Australia V The World

Andrew Goldfinch · 2005-05-10T09:30:10+00:00

Interesting article in the Epicure lift out in the big paper in Melbourne today. If you're interested I can post a list of the wines tastedCheers AndrewAustralia v The WorldMay 10, 2005Do you usually - if not always - buy the wines you know? Might be time to think again. By Jeni Port.Go into any wine store, look on any shelf and there is competition aplenty for Australian winemakers from their international counterparts.Do we buy the zesty La Chablisienne from France for $20 or the ripe and sunny Penfolds Thomas Hyland chardonnay for $19? Or should it be the velvety smooth Guigal Cotes-du-Rhone from the Rhone Valley or the fruity Mitchell grenache blend from Clare, both for around $20?It's a closer call than you might imagine.Move up a price peg or two and doubts start to niggle. We wonder whether the foreign wine compares favourably with its Australian counterpart. Will we understand the style? Was the vintage that much different from our own? Will we get value for money, and just what is the grape variety exactly?These are all good questions.Hopefully some might be answered in our Australia versus The World wine tasting.It's a modest snapshot comparing Australian wine styles we have become familiar with - sparkling, riesling, chardonnay, shiraz, etc - with their overseas equivalents. They're the kind of wines you'll see on almost any wine store shelf. Prices range from $20 to $120.The styles were presented in lots of four - two Australians and two from overseas - in a blind tasting.Our panel of experienced tasters were wine show judge/educator and consultant winemaker Gary Baldwin of WineNet; importer and president of the Australian Sommeliers' Association (Victoria) Ben Edwards; and retailer/wine educator Alex Wilcox of The Prince wine store.SparklingFour non-vintage styles were chosen for the sparkling taste test. NV is regarded as the best representation of house style and the most consistent. It's also a bigger seller than vintage.The Australians were...

May 10, 2005 20 Replies

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Ms Leebee 21 years ago

Yummy NZ SB ;)

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Australia V The World

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