I used to avoid The Economist.
While it was clearly well written, its content felt too much like capitalist propaganda. Now, it comes across as a voice of reason in a world gone mad.
It’s also a phenomenal source of information. The latest fact I discovered there concerned the increase in the size of British wine glasses (and the invention of lead crystal by George Ravenscroft in 1674). Back then, the average wine glass was just 66mls. Now it’s a whopping 450 mls. That’s a…. let me see, um, 700% increase, roughly. I have a feeling that back then people may have been drinking more port, so perhaps a smaller glass made sense – Samuel Pepys certainly managed to party on with such small vessels, but even so, that’s massive inflation. Most of the growth has occurred recently, since 1970. I tested my old wine glasses against some newer ones – as seen in the picture and you can see the difference. The innocent claim “But officer, I only had a couple of glasses of wine” could mean you’d downed a bottle, or more.
Here’s the article as it’s well worth a read.
The Economist doesn’t talk about what people are putting into those glasses, but if they did I suspect the article would be about the rise of Pinot Gris and the subsequent demise of Sauvignon Blanc. For those weird people who prefer an SB over a Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio) is a great alternative. It probably attracts the Riesling set too, being dry, aromatic and usually unwooded. So, here are three that I have sampled lately, all bought at Dan Murphy.
Yalumba Y Series Pinot Grigio 2017, SA, $8.50
This wine is apparently Vegan friendly. We had it with Swordfish. Its tasting notes mention nashi pear, baked apple and orange blossom, wild honey and feijoa. I don’t know what a feijoa is, but I do know I enjoyed this a lot. It was crisp, well rounded and had just the right amount of feijoa to compliment the fish. Perhaps it’s time i became a Vegan.
Oakridge Over The shoulder Pinot Grigio 2016, Yarra, $18.90
So, what do you get for $10 more? A year’s bottle age, ore complexity and simpler tasting notes: “Dry, textural and crunchy with pristine pear flavours, this is a refreshing alternative to NZ Sauvignon Blanc.” Notice the reference to NZ SB! This is certainly more elegant and restrained. I’d buy it again. Yarra Valley whites rock.
Kumeu River Pinot Gris 2016, NZ, $22.75
No feijoa here. It seems the more you pay, the less fruit salad you get, which is a good thing. The wine has “hints of citrus, grapefruit, musk and apricot” the palate is “structured and remarkably tight with mineral characteristics” and the length “impeccable”. I’d agree with all that. It’s a very well made wine, and i like the hint of hessian bag creeping in, like a perfumed Chablis. I’d buy a mix of this and the Yalumba.
That’s it from me. Apologies for the long gap between articles.
Wine under 20, life over 50 