USA orange wine, Channing Daughters '10 Meditazione

Channing Daughters '10 Meditazione

Beautifully Apricot in colour and a little warm. There is a big lychee hit and pink musk lolly on the nose. I also detect a woody spice, perhaps cedar or ashwood. Can you guess what it tastes like? White-peppered musk lifesavers. Seriously. As well as booze-soaked dried apricots.. and more. This is definitely a white wine that will appeal to red wine drinkers.

Meditazione is an exotic, non-traditional white skin-fermented (or orange wine) blend inspired by the “Vino da Meditazione” wines in the Friuli region of Northeast Italy. The Channing Daughters 2010 Meditazione is comprised of 28% Muscat Ottonel, 20% Chardonnay, 18% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Pinot Grigio, 10% Tocai Friulano, 5% Viognier, 5% Aligote, 2% Semillon. What a mouthful!

You need to try this for yourself. In Australia, contact Brooks and Amos.

A visit to Pizzini Wines, King Valley, Australia

Pizzini Wines, King Valley, Victoria, Australia

Recently I was very fortunate to be a part of a social media group which visited the King Valley wine region, a drive of about three hours from Melbourne. The trip was organised by Melissa Brauer from Squawk Media and this wine valet could not miss the opportunity to be a guest of the Pizzini family for a weekend.

my wine tasting was guided by wine maker, Joel Pizzini

The Pizzini family are most noted for making fine Italian wines, however you will also find a selection of classic French grapes being made into wines. Highlights for me were:

• the 2012 Prosecco, $19.50 ~ a must drink during a King Valley trip
• the 2012 White Roman, $18.50 ~ a blend of Riesling, Pinot Grigio and Gewürztraminer and inspired by a wine Joel tasted at Melbourne hotspot, Chin Chin
• the 2012 Verduzzo, $22 ~ which I would match with pork crackling
• the 2012 Rosetta, $17.50 ~ a rosé made with the Sangiovese grape
• the 2011 Sangiovese Shiraz, $17.50 ~ which I would match with a pepper crusted rare eye fillet
• the 2011 Sangiovese, $25 which I would match with a Capricciosa  pizza
• the 2005 ‘Rubacuori’ Sangiovese, $110 ~ this single vineyard drop is quite different to the regular Pizzini Sangiovese, it comes from only about 20 rows of vines of the Brunello, rather than Chianti, style of grape. Very small berries are oak fermented and the result is a rich, warm, beautiful wine
• the 2005 ‘Coronamento’ Nebbiolo, $135 ~ translated, this single vineyard means “achieving a moment”. Fred and Joel Pizzini hand pick, and vine pick, only the perfectly formed, perfectly matured grapes for this stunning, special wine
• the 2006 Per Gli Angeli, $65 ~ a sweetie that sees the Trebbiano grape made in the vin santo style. Stick your nose in and smell peanut brittle. Heaven. (for the angels)

April was such a perfect time to visit the King Valley

Apart from all the fabulous wines, there is so much more to Pizzini Wines cellar door. Katrina Pizzini runs A tavola! cooking school where you can learn all manner of foodie tricks and techniques, from classy vegetarian dishes to home cheese making! I was treated to the "Lunching Ladies and Lads" class. Katrina was patient, supportive and fun. Kitchen novices to the dinner party queen all learnt a trick or two.

Katrina Pizzini teaching us to cook

The best part of cooking school, was of course eating our creations for lunch! We were lucky enough to enjoy ours al fresco style, with a few Pizzini wines to match. The picnic area just outside the cellar door is a great place to let the kids run around or just recline in the sunshine with your glass of wine in hand, not a care in the world.

gnocchi and bolognaise made by us

enjoying Verduzzo in the sun

picnic area at Pizzini Wines

See Foodie Blogger - Gastronomel's mouthwatering review of the entire weekend here: http://gastronomel.com.au/2013/05/07/volvo-prosecco-road-trip/
And keep your eye out for my post about Dal Zotto wines, coming soon.

Visit Pizzini Wines at: 175 King Valley Road, Whitfield, Victoria, Australia, 3678

Buy Pizzini Wines directly from: http://www.pizzini.com.au/pizzini/orders_retail.php

A very special thank you goes out to Silverstone Volvo in Doncaster who kindly loaned us two shiny new Volvos for our trip, the XC60 R and the recently released V40 (my fave!)

For all your social media and event needs, contact Squawk Media via email: melissa@squawkmedia.com.au

To have Lady Oenotria create the matching wine list for your next dinner party, email: ladyoenotria@gmail.com 

Wine List Lust: Maha Melbourne

I recently visited Maha Restaurant in Melbourne to explore their new wine list. I perched myself at the bar, opposite the Enomatic machine, just as dinner service was beginning. The plan was to try as many wines as possible. Thankfully, the new wine list coincided with the installation of an Enomatic machine and wines poured by the half-glass.

