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Exclusive Deal from Down Under Great Wines A Tale of two Australias Wine Team Picks: Julian Davies on Sainted Brothers Wines Our apologies to those who couldn't log on to wine.com yesterday. Our wine dog, Zach, tripped over the cord. We're back with this great deal. Exclusive Deal from Down Under This week www.wine.com travels to the Southern Hemisphere, where some of the world's most attractive wines are now being made. As evidence, we're offering newsletter subscribers a special deal on a dynamite pair of reds from Tapestry, an Australian label that we represent exclusively in the United States. Before we tasted Tapestry's 1998 bottlings, we'd only heard rumors about this unusual vintage Down Under - a rare confluence of warm ripening conditions with a long growing season that conferred great depth of character. As soon as we sampled the Bin 338 Shiraz and Bin 388 Cabernet Sauvignon, we realized the talk was true. Both wines are profoundly complex, but also deliriously enjoyable because of their rich, fat, berry fruit. They're classic examples of serious wines that are delicious now but will also improve for years to come. Eventually, Wine & Spirits magazine caught on, awarding the Cabernet 94 points giving the Shiraz a 90. That made us feel rather cagey, since we'd already imported them and own their American rights. Australian wines of this caliber commonly command prices around $50, but we're able to offer these to you for less than half that. Just our way of saying, "Good on ya." For more opportunities and information on amazing Southern Hemisphere wines, visit our website: www.wine.com. To learn more about each item listed below, simply click on its name. _____________________________________________________________________ Great Wines 1998 Tapestry Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 388, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia, $22.00 No worries with this ripe, supple, and approachable Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon. 1998 Tapestry Shiraz Bin 338, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia, $22.00 A flavorful Shiraz that's more beauty than brawn. 1998 Trinity Hill Chardonnay Shepherds Croft, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, $15.00 Balance, elegance, and value -- this "Kiwi" Chard is the complete package. Italian Duetta, $22.00 We have the perfect wine companions for your Italian feast. Salute! 2000 Greenwood Ridge Riesling Late Harvest Year of the Dragon (375 ml), Mendocino, California, $19.95 Nectar of the gods that was christened in the Year of the Dragon. 1998 Barossa Vale Merlot, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia, $24.00 Barossa Vale -- it isn't just for Shiraz anymore! _____________________________________________________________________ A Tale of Two Australias Among wine enthusiasts, it's now a commonly held belief that the world's most exciting region is Australia. Why? A constellation of factors including old vines, new technology, and, not insignificantly, the famous Australian mindset, which is straightforward, unpretentious, and fun loving. "Australians aren't wine snobs," observes wine.com senior merchant Jeff Prather. "They're down to earth. They have a European heritage, but they started their own culture, which didn't kowtow to tradition. American wine lovers have always seemed to think that they had to emulate Europe." Vibrant wine culture Interestingly in that light, Australia has the highest per-capita wine consumption in the English-speaking world. It covers about the same amount of surface area as the United States, but has only 6 percent of the population. "Australians have huge amounts of arable land, but they don't have the population base to tend it," says wine.com merchant Bo Thompson. "As a result, they've had to learn to practice winemaking through technology." From computerized 70,000-gallon tanks to state-of-the- art refrigeration to horizontal "rotofermenters" that punch down grapes automatically, Australia is the world's trendsetter in winemaking technology. In addition to enabling the industry to get its work done, this gadgetry has developed with an eye to serving the national palate. Its enthusiasms can be described in three words: fruit, fruit, and fruit. The trademark Australian wine style is big, ripe, and extracted, emphasizing the flavor -- and power -- of the grape above all. Advanced yet artisanal Curiously, this is consistent with another important though seemingly opposite trend in the Aussie revolution: the renaissance of Old World artisanal winemaking, a decidedly low-tech approach that focuses on ancient vines, some dating to the 19th century. "[The Australian artisanal approach] has everything to do with what's going on in the vineyard," says Thompson. "The recent generation has drastically improved its vineyard techniques through different types of trellising and experimentation with irrigation and dry farming. They're bringing back a lot of old vines that had been left to the wild - for example, d'Arenberg's Dead Arm Shiraz is made from vines that have been half-killed by disease -- divided right down the middle. But the fruit extraction they're getting is amazing." "If you name the greatest wines in Australia," says Prather, you'd have to include d'Arenberg, Penfolds Grange, Clarendon Hills, Elderton, and Henschke Hill of Grace.... A lot of them are old-vine fanatics, and for that you have to pay a price -- those wines are expensive. But the other gift that Australia gives the world is oceans of really good wine that doesn't pretend to be great. Wineries like Rosemount, Penfolds, Punters Corner, and Yering Station produce gigantic amounts of bargain-priced wines with consistently terrific flavor. So what you've got, really, is a tale of two continents: a tiny amount of great artisanal wines and gigantic amounts of friendly, quaffable wines." What they all have in common, Prather sums up, is that "they're flat- out delicious. Australians have hit the sweet spot of the modern palate: wines with consistently ripe and juicy flavors due to their warm climate, but with really friendly textures that aren't overly tannic, astringent, or acidic. In the contemporary wine business, that is a sure-fire formula for success." To find out more about Australian (and other Southern Hemisphere) wines, log onto our website, www.wine.com. _____________________________________________________________________ Wine Team Picks: Julian Davies on Sainted Brothers Wines It's widely known that yesterday, February 14, was St. Valentine's Day. But now that you're finished pandering to the candyman, can you name the saints who are honored today? I thought as much. February 15 is a day that commemorates St. Faustinus and St. Jovita. Born in northern Italy in the second century, this pair of brothers preached the word with such fervor that they enraged a heathen lord named Julian (no relation), who ordered them arrested and tortured. Ultimately Emperor Hadrian had them beheaded. A modern analogue of Faustinus and Jovita might be Ethan and Joel Coen, a pair of steadfast siblings who have maintained their filmic faith despite ceaseless heathen persecution -- the most recent result being their movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Hence, herewith, in observance of St. Faustinus and St. Jovita Day, five wines paired with five films from St. Ethan and St. Joel. 1999 Torres Sangre de Toro, Catalonia, Spain "Blood Simple" 1997 Bouchard Beaune Premier Cru Les Greves Vigne de l'Enfant Jesus, Burgundy, France "Raising Arizona" 1999 Backsberg Pinotage, Paarl, South Africa "Miller's Crossing" 1997 Ch. Leoville-Barton St. Julien, Bordeaux, France "Barton Fink" 1995 Pieve di Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille (1.5 L), Tuscany, Italy "The Hudsucker Proxy" _____________________________________________________________________ TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS NEWSLETTER, go to: http://wine1.m0.net/m/u/vin/vv.asp?e=jdasovic%40enron.com
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