CHAMBERS Rosewood Vineyards

Vol.61 Autumn 2014( 02 6032 8641 7 02 6032 8101 + PO Box 8 Rutherglen 3685 : chambers@chambersrosewood.com.au

Barkly Street Rutherglen Victoria 3685, AUSTRALIA Editor - Roberta Horne

HAPPY YEAR OF THE HORSE!

Heat hazed sky with not a cloud to be seen, the water coming out of the cold water tap hot enough to scald, animals in the zoo having frozen treats and the tar on the roads is shiny black and melting. Yes, this was summer in Australia this year!

Consequently, wishing you a ‘warm’ welcome to the 61st edition of our newsletter doesn’t seem quite right so let’s hope our friends in the northern hemisphere will understand when we go with best wishes for a ‘cool’ start to 2014!

In the good old days before 1972 when Australia changed to Celsius, some of us prayed for days over 100 degrees as we were sent home from school. It’s ironic and pretty scary to know those elsewhere in the world are freezing while we’re sweltering at the other end of the scale with days/weeks over 40C or 104F.

Wasn’t it entertaining to see our ‘Lambassadore’ Sam Kekovich’s annual spruik decrying all un-Australian behaviour and to note his empassioned plea to raise our kids to become ‘Generation Lamb.’

Amongst all the fun was a pretty big nudge about supporting home-grown commodities. Sure, there are some lovely goodies, including wine, from overseas, but just imagine what a difference we could make if we each echoed Sam’s sentiments in all our buying decisions!

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaPJSj5nyic&list=UU72mdTdZGMpLNG5kRfFVvaw for the commercial or, if you’re looking for inspiration, check out the We love our Lamb site for some great lamb recipes.

TASTES OF RUTHERGLEN 8-9 & 15-16 March 2014

We have some great wine to showcase alongside an indulgent Louisa Morris platter made up of some of her finest desserts – a Lindt chocolate brownie, chocolate caramel tart, salted caramel macaroon and a raspberry tart with your choice of Rutherglen Muscadelle or, if you prefer, our 2003 Old Cellar.

Chill out with the sultry sounds of piano/vocal duo ‘Something Velvet’ as they present their versions of songs by artists such as Missy Higgins, Norah Jones and Leonard Cohen from noon ‘til 5pm each Saturday and Sunday of both weekends.

If you’re really keen you can even book a helicopter to take you around the wineries!

Life is like a landscape.You live in the midst of it, but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.

Charles A. Lindbergh, aviator and author (1902-1974)

ARE YOU A SUPER TASTER? FIND OUT DURING TASTES!

• A unique opportunity to ascertain your TASTE STATUS! • Are you one of the 35% of women and 15% of men who are Supertasters? • Take our fun scientific test to discover some fascinating facts about how your taste buds work and become a certified Taster, Non Taster or Super Taster. • Bookings not required • Just look for the big tongue!

FLEMINGTON GRAZING TRAIL & CELLAR DOORSaturday 8 March 11.30am -5.30pm

If you are not planning to come up to Tastes of Rutherglen,you might like to catch up with Laurie at this ‘Super Sunday’ Event.He’ll have a range of our wines for you to sampleand it sounds like it’s going to be quite a day of racing.

FLAGS & FANFARE

As you can imagine it’s not easy to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Bill Chambers but Stephen has certainly stepped up to the challenge and is attracting a great deal of interest and accolades.

• Chambers Rare Muscat($250) was listed in the top spot of WBM’s ‘Nothing under 95 Points’ Wines of the Year. This was especially pleasing as the 99ers were Penfolds Grange 2008 ($685) and Seppeltsfield Barossa Valley 100 year old Para Vintage Tawny 1913 ($999).• Our congratulations to the American airline Delta who have been voted the 2014 Airline of the Year. We are proud to advise Chambers Rutherglen Muscadelle is one of the inflight offerings.• Our Rare Muscat was also awarded 94/100 in the February 2014 American Wine & Spirit magazine.• Wine writer Tyson Stelzer awarded Chambers Grand Muscat ($55) 96/100 and 93/100 to the Chambers Old Vine Muscat ($20)

SWEET REVENGE

A lawyer boarded an airplane in New Orleans with a box of frozen crabs and asked the very pretty stewardess to take care of them for him. She took the box and promised to put it in the crew’s refrigerator. He advised her that he was holding her personally responsible for them staying frozen, mentioning in an arrogant manner that he was a lawyer, and threatened what would happen to her if she let them thaw out. Shortly before landing in New York , she used the intercom to announce to the entire cabin, “Would the lawyer who gave me the crabs in New Orleans, please raise your hand?” Not one hand went up … so she took them home and ate them.

