THINKSTOCK / ISTOCK PHOTO
The adoption by most winemakers of the screwcap to seal their wines has been one of the recent great developments to hit the wine industry.
The screwcap ensures that the wine gets to you just as the winemaker intends. It will stay fresher for longer.
It’s been a boon for those of us who like to cellar our wines for a few years to see how they develop, because the risk of cork taint or early oxidisation has been removed.
I’m not a traditionalist and don’t care much for the popping of a cork. I’ll always go for a wine sealed under screwcap if the wine has been released under cork as well.
As far as I can tell there is only one downside to the screwcap: the wine can miss out on the tiny amounts of oxygen that pass through the cork and can sometimes be a bit closed when you first twist the cap.
There’s an easy fix – the decanter. It’s one that I think adds more drama and excitement than popping a cork any day and it’s also more impressive with dinner guests.
I decant almost every screwcap bottle I open – young and old, mostly red but often white, especially a Chardonnay that benefits from a few minutes outside the bottle to warm up. And it’s usually just a quick splash in the decanter and then back into the bottle or straight into the glass.
You don’t need a fancy gossamer-thin decanter to get the best out of your wine. I’ve been known to use a plastic jug before pouring the wine back into its bottle.
There are a couple of decanters out there that are great for everyday use and won’t break the bank if you drop them.
I picked up a groovy chemistry lab beaker-style decanter at Ikea for $9.95 and have been using a $55 Riedel Bordeaux vessel (www.petersofkensington.com.au) for years.
TASTINGS \
Mayford Tempranillo 2008 (Porepunkah)
$29-$35; 14% alcohol/volume
5/5
Food match: tapas
From a tiny producer in the foothills of Mount Hotham, this is a great local example of the grape made famous by Spain’s Rioja. It has the classic Rioja scents of strawberries, raspberries and cola and on the palate it tastes of plums, chocolate and peppery spice. This tasted even better the second day I tried it, so give it a few hours in the decanter or, better still, lay it down for a few years.
Barwang Chardonnay 2007 (Tumbarumba)
$15-$17; 13% a/v
3/5
Food match: salmon fishcakes
It’s not overly complex, but I like the leaner style of Chardonnay and think Tumbarumba is an underrated region for Chardonnay. This refreshing wine has aromas of green melon and nectarine, some flavours of grapefruit and a bit of nuttiness as well. It’s not for those who like their chard big and fat.
Yalumba The Scribbler 2007 (Barossa)
$16-$20; 13.5% a/v
3/5
Food match: spicy lamb stew
This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz smells of dark cherry, chocolate and cedar oak. It is full-bodied, ripe and tastes of redcurrant, chocolate and just a touch of olive. The structure of this is good, with the Shiraz filling the mid-palate and a nice tannic grip finishing the wine off. This will improve over a couple of years. The 2008 Scribbler is also in the shops, but there seems to be plenty of this still around.
Blue Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon (Pyrenees)
$14-$18; 14% a/v
4/5
Food match: slow-roasted beef
This won an award for Best Dry Red (commercial classes) at the Royal Sydney Show recently. Not that awards are everything, but it is pretty good drinking and even better value. Medium bodied and with scents of blackcurrant, chocolate and tobacco, it has fine-grained, drying tannins and flavours of blackberries and has a lovely texture.\