Harvey Steiman's Blog Archives
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May 2008
Radically Different Pizza
Posted: 11:08 AM ET, May 29, 2008
In researching my cover story on pizza (in the current June 30, 2008, issue of Wine Spectator), I came across some truly inventive options that went well beyond toppings. In the end, the story focused entirely on more traditional pizzas and modern variations, and omitted the most intriguing idea of them all—charcoal-grilled pizza, made famous by Al Forno in Providence, R. Read more
There Won't Be Another
Posted: 12:37 PM ET, May 27, 2008
When word reached me in Australia that Robert Mondavi had finally succumbed to the ravages of time, I lifted a glass or two to his memory with a few Australian friends. But I held off writing about him, in part because I was traveling, in part because I wanted the news to sink in first. Read more
Hunter Sémillon, Part Two
Posted: 11:11 AM ET, May 23, 2008
In my continuing effort to understand Hunter Sémillon (see Hunter Sémillon, Part One, previously), I sat down with winemaker Phil Ryan to taste through two of the region's most venerable examples, from Mount Pleasant. The winery makes several levels of Sémillon, and we were focusing on the top tier: Elizabeth, a blend of the better lots from several sandy-soil vineyards, and Lovedale, a single-vineyard wine on calcareous soil from vines planted in 1946. Read more
Hunter Sémillon, Part One
Posted: 11:51 AM ET, May 22, 2008
"Enjoy your rusty rainwater," said the South Australian winemaker. I had just told him I was off to Sydney, where I was planning long vertical tastings with the two leading producers of Hunter Valley Sémillon. South Australia doesn't quite understand a wine like Hunter Sémillon, which is the polar opposite of South Australia's big Barossa Shiraz, heady McLaren Vale Grenache, vigorous Clare Valley Riesling and mouthfilling Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. Read more
A Delicate Shiraz
Posted: 10:04 AM ET, May 20, 2008
Few would think that the words "delicate" and "Australian Shiraz" could belong in the same sentence, but then they never would have tried Craiglee Shiraz. I am as guilty as the next big red Shiraz lover for dismissing this wine as light and pleasant, but inconsequential, although I have rated it highly in some vintages. Read more
An Australian Riesling at 19
Posted: 08:49 AM ET, May 19, 2008
I have had enough aged Riesling in Australia to appreciate that the wines benefit tremendously from time in the bottle. At a few months to a couple of years old, they are all lime and floral and sometimes mineral flavors on a crisp, dry frame. Appealing enough, but they develop all kinds of extra stuff in the bottle. Read more
RunRig, and More
Posted: 08:34 AM ET, May 15, 2008
Torbreck RunRig is one of the champions of Australian Shiraz, made from grand old vines in Barossa Valley in a modern style. It also incorporates a dollop of Viognier, an idea cadged from Côte-Rôtie, where co-fermenting with the white grape is common. Read more
Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz: Old School
Posted: 09:07 AM ET, May 12, 2008
For those who like to cellar wines instead of drinking them right away, Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz is just the thing. In some ways it's the polar opposite of Penfolds Grange, Australia's most famous (and extremely ageable) Shiraz. But while Grange tastes amazingly good upon release and continues to develop extra nuances in the bottle, St. Read more
Doing the Twist, Retroactively
Posted: 11:53 AM ET, May 06, 2008
While other wineries dither about whether to use twist-off caps instead of corks for their current wines, Leeuwin Estate has taken it a step further. Australia's greatest producer of Chardonnay went back and rebottled its entire library under spiral. Read more
How to Find Finesse
Posted: 11:42 AM ET, May 02, 2008
Some wine writers, mostly the ones that rail against the 100-point scale, would have their readers believe that tasters like me and my Wine Spectator colleagues wouldn't recognize a great, delicate wine or one that wasn't a fruit bomb if it jumped out of the glass at us. Read more
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