A little drop of heaven

Sourced from a block of vines, some going back 140 years, the winemaking had been kept simple: open vat fermentation, basket pressing, no tannin addition, 18 months in new and older French oak.

The 2004 vintage, a naturally blessed season across most of Australia, is the perfect homage to Brother May, even if the wine is priced at a slightly immodest (at least by Jesuit standards) $60 a bottle.

The '04 Brother May shiraz has an honest, almost rustic personality driven by plenty of blueberry/dark berries and earthiness upfront, finishing soft and velvety. The background eucalypt presence is very Clare, very Sevenhill.

It's bigger and richer than any of the usual commercial Sevenhill reds, so can it be duplicated every year? The simple answer is: no.



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The latest bit of hypocrisy brought to you by Coors

Back in 2001, Charles Woodson first met his cellar master in Napa 2001, while still with the Raiders. He appears to be a wine enthusiast and because of that, he will be debuting his first wine in September. His name and signature appear on the label and in the marketing materials. Nothing wrong yet, right?

Apparently he did an interview discussing his enthusiasm for wine. He was also planning a public event for the debut of his wine. The NFL caught wind of this and informed Woodson that the league had a Goodell-instituted policy, which stated that any interviews supporting alcohol would be seen as an endorsement and "may have a detrimental effect on the great number of young fans who follow our game."

I hope I'm not the only one that sees the NFL's position as borderline insanity. If you don't, head over to NFL.com's coverage of Super Bowl XLII commercials and check out all the Bud Light ads. Or maybe the announcement by the NFL in 2005 that Coors would be the "Official Beer Sponsor" through the 2010 season. Of course the Coors deal was implemented before Der Kommissar took charge and I'm sure he'll denounce all alcohol sponsorships when they expire.



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Port wine

The party's always on at George's in The Grove - Miami Herald
Looking for a nice quiet evening out with your special someone? Keep walking. The brand-new, hopping George's in The Grove has all the romance of a TGI Friday's. Bells are ringing, the owner is whistling like a construction worker at a Victoria's

Airtechnics honored as one of the government's best suppliers - Wichita Business Journal
2008 Best in Business event honors 15 area companies [Wichita] Best in Business trip features wine, Pebble Beach and a canceled flight [Wichita] List of honorees for 2007 Best In Business awards program narrowed to 15 [Wichita] TRDA receives $1.4M

Major Earthquake Hits San Francisco - Thespoof.com
Berkeley PRSFI, August 2010: Two years of diligent effort have restored the infrastructure of San Francisco Island to its former greatness. The big one finally hit the city of San Francisco in the middle of the summer of 2008. This earthquake

Ni hao from Beijing! - Miami Herald
I have a friend who is out nightly looking for the best deals in town. I'm not taking many chances. My rating system here goes as follows. There is "really good," "good" and "stay away.

July Sips and Slurps

He has been lured back to his winemaking roots, returning to Pindar as head winemaker. Moving from a 7,000-case winery to a 70,000-case one will be a challenge, as will getting his considerable talents wrapped around a large and diverse portfolio, but Les is up to the task. He has trained with some of Long Island's best winemakers, including Kip Bedell and Roman Roth. At Jamesport, Les really seemed to be hitting his stride as a winemaker, releasing some delicious, well-crafted wines.

I think we'll be seeing a marked improvement in the wines we see coming out of Long Island's largest winery. At least we can all hope so.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a new producer on the North Fork, Sparkling Pointe. They aren't the only new kid on the block though. Stay tuned to future columns to learn more about Bouke - a label focused on aromatic, everyday wines, and Onabay Vineyards, another winery making its debut this summer.



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Sunny tastes of Spain

At last count, there were 1.2 million hectares of land planted with grapes, making Spain the third largest wine producer in the world.

Spanish wines offer an alternative in taste to those jaded with the usual varietals such as Cabernet, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Indeed, Spain's vineyards are planted with more than 800 grape varieties, mostly native and unique to Spain.

Imagine enjoying wines made from grapes such as Tempranillo, Albario, Garnacha, Palomino, Airen, Macabeo, Parellada, Xarello, Cariena and Monastrell.

Tempranillo is one most will be familiar with for it is the famous grape of Rioja.

Tempranillo is redolent with flavours of cherry, plum, liquorice, chocolate, tobacco and spice.

It can be a little lacking in weight and bright acidity and so is often blended with, say, Garnacha (Grenache) for strength, whilst grapes such as Graciano are added to boost tannins and Carinena grapes contributed more colour and acidity in the finished wine.



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Key lime pie: As rich in history as it is in calories

A glass of chilled dessert wine along side would be as rich as pirate's treasure.

Muscat comes to mind for its sweet tropical fruit flavors and because, if I really wanted to wreck and plunder a pun, pirates kept one in their belt — right next to their sword.

Enjoy.

Jack Felber is a regular Times columnist. He and his wife, Marcia Felber, are proprietors of the The Olympia Tea Room, a Wine-Spectator-recognized harborside restaurant in Watch Hill, R.I. Jack can be reached at jack@olympiateroom.com

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Type of wine

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