SEASONAL DEALS

MR ED SAID 6 bottles x 2007 Merlot6 bottles x 2006 Cabernet Merlot$125 plus freight

WINNERS CIRCLE 4 bottles x 2012 The Family (Gouais, Riesling & Traminer) 4 bottles x 2008 Anton Ruch ( Shiraz Mondeuse)1 bottle x Rosewood Ruby1 bottle x Rosewood Tawny1 bottle x Mt Carmel (Liqueur Port)1 bottle x Sweet Amber Apera$175 plus freight

STABLE COLLECTION 4 bottles x 2009 Chardonnay4 bottles x 2009 Autumn White4 bottles x 2009 Shiraz$130 plus freight

THE STARTERS ORDER6 bottles x 2005 Shiraz & Blue Imperial3 bottles x 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon3 bottles x 2008 Anton Ruch (Shiraz Mondeuse)$158 plus freight

FIRST PAST THE POST1 bottle x Dry Flor Apera1 bottle x Sweet Amber Apera1 bottle x Cream Apera1 bottle x Old Vine Muscat (375ml)1 bottle x Muscadelle ( 375ml)1 bottle x Mt Carmel (375ml)$85 plus freight

GO THE DISTANCE4 flagons (2 litres) x Sweet Cellar$60 plus freight

B Kelly of 3215 is the winner of our quarterly draw - please ring us on 02 6032 8641.

AGES AND GLASSES SHOULD NEVER BE COUNTED.Italian Proverb

PEAR RAMEKINS

This lovely Italian recipe has been shared by my dear friend, Eleanor. While it has a European complexion at it’s heart you’ll find beautiful Aussie grown pears.

PEAR RAMEKINS - To serve six.Ingredients: 200 ml cream, icing sugar, 60 grams castor sugar, 3 eggs (beaten) 220 grams Australian canned pears, 170 grams European sponge fingers, butter and flour for ramekins.The sauce: 3 oranges, 80 gr brown sugar, 100 gr flaked almonds, 1 tablespoon corn starch.

Slice European sponge fingers horizontally and then into bite-size pieces. cut the pear slices into quarters, beat the eggs with the castor sugar, add the cream, the pears and sponge finger portions. Butter and flour the ramekins and divide the mixture between the ramekins. Bake in 170 degree oven for approximately 25minutes.Spread the almond flakes, lightly sprinkled with water and a tablespoon of sugar, on a sheet of baking paper in a tray evenly and bake in an oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes or until golden brown.For the sauce: Peel the oranges and cut into julienne strips, blanche for one minute in boiling water. Place 80gr sugar in a saucepan and add the juice of three oranges, the julienne strips and boil for three minutes. Add the corn starch, mixed with a little cold water, and stir for a few minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.

Once slightly cooled, place the contents of the ramekins on serving plates, decorate with almonds, dust with icing sugar and add orange syrup and julienne strips.

WINE SUGGESTION:Our 2011 Noble Muscadelle was the number one choice when we all taste tested this delicious cake with our morning tea last week.

HOW ABOUT THAT!

• There are now 8,391 wineries in North America• A couple of New Zealand researchers have added to the speculation surrounding the untimely death of Alexander the Great by suggesting he may have been given poisonous wine. Toxicological evidence such as the fact the poor man took 12 days to die points to the use of Veratrum album, commonly known as white hellebore. This possibility does seem more plausible than the story of the girl covering her lips with poison then kissing the great man but I guess we’ll never know for sure.• After toppling both France and Italy from the top spots, China now has the highest consumption of red wine in the world. No doubt the health benefits are important but I wonder if its auspicious red colour is also part of its burgeoning popularity.• Good news for those who enjoy grapes, peanuts, berries and red wine which all contain resveratrol. Researched in the department of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas, Austin believe they may be beneficial in slowing the ageing process and inhibiting some of the deleterious effects linked to obesity.

An interesting marketing ploy from a company that’s been in business almost as long as us.

Not the result a woman expected when she asked her husband to help prepare dinner. Her instructions were to peel half the potatoes in the bag and put them in a pot of water!

Take a close look at the very specific serving suggestions on this bottle - an Aussie producer for sure but no idea whose brand. Andrew thinks it may be a beer bottle.

