Daniel James

Spud’s Wines – Issue 3

Triple treat

Houghton - The Bandit 2007 ($10)

Shiraz – Tempranillo

6.5/10

When taking the plunge and buying wine from your local IGA you tend to start to cringe before you even get it home.  With the darling wife cooking up a feast of lamb shanks roasted in fresh from the garden tomato sauce the need for a wine to out shine the food is not required.  However this unexpected did a great job to accompany this fine meal.  A cheap Shiraz will go with all wholesome dinners but the Tempranillo (an underrated varietal) really softened this one and it worked particularly well with the tomato base.  What was left in the bottle was perfect with the dollop of chockie ice-cream for desert where a strong cherry flavour came through.

Goona Warra – Black Swan 2008 ($28)

Pinot Noir

7/10

We spent a couple of days in Sunbury recently and were hoping to try some Goona Warra wines straight from the cellar door, however it was inconveniently closed thanks to a thoughtless couples wedding.  Lucky for us the local pub had a good list of local wines by the bottle at reasonable prices so we thought this will have to do.  This is a very robust Pinot, reminds me of ones grown in other areas of Victoria but this one just had something different which I can’t seem to put my finger on.  This may be caused by the fact that we had already polished off a local Chardonnay and were consuming a $4 fish and chips bought from the bar served in a noodle box that had more that likely been triple fried.  Call me crazy but I don’t think situations like this really improve the flavour.  Would really like to try this one again sometime maybe with a nice steak.

Francis Coppola Pinot Noir Diamond Series Silver Label ($39)

Pinot Noir

8.5/10

Easter Sunday is always a good excuse to break out something a wee bit nicer.  I have had this one a couple of times recently and I really do think this would be one of the best Pinot’s I have had.  As with most Californian wines especially this variety it is very subtle and tannin free, however this would have to be described as like drinking silk.  Awesome wine will be having this one and others from the region often.

http://www.franciscoppolawinery.com/