Are You A FOODIE?

Talented Winemaker Chris Ringland / and This Weizenbock

Good Juice and the Big Brewski

by J.R. Guerra

This month, I take us back to Australia to focus on a very special and talented winemaker, Chris Ringland. You might remember reading about everything from Marquis Philips to 3 Rings and, most recently, the FU Shiraz. Before I get into a Q&A session with Mr. Ringland, I’m going to give you a little history on my favorite winemaker.

Chris Ringland’s Bio (provided by the folks at The Grateful Palate):
Back in 1997 Dan Philips first contact and meeting in Australia was with Chris Ringland. At this time Chris was the backbone for now the very established and famous Rockford winery. Dan and Chris both shared equal enthusiasm and talent for identifying quality shiraz vineyard and taste, and from this grew a genuine sense of each other talents and eventually true friendship. It wasn’t long before the two of them formed what is today, ‘R Wines’ a partnership between Dan and Chris. From this partnership comes an exciting display of fine wines matched with modern art design.

Chris Ringland began making wine as a preteen. Even he says he doesn’t know why, but Chris has been obsessed with winemaking since anyone can remember. He is the senior winemaker at 3 Rings, R Wines, Bodegas Alto Moncayo, Bodegas El Nido (both in Spain), La Corte (Puglia), RBJ and over the past 15 years has consulted and made wine for wineries such as Greenock Creek, Turkey Flat, and Hobbs. Previously spanning over 20 years Chris was the head winemaker with Rockfords winery in the Barossa and still today consults for them.  However a ‘watershed’, incident for Chris was in 1993 after Robert Parker tasted his own Three Rivers shiraz , which provoked the now famous line, “My God, this smells like a pristine example of 1947 Cheval Blanc.” Every vintage since then he has received 99 or 100 points. Parker’s Comments were loud and clear: “This is arguably the greatest Shiraz made in Australia.”

Chris is now the senior winemaker for R Wines, Marquis Philips, 3 Rings and JP Belle Terroir, with many new projects popping all the time. He definitely shows no signs of slowing down.
 
The Story of Chris Ringland Shiraz
Chris Ringland began making Shiraz under his own label, Three Rivers, with the 1989 vintage.  Since its launch in 1989, Three Rivers has always been 100% Shiraz. From 1989 through 1994, Three Rivers was produced from super-premium old-vine fruit purchased from Barossa growers.  Since 1995, the grapes have come from Stone Creek Chimney Vineyard, a postage-stamp size vineyard atop the Barossa Ranges in South Australia. Beginning with the 1998 vintage, the wines made from the vineyard are called Chris Ringland. The total production from Stone Chimney Creek is never more than four barrels, or 100 cases.

The Grateful Palate
The Grateful Palate has been importing Chris Ringland’s Three Rivers and Randall’s Hill since the 1993 vintage. Chris Ringland assigned the worldwide marketing rights for Chris Ringland’s Three Rivers, now Chris Ringland Shiraz, to The Grateful Palate with the 1996 vintage. The wines are available on release only through The Grateful Palate mailing list and select retailers and restaurants.
In 2001 the owners of a new winery in the Walla Walla Valley of Washington State chose the name Three Rivers. To avoid confusion, Chris decided to transfer to the new owners the name Three Rivers and do what he’s wanted to do for a long time: Use his own name for his label. So, from 1997 onwards, the wine made from the Stone Chimney Creek Vineyard will be called Chris Ringland Shiraz and Chris Ringland Randall’s Hill Shiraz.
Next month will feature a Q&A session with the man himself, Mr. Chris Ringland!

Cheers, and happy sipping.

The big Brewski

This Weizenbock (Wheat Dopplebock) is, simply put, DAMN GOOD!

The days are still warm (sometimes hot), but the cool nights are kind enough to give one the opportunity to start drinking darker beers again. Thank God!

If you haven’t been into The Cellar Door lately, then you don’t know what we’ve recently added. We asked you all for suggestions, and at the top of the list was for us to add more drafts. Well, we not only added more drafts, but we’re featuring an amazing draft beer from Germany. Sure, we have 11 draft beers to choose from now, but the gem of the lineup sits right in the middle, sporting a dark purple tap handle. It is none other, than the infamous Aventinus.

This Weizenbock (wheat dopplebock) is, simply put, damn good. Dark ruby in color, this beer pours with a stable and long-lasting head (a good 3-4 fingers worth). Before you drink it, you must know what it offers all your senses. On the nose, it offers rich banana flavors with some dark fruit, spice, clove and just a touch of wheat. Once you tilt the glass back, it rewards your tongue with a dark malt that completely the wheat. Then it turns to a touch of sweet, offering up both dark and milk chocolate, a touch of cherry and some banana, with a strong brandy note as well. It’s not very hoppy at all, lending the finish to a nice note of wheat. Simply put, it’s amazing and worth the higher price. In fact, it’s one of the highest rated beers on ratebeer.com, scoring a solid 99 out of 100!

At 8.2% alcohol by volume, it definitely reminds you that it’s a serious German beer that should be enjoyed at a snail’s pace. It’s one of those beers that gets better as it warms up, and offers up even more layers and flavor profiles as it reaches room temperature.

Last I checked, we are only one of two places in town that pour this beer. Don’t expect to find it in any of the surrounding areas either. You can probably find it in the bottle in a few specialty shops, but you simply have to try it on draft… you’ll thank me later.

Cheers, and happy sipping.