If there’s one wine for which Australia is known, it’s Syrah. It’s so Australian, they even call it by a different name: Shiraz. Some of the best wines in France are made from this grape, but I always look to Australia as the best source of these deep red wines with ripe blackberry, cherry, and plum flavors combined with black pepper notes on the palate. The wines are typically very rich and complex. Australian Shiraz is usually aged in American oak barrels from which they pick up hints of vanilla that augment their fullness and silky mouth feel.
Hope Vineyard’s 2006 Ripper Shiraz ($18.00) is typical of the genre with dark, inky red color, dominant blackberry augmented by plum, pepper, and hints of chocolate on the palate, and lots of fruit and spice in the bouquet. The tannins are light with a nice lingering finish.
A bottle of Ripper Shiraz goes well with the mello jazz sounds of a group I’ve loved for years, namely Acoustic Alchemy. The original duo of Nick Webb and Greg Carmichael were two of my smooth jazz favorites. Sadly, Nick died of cancer in February of 1998. Greg still fronts the band, now accompanied by Miles Gilderdale and the music is as wonderful as ever. Hope you enjoy it.
Playing for Time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUXuG8Q_I-I
The Beautiful Game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtHp8apkQA
Panama Cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLEeSN44PZw&feature=related
Live at the Granada Theater: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyacz_HC2cQ&feature=related
Casino: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqkYiMaL_3Y&feature=related
Wind of Change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyMN--JUfs8&feature=related
Catalina Kiss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2ltpgRkJhw&feature=related
Columbia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYn4PWgWaQg&feature=related
Angel of the South: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18qPj64d2Cw&feature=related
Cuban Heels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRc2bAIGzD8&feature=related
Evil the Weasel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-S4OkHLV38&feature=related
This Way Out of Nowhere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXQY93dslS4&feature=related
Cheers!
The Death Whisperer Series
The Death Whisperer Series available at https://www.amazon.com/author/dmichaelolive
1 comment:
This is why I like your blog. I'd never heard this group before, but I'm glad I did now. Very smooth...
Thanks for expanding my horizons!
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