Offcuts

Aside from a couple of bretty Loire reds, not many new wines have been consumed of late. Instead, lots of retasting, mostly quite pleasant. A highlight has been the 2007 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon. If anything, I enjoyed my second tasting more than the first, as it showed tighter, with a firmer line and yet more exuberantly powdery aromatics. It has excellent complexity for a young Semillon as well as great purity of flavour. I note the 2008 Semillons are out now and am curious to try them.

On a meta front, I keep finding awesome new (to me) Australian wine blogs. Not only do we have the monumentally re-envigorated Winefront, there’s also GrapeScott, the Oz Wine Review, Drinkster/Drankster, etc. Then there are ongoing favourites like the Wino-sapien. Rather an embarrasment of riches, I think. I’m glad to mention these blogs here, partly because our new theme doesn’t yet have a links page, but mostly because it’s interesting to reflect on where local wine blogging is “at” vis-a-vis the established wine press. Quality is certainly variable but, at their best, our blogs offer a range of perspectives and a democratic immediacy that doesn’t exist in other media. There are also a range of attractive, identifiable personalities on display, a phenomenon that should ensure the durability of these voices over the longer term.

I observed a similar dynamic almost ten years ago when political and current affairs blogging became widespread. Blogging is now quite accepted (and acceptable) in that realm, and I suspect the line between old and new will also blur in our rather more specialised niche.

In the meantime, I’ll keep drinking and writing about it.

7 thoughts on “Offcuts

  1. Keep up the good work Julian.

    On the 08 Sems I have had the 08 Thomas Braemore and 08 Hell Hole and on the strength of those two alone I think it will be a cracking white vintage, though some of the wines may need to be cellared for decades….

    • Thanks Andrew! Great news about the 2008 vintage — at last, a vintage to cellar. As much as I have enjoyed the last few years’ wines, I truly crave a gloriously aged Semillon in the classic mould.

  2. Julian,

    Yes, keep up the great work.

    Thanks for the pointer regarding Drinkster/Drankster. I’m finding it harder and harder to keep up with all the local blogs. . .

    • Hi Edward,

      Indeed, they seem to be multiplying. Which is quite cool but also somewhat challenging. I guess it mirrors wine itself: too many tempting choices, not enough time.

      By the way, you did well to leave Ultimo Cellars with only two bottles!

      Julian.

    • I keep thinking every day is the markets’ worst, and generally I’m right… until the day after. ๐Ÿ™‚ It’s terribly depressing. I write this on the evening of another drop in local markets — 8.37% down, to be precise. The index is below 4000 and I’m drinking an old vine Barossa red. One balances the bad with the comforting.

      Huet Vouvray and Pinot — you are indisputably a connoisseur. ๐Ÿ™‚

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