Irregular Update
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Copyright © Ric Einstein 2009
Welcome to this week's Irregular Update which features Chapter Six of the 2008 South Australian Tour Diary but first, a couple of other things.
During the week, a kind soul who works in the business, sent me a copy of an email that was sent by a fine wine agent, to a top Sydney Sommelier. To say I was shocked when I read it is an understatement. I don't know what surprised me more. The fact it was sent, or the behaviour of the sommelier that caused it to be written in the first place. This short Snippet titled How to Sell Fine Wines to Top Restaurants will surprise you too.
Last weeks Snippet, Parkers Secret is Out turned out to confirm my suspicions. Parker stated that his news was going to rock the fine wine world. The worlds press was so impressed with this earth shattering wine news that it received about as much press coverage as Gordon Ramsey's burnt barbeque sausage.
Chapter Six continues our romp through Coonawarra. We spent more time in Coonawarra on this trip than previous trips. That enabled us to cover more wineries and present some stories in greater depth, than would normally be the case. Visits include brief stops at Fosters cellar door, Leconfield and DiGiorgo. The Prof was in good form at Majella and we tasted all the 05 and about to be released 06's. Brands turned out to be much better than expected; they are moving in the right direction. Punters Corner was a disappointment and Koonara was worse. At lest dinner provided a positive end to the day. First up next day we got the complete story on Reschke Wines. That was followed by a long vineyard tour and tasting at Katnook Estate. Good news all round here. The wines are getting better and the vineyard tour made me realise that great wines don't start with great grapes, it starts with the right soils. This part of the Chapter gets down and dirty and will give you all the good oil, as well as all the dirt on Coonawarra soils. Much to my surprise, its not all about the famed terra rossa soil; the story is far deeper. Chapter Six can be found here.
There is one more Chapter to go in this series of Tour Diaries and Chapter Seven will be a cracker. I should have the draft completed on Friday and under normal circumstances it would go up next week. Unfortunately, Brian who does the editing, was inconsiderate enough to go on holidays with his partner, to Thailand for a couple of weeks. Given my propensity to make typing mistakes and my legendary, not to mention inventive spelling, as this Chapter is so important, I have to wait for his return before posting it. That's the bad news. The good news is that James Halliday's 2009 Wine Companion, the Australian Bible of Wine, is just hitting the book stores and I hope to have a completed review of it ready next week.
The News section has been almost dead again this week. Stories of interest include...
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Cheap Aussie wine could cause long-term damage
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Leaked French wine law proposals to treat alcohol like porn
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Bordeaux adopts new quality control system
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French appellation seeks name change
Those stories and more can be found here.
This weeks wine wisdom. Johann Wolfgang Goethe, a famous German poet,
once was asked which three things he would take to an island. He stated:
"Poetry, a beautiful woman and enough bottles of the world's finest wines to
survive this dry period!" Then he was asked what he would leave first, if it was
allowed to take only two things to the island. And he briefly replied: "The
poetry!" Slightly surprised, the man asked the next question: "And Sir, what
would you leave if only one was allowed?" And Goethe thought for a couple of
minutes and answered: "It depends on the vintage!"
Until next week .... Cheers Ric
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