January/February
The year began with Riesling Rampage which was based at cute little wine bar Fix St James on Elizabeth St, just near St James Station. Early on in January Fix had a number of different Rieslings to be tasted and poured by the glass. It was a great opportunity to show wine enthusiasts the variety of different styles that Riesling can be produced. To complement the event at Fix, Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine hosted an event on the 6th February that showcased many different producers of the variety and they way that they interpreted grape.
I took papa Guigs along to this event and although we were clearly not the most educated wine buffs, after two hours of trying different styles and speaking with the winemakers we were able to identify three distinct styles. The first was my favourite which is a young Riesling from a cool climate. The best ones that we tastes were from the Eden Valley and Clare Valley in South Australia. The cool climate means that there is a long growing season which means that the grape ripens slowly. This then creates a crisp, dry and refreshing white wine of the most delicate form. The best wine I tried by far at this event was the 2011 Pewsey Vale Riesling which is very reasonable in price at $17 per bottle.The second style of Riesling is one from the regions mentioned above, but with a little bit of age on it. Most white wines don't mature very well, however Riesling is the exception. After its first stage being young, aromatic and crisp the wine goes into a period of hibernation. After several years the wine has gone through a change in composition and becomes drinkable again as an aged wine. There is a distinct aroma to this wine of limes. This particular type of wine is not to my personal taste, however there can be some very good aged Rieslings.
The third notable style to the Riesling grape is the traditional sweet version from Germany. This type of wine is commonly what people think of when trying Riesling, however it makes up only a small part of what is available. Even if it is too sweet to drink at a bar, this style goes really well with spicy food.
March
March in Sydney has most notably been referred to as Parched March. The three year old festival is the antidote to Feb Fast and promotes 30 of Sydney's best bars in 30 days to raise money for charity and encourage drinking responsibly. March into Merivale was one of the month long events where the Merivale group put on great deals at many of its venues which encouraged people of all income levels to enjoy the great food and venues that Sydney has to offer. For a Friday lunch two weeks back my girlfriends and I had a glass of wine and main meal at Sushi-e on George St for $33. The service was pretty slow, but the maitre-d gave us a little something extra to make up for the wait with which we were perfectly satisfied. In fact we really appreciated the gesture.
Coming up
April will show the inaugural celebration of Wine Australia’s A+ Australian Wine Celebration being held for the first time from 12 to 29 April 2012. The launch party will be held on 4th April at the Ivy Ballroom and showcase 150 wines from 25 wine regions in NSW. The events will continue for 17 days from Mudgee to Murrumbateman. This is a fantastic way for wine enthusiasts to see the different regions in NSW as all to often people think that the Hunter Valley is the main area however there are some great wines being produced all through the state.
To find out more about the activities that are taking place throughout April click on the link below or drop me a line below and I will be happy to post more information.
Wine Australia's A+ Wine Celebration
Until next time, have a glass for me. Alex Mac
