My favourite photo from our Japan trip

Japanese Maple Leaf

f4.5, 1/50 sec, 97mm
Canon 400D with 28-135mm 3.5-5.6 IS
Saturation increased via Microsoft Office Picture Manager 2003

Does the year really matter?

"I've got a great 2003 Red from South Australia to share tonight..."

"Oh, was that a good year?"

"Hmm..."

It's a common question which doesn't necessarily have a straight forward answer. The answer is really dependant on the region your wine comes from. So a wine from the Barrossa Valley in 2001 will be good, but the same vintage from Western Australia brings a superb wine. There are various factors which help improve a vintage - the weather (how much rain plus the drought) and even bushfires!

If you're hunting down a reasonable guide, here is one from Hardy's chief winemaker, Peter Dawson. Variances in micro climates and other aspects do result in anamolies, so this guide should only be taken as a broad guide to the various regions.

Happy quaffing :)

2005 Hardy’s Nottage Hill Cabernet Sauvignon

In 1850, at the age of 20, Thomas Hardy came to the new colony of South Australia from Devon, England. He established a winery on the banks of Adelaide's River Torrens in 1853. His Bankside winery was the start of an outstanding family wine business that grew to become one of the world's great wine companies. Thomas Hardy was a self-made man, a pioneer of immense character. With a mixture of energy, determination, shrewd judgment, innovation and a touch of daring, he pursued the highest standards in winemaking. At Bankside, and later at his McLaren Vale property Tintara, he focused on quality and craftsmanship. (courtesy of the Hardy’s homepage).

One of the surprising things about this wine is its softness. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s a rather pleasant surprise for this grape variety. Cab Sauvs are usually big and bold. ‘Argh! Look at me, I’m a big red wine!’ But the subtleties of this wine cause me to consider that the black and white labelling suggests this is more genteel.

On the nose there are some complex characteristics. ‘Complex’, of course, usually means that there is so much going on it’s hard to tell exactly what’s there. There are the fruits and the black currents common to Cab Sauvs as well as a hint of chocolate. However the real pleasure begins on the tongue. The tannins are pretty soft with a smooth finish which lingers all afternoon. The complex nose carries over to the flavours, but doesn’t detract from the overall pleasantness of this wine.

A great wine to be served with red meats over dinner.

Avocado Smoothie

One of my favourite summer drinks. And since this Brisbane winter has been rather warm I’ve pulled this one out early.

Here’s what you need:
- 3 ripe medium sized avocados (approx 300g total)
- 5 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 cup of milk
- ½ cup of ice

Here’s what you do:
Place all of the above into a blender and blend until smooth.

You can also try adding a dollop of vanilla ice-cream to give it an even smoother finish.

Be warned, though, this is a pretty fatty drink, so don't have it too often!

Warbun Estate - Gossips 2006 Chardonnay

I was on the hunt for a clean-skin wine. From my understanding there are two reasons why clean skins exist. The first reason is due to the current wine glut - wine producers in Australia have produced excess for the current market, so some wine is rebadged as a 'clean skin' primarily to get rid of the excess stock. This means that you can be purchasing a quality wine for nearly a quarter of the price.

The second reason why clean skins exists is because some wineries experiment with various wines and release them as clean skins to gauge the market response.

Either way, they are a relatively cheap and quality alternative for use primarily in cooking.

So when I was in the bottle shop and noticed this Warburn Estate wine on sale for $6 I figured it was just about as cheap as a clean-skin yet was branded.

Tonight we opened it to along with the steamed fish and I was very pleasantly surprised.

The aroma was fruity and pleasant, though subtle. The palate was refreshingly crisp and fruity for a Chardonnay. No lingering buttery taste was found at all. Not much else to say aside from the fact that it was very pleasant considering it's low cost.

A little ray of Sunshine - French Cheesecake yoghurt with Passionfruit and Mandarin

Ok, so it may be too simple to put on here, but you gotta start somewhere (right DT?).

Here's what you need:
- 1/2 cup of French Cheesecake yoghurt, if you can't find that vanilla will suffice (but just make sure that it's French Vanilla)
- 1 peeled mandarin
- 1 passionfruit

Here's what you do:
Peel the mandarin. Spoon the yoghurt in the centre. Top off with the passionfruit.

That's it :)

Steamed Ginger Silver Perch

This is one of my all-time favourite ways to have fish. Steamed to lock in the juices which make the fish tender and oh so mouth watering. Delicious!

It's also relatively simple to cook :)

Here's what you need (to serve 4):
- 1kg whole fish - I've used Silver Perch for this but it will work just as well with Snapper or any other firm white fish.
- 1/4 cup vegetable stock
- small bunch of spring onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped coriander
- 40g ginger, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup of light soy sauce
- 1 tbps sesame oil
- salt and pepper

Here's what you do:
Peel the ginger and thinly slice - julienne style (ie - like match sticks).

Score the fish on both sides. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on each side making sure to get some into the grooves. Place half the coriander, chopped spring onion and ginger into the belly cavity (I'm assuming, of course, that the fish has been cleaned out :P).

Place the fish on oiled foil and sprinkle some more of the coriander, spring onion and ginger. Fold the foil to create a well and place half the stock and soy sauce over the fish. Place the wrapped fish into a bamboo steamer and steam for about 40 minutes or until cooked - a sharp knife should slide easily into the thickest part of the fish).

Once cooked transfer the fish to a serving dish. Pour the rest of the stock and soy sauce over the fish and sprinkle the rest of the coriander, ginger and spring onion. Drizzle the oil over the top and serve with steaming hot rice!