when sipping wine, known as the “Five S’s” of wine tasting:

The Five S's of Wine Tasting

See the wine- Pour the wine into a wine glass and hold the glass up to the light. Study the color. You are looking for clarity and brilliance. If the wine in your glass is cloudy or discolored in any way your palate is about to be disappointed, because something is wrong with the blend.

White wine as it ages; the coloring changes, the color and hue reflect almost a straw or a golden-yellow.

For a red wine, the color can become almost ruby or burgundy depending on how long the wine was allowed to age. White wine is stored in stainless steel vats to age. Red wine is stored in oaken barrels to age.

Swirl the wine- Holding the stem of the wineglass lightly, pick up the glass and swirl the wine around and around. This is to achieve several purposes. You are allowing the wine to breathe, and to pick up the essence of the glass. As you swirl your wine, notice how the wine hits the sides of the glass, and then falls back down. This is known as the “legs” of the wine, giving those knowledgeable enough, clues as to how full-bodied the wine actually is. Swirl the wine several times in order to allow all the components to come together and give you the full experience of a full-bodied taste.

Sniff- Raise the glass to your nose, and sniff deeply. Close your eyes taking in the full impact of the bouquet rising up to meet your nose. What you smell will depend on your choice of wine, as well as your memory. Red wines carry an earthy aroma, reminiscent of pencil shavings, or rich, cool woodsy- type smells. You could smell almonds, or vanilla or even cloves. No one person smelling the same wine will come away with the same memories of another person smelling that wine.

If the wine is a fruity wine, you might envision a field of strawberries, or an apple orchard, perhaps cloves or anise or another spice. All smells wafting up to your nostrils are open to individual interpretation.

Sip- Now, sip the wine. Your mouth will confirm what your sense of smell has detected. A dry red wine with tannins will leave you with what they call the “pucker factor” completely drying out your mouth at the first sip. A fruity sweetened wine will sit on the tongue and play across the taste buds delighting the palate and leaving the mouth moist.

Savor- As you gently swirl the wine around in your mouth savor the flavor. You are checking for the balance of the blends; for each wine bottle is not just the end product of one type of grape, but a carefully planned blend of several types. Some wines contain not just the juice of the grape, but also the stems and the seeds.

Now swallow the wine and enjoy the fruits of this harvest of flavors.

How to drink Shiraz

How to Drink Shiraz Wine

Shiraz wine is a red wine derived from the grape varietal Syrah

Syrah is a grape varietal from the Rhone Valley in France, which is used in making wine. This grape produces Shiraz wine, a deep wine known for its fruit and spice profile. Its reach has grown around the world, even reaching places as far as Australia, where Shiraz is considered the finest grape wine, according to online resource Wine Intro. Shiraz is also made in California and other regions of France. Though the wine can be enjoyed in almost any way, wine connoisseurs are particular about pairing Shiraz with particular foods to maximize its taste.

1 Keep the bottle of Shiraz at 23 degrees before drinking. This is the suggested temperature for keeping Shiraz, in order to maintain its flavors and structure. This means you may have to chill your bottle for a few hours in an ice bucket, or store it in a wine fridge. Keeping Shiraz at a higher or lower temperature will make it dull, according to .

2 Pour Shiraz in a Bordeaux-style wine glass. This particular type of wine glass is tall and has a broad bowl. Full-bodied wines, like Shiraz, are best served in this type of glass, since it directs the wine toward the back of the mouth. In addition, these glasses hold a larger quantity of the wine for drinking, as opposed to merely sipping, as you would a more delicate wine, like Pinot Noir.

3 Hold your nose an inch away form the glass to smell the wine. Shiraz are known for their fruity and spicy bouquet. Raise the glass to your mouth and tip it just a bit to get a taste of the wine. Its aroma range can change from berries to chocolate to woody notes. Depending on where your Shiraz is from, you will find that different aromas vary. Australian Shiraz has a deeper fruit profile, reminiscent of stewed fruits. Cooler climates such as France, creates wine that is spicier than fruity.

4 Drink the wine slowly. Shiraz is a dense, full-bodied wine, and drinking it at a slower pace will allow you to enjoy its aroma and taste. Shiraz wine closely resembles the taste of blueberries, plums and pepper.

5 Serve Shiraz with red meats. Beef, wild game and stews are some of the best types of food to pair with the Shiraz wine, according to . Spicy foods work well too, since the peppery flavor of Shiraz complements the spicyness of the dish. If you decide to go with poultry, choose a darker meat like duck, since this goes well with Shiraz.

