ZESTY BUBBLY FOR CHRISTMAS PARTYING

David Ellis

THE Adelaide Hills’ Wicks Estate has released a couple of great drops in time for Christmas – a 2010 Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir that’ll be ideal with canapés as guests arrive for Christmas day lunch or dinner, and a delightful 2012 Sauvignon Blanc for those opting this year for a cold seafood spread at the Festive table.

Winemakers Tim Knappstein and Leigh Ratzmer fermented the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir separately for their bubbly, and then blended them to get exactly the combination of flavours they were looking for – a sparkling drop with a wonderful zesty freshness to get the party going, and a palate to go perfectly with a range of canapés or simply on its own in the lead-up to lunch or dinner.

Their 2012 Sauvignon Blanc is one of those easy-drinking wines that goes ideally with lighter meals, in particular seafoods, with typical tropical fruit and passionfruit to the fore and hints of lime.

The 2020 Sparkling is $25 and the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc $18.

ONE FOR LUNCH: Julie Barry never ceases to amuse us with the diversity of whimsical, often irreverent, remarks she comes up with about the exceptional wines she makes under her equally whimsical (and exceptional) Good Catholic Girl label.

One such regarded her James Brazill 2009 Clare Shiraz, a somewhat full-bodied drop with wonderful aromas that jump from the glass: dark plums, chocolate and warming spices especially, and with a palate she says “makes it almost sinfully easy to drink.”

Certainly one of her best-ever, to which she attributes the fruit from her Limerick vineyard at Armagh being the finest to date, and fortuitously picked on March 7^th which, according to Julie, happened to be “the feast day of St Celcius of Armagh… “

We’ll take her Good Catholic Girl word for it, and while she suggests it goes particularly well with Irish Stew, we’d rather share it with turkey on Christmas Day. Price: $30.

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