My Aching Head

I’m a huge fan of cheap good wine, happy to drink good quality boxed wine and certainly not turned off by a $4 bottle - so long as it tastes good. But currently I have a glass of Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 in front of me, and let me tell you I’m not that impressed. It’s one of the “premium cask wines” just like the Banrock Station wine I’ve written about before and it might be harsh on the Yalumba, but it just doesn’t match up against the Banrock.

Before I start talking about the wine itself I think it’s important to mention that by all reports the 2007 vintage in the Barossa valley was extremely hard for the growers, with a late frost and some heavy rainfall damaging a great amount of the harvest. This may well explain the low quality - especially because this box is of the 2007 vintage, as compared to most cask wine which is blended.

On the nose there is a definite smell of blackcurrant, and a slightly unwelcome hint of menthol. The taste is not what I have become used to from cheap Australian wines, which normally provide a somewhat balanced taste. It lacks body, tastes young (yes, I realise it is young) and has a touch of alcohol aftertaste. It’s not all bad though, it is quite easy drinking which isn’t always the case for cheap cabernet sauvignon’s and definitely is very good value drinking.

Recently Monteiths Brewing company has released a limited release beer celebrating 140 years of brewing. It is supposed to be brewed in the style of the 18060s, which due to the fact that I’m a  child of the 1980s I can’t comment on. Now, I’m not a fan of a limited release consumable of anything, least of all beer, it’s one of those things give me a taste of something that I might fall in love with and then cut off the supplier. Anyway, to the meat of it all, the beer.

When I first tasted it I wrote in my notes that it was a “subtle flavour” but now when I sit down with a bottle of it I’m thinking to myself just how flavoursome it is. This flavour certainly isn’t a refined clear crisp taste but more of a harsh fruit taste. The beer has a cloudy texture, kind of like someone has mixed in a bit of dirt to each bottle. I’m not sure if it’s the actual flavour or this texture, but It reminds me a lot of a Coopers Pale Ale.

It definitely isn’t an easy drinking beer, the first half a glass didn’t slide down like the other Monteiths do but once your palate has adapted to the interesting flavour it is a much different story. This isn’t a bad thing, I have a problem with a lot of the new beers brought onto the market being devoid of any beer-like flavour.

All in all, I enjoyed the Monteith 140, but I probably won’t be sucking back too many of them. It is only available at Monteith’s bars or in 4-packs from some bottle shops and supermarkets. I could only find it at New World in Queenstown and at the princely sum of $14 for 4 it isn’t even close to being affordable. Next time I’m at Monty’s though I’ll give a few more pints a go, I suppose I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

After spending a few minutes on Tuesday at the Mixoloseum’s rum chat and hearing Rum Dude’s talk on sipping rums, I’ve decided to take it upon myself to try and drink some more rum (and other spirits) straight, rather than with mixers. I spent a bit of time this summer working my way through the range of rum’s at the bar I worked at. This in itself was a big step for me, coming from Queensland I had  the preconception that the only rum was Bundaberg, and Bundaberg was aweful. Mount Gay opened my eyes to just how nice rum  could be. Anyway, I had previously had the Anejo Reserva with a splash of Coke and really enjoyed it, in fact it is probably a dead heat with Mount Gay as my favourite.

Drinking it on the rocks was definitely a new experience for me, having previously only drunk whiskey straight, rum certainly is a different experience. It doesn’t have the complex and lasting after-taste that whisky brings, but more of a direct taste of vanilla. This coupled with a slight hint of coffee makes it a very interesting spirit, unlike darker rums there are no rich flavours, yet the vanilla is very intense. All in all it was a very enjoyable drink.

When you mix this rum with coke (not too much) it takes a completely different face altogether, the spices become very prevalent, in fact it almost give the coke a hint of cinnamon. Take note though, it is easy to drown out the taste with coke so going easy on the mixer is key. I would be hesitant to mix too much else with this rum and there is definitely no need to add lime, it is complex enough.