Old dog, new drinks

When I was little, my mum and dad were the licensees of a small country pub, so you can fairly say I’ve been around alcohol all my life. Mum drank brandy and dry, dad whisky and water, and both drank beer. Neither drank wine, but I became fascinated by it at uni from 1971 on. My parents didn’t know quite what to think of my drinking habits: Ben Ean Moselle, Wynns cabernet shiraz, or for something edgy, Mateus Rosé.

I’m in my mid-60s now and

I’ve been thinking that current wine-planting and drinking habits are odd. I mean, what about David Sly’s report in your last edition (December/ January) on the plantings in Clare Valley? This is a worldclass location delivering precious gifts of riesling and shiraz. Can you imagine the Burgundians planting saperavi or assyrtiko where their pinot noir or chardonnay is?

Or the Bordelais ripping out cabernet sauvignon or merlot to plant mataro? Sacré bleu!

Yet nero d’Avola, mataro, assyrtiko and saperavi are finding their way into Clare. Spanish grape varieties are found in McLaren Vale, cloudy ‘natural’ wine in the Adelaide Hills, and even orange wines at Cullen! I briefly identified with my olds, but only briefly. I’m going to embrace this spirit of youthful adventure as I once did with that Mateus; it went a treat with duck fried in batter with sweet and sour sauce, so we’ve all been there – and we’re all the better for it! Now, where is that reference to a pinot noir-riesling blend?

Stephen Dowd, Adelaide