This stuff is almost as good as Australia but not quite. NZ has Cloudy Bay, Kumeu River and Dry River but OZ answers with a dozen contenders like Giaconda, Petaluma, Leeuwin and others. NZ in reds has Craggy Ridge but OZ has dozens as good or better like Grange, Henschke, Dr Octavius and many more. Nice offerings at a reasonable price from a small island but OZ reigns supreme.
I drink these on every wine list I can find. Bordeaux 2000 (5/5) is an exceptional vintage because it combines monumental quality with very high quantity and can therefore be found on all major restaurant wine lists at a reasonable cost. If you do not know what to order…order this.
Alas the dilemma of Spanish wines. The quality is going up but so are the prices. Can you imagine $500 spanish wine? Well that’s what you get with Unico and Pingus. Great wines at stupid prices just like France. There is a next tier like Artadi, Viejos Pagos, Torres wines (yes from Catalunya). The best are all wonderful but still running at $150 per bottle. The solution? Buy Portugal – Alentejo but just don’t tell anyone please.
As usual, the winning wine is a big advertiser and partner of Wine Spectator: Phelps Insignia 2002. In the movie mondovino, it was observed that the 1998 Ornellaia was wine of the year just after being acquired by Mondavi. It is a total scam. So how is the wine? Well actually, it is excellent!
Once twist off were the sign of plonk but now all the best wines use them. The first to gain fame was Plumpjack reserve from California. In Australia where all the best new wines are, Two Hands, Mitolo, Pierro and many others are moving to caps. Caps lack romance but they are much more secure in preventing spoilage..and the caps don't break or fall into the wine. In 20 years all new wine will be capped.
The global wine race is over and Australia has won. Yes, I still prefer French wines in every category but...they are overpirced. The best French wines cost $200-$1000 while the comparable (albeit less spohisticated) OZ wines cost $30-80. Octavius, Torbeck, Parker, Leewin (sp) these are legends in the making. write to this cryptic australin e-mail address for an online link and order direct! - ca137574@a1.com.au.
Chili has long been the land of almost drinkable dirt cheap wines. Almaviva, Sena, Casa Lapostelle have changed that as they are spearheading a movement of medium priced wines that are delicious. If you have an overpriced wine list in hand, Chile is a good place to find shelter (along with the land of OZ). You would think that Argentina would wake up and take notes.
If ever you needed more reasons to buy australian wines...Robert Parker has just scored a 100 point syrah in california: "just for the love of it" (really). In a bidding frenzy this weekend, 20 bottles went for $500 each. Parker wines scored 95+ are regularly available for $50 dollars or less. Yes France and the USA can make better wines but the values are a disgrace.
BUY AUSTRALIAN WINES AND SEE INDEPENDENT FILMS!
My favorite wine of the moment is Two Hands Shiraz from Australia which I would like to smoke with a Padron Aniversario except that it is now illegal to smoke everywhere so I can't.
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