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Wednesday April 30, 2008 - Wine Accessory

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Melbourne and the Yarra Valley Wine Tour: A Traveler's Guide to Victoria

A few weeks ago, I had a month-long vacation in Australia, mostly in Melbourne. It was my third trip to this city and the best one yet. It seems like every time I visit Melbourne, I always discover something new and this time, it was the excellent wineries in the area. I was virtually raving to my friends about all the fine wines I had tasted on my visit. Hence, at their urging, I am writing this traveler's guide to Melbourne, with a special eye on its delightful wine.

Firstly, on any visit to Melbourne, I strongly suggest that first-time visitors take a day or two to explore this magnificent city. Among all of Australia's major cities, this is the one that will likely have that special attraction to even the most jaded, well-traveled and world-weary tourist. As the locals say, Melbourne can mean different things to different people. It may seem foreign at first but there is always something that is strangely familiar and which, on some level, reminds the globe-trotting visitor of home. I guess that's why they call Melbourne a chameleon city.

Melbourne is a city of diverse cultures and remarkable contrasts. Here, different groups have learned to co-exist comfortably with one another. For instance, the Italian neighborhood and the Chinese neighborhood, which are side by side.

Whether your lifestyle is beachside or bohemian, Melbourne has something that will appeal to you, be it the food, wine, art, style, customs, nightlife, businesses or beliefs.

Once you're ready to start your wine tour, the place to begin is the Yarra Valley, a prime wine-growing district that began making wine in the late 19th century. Its cool climate and rich soil are ideal for producing dry red wine, chardonnays and pinot noirs. Among the excellent small wineries are Yeringberg, Yarra Yering, St. Hubert's, Seville Estate and Coldstream Hills.

Sample the offerings of wineries such as de Bortoli, Yarra Yering and Domaine Chandon (sparkling wines). You can have lunch at one of the wineries and spend the night in the area where there are a number of first-class hotels with luxurious accommodations.

On your second day, begin with a hefty breakfast (Yarra Valley offers the popular option of having breakfast on a hot air balloon as you cruise the sky, interested?) before heading to Healesville Sanctuary to view the indigenous koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and platypus. A little way further will take you to the Mornington Peninsula and its 30 wineries. There are excellent accommodations in the area for an overnight stay.

On your third day, have breakfast and taste the wine at Karina Vineyard then head to Dromana Estate for lunch and more wine tasting. The combination of the sea, cool climate and the area's excellent volcanic soil all contribute to the production of exquisite chardonnay and pinot noir. Spend the night in the vicinity.

On your fourth day, with your wine tasting tour over, you may want to ride the ferry to Queenscliff for a tour of the Great Ocean Road before heading back to Melbourne.

If you're visiting Melbourne in Victoria Australia - be sure to also take the time to go and check out the Yarra Valley.

Home to more than 55 wineries plus some amazing restaurants, you can find plenty of great luxury Yarra Valley accommodation - chateaus, bed and breakfasts, retreats, estates, lodges and so forth.

To see the full range of luxury accomodation reviews, visit Simply Lush at http://www.simplylush.com - and see the luxurious Melbourne hotels and Yarra Valley accommodation spots you can spoil yourself at.

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April 2008 - Wine Cabinet

A Featured Wine Cabinet Article

I Love Italian Wine and Food - The Fruili-Venezia Giuli Region

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Friuli-Venezia Giuli region of northern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

Friuli-Venezia Giuli is a mountainous area tucked away in the northeast corner Italy, bordering on Austria and Slovenia. Experts believe that Friuli-Venezia Giuli was first inhabited twenty thousand years ago. Like most regions of Italy, it has belonged to many nations over the years. Unlike most regions of Italy, it remains multicultural, an exceptional mixture of Italian, Austrian, and Slavic influences. To make this article easier to read, we will replace the region's full name by its first part, Friuli. The total population is less than 1.2 million.

While Friuli is home to a wide variety of agricultural products, most farmers don't get rich. The farms tend to be small and much of the land is unfertile, suitable only for grazing and grapes. Unfortunately the Adriatic sea is in poor condition and fishing is on the decline. However, a wide variety of seafood is available. Friuli's best-known food is San Daniele prosciutto, an uncooked ham aged in sea salt for over a year. Gourmets debate whether this ham or its cousin prosciutto di Parma from the Emilia-Romagna region in northwestern Italy is the best ham in the world.

Friuli's administrative center is Trieste, which only became part of Italy in 1954. This city was once the principle port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Like Vienna, Austria, Trieste is filled with caf?s. It is also home to the famous International Center for Theoretical Physics.

Friuli devotes about one hundred fifty thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 14th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 27 million gallons, giving it a 13th place. Approximately 48% of its wine production is red or ros? (only a little ros?), leaving 52% for white. The region produces 9 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine and 1 DOCG white dessert wine, Ramandolo. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Over 60% of Friuli wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. Friuli is home to almost four dozen major and secondary grape varieties, about half white and half red.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Pinot Grigio, often called Pinot Gris outside of Italy, Pinot Bianco, often called Pinot Blanc outside of Italy, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. The best known strictly Italian white varieties are Tocai Friulano and Verduzzo Fruilano, exemplified in the DOCG wine, Ramandolo.

Widely grown international red grape varieties include Merlot, grown in Fruili for well over one hundred years, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The best-known strictly Italian red variety is Refosco. Fruili's candidate for grape variety with the most unusual name is Tazzelenghe, which means tongue cutter in the local dialect. While I have never tasted any wines based on this grape, I can guess that they won't be delicate.

Before we reviewing the Friuli wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Cjalzons con Ripieno di Cioccolata e Spinaci, Chocolate and Spinach Filled Pasta with Smoked Ricotta.
Then try Capesante alla Triestina, Broiled Scallops and Oysters with Watercress. And for dessert, indulge yourself with Strucolo di Ricotta, Ricotta Strudel. If you are like me, you think of Austria or Hungary, when you hear the word Strudel.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Pighin Pinot Grigio 2005 Grave del Fruili 12.5% alcohol about $13.50

I'll start by quoting the marketing materials. "Toast, white flowers and mineral on the involved nose, this light-bodied white is all about zing, verve, and refreshing citrus flavors. Some notes of pit fruit, but mainly built to match up to seafood. Try with friends and grilled scampi drizzled with lemon juice."

I first tasted this wine with sesame seed covered filo dough stuffed with hamburger meat and accompanied by zucchini in a tomato sauce. It was pleasantly acidic and fruity providing lemon and other citrus flavors. I liked it with a chocolate cake labeled strudel which intensified the wine's acidity. I don't think that any Friuli residents would have called that cake strudel, but this review is about the wine, and not the cake.

My next food pairing was with whole-wheat pasta in a spicy meat sauce. The wine stepped up to the plate and handled the spice very well. It was nice and round. I finished this meal with out of season strawberries, in whose presence the wine became almost sweet.

With filet of sole poached in onions, a side of brown rice, and okra in a tomato sauce, the wine became more acidic and rounder. It was quite refreshing. It was a sweet, acidic companion to fresh pomegranates. It took on a nice acidity with pecan and caramel chocolate candy.

Montasio is a cooked, full-fat, semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk and aged for several months. It has a pungent smell and a strong, pasty taste. The Pinot Grigio was not outmatched by this powerful cheese. Strictly speaking, Asiago cheese does not come from the Friuli region, but its neighbors Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto. Once again, the wine changed its character to match this softer cheese.

This wasn't a great wine, but it did go well with everything. I would most likely buy it again.

About the Author

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His wine website is www.theworldwidewine.com .

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