It’s that time again. Time to inspire me to spend more money on drinks, even though the WineArk cabinet can’t be closed properly and the Amex is maxed out.
So what have you been buying and drinking this August 2023?
Given that I spent the first few weeks of August in Bali, where I wasn’t tempted by the local Balinese wines enough to bring any home, the buying has been a little sparse. However, I’ve been eyeing some of Josh Cooper’s 2021 Cabernets, with the 1970 Block Balgownie Block Cabernet (below) very much my thing (especially as an unabashed Balgownie fan)…
Beyond that, I’ll be laser focussed on filling my suitcase next week in Italy (hello 2019 Barolo) as I leave for a week in Conegliano immersed in Prosecco Superiore from Sunday (more on that next week).
But hey, what about you? What would you buy in Italy?
There has been a considerable amount of drinking this month, however, with the most recent adventure coming last Friday at the Wine Communicators of Australia Sydney Royal Wine Show Lunch.
Among the chats with all sorts of wine industry peeps I haven’t seen in years was a fascinating discussion with William Dong (owner of Handpicked Wines), who also distributes Moutai around the world. Apparently, 25,000 people work seven days a week at the Moutai factory! Baiju, like sake, is on my list of ‘drinks I would like to understand better’, but I just need more days in my week/month/year/life.
Anyway, of the trophy wines poured on the day (check out the second panel of the Instagram post above to see the list), there were just two I found myself unconsciously drinking – the Evans & Tate Redbrook Chardonnay 2021 and the Montalto Pennon Hill Pinot Noir 2022.
It’s a round of applause for the Sydney Royal judges this year for picking that E & T Chardonnay as the Wine of Show too, as it’s a high-class modern Margaret River Chardonnay. Very much in the grapefruit-meets-leesy layered style, there is a wonderful sense of vitality and complexity in it that I really like. For $40 it’s an unquestioned winner. 94-95 points, no probs.
The Montalto Pinot Noir also slides in for $36, so we’re in *comparatively* affordable territory here too. It’s a surprisingly gutsy Montalto Pinot, tbh, with a little bit of bacony grunt that I wasn’t expecting, especially from Mornington in 2022. Would I buy it? A big yes.
After the luncheon celebrations had finished, the whole party sojourned up to the rooftop bar of the Hyatt Regency, which was this ridiculous windswept hellhole. Who has a west-facing rooftop bar with the walls all open on a freezing Sydney August night?
Luckily I had some of these Range Brewing WCIPA in the fridge to come home to. Easily my favourite beer consumed this month, the classic, life-affirming crisp energy was a nice change to the overpriced Menabrea at the hotel bar too.
What about you? What have you drunk (and loved) this August?
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