Sunday, 26 April 2009
Three different wine clubs means three different sets of deliveries and three different approaches to the contents. A look at the Wine Clubs and Mailing Lists page suggests are more than three such bodies feeding bottles into the Little House of Concrete, but we’re talking three lots of regular deliveries.
The Wine Society Value Dozen turns up four times a year, the contents get sampled straight away and reordering happens before the end of the quarter. The others turn up at six monthly intervals.
Brook Eden delivers half a dozen each time, one batch of early release unwooded styles, and a second batch given a bit more time to develop. Given the fact we’re talking a small vineyard with a limited range, that means we’re sampling no more than six wines in a twelve-month period. Like one or more? Good, hit us with a mixed dozen, preferably at a point where there’s a freight free factor in the mix.
And then there’s Pfeiffer Wines. A dozen twice a year, and there’s the option to upgrade to thrice. But there’s a problem, as a glance at the contents of the Autumn 2009 pack reveals.
The mix:
1 x 2000 Merlot
1 x 2004 Red Pfizz
2 x 2005 Shiraz
1 x 2006 Carlyle Shiraz
1 x 2007 Carlyle Cabernet Merlot
2 x 2008 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne
1 x 2008 Gamay
2 x 2008 Marsanne
1 x Old Distillery Rutherglen Tokay
That’s a fair variety, and the next mix is going to be different . Some wines, like the 2008 Gamay, may turn up again, and the rest aren’t all wines that we’re likely to sample over the next month or so. We’re not big bubbly drinkers, so the 2004 Red Pfizz may well still be sitting in the wine fridge come Melbourne Cup Day, and the advance publicity indicates it’s old vine pinot noir in a sparkling Burgundy style so it may well still be waiting for our attention when Christmas rolls around.
The 2000 Merlot, according to the back label is a “drink in the next eighteen months” prospect with not much likelihood of a reorder so we’re not going to knock it over with a bowl of bolognese. There are other wines for such purposes. On the other hand there’s every chance that we’ll be sampling the Chardonnay Marsanne, the Gamay and the other reds in the not too distant future, since reorders come into the equation and I’ll be needing a dozen of the Gamay unless it turns out to be a major disappointment.
As a result, although this particular entry appears on the site in late April 2009 there’ll be modifications over the next twelve to eighteen months as various bottles get sampled.
I started with the 2005 Shiraz, which has passed this way before without disappointing, but also without inducing a reorder. It’s a big full-bodied shiraz with red berries and spice on the nose and the depth of flavour that you’re looking for when you need something to go with a big hairy steak. The other bottle was going to be sampled with something a few notches up from the Cajun flavoured rump that the first one washed down. and a few weeks later I matched it up with a simple rib fillet. Gorgeous...
Curiosity got the better of me the following day and I decided we needed an aperitif style to sip on while Madam caught The Movie Show and I got dinner together. The 2008 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne would more than likely fit the bill. After all, the newsletter that came with the tasting pack described it as an attempt to come up with a clean, fresh and fruit driven wine which sounded like what I was looking for, and with a Wine Club discount the reorder price was $14.85 so the reorder factor came into play as well.