Winetastic

Peterson House is unique to the Hunter Valley, specialising in premium sparkling wines made by traditional methodè champenoise*. They host a series of wines to suit most drinkers, their sparkling range consists of the easy drinking “Blush” through to the premium blends that everyone can enjoy. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and happy to talk you through the range of wines on offer for tastings.

The Peterson House Gateway ($17.50) was a stand out wine for me, soft straw in colour and a developed nose of toast and fruit characters the palate is full with subtle citrus and hints of biscuit. An approachable easy-drinking wine with a clean soft finish that will appeal to the masses.

If you’re looking for something a bit sweeter then try the Pink Blush Rose ($17), a wine with an enchanting pink strawberry colour and fresh fruity aromas, fairly sweet on the mid palate with a clean fresh finish.

Peterson House have an excellent range of sparkling reds, especially the 2004 Sparkling Merlot($27) which is a vibrant crimson wine with a spicy berry aroma, the palate shows typical Merlot characters of berry and cinnamon. Another good red is the N/V Sparkling Shiraz Reserve ($34). This wine has a complexity and smoothness developed from four years aging on yeast lees and the palate is typical of a Hunter Shiraz with earthy and peppery characteristics.

If you’re after something a bit different then try the 2004 Botrytis Semillon ($25), this was the first sparkling dessert wine i’d tried and I was pleasantly surprised. A soft gold in colour with the aroma of wild honey and apricots, this is a well balanced wine that shows elegance and structure.

I would highly recomend a visit to Peterson House if you happen to be in the Hunter, they have an excellent range of sparkling wines available with something to suit everyone’s taste and budget.

*The conversion of a base wine into a sparkling wine using this traditional method can take from 9 months and up to 4 years. The bulk wine is tiraged/ bottled where it will go through a secondary fermentation in the bottle from 9 months to 4 years. The wine is then stored upside-down in wooden crates until such time as it will be disgorged ready for consumption. Riddling & Disgorging is the next process which involves the removal the dead yeast cells, achieved by freezing the necks of the bottle, forcing the yeast to extract. Additional liquor is added to get the desired sweetness and body required by the winemaker and the wine is then ready for consumption.

For those who enjoyed the 2004 vintage of the Meerea Park Shiraz Viognier, there is some great news - the 2005 vintage has recently been released and it is even better than the previous effort. If you have not yet familiar with Meerea Park wines, now really is the time to get acquainted.

Deep red/purple in colour, aromas of blackberry, plum, orange peel, and a hint of pepper virtually leap out of the glass. Medium to full bodied, tart blackberry and plum fruit flavours are balanced nicely by fine, mouthfilling tannins, subtle oak and a healthy dose of acidity. There is a level of balance and complexity here that you typically will not find in a sub-$20 wine.

Although this blend is great to glug down on its own right now, it really did shine even brighter when paired with a nice rich pasta sauce. No doubt it would be equally at home with any bbq meat or hearty beef dish. By all accounts there will be some good rewards for putting some bottles away in a cool dark place for a few years.

Score: 91/100
Price: $18
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 14%
Other Opinions: Meerea Park, Winorama
Would I buy this wine again?
Although this bottle was a sampler, I will definitely be purchasing some more.

Sydney International Wine Competition - Exhibition of the top 100 wines 2007
“Educational tastings of the Blue-Gold Award winning wines from the 2007 Sydney International Wine Competition. Pour a measured sample for yourself, taste, spit it out, keep notes in the your-to-keep Note Pad which lists the wines in the same order as they are presented. The wines are grouped into thirteen Style categories, from lighter to fuller bodied, in separate displays, facilitating like-with-like comparisons.”

Place:
University & Schools Club, 60 Phillip Street, Sydney CBD.

Date and Time:
Saturday 24 March, 2.00pm to 5.30pm

Price
$55.00 per seat

Good Food & Wine Show - Sydney
“With more than 300 exhibitors the Good Food & Wine Show is the ultimate place to explore new tastes and discover the latest culinary trends from around the world…” A list of wine exhibitors can be found here and it looks as though there will be a wine and beer tasting theatre.

Place:
Sydney Exhibition Centre

Date and Time:
Friday 15 June, 10am - 6pm
Saturday 16 June, 10am - 6pm
Sunday 17 June, 10am - 5pm

Price:
Information not available at time of writing (details should be available early 2007)

My search for a good Australian wine in the UK continues and has led me to explore what Lindemans have to offer in their bin series.

A vibrant crimson in colour the 2006 Bin 50 shiraz has an appealing nose of rich berries, vanilla and subtle spices. A fairly full-bodied wine, the palate is bursting with red and dark berries, and subtle chocolate and liquorice. This shiraz has a good length to it, soft tannins and a creamy rich finish, with a hint of spice.

This is an easy drinker and a general crowd pleaser. Drinking now, it would be well suited to a beef or game dish, or perfectly acceptable on it’s own.

Score: 82
Price: I paid the equivalent of $16
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 13.5%
Other Opinions: Winorama, Lindemans
Would I buy this wine again? This is a good wine, but not a great wine. Not bad value for money, I might be tempted to go another bottle or two whilst still in the UK.

For the wine geeks among us:

Laser Wine Thermometer
The lazy man’s thermometer, this is a nifty little gadget. You simply sit back, point the thermometer at the bottle of wine, and with the press of a button the thermometer registers the internal temperature of the wine.

Delong’s Wine Variety Table
This looks the business and would be a great talking point. Its an interesting poster that gives a visual way to look at wine grape varietals in a spectrum. It covers descriptions from the common wines right through to the very obscure.

The Cork Fish
There have been a couple of occasions where a cork has broken when cracking a bottle, and the only recourse is to push it into the bottle. Problem with that - cork chunks in the wine the rest of dinner. At last a gadget that proposes to solve this problem.

The Wine Clip
This is an interesting one… Allegedly, this clip puts “high intensity” magnets around the neck of your wine bottle and as the wine passes through the magnets, the change in magnetic field produces a chemical reaction that “reconfigures the wine’s natural tannins and certain impurities, creating a silkier flavor and finish.”

The “Unbreakable” Wine Glass
Big time quotes around “Unbreakable” here because it’s clearly marketing, but Schott-Zwiesel has a wine glass that is apparently break resistent and dishwasher safe whilst being as clear and delicate as a high-end Riedel glass.