jamie goode's wine blog: Fizz again, but of a different kind

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Fizz again, but of a different kind

I've been drinking a lot of fizz, recently, what with various celebrations and general self-indulgence and the like.

Tonight it is time for a rather different style of fizz: the red variety. One of Australia's specialities (or quirks, depending on how you look at it) is Sparkling Shiraz. I don't know who it was who initially thought it might be a smart idea to make a fizzy red, but their offbeat inspiration took off (to a degree), such that most big Aussie companies have one in their portfolio.

The one I'm drinking tonight is from Jacob's Creek, but big brand aside, it's a really good one. If you've never tried Sparkling red wine, this one would be a good place to start.

Jacob's Creek Sparkling Shiraz NV South Eastern Australia
Visually this is gorgeous, with the bubbles foaming up a beautiful pink colour over the dark red black core of the wine. This wine shows lovely pure, sweet plum and blackcurrant fruit with a nice dark, meaty edge to it. It finishes with a nice spritzy tang from the bubbles. There's a bit of sweetness here which adds to the texture, making it feel quite weighty. It's very ripe, but the alcohol is quite low at 12.5%. A very interesting, unique style of wine: it's perhaps just a little too sweet to serve with most foods, although with its low tannin and sweetness it works pretty well with cheese. 89/100 (£8.49 Sainsbury's)

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8 Comments:

At 5:01 AM, Anonymous keith prothero said...

poor chap,I hope you will get back to drinking proper wine soon

 
At 9:38 AM, Anonymous Grant said...

Jamie,

Len Evans once opened a 1955 Seppelt Sparkling Shiraz for me (in about 1999)made by the legendary Colin Preece. It was magic, hardly any bead left but extraordinarily complex and long. The style is seen as frivolous now but this was one of the most memorable wines I have drunk.

 
At 10:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Seen some talk that sparkling shiraz is good with chocolate. What do you think?

 
At 11:26 AM, Anonymous Martin Jones said...

I've served sparkling shiraz with many a chocolate dessert and a wonderfully heady combo it is too. It's wonderful 'head'always seems to make people smile!

 
At 2:09 PM, Blogger Joanne said...

It's a shame that anyone would have such a strict interpretation of what a wine should be. Quite honestly, as a punter, if someone offered me a sweet, emerald green and cloudy beverage called wine from 'Phaek tahn' (Pardon the blatant theft of idea from Gleisner and Stich), I'd happily try it and put it into my annals of 'something different'. I guess that 'let's try something else' ideal is why the Anglophone countries are driving the wine sector at the moment.

I have to declare my origins here and state that as an Aussie, I love the bubbly red stuff, and have to add that it always gets heavy promotion around Xmas time. I guess the style could go well with chocolate, but will add that it's excellent with traditional Xmas fare, like Turkey, Ham and pudding (perhaps not at the same time...) Just writing about it is making me want a bottle or two over here in Europe atm... Now where can I find a bottle or two of that Ladubay Bouvet sparkling red that I saw recently....

 
At 6:04 PM, Blogger mrfroopy said...

my favorite is Fox Creek Vixen.It has Cab Franc and Cab S. to balance the Shiraz fruit and has amazed and delighted me and my friends for the last couple of years.

 
At 4:06 PM, Blogger geoff-oakshott said...

Hello there,

Should Jacobs Creek Sparkling Shiraz be cooled in the fridge before drinking?

 
At 7:03 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Yes, chill it.

 

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