1. Make it fun
Wine is to be enjoyed not just drunk. Make having a bottle of wine an experience! Cook a great meal. Invite friends over. Select the best wine to go with both the meal and the friends who are joining. Visit a winery on your travels. Have fun with you local wine shop owner. There are so many things you can experience with wine. You don’t have to buy and drink the most expensive bottle of wine all the time, because all wines deserve to be experienced. When you look back on an evening it will be remembered for the experience, not just the wine, but we all know the wine helped.

2. Take in the wine
Wine is complicated. From varietal to varietal and from region to region there, are as many different types of wine than cars, electronic gadgets and blogs on the subject combined. Each wine brings something different to the (dinner) table. Experience and understand the wine. Learn about its value to you. The more you try, the more you will know. The more you know, the more you can experience. Then you don’t need to rely on the silly ratings other people put on wines and make your own decisions.

3. Wine is a commodity
Wine is produced from an agricultural process. The conditions the vines grow in (terroir) is the all important key to making a good wine. At the same time the sun needs to shine, rain needs to fall and frost needs to say away at all the right times for the grapes to be ideal. Then there is the winery and wine maker, who decide on the process the grapes will go through. All this goes into the bottle of wine you find at the store. All these environmental and procedural considerations create the value of a wine. If done right, the value of the wine will grow as it matures – when stored correctly. So pay the right price for it, enjoy it when the time is right and most of all don’t waste it.

4. Everything in moderation
Now this can go for just about anything in life. Over consumption does not help you experience wine any more than a glass or two. Have enough to get the most from the wine, but not too much more. As we all know, wine contains alcohol and does get you drunk no matter how nicely it goes down. Above all, never drive after drinking. Take public transport. It’s better for you, other people on the road and the environment.

5. Be open minded
If someone’s taste in wine is different to yours, it is just that – different, not better or worse. Everyone has their own taste and they have their right to be different. Rather than turning your nose up at it, understand why they enjoy the wine, you may learn something. Don’t bore other people with your knowledge about a wine if it isn’t fun for them. Let’s face it, there are far more important things going on in the world than fermentation techniques and filtering processes. Talk about the world and common interests, wine will help these conversations more often than not.

Please share you maxims/guidelines with us, we would love to hear more!

This year was a little different than most recent years for me. No, I was not waiting up all night to see if Santa would give me what I was wishing for, nor was I wanting to see Rudolf’s red bright nose in the skies. Instead, I was filled with the expectation of trying some of the wines I have been accumulating in anticipation of a special occasion. I decided this year that Christmas was a special enough occasion to open one or two. I am all for spontaneous celebratory occasions, or in other words, inviting some friends over at the last minute and opening a bottle of wine, but I tend not to get a really good bottle out for these occasions. However, for this Christmas was going to be one of indulgence and enjoyment!

I decided to go with a big Portuguese red with the roast lamb, which I will update you on in the near future. However the highlight of the holiday season for me was something richer, something to go with the dessert cheese platter. Something made just for this time of year. Something I can build up enough to be worth all the anticipation of a kid at Christmas…

This week’s Wine of the Week is the R.L. Buller & Son Old Vine Muscat. This fortified wine from one of the premier producers of the Rutherglen region in Australia is an ideal finish to a rich meal. Its raisin flavors match a good cheese platter perfectly. It is probably not something you would want to drink all day everyday, but the long and luscious finish is an outstanding finish to a heavy over indulgent meal.

Buller and Sons has a long history of producing innovative fortified wines. They also produce some good table wines, however it is their sweeter fuller wines that really put them out in front as a producer. The conditions in this region are hot and dry. There are only wineries in this region because of the Murray River which provides some much needed water occasionally when the dry summers are in full swing. The hot, distressing conditions make for lots of sugar in the surviving grapes. Lots of sugar means lots of sweetness, which is perfect for after dinner wines. This particular wine was one of the few I prioritized to travel back from Australia with my luggage purely to enjoy after Christmas dinner. It is unique to its region and hard to find outside of Australia. If you do see it in your wine shop however, snap one up, head to the local cheese shop and pick out some very good soft cheeses. I am sure you will be very happy after your meal if you do!

There were a few wineries in the Rutherglen region where I had expected something a bit different. A tasting of an old vintage fortified at Stanton & Killeen. And there is always something out of the ordinary at R.L. Buller & Sons. When you drop in to a small winery that you only consider because it is on the way to another winery however, it makes a new discovery all the more special. I was lucky enough to decide to pop in to the Mount Prior Winery while I was in the Rutherglen region. I was quite impressed by many of their wines, however one in particular stood out from the list. A late picked Shiraz… I have tasted late picked Rieslings in a few countries. I have tried quite a few botrytis affected wines from various vineyards, however I have never seen a late picked Shiraz before. Although the other wines were very good, I couldn’t wait to get down to desert and fortified wines to have a try.

So this week’s Wine of the Week is the 2008 Mount Prior Late Picked Shiraz. The nose is a little less robust than a “normal” Australian Shiraz, but you do detect all the right berry and dried fruity smells. It has the rich berry flavors you would expect, but the sweetness is magnified and is quit refreshing, especially if you have been trying many huge Shiraz and Durif wines for the past few days. Then the flavor intensifies at the back of your pallet and you are left with a dry chocolaty taste. Because of this, I feel you will enjoy this wine with a dark chocolate, but as with many rich Australian Shiraz wines, mature or rich cheeses will also work well. At this time of the year when you are having big meals for Christmas, this wine will be the perfect finish.

The wine is not fortified, but due to the late picking of the grapes, it contains a lot of sweetness and 18% alcohol. The winery chose not to sell this wine through their usual distributors and, as you can see in the image, they used a “Vintage Port” label rather than printing new ones. Unlike many of the wines on this site, you are very unlikely to be able to buy this wine unless you are planning a trip to the winery. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you give this wine a try. I am sure you will be as surprised as I was. The winery itself has accommodation so it is great option if you are touring in the Rutherglen region

This region of Australia produces around 40% of the countries agriculture. This area is undergoing a server drought in recent years. The latest rainfall statistics in for the last 21 months show in some areas they have received the lowest percentages in history. There are various opinions on why this is, but all scientists agree that global warming is responsible at some level. Australia only signed the Kyoto Agreement in late 2007 as the first act of business of Prime Mister Kevin Rudd’s newly elected government.

Global warming used to be a leap of faith. The experts sounded like doomsday predictors and the general public did not see any changes to their everyday life. Now with drought in this region of Australia, the wine industry has its first warning shot. If global warming continues, the traditional wine growing regions may not be around any more. This could see rich fruity shiraz being made in Germany, or Rieslings being made on the slopes of Norwegian mountains.

This week’s Wine of the Week is from a drought affected area in Australia. The 2004 Brown Brothers Late Harvested Orange Muscat & Flora. The town of Milawa, where Brown Brothers is located, is in one of the most drought affected areas in Australia. This wine is a very original sweet and light wine. This region is famed for desert wines, however this wine stands out with its freshness and complexity. It is filled with fresh apricoty tastes, that go very will with similar light fresh deserts, such as a simple fruit platter or a delicate custard based desert.

At around $10 it is a very good value finish to a good meal. It is distributed pretty much world wide, but you may need to visit a few places before you find it. If you do give it a try, you will discover an interesting wine you will want to come back for more.