First up was a 2010 Robert Weil 'kiedricher' German Riesling in honour of the commencement of #summerofriesling. I moved in to a 2010 Tapanappa 'tiers vineyard' Chardonnay and by the time I was on the 2007 Alluviale 'dada 1'  Sauvignan Blanc/Chenin Blanc blend I decided to order some eats.

All manner of muddling, shaking, stirring, popping and pouring was going on beside me and I was mostly oblivious- despite my splendid attendant Darcy exclaiming, "ooh, Turkish Delight Martini! It is going to be a good night!" (after some particularly vigorous muddling.)

With my veggie dish going down a treat, I made my way through a 2005 Le Cinciole Chianti Classico (makes a great Sangiovese moustache if you stick your nose in too far!), a 2006 Marsovin 'Grand Maitre' (Malta's pride and joy- grown on the site where the Maltese fought off the Turkish invasion), a 2009 Santa Duc 'Gigondas' and a 2009 Chateau Musar 'jeune'. That ticks off wines from Germany, New Zealand, Australia, France, Italy, Malta and Lebanon. Not a bad effort for one night in a single venue!

As my evening came to a close with a 2002 Domaine Des Baumard Coteaux du Layon 'clos st catherine' which is a butterscotch-y Chenin Blanc sweetie. {My notes say there were tastes of crème caramel and honey-soaked raisins.. but blonde raisins. Is there such a thing? Maybe that's what unicorns eat? Perhaps, more simply, all that wine was going to my head and I meant to scribe 'dried apples' instead.}

butterscotchy Chenin Blanc sweetie

I perused the remainder of Maha's wine list and decided that I had an extreme case of wine list lust. There were all manner of varietals that I have yet to try; real Prosecco from Italy plus sparkling from Malta. My absolute dream wine on my 2013 wishlist was there, a 1996 Salon Champagne. Wines from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal adorned the list as well as a cheeky little Moscato from Mornington Peninsula.

I was enjoying a 1909 Domaine Sainte Crouix Rivesaltes by the time I noted dessert wines on the list from South Africa and Israel among others. It was about that time that I decided to tell you about the Fortified wines another day. Have you been to Maha? What wines did you try? Comment below or email LadyOenotria@gmail.com

Tears of Wine or Wine Legs

Last night I finally was able to grasp the term, 'Tears of Wine'. I am not talking about getting all melancholy when you drink either. What I have always known as wine legs, other people call tears of wine. A bit like eggplant and aubergine. I was at Maha Restaurant in Melbourne to celebrate and embrace the installation of a brand spanking new Enomatic machine. This is a device which helps open bottles of wine keep fresher for longer, enabling establishments greater flexibility with their wines by the glass.

Maha Restaurant, 21 Bond St Melbourne

As I am not a professional wine reviewer or critic, (my notes for the 2005 Le Cinciole Chianti Classico say "berries and bark"), I'd rather highlight a couple of Wine Appreciation 101 points. Firstly, the flavours that any one individual can taste in wines are based on previous experience and memories. I have never tasted gooseberries, nor fresh mulberries, so I would not be able to pick those flavours out of a wine.

Berries & Bark

Along with the memory triggers, come thoughts, feelings and emotions. Sometimes, wine critics say that a wine "moves them". When this happens to me, the wine goes straight to the top of my favourites list. I now have a new favourite thanks to the fabulously innovative technology of the Enomatic machine at Maha. I was able to sample a wine that you could normally only buy by the bottle, for $420. A half-glass goes for $45, a much more affordable way to try wish-list wines. The 1909 Domaine Sainte Croix Rivesaltes. 16%.

Yes, that is the year, 1909

Here's my blurb:

Bright red, with rust-coloured edges. A bright, fresh nose of understated Christmas plus alcohol- but in a good way, not the beer-soaked pub-carpet kind of way.) Smells of sugar and spice and all things nice. I detect ginger, allspice, cinnamon, clove, sultana, raisin, currants, warmth and hugs. It has rippa legs and a lighter mouth feel than I expected. It tastes warm, fruity, spicy and yum.

{yum is THE most advanced wine tasting jargon on the planet}

A late harvest grenache, partially fortified and aged in large oak tanks for 98 years.

The next thing I tasted was boiled pineapple fruitcake which made me squeal on the inside. My most treasured recipe from my Grandfather- who was taken from this life far too soon, is for his boiled pineapple fruitcake. We used to make it together in the lead up to Christmas. As this truly fond memory came to me I held up the glass. I noticed that the wine legs were moving incredibly slowly. So slowly that the beginning of each leg formed the shape of a tear and then rolled off the Maha logo. I had to check that it wasn't me who was crying, then looked at the glass again. The tears of wine were forming and rolling steadily now. I finally understood where the term came from.

For interest's sake, Jancis Robinson, MW says the 1909 is one of the few wines that happily partners chocolate. [www.jancisrobinson.com Purple Pages] I would enjoy this with a mild to medium flavoured hard cheese or even some pressed pork belly!

Enomatic machine, top left of photo.