02/08/11 – Legendary Australian reds (Shiraz, Cabernet, and blends of the two)
Two years ago, the Young Winos assisted in the effort to save the Australian wine industry, but we haven’t done a weekly tasting of all Australian bottles since that point, and it’s time for that to change. On Tuesday night, we’ll be tasting a lineup of big Australian reds and seeing if we can figure out what’s so distinctly Australian about them.
Cabernet Sauvignon was always a major part of the Australian wine scene — in the early days of the Aussie wine industry, the ripe, bountiful Cabs grown down under became big import hits in Europe. In recent decades, Shiraz has become known as Australia’s signature red varietal, especially those lush and spicy bottles of great depth and intensity grown in Barossa and McLaren Vale. (We tasted great examples of these last year at our Rob Gibson meeting.)
Finally, some enterprising Aussie winemakers have developed blends of the two grapes, an odd pairing that’s atypical in America and unthinkable in France. Many of these bottles are delicious as well, so who can fault the Australians for their ingenuity? On Tuesday night, let’s examples of all three. Please feel free to bring any Australian Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, or blend of the two. (As always, you can opt to bring a $10 donation if you prefer.)
We’ll be meeting at Jason’s place in Brentwood. To RSVP, simply click “will attend” over on the right side of this page. On the day of the event, Jason will send you an e-mail with his address.
Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, grab yourself an Aussie red (Shiraz, Cab, or blend of both) or ten American dollars, and put your tasting hat on. See you on Tuesday night at 8pm!