Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Wine Blogging Wednesday #31

Roger at Box Wines is hosting this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday and it sees us delving into the dark side with, naturally enough, Box Wines and other non-traditionally packaged wines.

As an Australian we should feel proud ashamed embarrassed something... let's try proud that we invented the wine cask. Yes, Tom Angove of Angove's Wines in South Australia has the patent from 1965 that states he indeed was the inventor.

When it came to choosing a cask I decided to skip the wines and head to the fortifieds - in this case, Sherry. Regardless of how good the Sherry is, you certainly don't want to be seen leaving a bottle shop with a 2 litre box of sherry in your hand.

sherry

Details: Seppelt Cream Sherry

Australian Sherry is remarkably good - though soon we won't be able to use the words Sherry, Fino, Oloroso and Amontillado due to an EU trade agreement.

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In the glass it has a wonderful golden hue and an appealing aroma. Not overly sweet, it's rich but not cloying - well-balanced with just the right amount of acid to make it refreshing. Serve chilled it's perfect for pre- and post- dinner sipping.

When you think of it, the cask makes sense. It's not like you drink whole bottles of Sherry at one sitting - this way it stays at it's best, from the first glass to the last.

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3 comments

  1. The traditionalist in me likes real bottles and real corks. Boxes of wine, plastic corks or no cork at all, with screw caps, are making definite inroads in all levels of winemaking, though. I find it all just a little unsettling. I'm no wine snob, mind you. Just someone who enjoys the ritual of corkscrews and the gentle pop of the cork leaving the bottle and such.

    But the wine lover in me is open to ways of keeping the wine in better, more drinkable condition. So if that means boxes and screw caps, so be it.

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  2. Australian fortifieds are vastly underrated. The wine writers keep predicting the 'return' of sherry, a bit like the return of riesling which never really happened.

    Speaking of wine in boxes, gluts over the years saw some pretty good stuff go into casks.

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  3. Hi Terry - it shouldn't really matter what the wine comes it as long as it's good. I've got no attachment to cork - and there's just too much bad cork around these days. I know in one Yarra Valley winery they had to toss about a third of their bottles due to cork taint. They've now gone screw caps and who can blame them.

    Hi Kitchen Hand - I love our fortifieds and unfortunately for us, the prices are going up to reflect the fact that overseas buyers have discovered them - Robert Parker giving out a score of 99 put them in the sights of wine lovers. Heaven for me would be a rare Tokay from Chambers in the Rutherglen.

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