talked down... (Lindeman's 2001 Reserve Shiraz)

[solipsistnation]

I let myself be talked out of opening this vintage 1985 bottle of Porto Barros. We don't have a decanter. I should acquire one at some point.

Instead, I've got a Lindeman's 2001 Reserve Shiraz, which is very very dry and moderately spicy. It's got a very flat sort of finish, cool across the tongue, and while it's not as heavy as a lot of reds, it's certainly moreso than the typical shiraz. This one really needs some food, I think, and while I have some very tasty cheese, I think it's not quite what this one wants.

This is, I think, a shiraz to give to people who think shirazim aren't serious wines.

Comments

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

The main thing to note about this shiraz is that it's very very dry. High alcohol content, meaning also low sugar content which translates to a wine that isn't as fruity as most of the shirazes they're making these days. It's just as big and opaque as the others, but it has that slate-tasting style that makes it more suited for pairing with food.

Lately everyone's making their reds huge, aromatic, and grapey, which makes yummy stand-alone wines but limits their food-friendliness to some degree. This one's an exception.

[amymarr.livejournal.com]

Thanks to your recommendation, I picked up a Jacob's Creek Shiraz and also a Wallaby Down (I think that's the name) 1999 for the Thai buffet we had on Saturday. Both received rave reviews and were excellent with the variety of Thai food we had available, ranging from pad thai to green curry.

What's a decanter for?

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

Wine changes slightly-- it "opens up" and the flavors become more pronounced as it is exposed to air. This is called "letting the wine breathe." Usually you open a bottle and give it 15 minutes or so-- in some cases, like this one and the Taltarni shiraz, you have to give it half an hour or so. You can do this in the bottle, or in a pitcher-like container called a decanter (into which you decant the wine), which will be designed to let the wine breathe more rapidly so you don't have to wait the full half hour. (And in the case of some wines, it may be even longer, but half an hour is usually good.)

In the case of vintage port, decanting is even more important. Vintage port (not late-bottled vintage) will have been sitting in the same bottle for years and years, and there may be sediment and stuff accumulated in the bottom of the bottle. In this case, you don't just pour from the bottle, you decant it through a couple of layers of cloth (they recommend muslin) in order to catch any bits, and then actually pour it from the decanter.

Late-bottled vintage port ages in barrels, and then is bottled only a few years before being sold. For example, the Warre's 1992 LBV you can find pretty much anywhere was bottled in 1997, and so it doesn't have the sediment and stuff issues that a 1992 vintage port would have.