Aged Preservative Free Wine! Freehand Natural Wines 2003 Cabernet.

AGED PRESERVATIVE FREE WINE!

Since the dawn of winemaking time there have been arguments about just how long a bottle of wine will last if we don't use preservatives of some kind (usually sulphur dioxide 220 or potassium metabisulphite 224. If you want to know more about preservatives in wine read this article).  Many of the preservative free wine producers opt for the conservative approach making the wines in a "drink now" style, they advise a maximum cellaring of 1-2 years, and only produce smaller quantities that will sell out before the next vintage.

Matt Eastwell and his pals at Freehand Natural Wines have decided to push the envelope on this one, and all I can say is THANK GOODNESS THEY DID!  We now have in our stock an incredible Aged Preservative Free Cabernet, 2003 Vintage.  Before I rave on about the wine, let me rave on about Freehand… A relatively new winery in the Great Southern Wine Region of WA, Freehand is what it says it is.  A non-certified, organic and biodynamic vineyard.  Wines are produced by Matt and his highly committed team.  They are passionate about the environment and making sure that this vineyard and the earth in general are in better nick when it comes time for them to leave it.  These lovely people are to be admired for their philosophies and the way they grow grapes and produce wine.  Don't let the lack of certification put you off!

Now to the wine, sigh… The 2003 Cabernet is a deliciously mellow drop.  Made gently by hand with small, intensely flavoured berries it has a gorgeous cherry red colour, with orange highlights around the rim.  First sniff leaves you with lovely aged characters of leather beeswax and tobacco leaf, and just a little earthiness.  Basically it makes you want to just dive right on it.  But don’t rush it, this wine has been waiting 12 years to be tasted, so please spend some time savouring each of the elements.  The mouth feel is oh so velvety and silky smooth.  It’s a bit dangerous really, as it’s very easy to find yourself at the bottom of the bottle without too much effort.  The flavour profile is cedary with a savoury edge, and just a hint of blackberry fruit, although as the wine breathes it seems to change and evolve with each mouthful. I'm sure, if we'd managed to leave some in the bottle for the night, it would have had a totally new flavour profile in the morning.  This wine has aged exceptionally well, and could easily get away with claiming to be a few years younger.  

It is delicious and a bargain for $30 or under. Buy it here!

Happy drinking!

How to store wine.

So, have you got yourself a wee collection of wines that you've been purchasing over the years?  Some might have been gifts, others lovingly collected from a weekend of exploring cellar doors with mates.  Some might be organic, others not.  I don't know about you, but I've begun to grow up when it comes to wine.  No longer do I need to drink ALL THE WINE in one sitting with pals.  I am happy to buy a bottle and have it tucked away until the right time.  Sadly, for many this can all end in tears when a bottle isn't stored correctly.  

Before I got into this wine caper I confess that my bottles of wine were stored in the bottom of my kitchen cupboard.  There was easy access, and it was as good a place as any considering I didn't have a wine rack, or a cellar, or a convenient backyard cave, with steady temperatures to squirrel my bounty away in.  Now I'm a bit more savvy and try a bit harder to make sure my bottles of precious vino are as well stored as possible given my limited space, and lack of a fore mentioned cave.  I confess to being a bit lucky in that my parents have a cellar at their home in the mountains.  If I have a particularly special bottle I can always VERY CLEARLY LABEL IT WITH MY NAME, and pop it in among their collection.  So far there have been no accidental consumption incidents.

I hear you...no cellar, no cave.  What to do?  Well, I've got a few tips for keeping your wine at its best for as long as possible.  I do have to say, please read your labels though. Ifa wine maker suggests that a particular wine would benefit from 5 years of cellaring, don't wait for 15 and then wonder why it's not great...  common sense peeps.

How's this for a nifty little cellar.  I'm sure I could fit this under my stairs...?

I've got a few tips on storing your wine and keeping it in the most optimal conditions.  I've read quite a bit on the subject, and the phrase that springs to mind and is easily remembered is 'Keep it cool, keep it dark, keep it still, keep it sideways'.  Pretty simple really.

Wine is a pretty delicate thing which is always evolving and changing within the bottle, and outside influences can interfere with the delicate dance happening beneath the cork.

