C21 - Wednesday, May 16, 1984 - North Shore New.

GE food

AD HE any inkling of the Dandelion Con-

nection,

the Australian Trade Commis-

ioner would probably never have offered
the invitation. But there it was, a chance to join the
local Australian Wine Appreciation Society in
welcoming upwards of 19 new listings just accepted

by the B.C. Liquor Board.

The invitation was accom-
panied by a very informative
fact sheet describing the new-
ly arrived wines, their place
of origin, some. of the history
of the wineries themselves,
and something about the
characteristics of each. So
before tasting I could read
that I should expect ‘‘a steely
touch of acid’’ or ‘‘tropical
fruit influence’’ or ‘‘a spicy
Traminer character’’.

Because people of my
generation have come late to
wines — all those Calvinists
and Episcopalians who
brought us up classified wine
with the rest of the Devil’s
work — we've been slow to
refine our palates.

For many years, the wine
selection in our liquor stores
was pitifully sparse, but as
most of us bought it only for
the cooking it was of slight
consequence. We could
always depend on finding
some Lindeman’s Sauterne
for the sole, and somebody’s
red for the stew.

That night in the tasting-
room, which was filled with
much younger people
assiduously swirling their
reds and assessing ‘‘noses’’
and aftertastes, | was grateful
that years ago, a young man
fully accredited as a ‘‘som-
melier’’ had let me in on
some of the expertise. So |
knew about ‘‘eating’’ the
first mouthfuls, and about
the bouquet and the chunks
of crusty white bread.

But what [| didn’t know
was where to start and how to
do uo mght, so | sidled over to
a gentieman of my own vin
tage who was presiding over
one of the long tables laden
with bottles, glasses and
baskets of bread

He told me thatin order to
get the most out of the ex
penience, | should start at the
table on omy left, with the
whites, and work my way
around the room, repeating
the exercise for the sake of
the reds When t told him 1
confined myself to drinking
only things ~f  could see
through, he was hard put to
\wathow this incredible © ana
dian cccentomaty, bur manag
cd to advise that | should
Start omy tour with a sample

of  fandeman's  Puacdthaway

Fume Blanc in order that |
should enjoy 1 fully before
spoiling my palate with
anything else.
‘““My name,’’ he said, ‘‘is

the kitchen
ranger

&.

by Eleanor
Godley

Lindeman.’’ It was like
meeting Mr. Chivas, or Mr.
Johnny Walker

The beautiful white wine, a
1982 bottling, was ail he said
it would be. The fact sheet
told me the grapes were
sauvignon blanc, that the
touch of acid was a novelty to
this breed, and that its ex
cellent fruit quality had to do
with the cool temperatures in

Coonawarra, in SE
Austraha.

A great beginning From
there | sampled Gramps’

Orlando ( hardonnay ‘83, as
well as their Fusne Blanc ‘8%
| preferred the latter A bite
of bread. then on to one of
the best known Austrahan
wine makers for Tyrrell’s
Chardonnay Semillon “82. a
very pleasant Chablis type
Another oof othe whites
Wynn's Adilawarra Chardon
ray AY described as
California style | was very
icc ain the mouth and so was

Wyndham tstates’ Tramener

Reisling whick was) traunty
and afomatie bor some
teason ff conskdo t take oot
seriously towever

Loofteouiret FC couddan t leave

White asparagus
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Eleanor samples
ustralian wines

without making a token pass
at the reds, and thoroughly
enjoyed a sample of Anglesey
Cabernet Sauvignon ’80. lt
surprised me with its
smoothness, though not be-
ing able to see through it
hampered my appreciation. I
should have tried the most
expensive of all the wines
displayed, Tyrell’s Old
Winery Pinot Noir ‘81,
$18.70 the bottle by the time
it gets to us, but was beguiled
by the name into asking to
taste their Long Flat Red in-
stead. | mean, a name like
that! It was described as be-
ing a 980 composite of
Cabernet, Malbec and Shiraz
grapes, and | thought it
honest and virile, and at
$7.85 closer to my _ heart’s
pocket-book.

The name, the Commis-
sioner told me as | took my
leave, came about because
the red grapes prospered
especially on a long flat sec-
uon of Tyrrell property in the
Hunter Valley. Wine has
been made in traditional style
by this family in this place
since 1958, obviously with

the extra bouquet of a sense
of humor.

Fimess is a national issue.
We call it Body Politics.

Qa
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Fitmt ss Now |

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