Spring and Champagne, Bordeaux, Clare, Yarra

There's a couple of things to talk about. I'm getting frustrated trying to get the latest spring/hibernate/jpa libraries to work together to do the whole hbm2ddl business. It seems to delete the tables for my entities, instead of creating them. I'll try the Spring milestone libraries next instead of the MyEclipse bundled 2.5 ones.

But probably more importantly, I wanted to let you know about some Champagne. Now Joanna will tell you that I'm really not a Champagne person. In fact I'd rather have a Rockford Basket Press than the (sparkling) Black Shiraz that seems more popular. When we have méthode champenoise sparkling whites here in Australia, I struggle to find much in them. But I do remember about 10 years ago my Auntie Barbara shared a Pol Gessner with us, and it was a revelation: a yeasty, almost nutty flavour with a very creamy smooth bead. Now the memory may have aged well, and it was a pleasant dinner, so I may be raving a little too much about it. But I've always thought that I'd buy some more if I saw some. And now I've discovered where I can get it - it's exclusively imported by Dan Murphy. They're not local, but my local Vintage Cellars people advised me to try a Dumangin Vintage 2000 or a Gimonnet Brut (both premier cru grand classe) which were only slightly out of my price range. But a birthday and good loyalty-scheme-points seemed like a reasonable excuse, so I indulged.

We tried the Dumangin the other night, at our local restaurant "Plum" for a late birthday celebration. The food was pretty good - my pork belly (no, the one on the plate!) was not as succulent as I might have hoped - but the champagne did take me back. I'm not quite sure that the flavour was as strong in the nutty line. Perhaps "biscuity" as the salespeople suggested was a more accurate description. Maybe I need to look for blanc de noirs with more pinot. But the creamy yeast was there, and perhaps that made it worthwhile.

We also shared a 2005 Chateau d'Aurilhac from the Haut Médoc in Bordeaux. It was my first Bordeaux for a while, and we saw the smooth subtleties, complexities, and some length. I find it's chiefly the subtlety that distinguishes these French wines from the "blockbuster" Australian ones. The wine complemented my pork, and by all accounts the beef and duck too, so I'm quite happy with that one. There's another bottle waiting for the next occasion. (Another positive review)

A few days later, we had another family meal with a lamb stew, and so another Cabernet-based wine was called for. I decided to try a contrasting Clare Valley Kilikanoon Blocks Road Cabernet Sauvignon. While there was still smoothness, the wine was certainly very fruit-driven and had much stronger flavour than the Bordeaux. I'm not sure that the violets (as advertised on the label) were there, but I admit I'm not particularly familiar with the scent anyway. The berries were there, with a very slight hint of liquorice. The length was good, but not exceptional. With various driving commitments to think of, we spread the drinking pleasure over two nights. The vacu-vin seems to have preserved the quality nicely.

And just to make you think that my life really is centred on wine (and to save me from trying to remember details for another post), I'll also mention that we matched a roast pork with a Yarra Valley Sticks Pinot Noir. Now I'm not in the Sideways class of pinot fans, but Sticks, for about $20, seems to provide a reliable if not earth-shattering one. There's a slight tannic savour in there that distinguishes it from the cheap strawberry-cordial flavours of some others. In summer, it would definitely need cooling, but we found that on our 5°-25° Brisbane winter days a room temperature was just right.

Cheers!