So, two weeks off before I start my new job, and a backlog of DIY stuff that’s going to keep me occupied. I spent much of yesterday trawling through my CD collection, often wondering why the hell I’d bought half of the stuff that’s in there. Why indeed.
The main headline today is that one of my favourite sites, Winorama (www.winorama.com.au), will be merging with another popular site, Winefront. My first reaction was to go and grab one of my son’s dummies to replace the one I'd spat quite some distance. Then I had a nice cup of tea, thought about it, then decided to get the tape measure and see if I could break my previous attempt.
I have a slight problem with subscription based sites; mainly because I’m cheap and naive enough to think there are still people out there passionate enough to do things without chasing dollar. However, Gary (Walsh, founder of Winorama) has put a huge amount of work into Winorama over the past couple of years, and us Winorama readers have probably been onto a good thing for a bit too long. Winorama is an great site and Gary not only does excellent reviews, but always has the time to reply to idiots like me. Gary and the other bloke from the other site have described it as a marriage, and I hope that they will be very happy together. Let’s just hope that the vicar doesn’t ask if there’s any lawful impediment.
OK, onto the bodycount. Last week I opened a Jeanneret "Curly Red" Cabernets 2004 from the Clare Valley and I won’t bore you with the notes, but suffice to say it was the vinifous equivalent of scented candles. If you like sugar in your tea, this is the place to start. I wasn’t even going to mention it until I remembered that I’d purchased it from Victoria Cellars (www.vintagecellars.com.au). They don’t need too much of an introduction; they’re a nationwide chain that, from my understanding, cater for the middle market. They stock a decent range of mid priced wines, with some decent, if slightly safe, imports. I’ve tried to do a bit of research on them but came up short, so I’ll have to rely purely on my own biased opinion. What I find interesting with VC is that I’m not entirely sure at what market they’re aiming for. They’re not cheap enough to compete with the likes Dan Murphy’s, and they don’t have the range or expertise to battle with the specialist independent stores. They also not only recommended, but fawned over the Jeanneret, and while it wasn’t atrocious, it isn’t something that I’d hurriedly use for anything but domestic cleaning with. Staff are friendly and helpful, but it’s not the first time they’ve led me astray. If anyone else has had a different experience I’d be interested to know.
If I’m after something that’s going to affect my mortgage repayments, then first stop is the Prince Wine Store (www.princewinestore.com.au). The main branch is in Bank St South Melbourne, and there's a smaller newer satellite in the Clarendon Centre (there’s also another branch in St Kilda). The Prince is famous for giving the world Matt Skinner, no bad thing, and while you’re not going to get much for $10, there is an excellent range of mid and top end domestic and imported wines. Occasionally you get the sense that one or two of the staff would rather be editing Decanter magazine, but as a whole they’re friendly, passionate and know what they’re talking about.
Cloudwine (www.cloudwine.com.au), again a chain, focus a little more on Australian regional wines. I’ve only ever been to the branch on Clarendon Street, but again, the staff are happy to chat and are passionate about wine. They also share my love for Bendigo wines so bonus marks there. They also recommended to me the excellent dalla mia Finestra Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. Dalla mia also do a great value pinot, and this is no different. It’s a lighter weight cabernet, but the fruit is good and very cabernet with some blackcurrant and cedar there. It’s a bit leafy, but not green and the structure is good. I can’t find much on dalla mia, but if anyone has any info please let me know.
That’s it for now, be seeing you.
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7 comments:
Hi Rawshack
VC took over the excellent indepedent store known as The Grape acouple of years ago (or maybe a year, no good with time frames) in QLD, or at least Brisbane. Most Grape managers, whilst being offered managerial positions, left within that time span for exactly the reason you mentioned. ie what is the aim/philosophy of this store. My local VC manager is one of the few Grape managers who remained and is agreat bloke (who also happens to give me more than odd freebie he wants me to taste :-) and fantastic manager but even he is sick of Coles mentality and their "dumbing down" of the store. Example, he was told he was going to receive a visit from one of the Coles bigwigs and what was important was that bottles and cases "were in straight lines". VC differs remarkably from store to store, in stock, attitude and freindliness. Hope that helps for what its worth. Cheers Jeremy
Thanks jeremy - there's not really a VC that's near me, hence I don't venture into them that much. I suppose they're a good bet if you're off to a party and need a dependable bottle...
Any good inde's around you in QLD? I think that where I am in Melbourne I'm quite blessed with a few good stores.
There are a few, funnily enough, but generally either more expensive or less range than Melbourne.
Cru Cellars, The Wine Emporium, and the one that I just discovered and am very excited about, The Wine Experience (yes, I know these names aren't very imaginative!). Wine Experience stocks a lot of QLD wines and is the sole retail distributor for Boireann from 2007 vintage (or so the manager said).
Feel free to laugh at QLD wines, and its a young industry here with a ways to go BUT I will vouch for two winemakers- Peter Stark (Boireann) and to a lesser extent Mark Ravenscroft (Ravenscroft and Robert Channon). Stark's reds are always excellent (see JH for another confirmation) but they are tannic and do need some cellar time. Mark's work is best enjoyed via his Chardonnay and Cab/Sav, but its the verdehlo's that win all the prizes here :( Good luck with the new job and your study (which I would like to hear more about. I am doing distance Wine Science in conjunction with Sturt). Don' throw out to many CD's, you may later regret it ;) Cheers jeremy
ps- "The other bloke" from winefront is also a geat guy. Once again, apart from great tasing notes and levity, he even replies to IDIOTS like me! :) Then I again I spose you did too. Have a goodun
jeremy
And if you like hunter wine, check out his book "The Wine Hunter" on Maurice O'Shea. Great stuff on the history of the hunter and one of its pioneers.
Rawshack I followed you here from your comment at Winorama. Must say I'm also very disappointed at the news about Winorama. I'm extremely reluctant to pay for access to websites and in fact the only one I currently subscribe to is Jeremy Oliver.
But I guess that we have to recognise that there would be some costs associated with running a decent site, and not everyone wants to subsidise their hobby too much.
The alternative model, which I've seen employed with American political blogs, is to have free access and recoup some costs from advertising on the site - google ads is the simplest but if you get a decent number of visitors then display advertising is possible. I think the market is unfortunately so much smaller and less developed here that advertising would never provide a living for a blogger.
Oh, and I meant to say something about Vintage Cellars, too. As jeremy mentioned, they are part of the Coles group, and positioned at the more expensive end of the spectrum compared to Coles' 1st Choice and Woolworths' Dan Murphy chains. Like jeremy I find the staff at VC can be a bit variable, but from time to time I've found different managers at their Manuka (Canberra) store to be quite good. It is worth getting on the mailing list for their newsletter - the bargains can sometimes be quite good.
Thanks for the tip CB, I forget that it's handy to be on various newsletters, even things like the wine society (surely the the subject of a future rant..)
As for Winorama, there must be a real incentive for Gary to make the change, and I don't blame him. Without sounding like I've got my tongue somewhere it shouldn't be, he has a good palate and writes great reviews...
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