Well, that's it

Well, all good things must come to an end, and the not so good things as well. There hasn't been any deliberation this time and as of today, the jury will no longer be in session.

There's a number of reasons why, but they all relate to when I/we changed the name. You might say that we're only a blog, and you might be right, but there lies part of the problem; It's safe to say that we have big, fat, golden tickets on ourselves, and our ego's demand something bigger and better than just another blog with a few loyal readers. Our name was wrong, the design was wrong and ultimately as a result, the content went wrong. We never stuck to our mission, because we never had one in the first place.

Last week I flicked through of Matt Skinners 'Juice' books, and while I wanted to punch the very easy target of his long snout for using '!' at every opportunity, I couldn't help but be infected by his joy for the wines he talked about. It's been a while since I've felt excited by the wine world, and that's symptomatic of the way wine writers approach the subject. Wine is a joy, a pleasure, something that we should celebrate. It cannot be defined by a number between 1-100 and as Jancis Robinson so rightly states, a love of wine is not defined by the amount and/or cost of the bottles in your cellar.

The world of wine is overpopulated with pomposity, arrogance and conceit. There's a million and one things that make me not proud to be a wine lover, but they're too many to list and frankly I don't have the energy.

So to everyone who's been fool enough to follow me to this point, so long and thanks for coming.
I'll lick my wounds, decide what exactly it is the world of wine doesn't need and I'll be back once I'm fully reloaded.

Anyone wanting to comment can do so by mailing me (northcotegrandjury@gmail.com). I'd genuinely appreciate thoughts/opinions etc.

Until then, be seeing you.

Gentle Annie Cabernet Shiraz

Last night I dreamt I was a columnist for the Daily Mail. It was terrible.

I'm still suffering from post traumatic stress, so I'll make this quick. The Gentle Annie Shiraz Cabernet 2003 is from a small independent producer in Central Victoria, and as such is a wine that I really wanted to like. Did I? Sort of.

The easy thing to say is that it's a good wine rather than great wine. It's predominately shiraz, and it shows with soft, dark fruits on the palate. Although its been in bottle for almost 6 years the fruit is still going strong, but the tannins don't seem big enough to support it, and altogether it feels a little out of balance. There's some nice mint and eucalypt notes, but on the finish there's a slightly odd character which I neither identified or went wild for. I have an 03 Cabernet kicking around somewhere, and I'll see how that measures up.

Looking at this, it's not the greatest tasting note I've ever written, but I'm sure that it won't be the worst. Either way, it's Friday and we've got three days off work, so it must be good.

That's it. Be seeing you.

Trees. Sandals. Tofu. Hugs

I'm pretty sure you don't want to read even more tasting notes about budget Australian Chardonnay, but tough biscuit. This one is good, affordable and will also make Al Gore as giddy as a schoolboy.

The tasting note first this time; The Allira Chardonnay 2006 is a delicious, cool climate Chardonnay with citrus and nectarine characters, some vanilla from the oak (about 9 months in barrel) and the creamy textural palate is nicely offset by the citrus and balanced acidity. For $12 it's surprisingly complex, with a nice purity that I've not found at this price point. There, that wasn't too hard, was it?

What makes this wine even more interesting is that the producer, Elgo Estate in Victoria's Strathbogie Ranges, is using sustainable production techniques. Part of the Elgo Estate is apparently located in a naturally windy spot, so they've erected a 150kW wind turbine to power the winery. They're also recycling their waste water and the CO2 that's generated during production.
While my pasty white derrière has gotten blisters from sitting on the climate change fence, it's good to see a producer that actually seems serious about sustainable practices rather merely making a press release sound good.

I've also recently sampled the recent releases of the Allira Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot and they're pretty good too. I have tasting notes somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look.

That's all, I'm off to get intimate with some tofu. Be seeing you

A fine line between heaven and hell

Spaghetti. Lovely.

Time is tight right now and I'm finding it hard to even think, yet alone think anything intelligent, so I'll try to keep this brief.

First of all thanks to Jenny Houghton at Maygars Hill for being so accommodating, even in the face of my stupidity. I'll write more about Maygars Hill, the magnificent Shiraz they produce, and my stupidity, in my next post. In the meantime, a quick word about our old nemesis, Pinot Noir.

Regular readers will know how we here at the Grand Jury feel about Pinot Noir. We unashamedly treat it with suspicion and rather like a [can't think of anything vaguely funny to say here], it's guilty until proven innocent.

Imagine our delight then, when the Lethbridge Pinot Noir 2006, recommended by our friend Mitchell at Harvest, turned out to be a ripper. Depending on your view of what's interesting, an interesting article in the recent Gourmet Wine Traveller had Burgundian producer Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac stating that the Lethbridge was one of a few New World Pinots he liked, and I can see why. It elevates above the average fruit juice that characterises much Australian pinot with earthy barnyard characters amongst the dark cherry and berry flavours. Lovely weight and texture, and after a couple of years in the bottle it's really hitting its stride. Good stuff, and for $35 or so, better value than some of it's more expensive peers.

I'm still waiting for salvation but I'm not holding my breath, I hear it's not good for you.

Be seeing you.

That's Entertainment (Part II)

'Stop me if you've heard this one before. Two nuns walk into a bar...'