Wine and bright lights are not best friends.  Most coloured wine bottles offer a small amount of protection against UV  light.  However, it isn't enough to keep your wine from being effected by light, which will prematurely age your wine.  White wine is particularly vulnerable to this, but red wine is also at risk.

It's best to store your wine in a cool, dry dark place with a constant temperature (between 12-16 °C).  If you don't have a cellar (which of course is the best place to keep your wine), keep it in the box it came in in a dark place (there must be a spot in the bottom of a cupboard somewhere?).  Ideally there should be some humidity to prevent the cork from drying out.  If you're feeling really flush you could buy one of those fancy (or less fancy) thermo-controlled wine fridges (of course this is another electrical appliance which needs to be plugged in and takes up space...but if you're a real buff might be worth it).

Shake, rattle and roll.  I don't think so.  Wine doesn't like to be shifted about or exposed to vibrations and movement.  Try keeping it away from your fridge, on its side on a rack (this ensures the cork is always covered with liquid and won't dry out).  If you keep your bottles upright you increase the chances of oxygen making its way into your bottle and oxidizing the wine.  Of course, corks can be a bit of a rarity these days, so the chances of oxidization are greatly reduced, and cork taint is almost unheard of!

Very importantly it must be remembered that not all wine is designed to be cellared.  And even those that are may only be suitable for a short cellaring period.  Many preservative free wines are made to be drunk quite soon after bottling.  Please, please, follow the instructions of the wine maker.  They want you to enjoy their wine, and will be giving you the best advice on when to drink their nectar.  

Many people that that white wine is not meant to be cellared.  This simply isn't true.  Many whites are intended to age gracefully, their flavour profiles changing and maturing along the way with secondary characters and complexity only developing with time. Think Riesling, Semillon and Chardonnay.  Red wines will always prefer some time in a bottle to allow all the goodness to harmonise.  Be it Shiraz, Cab Sav or Pinot, let the fruits, tannins and acids find their place before opening!  Be patient.  And then....

Happy drinking!

How to make Red Wine Vinegar.

It happens to the best of us... a bottle of red is opened and a glass or two consumed (possible late in the evening, probably after a few too many other bottles), and the drinkers give up and go to bed.  Sadly this bottle is neglected (possibly due to a hangover and the vehement promise to never drink again!!) and over several days later is has lost that freshness and is no longer wanted.  And let's face it, if it was the last bottle at the end of a big night it was probably not your best (or sadly it may have been your best that you grabbed while under the influence and miserably regret not having first up).  Instead of tipping this poor ignored wine down the sink, why not get all frugavore on yourself and make RED WINE VINEGAR!?

I've made Red Wine Vinegar before and seriously it was delicious.  There is not much better than making a dressing, or a meat sauce, with a vinegar that you've lovingly tended to... plus it really does mean that those last few dregs, or forgotten half bottles of wine, don't go to waste. Also, if you're looking to make Christmas gifts for all those distant relatives, colleagues, or random people who all come out of the wood work during the silly season, this vinegar, poured into a nice bottle with your own label is a primo present!

So, to make your own vinegar you have a couple of options...

Option 1.

With this option you've got to get yourself a vinegar 'starter' mother.  Yes, MOTHER.  Making vinegar isn't that far off making kombucha, so you'll fit right in with the Hipsters.  You can get a 'mother' from a brew, or wine making, shop.  I live in the inner north in Melbourne - Italian heartland - so there are a few shops around with all the right gear.  A simple google search of your neighbourhood will point you in the right direction.  Once you got your slimy mother, simply follow the instructions that it comes with.

Instead of adding a purchased mother, you could add 3 tablespoons of 'live' vinegar (Bragg's, or if someone you know makes vinegar, some of their batch, for example) per cup of wine, and follow the steps in option two. 

The mother from a batch of Red Wine Vinegar.

Option 2.

GROW YOUR OWN MOTHER and let the wine do its thang.  I was taught how to do this by a Spanish friend of mine (he really wasn't a big drinker so there was always a glass or two left in the bottom of his bottles), so I like to think it's more 'authentic' and European...

