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Wine briefs

News from around the world of wine and drink.

By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published May 31, 2006

A clever pairing

When last we saw the punning pilgrim who is the alter ego of Bonny Doon wizard Randall Grahm in his rewriting of Dante's Divine Comedy, the seeker of truth in wine had been led deep into the Vinferno.

Each of the nine circles was filled with nefarious pretenders and poseurs enduring justifiable damnation for practices opposed by Grahm, the fun-loving champion of honest winemaking, plain farming and regional grapes.

In the third and final cantos of Da Vino Commedia, our hero travels among "vinsider" traders and "yeastie-boys," as he slogs in the swamps of the Whine River. Consigned to the Seventh Circle are grape growers who irrigate, use nitrogen fertilizers, or over-plant in the wrong place, all condemned to suck up mediocre plonck forever. Then it's on to the dreaded marketing space, where he spies the "counter-terrorists" behind Two Buck Chuck, Fat Bastard and the like who cater to a "Coalition of the Swilling," then on to the Ultimate Whinemaker Dinner.

Deeper in the Eighth Circle, past the zone of critter wines where animals ran the zoo, Grahm's man confronts the too-clever winemakers who showed off more wit than wine. He recognizes himself: "There was indeed no more demurring, I was damned as a blatant zinner," a reference to his Cardinal Zin wine.

For copies of Grahm's inventive reworking of the classic, contact Bonny Doon Vineyard, P.O. Box, 8376, Santa Cruz, CA 95601, or www.bonnydoon.com.

WINE OF THE WEEK

Tintara shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia, 2003

Aussies won our palates and wallets by introducing us to shiraz/syrah with friendly flavors, critter labels and under-$10 prices by the tanker load.

Well, mate, look farther, spend a couple of bucks more, and Australian shiraz is a richer pleasure and a better value.

Tintara is an old-school Oz vineyard in McClaren Vale, south of Adelaide. Wine pioneers started here in 1861, running grapes through a basket press in a station named with an Aboriginal word for loafer.

Tintara is an easy pleasure, although made by Hardy's, it feels ripe and old-fashioned. Rich and plummy at first sniff, full of blueberries and warm, earthy scents of coffee, chocolate and glove leather. It's big and soft in the mouth, like a blueberry chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven and poured into a glass. It has silky texture all the way through the finish, with enough tannins to keep for five years.

This can stand up to fire and smoke, but it needn't be paired with just burgers on the barbie. It's fine with a roast or around the fireplace with Stilton and walnuts, a chocolate souffle or fruitcake.

Availability : $10 to $15 at better wine stores.

- CHRIS SHERMAN

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 11:30:17]