22 April 2009
Sometimes it’s best to keep things short and sweet.
Restocking the wine rack in mid-March 2008 fitted in with a couple of agenda items, including maintaining freight-free status with The Wine Society.
I’d tried the 2008 Westend Richland Pinot Grigio in a previous TWS Value Dozen, considered buying a dozen, but there were other fish to fry at the time. Now, the need was there, the price was good, and away we went.
And away the dozen went. I could probably order another dozen of a wine that’s perfect by the glass while you’re slaving over a stove. Clean fruit characters and a good match for appetizers, but we don’t do appetizers in the Little House of Concrete. I used it, a glass or two at a time, preparing dinner. It went well with the spicier side of things as a meal accompaniment, and the last bit of the last bottle received a tick of approval from Madam when she made it back from overseas.
The Wine Society offers a real bargain from time to time, so while I could have ordered a dozen of the Tahbilk 2007 Marsanne direct from the winery, but $9.99 was a good price for a very good wine.
Seriously, if you’re looking for a good value, consistent, high-quality white with cellaring potential, you should be giving Tahbilk Marsanne a serious look (assuming you haven’t already).
The 2007 has the usual rich palate, depth of flavour and balanced acidity. In a word, wonderful.
The final shelf-stocker was the D’Arenberg The Stump Jump GSM, a big rich red in the glass, deeply aromatic from the first sniff and the soft rounded mouth feel that you look for in the GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre) blend.
Give it a good hour to open up before you look at it seriously, though taking a glass off the top when the bottle is first opened can be justified on several grounds.
First, it’s a bloody good wine.
Second, taking a glass full out of the top provides a greater area of liquid to interact with the atmosphere in the breathing process. While the same effect could be obtained by decanting, if you go down that road you miss out on...
Third, being able to contrast the first glass with the remainder of the bottle an hour later is a salutary reminder of the benefits of breathing