09 January 2014
NAUGHTY SUMMER IDEAS
Absolut Country of
Sweden Vodka
$34/700 mL; 40%
alcohol; screw cap; 93 points
It's not that I've been whipping myself to find other
excuses to visit Woolworths, but while their liquor stores always seem to offer
the best prices on real German beer (Oettinger: $1:20/330 mL stubby; $1:54/500
mL can) and the best and cheapest blended whisky (Bailie Nicol Jarvie Scotch
Whisky : $37:00/700 mL), but they also seem to offer the cheapest premium vodka
in Absolut ($34:85/700 mL; $50:90 1 L).
This is quite literally the cleanest ethanol I can find at such a
price: it beats hands down most trendy scam brands passed off as far posher
more expensive spirits. And these are many.
Beware. Headaches be there. I've entertained my limp brain over the break
making cocktails based on Absolut. The
best of these involve juices from Germany, of all places, marketed by
Woolworths in their supermarket fridges under the very British name Cawston
Press. The apple and ginger juice ($4.29
L) makes a delicious long glass refresher with a squeeze and a slice of lemon
and/or fresh Buderim ginger root garnish on ice with soda and Absolut. I'm also quite partial to a heart-starter of
Absolut, ice, soda and a little cold expresso coffee, like the leftover from
your pot. But I've had even more
perverse fun attempting to mix a drink that best emulates that most expensive
of red wines, the salacious and sensual Pinot noir. To one schlück of Absolut add one or two of
Cawston Press Beetroot juice, and a cooled soup spoon of BonVit Roasted
Dandelion coffee substitute, then top up with soda and ice. I'd like to add some cherry cordial, but
can't find one good enough. Your drink'll
be more like a proper sparkling Burgundy (made principally with Pinot, not
Shiraz), and as it hasn't been fermented, it'll be a tad sweeter than a real
one, but see what you think. As for preferring German juice to the works of our
troubled desert Riverlands, it's an easy choice. Just like wine grapes, juices made from cool
climate fruits and roots tend to blow the sunbaked versions away. Especially if you're teasing yourself by
attempting to emulate Pinot, which, like the best beetroots, grows where it
snows.
Brian Barry Jud's
Hill Clare Valley Riesling 2013
$$162:76/1 dozen 750
mL., 11.5% alcohol; screw cap; 94+ points
In immediate contradiction of my "cooler climates
make better flavours theory," here's a princely Riesling from Clare, whose
warm weather is nothing at all like the cold stuff of Germany, where Riesling
originates. I have never yet heard a good simple explanation of how Riesling
works so vibrantly in Clare and Eden Valley.
I mean they're cool for South Australia, but they're not Germany
cool. Once again, Riesling's a drink I play
with in Summer. I love it with a big ice
block and a good dash of soda. This
one's from the famous 1977 Jud's Hill Vineyard set up by Brian Barry, and now
owned by his nephew Peter of Jim Barry's Wines.
For the true winerds, Brian says its pH, 2.9, is the lowest he's ever
seen in a white wine. It has a more gentle, delicate fragrance than the bigger
Rieslings I recommended earlier in the summer - its citrus is as much pith as
your normal juice, and its florals more
along the line of musky roses "too soft to touch, but too lovely to leave
alone," as Tim Hardin sang. Its
palate is similarly gentle, and is almost understated in its delicacy and
beauty. It's a wine befitting the name
of the gentleman with the most sensitive nose I have encountered in Australia.
I always say "vintage doesn't happen until Brian Barry's had his
birthday" which means, I think that'll be his 87th coming on in a few
weeks. You could make a great old man
very happy by relieving him of a case of this special treasure: you buy it
direct from Brian, cases only, on (08) 8363 6211. That's Brian and son Jud at Park Lok, below.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hello Philip
I just read your Curtis Stone piece in InDaily and noticed a reference to methanol in your first paragraph on Absolute vodka (which I favour myself thanks to a tip by you in another article many years ago). I was unsure whether you meant because it was so clean it contained less methanol than other vodkas, or whether you thought it was the purest ethanol in a vodka and the editor fucked up. Please clear up this mystery for me.
And thanks for the tip on the BB Riesling. I still have some of a late seventies or eighties BB version that got some botrytis on it and was truly remarkable as a result, an extra dimension of spice, like a kaffir lime.
My mistake, Michael. All fixed now. I dunno, you'd think that by this age a bloke would ....
Post a Comment