I've probably written more than I should about the Victorian Bushfires and I probably don't need to add any more, so, I'll leave the final word to comedian Danny Nalliah. For those of us that don't know much about him, Danny made us all howl with laughter recently when he suggested that the fires were due to Victoria's relaxed abortion laws.

Now we at the Grand Jury love cutting edge comedy, so we sent a message to Dangerous Dan to congratulate him on ability to satire in a time of crisis. Ever the professional, he sent us back this:

May the one true living God bless you NGJ with His Saving Truth and Everlasting Love! (John 3:16) We at Catch the Fire Ministries will keep praying for you to believe the Bible (Word of God) as the mighty Voice from Heaven that calls to you, “NGJ, I died on the cross for you and rose from the dead to save you from eternal death, hell and destruction! Repent of your unbelief / doubt and surrender your life (past, present and future) to Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord before it is too late! Time is running out as you will soon stand before Him face to face as your Final Judge! Say, 'Yes to Jesus, Yes to Heaven Forever!' Say, 'No to Jesus, Yes to Hell Forever!' Make the Right Choice, Your Eternal Future Depends On It!

Surprisingly, Danny has as yet not done any benefit gigs in the affected area's. Anyone wanting to contact Danny and his friends can do so here.

As for wine this week, hmm, it's a been tough one and while I should go Victoria again, I'm going to plump for the Penley Estate Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. While Coonawarra has had it's problems - and it's detractors - I've always been a big fan. I'll talk more about that later, but in the meantime the Phoenix is a good, affordable example of Coonawarra Cabernet. It's got the classic characters of pencil shavings, cassis and black fruit, and the oak is subtle and well integrated. A fuller style perhaps, but it's still great Coonawarra Cabernet for less than $20. Too easy.

That's it. I've got some leisure time free, so I'm off to repent. Be seeing you.

That's Entertainment

Coming to a building site near you.

After every disaster, there's always the aftermath. Not the rising casualty list or mass scale clean-up operation, but the inevitable celebrity telethon where C-listers, has-beens and never will be's get to wipe a tear away in front of the camera while you count how many times my heart goes out is used over a 5 minute period.

If anyone is in any doubt about the existence of God, then they only need to ask if a higher being would inflict the strange and terrible Australia Unites on us. As I flicked on last Thursday night, Kate Ceberano was belting out a duet with some badly dressed bricklayer who had somehow wandered onto the stage. Kate maybe a loon, but she can at least sing, which is more than can be said for other bloke. His face tried to convey some emotion, and as he struggled for those elusive high, middle and low notes, we all felt his pain.

If this wasn't enough, someone called John Farnham talked about the good old days, whenever they were, and we laughed out loud as some other fat white man made jokes about the girls in the studio. Hilarious stuff.

Perhaps in the future, instead of having a telethon to raise money, we raise money so that they don't have a telethon. It's just an idea.

Anyway, onto the wine, and it's no surprise that they're both Victorian. I've criticised De Bortoli a couple of times about size of their portfolio and that they have a wine for every price point and demographic, but I'll forget that for now and commend them for the Sero Merlot Sangiovese 2006. I've read several good things about this wine both here and the UK, but for some reason it's been hard to source. I finally tracked some down last week and I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear that it was well worth the wait. Characters of both the Merlot and Sangiovese were evident but were well merged. Dry, very savoury with bright acidity and firm, chewy tannins. Good stuff indeed.

In a similar mould is the Dal Zotto Sangiovese Cabernet 2005. The King Valley, when it too is not fighting off fires, is starting to emerge as not only a quality region, but also a region that is different, and perhaps more grounded in Europe, than some others. The Sangiovese Cabernet is similar to the Sero in that it's dry, and savoury, but it's denser, more leathery and if tasted blind, I'd be struggling to guess it's nationality. A great wine and like the Sero, would be a good partner to a pizza or something involving pasta and tomatoes.

So, forget the Telethon and their good intentions. Buy Victorian wine, give to the Red Cross appeal and hope that the affected communities stick two fingers up to bushfire and come back even stronger.

I'll be back very soon to talk about my very good friend Danny Nalliah. Bet you can't wait. Until then, be seeing you.

A Good Day for Bad News

Regular readers of this blog will know that it's not uncommon for me to deliberate over postings, and frequently say that I've been hitting the delete key. However, the weekends events left me struggling for words even more than usual. I don't have the ability to add anything intelligent to what's already been written and well, now perhaps isn't the time for my low-rent inane ramblings.

So, all I will say is All Hail Victoria, my adopted state. We don't know what's going to happen to parts of Victoria's 2009 vintage (read Bella Bacchante for an overview of the devastation caused to Victorian Wine areas), but in the meantime, next time you go to the bottle shop, buy a bottle (hell make it two) of Victorian wine. You don't need to do it out of charity, just do it because it's good. As I watched the events unfold over the weekend I drank a David Traeger Verdehlo 2008, and the Cosmo Basket Press Shiraz 2006. Both were delicious and both resolutely Victorian. I'll discuss them further later on, but now isn't the time. Just drink and enjoy.

I'm not prone to employing stirring, clichéd quotes, but when Kevin Rudd said that Hell had visited Victoria, I though about the quote from Churchill, who said 'When you're going through Hell, keep going'. A faint whiff of cheese I know, but frankly I don't care.

Be seeing you.