Aussie Shiraz Night

To spice things up a bit, this event’s theme was the Australian Shiraz.  The event was held at 148 Hiroo, a restaurant specializing in Australian food and wine.  The festivities started off with a lightly smoked kangaroo fillet served with a tomato and lemon myrtle sauce, which jumped along well with a bubbly 2008 Sirromet sparkling red.  A 2000 Iron Pot Bay Traminer Riesling, whose honeyed nose and contrasting deep dry finish complimented a course of duck spring rolls and sesame prawn toast.  Then it was off to the main event with five Shirazes spread over four courses.  The 2001 Sticks Shiraz and 2007 Jacobs Creek Reserve Shiraz was served along with a confit of chicken giblets with a green salad and balsamic dressing.  The Sticks was the first vintage after reopening its doors after some 30 years of disrepair, and was smooth and mellow with hints of stewed fruits and was more of a European style with less alcohol than typical Australian Shirazes. 

Next up was a 2004 Peter Howland Parsons Vineyard with a grilled dry rubbed spiced chicken with a wattle seed BBQ sauce.  The spiciness of the chicken and the chocolate-like wattle seed sauce went well with the dark deep taste of the Shiraz.  The event was finished off with a spaghetti carbonara and a dessert of goat cheese with stewed figs.  These went perfectly with a 2002 Barossa Valley Estate E&E Black Pepper Shiraz and a 1996 Richard Hamilton McLaren Vale Reserve Old Vine.  The E&E, with its distinctive peppery flavor, was delicious and went perfectly with the smoky bacon in the carbonara.  It could have easily gotten better with a few more years of cellaring, but it never had a chance.

The Richard Hamilton, which came from vines over 100 years old, was spicy but incredibly smooth with woody characteristics, worked perfectly with the goat cheese and brandy marinated figs. It was fascinating tasting the differences between the more smoother and elegant Victorian style and European styled Western Australia Shirazes to that of the big and bold Barossa styled Shirazes.