WELL-CRAFTED SOUR
Rampant Raspberry
Quad raspberry, passionfruit and hibiscus kettle soured wild ale
Blasta Brewing, Perth WA; 4.6%
$26 (for four from brewer)
Matt Carr
REMEMBER when men wearing "salmon" was considered transgressive? It seems absurd now that the colour pink could ever whip up that kind of fervour. Maybe that's why sour beers, themselves a polarising part of the bottle shop shelf, all pulse with a radioactive palette that evokes alco-pop more than the traditional Australian ale. As with most things, it says more about the people talking about the colour of a drink than it does about the beverage. Blasta Brewing, a WA delight, don't shy away from the chromatic statement with the Rampant Raspberry. It's an easy-drinking sour for its size, a dose of herbacious hibiscus and a counterbalance of passionfruit offering just enough beyond the acidic to hurdle over most of the face-twisting efforts in this category. This is a crafted sour beer that's both a good entry point for those ready to dabble and complex enough to satisfy veteran sourpusses. The only bitter things will be those too caught up in the colour to pour themselves a pint.
DESSERT WITH PUNCH
Sunbaked Sundae Australian Spiced Rum
Victoria, 40% $85 (700ml)
Tim Connell
Recently at a work thing, people ranked desserts. "I'm a Kiwi, so Pavlova," said a woman, a cultural annexation to make an oligarch blush. Mind you, we have form. Barbecue is our thing, allegedly, until you try another country's. Then there's rum: lubricant of old Sydney, adopted north, the cane fields, Bundy Bear. And now ... dessert? This rum from Collingwood-based Antagonist Spirits is one to sip in your new loud shirt at Christmas. The roast mango is a nose punch. You might get burnt banana. Toasted macadamia won't be for everyone - expect moments of feeling like you're drinking Frangelico or another liqueur. You could do worse than have this with a cocktail, or an ice-cream.
REAL REVIEW TELLS
Brokenwood 2019 Graveyard Vineyard
Hunter Valley Shiraz $350
5.5 stars (out of 6)
John Lewis
THE Real Review is an online wine site established in 2016 by acclaimed wine writers Huon Hooke and New Zealand Master of Wine Bob Campbell and it has just produced a list of top Australian and Kiwi wines based on 10,000 tastings a year. To be classified, wines must have been judged over 10 years and are graded in three categories M, MM and the top-rank MMM - in which are included the Canberra Clonakilla Shiraz-Viognier and Syrah and the Hunter Valley Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz and ILR Reserve Semillon. The most recent ILR, the $100 2015, is sold out but the 2019 Graveyard sells at brokenwood.com.au and the McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, cellar door. It's a superb Hunter shiraz with 13.5% alcohol, bright garnet hues and forest floor scents. Intense blackcurrant flavour zips onto the front palate, the middle palate shows plum, bramble jelly, spice, coffee cream chocolate and supple vanillin oak and the finish has spearminty tannins. Great with cherry-glazed roast duck and age 18 years.
EXCITEMENT WINES
Mount Pleasant 2017 Maurice O'Shea
Hunter Valley Shiraz $325
5.5 stars
John Lewis
BRANDS with Real Review's most merit totals were Penfolds 32, Wine by Farr 13, Grosset and Howard Park 12, Clonakilla and Henschke 11, Brokenwood, Torbrek, Wynns and Tyrrell's all 10 and Mount Pleasant 8. The top-drawer MMM "wines of excitement" rating went to 36 Australian and 25 NZ wines and included Penfolds Grange, Henschke's Hill of Grace and the Canberra District Clonakilla Shiraz-Viognier and Syrah. The latest release 2019 syrah is sold out but the 2021 shiraz-viognier is at $110 at clonakilla.com.au and the Crisps Lane, Murrumbateman, cellar. The 2019 O'Shea is now available at $275 at mountpleasantwines.com.au and the Marrowbone Road, Pokolbin, winery with this 2017, which registers 14% alcohol, glows deep purple and has scents of cassis and rosemary. Plush, ripe blood plum flavour shows on the front palate, boysenberry, spice, licorice, Cherry Ripe chocolate and savoury oak meld in the middle and the finish has minty tannins. Ideal with filet mignon, and age 20 years.
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