EILEEN HARDY SHIRAZ 2005, CAPE MENTELL MARMADUKE SHIRAZ 2008,

ANGOVES NINE VINES TEMPRANILLO SHIRAZ

Best shiraz wines here

De Bortoi Wines

De Bortoli Wines enjoyed a successful 2010, with the focus now on leveraging the positive response to its initiatives in 2011.

2010 brought significant challenges across the Australian wine industry, but by remaining focused on delivering and achieving De Bortoli strategic goals they enjoyed a successful year in what was a very competitive market with tough economic and environmental conditions.
The industry recognition they received in 2010 rewarded the commitment of everyone involved in the De Bortoli business. They won the "Winery of the Year" award from Winestate against some very significant competition and the judges opinion confirmed the continual high quality across their whole range of wines.

In addition Noble One Botrytis Semillon received the Outstanding classification of Australian Wine V- the only dessert wine ti receive this prestigious nod.
Also Premium Reserve 2 Litre Pinot Grigio won the Quaff 2011 "Cask wine of the Year".

Beer wars: big retail v Foster's - The Age

An order went out around the country for Linfox delivery trucks loaded with beer to be emptied until further notice.

The decision came in response to intelligence received that Coles had prepared a brochure advertising brands including VB for $28 a slab.

A slab of 24 VB stubbies usually wholesales to the big supermarket chains for about $33 and retails for $38. Smaller retailers say they are being charged between $37 and $41 - with some even higher - for the same slab.

''We personally sell a slab of VB for $40.95, making a profit margin of around $1.95 and that's not taking into account the cost of refrigeration, etc,'' said Justin Grant, who said he was an independent liquor retailer with more than 30 years in the industry.

A slab of 24 VB stubbies usually wholesales to the big supermarket chains for about $33 and retails for $38. Smaller retailers say they are being charged between $37 and $41 - with some even higher - for the same slab.

''We personally sell a slab of VB for $40.95, making a profit margin of around $1.95 and that's not taking into account the cost of refrigeration, etc,'' said Justin Grant, who said he was an independent liquor retailer with more than 30 years in the industry.

Inner city prices can be even higher. One independent outlet on Spencer Street in Melbourne's CBD was selling a slab of VB for $48.99, while a nearby IGA rival was offering them at $52.81.

A Foster's spokesman said supply was withheld to protect its brands against ''loss-leading'' - the practice of deliberately selling a product at a loss in the hope of attracting customers who will also buy other products that are not discounted. ''We take loss-leading of our brands very seriously," the Foster's spokesman said.

For at least three days this month, some liquor stores put up signs explaining why they were out of VB. One sign said: "We're out of stock because Foster's, the supplier of VB, says we are selling it too cheap."

Coles and Woolworths, which control 50 per cent of Australia's liquor distribution, have never before been taken on in this way by a supplier.

The milk industry, which is the subject of a continuing price war between the supermarket chains, has been unable to stop the discounting because it involves brands that are not well known and suppliers lacking the same market clout as Foster's.

There are also legal issues associated with withdrawing supply, including restraint of trade. Foster's relied on an aspect of competition law that permits companies to withhold supply when their products are being used as loss-leaders.

Apart from the objections of Foster's, the move by the big retailers to try to extend the milk war into the multibillion-dollar beer industry could also raise social issues about whether an age-restricted and potentially harmful product such as alcohol should be used as a loss-leader. Foster's and its main rival, Lion Nathan, have spent large amounts of money and time trying to promote the notion of responsible drinking.

By trying to sell alcohol at lower prices than bottled water, the supermarkets risk drawing the negative attention of government and regulators concerned about rises in drunken violence, one industry expert warned.

In Britain, brewers persuaded legislators to pass a law preventing the sale of alcoholic beverages at below cost price.

The aborted beer war between Coles and Woolworths was not the first such attempt at heavy discounting in Australia. In February, online discounter getwinesdirect.com.au tried selling Crown Lager for below wholesale price.

Woolworths is the biggest player in liquor retailing, with more than 1200 stores, including the Dan Murphy's chain.

Asked about recent events involving discounting of Foster's products, a Woolworths spokeswoman said: ''Beer is an extremely competitive product regardless of whether it is sold at independent or larger chains.''

A Coles spokesman said: ''We have been trying to offer the most competitive beer offer for our customers whenever we can.''

On the Foster's intervention, the Coles spokesman said: ''There was some disruption to the supply, but that has not been material to the business and we have continued to meet consumer demand for beer.''

via news.google.com

From milk wars to wine wars at Coles

FOSTER'S wine chief recently raided Coles liquor outlets, buying as much Penfolds 389 as he could as part of its campaign to protect his brands from retailer discounts.

