Sultans of Shiraz 2005
Shiraz Dinner Pairing by Chef Daniel Bruce

Daniel Bruce is one of my chef idols - literally every dish I have tasted from him has been amazing. Even more intriguing, he promises to never make the same dish twice! I was thrilled at the opportunity to see what he would pair up with the Shiraz selections from Hardy's portfolio.

Hardy's Sparkling Shiraz NV
Our dinner began with a palate cleanser of a sparkling Shiraz. The wine goes through 12 months in oak, then another 2 years on the lees. It has a ruby-purple color and gorgeous, full fruit flavor of cherry and chocolate. Sparkling shiraz is hardly new in Australia. "For at least 80 years we've been producing sparkling reds," Bill Hardy told the crowd. The wine is often served on special occasions. "Christmas Day in Australia is warm summer - the sparkling shiraz goes well with the turkey and Christmas fruit pudding, and the chocolate and caramel desserts."

Bill explained again how Australia is the 4th largest exporter and 8th largest producer of wine. "We're very proud to have a wonderful stable of wines in our family," he stated. "Shiraz is certainly becoming our signature variety".

2000 Starvedog Lane Shiraz
The Adelaide Hills were settled by Germans, and has a long history of creating fine vineyards. The region is known for its premium, cool area vineyards. The wine featured pepper and spice flavors, along with cherry and plum. Daniel Bruce paired this with a green olive and toasted pine nut filled pasta, which I found very much like fresh pirogies. The smooth fruit flavors of the wine went perfectly with the fresh pasta flavors.

2001 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz
This winery was bought by the Hardy group from the Heinz corporation. Apparently when Bill's uncle was announcing the acquisition, he told his family, "we have reduced Heinz to 56 varieties". The wine has great, fruit plum and cherry flavors with hints of mint and vanilla. Daniel paired this with a mint and vanilla rubbed grilled New Zealand Lamb Chop, including creamy German butterball potatoes. The fruit of the wine brought out the flavors in the lamb chops quite nicely.

2001 Chateau Reynella Shiraz
This wine was also paired with the lamb chops, and had more of the chocolate and coffee / licorice flavors to it. "This is where my great great grandfather got his first job," explained Bill, saying that acquiring this property meant a lot to his fmaily for that reason. The wine is created in the McLaren Vale, whic is considered the best Shiraz area in Australia. Bill described how the region had won over half of all awards in a yearly Shiraz competition held in Australia.

2000 E&E Blackpepper Shiraz
The E&E paired with black pepper ostrich fan fillet, along with smoky Kasha and french beans. The E&E was full, spicy and raisiny - the vines that go into this wine are up to 100 years old. It was originally chosen as a premium wine created from two special parcels in the Barossa Vally, owned by two men both named Elmore. The name is a tribute to those grape growers. The two parcels are chosen afresh each year, but almost every year includes Elmore Schultz, one of those two initial men. The big flavor held up very well against the rich flavor of the ostrich. It was a wonderful balance.

Whiskers Blake Tawny Port
I know this wine well, it's practically my house dessert wine. I also love the story of its name, how Whiskers Blake was an old man hired by the winery in the late 1800s to scare away the crows. Bill explained that Whiskers "looked like a hillbilly" and that photos of him show him wandering around the vineyards, an 8 gauge shotgun in one hand, a flask of port on his hip. The wine is a sweet, caramel, easy drinking wine, something the winery has been making for a very long time. They have learned over the years how to put the barrels up under the rafters of the corrugated metal roof, to help the wine gain a rich, full flavor. This paired very nicely with the warm walnut tart and hazelnut honey cake.

Bill had yet another story for us in his collection. In the 1930s, the English had a high tax on any wines which were imported at an alcohol strength of 15% or higher. Bill's grandfather found a way to get around the tax. He created a blend at 14.99% strength and found a way to keep it stable for the long voyage. Then every 6th tank he sent would be at 35% alcohol. The seller would put the blend together on the other side before distributing it. One day Bill's grandfather went over to England for a surprise visit. He asked the seller's representative how the blending was done. He was told that the wine wasn't blended at all - that the high strength version was sent to the miners in the Midlands, while the weak stuff was given to the Londoners!

The stories kept on coming. He once spoke with the winery manager at Riverland in South Australia, who related that visits from Bill's father were much feared at the winery. Bill's father and the chief winemaker would go to the still, taste the brandy and decide it was just not right. They'd add water to the condenser, steam on the pot, and make many other changes. The winery manager found this to be absolutely terrible, it would take them days to get everything running properly again. Finally, the manager went behind the still and rerouted all the actual controls to be handled down in the basement, but left the levers and knobs up by the still. From that point on, Bill's father and the chief winemaker would fiddle with the valves, commenting on how they were making the product taste better as they did so - but it was all in their imagination.

The evening was finally over, and was one of the most enjoyable wine dinners I've been at. If you ever have the opportunity to try a selection of Shiraz - and especially if you have a chance to spend an evening with Bill Hardy - be sure to go for it! And of course kudos go to Daniel Bruce, who has proven again that he can make anything taste delicious. Now if only I could get him to bend his "no dish twice" rule, to create that delicious Shepherd's Pie for us again ...

Sultans of Shiraz Introduction
Tasting Shiraz from Australia

Master Wine Event Listing