DIARY NOTES

FLOWER FESTIVAL -‘THINGS CHILDREN SAY’ Weekend of 29-30 March St Stephen’s Anglican Church Hall High Street RutherglenGold coin donation – light refreshments available

AUTUMN FLOWER SHOW Rutherglen & District Garden ClubSunday 13 April Noon – 4pm Memorial Hall High Street Rutherglen$6 entry fee includes refreshments – children free

WINERY WALKABOUT FESTIVAL7 – 8 June Check out Stephen’s humungous range of red, white and fortified wines then you might like to grab a South Melbourne Market Dim Sim or two while you take in some country rock with the Brook Cheval Band. Maybe a freshly brewed coffee, some hot homemade soups, scones and cakes are more your speed or you can cruise ‘The Toucan Club’ for the best Jelly Shots and Wine Slushies going. You can even pick up some pickles and jams to take home.

ORGANIC vs PRESERVATIVE FREE

You’ll often see the numbers 220 and 200 listed on the back label of wine bottles as these sulphur based compounds are commonly used preservatives. They keep wine stable and tasting clean and fresh as it ages.

You may be surprised to know these naturally occurring substances are not a modern invention – they’ve been around for literally centuries as even Cato and Pliny were well aware of their excellent preservative qualities.

There is a temptation to automatically presume it is the preservatives which cause adverse effects when drinking wine however they are not necessarily the culprits. As an example, if you happily tolerate say dry apricots, it’s unlikely sulphur dioxide is the cause of a bad reaction as this preservative is used, in much, much higher concentrations, to produce dried fruit.

Each country has different regulations but in Australia preservatives have had to be listed on wine labels since 1988 although, if the amount is undetectable and less than 10 ppm, it does not need to be mentioned.

When it is used it’s added in miniscule quantities, at a rate of parts per million (ppm) so we’re talking about approximately 1 ½ tablespoons to 1,300 bottles of wine. Depending on the style being made the winemaker can add a maximum of 250 or up to 300ppm for sweeter styles whereas the people we talked about earlier, who make the dried apricots, can use up to 3,000 ppm.

Those with allergy problems may turn to organic wine in the belief it doesn’t include preservatives and additives but again this is not necessarily so. While organic producers shun the use of chemicals, Sulper Dioxide (220) is acceptable for the reasons outlined above.

Preservative free wine may be the best option for those with allergies but you need to keep in mind that without the protection of preservatives it will not have a long shelf life.

NEW FACE AROUND THE PLACE

Andrew McLeod joined us recently to help with vintage. He’s easy to spot if you run into him at the cellar door as he’s very tall (and handsome).

He grew up in Geelong and inherited a passion for wine from his parents - he has lots of fond memories of family holidays touring wine regions.

Once he’d completed a 6 year stint with the Army he decided to get serious about his interest in wine and has been working towards a Wine Science degree through CSU ever since.

After working in a number of wineries in South Australia, the Hunter Valley and around central Victoria, it was Andrew’s particular interest in fortifieds and learning new things that brought him to this region.

It wasn’t a hard decision because he’s always loved this area and he’d already met lots of the locals while stewarding at the annual Rutherglen Wine Show. Even though he shares a name with a famous Aussie rules footballer, it’s rugby he follows in between pursuing his interest in working with wood.

WEB PICKS

• What do you think of this new home delivery service we’re assessing? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ embedded&v=qmHwXf8JUOw

• For just $5 you can have a portrait of yourself drawn as a Simpson cartoon character - check it out at http://5dollarblog.wordpress. com/2013/11/27/simpsoncharacter/

• See an edgy way to add some real zing to your summer entertaining at http://vimeo.com/79446286

• You’ll never do it any other way once to learn how to separate eggs this way! http://www.youtube.com/embed/iAp8pEaWB1Y

PREGNANT AT 71?

A woman went to the doctor’s office where she was seen by one of the younger doctors. After about four minutes in the examination room, she burst out screaming as she ran down the hall. An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she told him her story. After listening, he had her sit down and relax in another room. The older doctor marched down the hallway back to where the young doctor was writing on his clipboard. “What’s the matter with you?” the older doctor demanded. “Mrs. Terry is 71 years old, has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?” The younger doctor continued writing and without looking up said, “Does she still have the hiccups?”

“ Borrow money from pessimists - they don’t expect it back.” Steve Wright

���� ���� ��������

������������ �������� ����