More recently my palate for red wine has been maturing – or so I’d like to think =)
Hence, I’ve decided that at the end of every month I will post a list of what I’ve liked and what I’ve added to my collection.
So here goes:
Last weekend I made a trip to Canberra, and dropped in on Mount Majura. They had some awesome grapes and they include:
The award winning Chardonnay ($21) has a really nice melon and buttery toast taste and one that I wouldn’t recommend drinking when it’s chilled. Stick it in the fridge for 20 to 30 mins, and you have a wonderful glass with a white meat dish. Keeps well till 2019.
The Tempranillo ($35) was perhaps my favourite amongst their selection of reds. Beautiful rich red flavour of dark berries and cherry with some very fresh and fruity tastes to it. I think this will sell quickly, so stock up and keep for a few years (until 2014).
The Riesling ($21) was my favourites from the whites. Rated 94 by James Halliday, this wine has beautiful flavours of citrus and would work well with seafood and white meat. I highly recommend keeping a few bottles in the cellar for just under a decade (2018).
Above are some recent favourites from the Wine Society. Having been a member with them for over 2 years now, they have had some excellent bottles on their shelves.
First off, 2008 Shanahan Barking Dog GSM ($22.99)- this is an awesome cork bottle of fun sold exclusively by Wine Society. Deep red plums, berries and spices make up the palate and I’d recommend cellaring for a little while longer – I think 2012 could be it’s prime – but will stay well till 2016.
The 2008 Zilzie Cabernet Sauvignon ($12.99) is a brilliant quaffing wine that works really well with red meat. Drink some now and over the course till 2012.
The multi-awarding winning 2008 Taylors Estate Clare Valley Shiraz ($12.99) is another ripper that is great for drinking now, but over time (up to 2016) would open up to be an even better bottle. With sweet notes and fine tanins this is a must buy. Don’t let the price tag fool you.
Lastly, the 2005 Grant Burge Holy Trinity GSM ($35)- what a great wine this is. Had it for dinner over at Blue Eye Dragon (BYO) and thought it was absolutely fantastic with the food we ordered. Fruit intensive with deep colours, this wine will mature over the next 12 years. I couldn’t resist getting a dozen – a bottle for each year!
A couple of years ago, I attended the Taste of Sydney festival – and I remember trying some of the dishes from Longrain, which I thought was fantastic. Especially their tapioca dessert.
So recently, we decided to give them a go. Longrain is a restaurant where you can’t book a table, and when you do get table… you’re pretty lucky (or so you think!)
First impressions of the place was friendly atmosphere with a decent sized cocktail lounge on one end and the restaurant and the other – in between you have a long hallway (Tony Hawk would love to convert it to a skating ramp).
The place looked busy, and I think know why. Since you can’t book a table, people rush in early to get their names on a list by the restaurant’s… let’s call him the bouncer, this guy meant business. So once you’re names is on the list, you wait – in their cocktail bar.
We asked for a “table for 2”, and he said “Sure, that’ll be 2 hours”. I had to clarify if he misheard me mentioning the number of people and not the number of hours. Clearly, I was put in place to say that it will take 2 hours. Great, so where to? Of course we were ushered to cocktail lounge and asked to “enjoy ourselves” while we wait – nice touch.
6 x cocktails (at $16 – $18 each), sparkling water, some oysters and a dish of mince pork lettuce cup kind of thing. I’ll be honest, I can’t remember much of it, partly because I wait for 2 f@*king hours! By then my taste buds had given up and it probably preferred a chicken kebab as opposed to a curry. Just as we were contemplating our decision, bouncer man comes and offers us a table.
As I sat down, I noticed that our ‘table’ was in between a birthday celebration to my left, a couple trying to have an intimate moment to my right, and a couple who were previously getting drunk at the cocktail bar now sitting opposite me – lovely!
Dinner time, and we ordered 2 main dishes, a salad, brown rice – all to share, followed by dessert (yes, I had their tapioca pudding) – but let me say that the food didn’t compensate for the lack of table service, mannerism of the restaurant staff and not even the table setting. Honestly the restaurant could do with more space dedicated to the dining area.
All in all, cocktail, nibles, mains, dessert came to $110 per person – so value for money wise, it’s okish. I’d rather spend an extra $80 and go Universal for a 5 course world cuisine with matching wine.
And to top it off, the staff decided to charge my credit card twice within a space of 1 minute. I got a call from my bank on Monday morning (thanks St George) to call back the restaurant if it was a mistake.
Admittedly, their accountant was much better to deal with and I would rather have her serve my table.
Longrain –I wish they called it Longwait!
Atmosphere – 7.5/10
Food – 6.5/10
Wine (cocktails) – 7.5/10
Staff – 5.5/10
Value for money – 6/10
Awesome video with some mind blowing numbers!
JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.