Today we review a Portuguese red that is an inflation fighter, a luscious Aussie red that belongs at a barbecue, and an Austrian white that beats the heat.
Let’s head to Portugal and open the first Portuguese red wine to be bottled back in 1850, the 2020 Periquita by Jose Maria da Fonseca, a family winery operating since 1834! ($12.99; 86 points, Very Good.)
Produced from three indigenous varieties, Castelao, Trincadeira, and Aragonez from the Setubal region just south of Lisbon, it’s aged for six months in French and American new oak.
This medium bodied ruby red has a gentle violet aroma with plum, cherry, oak and leather. The flavour of strawberries, raspberries and cinnamon lingers on the palate with medium acidity and soft tannins. Not too bold and not too acidic. An unpretentious wine that represents good value ($12.99). Chill for half an hour in this hot weather! It’s a pleasant sipping wine that would be a good base for sangria.
If you want a red with more pizzazz, a rich and intense one, reach for a Skulls 2018 Shiraz from South Australia’s McLaren Vale ($20.99; 91 points, Outstanding.) McLaren Vale is at the southern end of Adelaide bordered on the west by the Gulf of St. Vincent and on the east by the Mount Lofty Ranges. Shiraz is the most important variety, accounting for 50 per cent of the total crush. McLaren Vale wines are distinguished by ripeness, elegance, structure, power and complexity.
The Skulls is 100-per-cent Shiraz from 20 to 60 year old vines aged in American oak. It displays a deep opaque garnet colour and offers a rich ripe black, blue and red fruit aroma with hints of violets and vanilla.
On the palate this full-bodied red (14.9 per cent alcohol!) gives you plenty of flavour: plums, black cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries plus savoury meaty tastes with smooth tannins and a red and black licorice finish.
Partner the Skull Shiraz with grilled steak in a peppercorn sauce, barbecued ribs, lamb with Dijon mustard and rosemary, grilled veges, or homemade chili con carne.
After all these big and lush flavours, it’s time for something completely different. Bring on the 2020 Laurenz V. Singing Gruner Veltliner… grew-ner felt-lee-ner
($23.99; 92 points, Outstanding.) If you like Sauvignon Blanc or Albarino, you’ll really like Austria’s most popular white wine! Austria produces most of the world’s Gruner Veltliner but it is gaining ground in Europe, the U.S., and B.C.! The name translates as Green Wine of Veltlin”. Veltlin was an area in the lower Alps
With a light lemon colour, this is not a wimpy white. There are ample fruity aromas such as apple, citrus, and peach along with herbal notes of green pepper, celery, and fennel. Take a sip and swirl it in your mouth and savour the zippy acidity that has lots of life and cleanses the palate, especially with rich foods and gets you salivating for more wine and food.
And during a hot summer, the Gruner Veltliner is a refreshing thirst quencher! Enjoy the flavours of yellow apple, pear, lime, flint, and fennel with white pepper and minerals in the bone dry finish.
Gruner Veltliner is a highly versatile wine when it comes to food pairing. Very few wines pair with asparagus or artichokes but our Gruner with its herbal character really works. Being popular in Austria, it has to be a good partner with schnitzel, cabbage, kale, or sauerkraut. Think “green wine, green veggies.”
And if you enjoy Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, or Japanese cuisine, Gruner Veltliner is a great addition.
The Laurenz Gruner Veltliner is available at Richmond Brighouse and Ironwood BC Liquor Stores. The Periquita and Skull Shiraz are at all three Richmond BCLS stores, Brighouse, Ironwood, and Seafair.
