Ahhhhh

Yes, ok, I confess, I did it. I hadn't planned to, but, well, I didn't have that much choice really. There I was in the wine shop - the same one I've been in a few times now, looking over the same twenty or so French wines. Some were £3, so I didn't imagine there'd be anything of value there. I've already tried the interesting looking ones. And then it leapt off the shelf, making a desperate bid for freedom. Not an Old Block admittedly, and not even a Blackwell. But it was a 2005 St Hallett Shiraz. Yes, I succumbed and bought an Australian wine for the first time since we've been here.

Normally I would try to have shiraz with a big juicy red steak. Perhaps it's even more important when it's a Barossa shiraz. And we were "only" having pork tonight. (Nothing wrong with the pork - except that it doesn't suit shiraz so well!) The scrambled egg didn't really help either. But there it was. And it took only milliseconds to put my mind at ease: my taste buds haven't been seduced away from the one true wine. That big oaky Barossa body and complexity was evident immediately.

Now I'm not trying to suggest that this is magnificant wine: it was not at all balanced, the acid being far too overpowering. Joanna could hardly drink any. She blamed its youth, but I'm not sure it has much longevity. I don't want to buy any more (although a Blackwell or Old Block might be a different matter). The point is only that there is something remarkably distinctive about big Australian shiraz that nothing I've tried so far even comes close to.

I still want to try more French wines, and I'm looking forward to visiting "La Belle France" at the end of the month, and seeing some of her better wines. If what I see of Australian wines in the UK is any predictor of the quality of Franco-vin, then I shouldn't be too surprised. A work colleague has suggested that French wine is twice the price in the UK as in its native land. So we may have to hire a trailer.

Well I suppose you think I have a one-track mind. But I don't: the Emperor concerto has just appeared (?) on the radio, so I'm off to do some air conducting. And before you draw any conclusions, I only had one glass.