First you have to find a jar, or jug, or a cooking pot, with a wide mouth (the wider the better).  Pour your wine in until the container is about two-thirds full.  Don't be tempted to over fill as you will make spills later in the process.  If you have a good low alcohol wine it's good as is, if you have a higher alcohol wine, mix in a bit of water to dilute it.  The high alcohol content can cause essential bacteria to curl up and die, or at least not grow so well.  I highly recommend you use a no added preservative wine in this process, as sulphites can (rightly so) overly 'preserve' the wine, and inhibit the conversion of alcohol to acetic acid.  

Cover the container with a breathable muslin cloth and secure with a rubber band or string.  Nothing worse than spending weeks waiting for awesome vinegar to find that it's full of dog hair, or dust.  

Place your container in a warm place, out of direct sunlight.  

Shake or stir your vinegar (carefully so as not to slop!) a few times a week.  

Over this time you will become the proud creator of a 'mother'.  It is a slimy, blobby thing that sits on top of the wine, eventually sinking to the bottom and allowing a new mother to take its place. 

In anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 months, you will have a lovely lot of vinegar (or something not quite vinegar which means tip it out and head back to the drawing board).

Once your brew tastes more like vinegar and less like wine (start tasting at the 2 week mark) you should pour it into bottles or jars that seal (swing top beer bottles, or old wine bottles are great).  Prolonged exposure to the air can spoil your vinegar.

You can pour off your vinegar, and can keep adding fresh wine to the remainder of the brew (mother included).  The newly added wine will be 'vinegarised' much more quickly than your first batch.

Now, if you find yourselves in the position where you don't ever have left over wine (I won't judge you), you might like to grab a bottle of our affordable preservative free cleanskin red as a starter.  You could even, once you got this down pat, try a white wine vinegar, or add herbs and the like for extra flavour. 

No more wasted wine!  Get mixing now to have vinegar in time for Christmas.  

I'd like to say 'Happy drinking', but think that this might not be the best sign off today.  So, Ciao!

New at Organic Wine: Tamburlaine Wines.

We've been on the lookout for some time now for a new Sparkling Wine to add to our arsenal. The Temple Bruer Pure White is a delicious and affordable favourite, but unfortunately stocks have been exhausted and we've been waiting for the next vintage which will be ARRIVING IN LATE OCTOBER.




In the absence of one of our best sellers we've been looking around to be able to provide our customers with something fizzy and delicious.  It's been a hard slog, a lot of tasting (and believe me this isn't always a good thing) but we think we've come up with something that will put a smile on your dial.  Tambulaine are now stocking us with not one but TWO sparkling wines.

Drum roll please!  You've been asking for a preservative free sparkling for years, and finally we've found a wine that fits the bill.  Please, put your hands together and welcome the Tamburlaine Au Natural Premium Cuvee!  It's a preservative free bubbly with all kinds of goodness happening.  It's great to have a preservative free sparkling on offer - don't say we never listen to you.  This one is made from early harvest, cool climate Chardonnay grapes.  The first thing that we noted were apples, apples, apples.  Yep, apples and crisp melon flavours.  Extended lees contact, some secondary fermentation and blending create a delicious rich creaminess.  It's only 13% alcohol, which means you can sneak in that extra half glass before you get a bit silly (but not if you're driving of course!).  At absolutely no stage in the production does sulphur come anywhere near this wine, so if you've got allergies, or like to have a clear head the morning after, these might just be the bubbles for you.


The other sparkling, is the Tamburlaine High and Dry Organic Cuvee.  The chardonnay grapes used to make this wine are grown in the cool climate Orange Wine Region.  The grapes were picked early to capture the light fruit, crisp acidity, elegance and freshness. The wine is alive with aromas of green apples, honeydew melon and vanilla.  To taste, there are green apples, nectarine and pineapple flavours, with a delicate creaminess.

Both of these sparkling wines are affordable (both starting at a measly $16.50), and infinitely tasty.  They make a great party wine, or accompaniment to an Asian feast.  These beauties are up on the website and ready for you to order right now.  They are perfect for any Spring time fizzy kind of event.

Why not include a few in your next order with us?

Happy drinking!