The raid was successful with Foster's staff buying 60 per cent of the Coles allocation at the advertised price of $37 a bottle, which compared to the wholesale price of $44 a bottle.

The move follows several shutdowns by Fosters beer division dating back to February 1, when the beer giant stopped supplying independent outlet Getwinesdirect.com.au.

Under the Trade Practices Act, when a product is sold at below cost the producer has the right to withhold supply for a few days if it believes the retailer is using the product as a loss leader.

Foster's has done this several times to protect its brands.

It has also targeted Coles and Woolies and other independents who have sold below a certain price.

Woolworths rejected any suggestion it was in a beer war with Coles or selling beer at below-cost prices.

"To suggest this is a beer war, that this is similar to other things that have been going on at the moment (milk discounting), is plainly wrong, because this is the normal specials that happen week-in, week-out," a Woolies spokesman told AAP.

"There is no permanent bringing the price down."

VB slabs should retail for between $36 and $38 a case and Foster's has a line in the sand at $32 a case and when it sees the product marketed below that level it hits the retailer with a so-called section 98 notice withholding supply.

The Foster's response shows how branded-goods producers will react aggressively when they think their brand equity is being damaged and in this case they acted to stop top quality wine and beer being marketed as discount labels.

Consumers are, of course, the winners when retailers compete on price, but the retailers take a risk when they attempt to discount branded products.

That explains why Coles has focused on home brand milk.

Bin 389 is known in the trade as baby grange and headlines the annual March 1 bin release by Penfolds. The company declined to say how much is released each year other than that demand always exceeds supply.

The bin release is always a big marketing day in which the competing retail chains try to outdo each other.

Foster's Treasury Group marketing chief Mick Flaherty got his staff on the road when he saw the Coles advertisements marketing his baby grange at 16 per cent below cost.

When the raid was completed he confronted Coles liquor boss Tony Leon with the news.

When Leon sought to buyback the wine Flaherty refused and instead supplied the product to independents.

The Treasury raid highlights the risk when the branded goods are highly sought after and Leon’s loss was his rivals gain because they could supply customers with the highly sought after wine as punters wait for the Grange release in April.

As Leon sorts out his issues with Foster's Treasury Group, wine consumers are a mile in front and the competition laws have been shown to work well, supporting brand equity while at the same time encouraging price competition.

McLaren Vale expecting a vintage to remember

McLAREN Vale grape growers and winemakers are preparing for a bumper vintage, with recent rains and cool conditions expected to produce top-quality grapes.


McLaren Vale Grape, Wine and Tourism Association chairwoman Pip Forrester said early predictions indicated a “superb” grape quality.

“The rain and the weather we had during winter and autumn have provided really good growing conditions,” Ms Forrester said.

Some vignerons predicted vintage would start about three weeks later than usual, with the first grapes - usually chardonnay - to be picked towards the end of February.

“We haven’t had the really hot November and December that we’ve had in previous years, which has allowed the grapes to ripen more slowly,” Ms Forrester said.

Optimism is growing in the region after a few “average” seasons, including 2009, when some vineyards recorded crop losses of up to 75 per cent during the 40C-plus heatwave. Kay Brothers chief winemaker Colin Kay tipped chardonnay would be ready for picking in late February, followed by shiraz in the first week of March.

“Vintage will be a little bit later than normal but nothing too outside the boundaries,” said Mr Kay, who is entering his 42nd vintage.

“It’s a highly inexact science - the earliest vintage we’ve had in our 120 years was on January 28 and the latest was March 23.”

He said McLaren Vale was lucky to largely avoid fungus downy mildew which plagued eastern states.

“It’s been a year where there have been some fungal disease pressures but we’ve been pretty well off compared with our eastern counterparts,” Mr Kay said.

Chapel Hill winemaker Michael Fragos expected good-quality fruit and an average yield this vintage.

“We haven’t really had any extended hot periods this season, so in a way we’re sort of closer to being back where we used to be,” said Mr Fragos, the 2010 Bushing King.

“The cooler conditions allow more development of flavour and more mature tannins. During hot weather, the grapes ripen really quickly and you get the sugar but not the colour or the flavour.”

He tipped chardonnay would be ready to pick in the third week of February, compared with the first week in February in previous years.

VINTAGE NOTES

A wine’s vintage tells you the year in which the grapes were picked

Most still wines come from a single vintage; fortified and sparklings are usually made from a blend of different vintages.

Vintage quality is dependent on weather conditions and grape management

Shiraz ripens well in dry, sunny conditions while sauvignon blanc grows better in cool, damp conditions
(News Community Media)