The thing I like about Brown Brothers is that its a vineyard 'policy' to experiment with different varietals.
So this evening, while we were out looking for a medium-bodied Red to go with our steamboat dinner, the trademark green bottle from Milawa was peeking out from a sea of YellowTail Chardonnays and Semillons under the Australia Section.
I wanted to get a simple Rawson's Retreat Cabernet/Shiraz from Penfolds, cheap and good. But the Chimp reminded me that our dinner
Kakis were not exactly wine afficionados and would prefer something light and sweet. And the prospect of having a dessert wine with fishballs and Wong Bok was definitely a big no-no.
So what the heck, it would be the Cienna.
The Cienna is a hybrid grape crossed from Cabernet Sauvignon and a Spanish varietal called Sumoll. The variety was developed by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in collaboration with Brown's Vineyard and a couple of other Aussie viticulturists.
In the glass, the wine is deep red in colour with lively purple hues and a subtle fragrance of mint, eucalyptus and violets. The palate is rich and full-bodied, with mulberry fruit flavours and a fine-textured, long finish. At least that's what the review says =))
However, although we found it to be a sweet and light wine, I wouldn't reccommend it for dinner accompaniment because the berry fruitiness of it all makes it a little too
ribena-ry. And for some reason, there is also a slight sparkly-ness that tickles gently as the vino sloshes around in your mouth. It makes an excellent after dinner tipple though, especially with ice-cream.
And if you're looking to introduce someone, maybe a teenager or so, to the joys of scarlet vino, the Cienna would be it!
Works for the girls too I think ;)
For a review on Brown Brothers Lexia Spatlese 2005, look
here.
Labels: Wine