Archive for March, 2012

Middle Of Everywhere

Before we begin…

Middle Of Everywhere Shiraz is a delightful wine, not only in taste and label, but also in story. It is part of the Ad Hoc range; from the Frankland River region in Western Australia. This winery is one of many owned and run by highly esteemed winemaker Larry Cherubino. Larry has run wineries in Australia NZ, South Africa, the US and Italy, and has a plethora of wine medals under his belt. Most recently James Halliday awarded Larry Cherubino Wines the 2011 Winery of The Year.

Getting down to business…

Little did I know any of this before took that first, glorious sip of a 2010 Ad Hoc Shiraz. Even though it’s a relatively young wine, this baby is so smooth you’d think it had spent a fair few years chilling out down in the cellar. A medium-bodied wine; it’s deliciously complex in flavour. Take a sip, and let it caress your palate with the sweetness of red fruit, layered with a subtle hint of something spicy, like a soft pepper. Blueberry on the nose. Deep crimson-purple in colour.

Pin on a map…

Middle of Everywhere is a very memorable Shiraz, particularly in that it comes from WA. I’d like to thank you, Larry, for broadening my very narrow view of good wine-making regions in Australia. Even though I’m learning to change my ways, in a stickler for playing it safe and banking on a Shiraz from the Barossa, McLaren Vale & the Clare Valley over a other regions. If I were after a Merlot, Semillon or Sav Blanc I’d be more inclined to buy a label from the great Southern or Margaret River regions, because that’s all my very few years of wine-drinking has taught me.

This charming bottle has done well to re-educate me! It also goes to show that a lot of the magic in wine is a product from the personality behind it. I’d attribute the memorability of this wine to the winemaker’s diverse knowledge of terroir*, given that he’s undoubtably spent a great deal of his career globe-trotting & learning about the diverse range of wine-making techniques employed in different countries (many of which are very different to the methods we use in Australia).

Scribbles on your napkin…

Ad Hoc Middle Of Everywhere Shiraz retails for just under $20. I can’t wait to try some of the other varieties in the Ad Hoc range, and those from The Yard (other Cherubino vineyard). For more information about these labels, the wines, tasting notes & more, visit the website.
If you’re in the Southern region of WA, check out Larry Cherubino Wines’ Subiaco Tasting Room, which reputedly has wine tasting, cooking classes and other events by appointment.

*Terroir is a French term I’ve learnt a lot about during my recent obsession with all things wine-related.
Though the definition of the term seems to be widely disputed, terroir, in a nutshell, is the word used to describe the interconnection between the different elements seminal in shaping the  vineyards (or the vines) in a specific region, and thus the taste of the wine. Terroir considers the natural conditions which influence the biology of the vines; factors within the soil, the landscape, the climate. Technological advances over the years have also impacted and influenced the expression of terroir. The human aspect of terroir claims that it is the taste of the land, captured within the wine.
Overall, it’s a very ambiguous term.

Robert Geddes has written that terroir is “never precise, it’s essentially an untellable story, because like children peeking through the door to listen to the discussions of their parents, we never quite get the whole language with it’s context an riches.”