A Tale of Two Countries

When I found out I was going to be hosting this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend excursion to the Land Down Under, I knew what wines I wanted to open — a 1998 Brothers in Arms Shiraz from Langhorne Creek in South Australia. Sue was surprised to discover that I had in my stash a bottle of 1998 Shiraz — but even more surprised that I wanted to also open a 2005 bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon –even if it was made by the famous Australian winemaker Chris Ringland.

“There’s a story here,” I told her. “It’s a Tale of Two Countries — and me.
And I’ve been waiting for years to tell it.”

Of course when you have a wine that old there’s a concern that it may not be any good any more. So we had a back-up Shiraz. Fortunately the 1998 Brothers in Arms Shiraz was spectacular so we wrote up our back up Shiraz from Terlato and Chapoutier in the preview post! 

So what’s the story?  Continue reading →