A good day for the Corkmaster...

Well...it was generally a good day today. Cleaned up some long outstanding admin, finished some projects at work that have been dragging for a while, had a good performance review, and had a few good wines...

For starters, I finally lodged my 2006 and 2007 tax returns which have been overdue for quite some time now. I am now officially off the 'delinquents' list at work...with a larger than planned refund due, which never hurts. I even offered the lady that does my taxes a bottle of wine and she turned it down...Sweet...more for me. Apparently she's allergic. Not sure what I'd do if I was allergic to wine...

My day ended with a surprisingly quick delivery of my most recent purchase from The Wine Society, a case of the 2006 Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz. I have tried most of Ben Glaetzer's wines, but this was one that I hadn't tried, and it is a bit more affordable than the others, so I thought I'd give it a go. I only had one glass tonight but I thought it was exceptional for a $30 bottle of wine. No doubt this label has benefitted from the fact that Glaetzer no longer produces one of their more premium (and more expensive) wines, which means the grapes previously destined for that wine now go into 'The Bishop'. Definitely one to watch, as my guess is it goes up in price over the next few years...

My purchase came about because earlier in the week I finally gave in to the endless phone calls from the Wine Society and ordered another case of wine. I joined the 'club' when I first moved to Australia because we, and the people who referred us, got a few free bottles of wine. I've continued as a member as the only real obligation is one case/year and there is a good deal to be had at least once every 12 months, sometimes more. I had just recently purchased my annual requirement, having bought a six-pack of the Penfolds 2005 bin releases (2,28,128,138,389,407) and a six-pack of the 2006 Barons of the Barossa Shiraz, but couldn't turn down another case. In a short space of time, I have managed to fill the wine fridge again, after putting everything else in offsite storage before we left Sydney. I think I will be in trouble with my accountant, which incidentally isn't me, it's Natasha...

I also officially locked myself in to run a half-marathon today, having registered with Run Melbourne and my 'boot-camp' trainer. Seven weeks to go...21 km...I'd better get my a$$ in gear. Less wine, more running... I'm keen just to get a time to benchmark against in the future where I can do some proper training. I've done the Sydney City to Surf, which is 16 km (with some big hills...), so how much harder can 21 km be? I guess I'll find out seven weeks...

Our Sunday Best

Natasha is blogging upstairs on the sticky date pudding she just made from scratch, which was awesome, so I figured I might as well finish mine off for the day. Although it might seem like I've done nothing but update this blog today, most of the effort was transferring some old posts from my Bigpond blog, which I have decided was crap (the template/layout not the content...).

As it turns out, I made the wrong choice and took Seamus to the park and missed the best part of the Swans game. They came back to tie the game in the end - and I missed it! Still kicking myself I didn't go to the game, just felt a bit lazy today I suppose... In my opinion (probably biased), the Swans should have won because the game-tying kick from Brett Kirk was touched behind the goal line (i.e. it was a goal, not a behind...). Anyway, two points is better than no points...

So...we finished two of the wines we purchased today, starting with the Mesh Riesling while preparing dinner (which admittedly for me was more watching television than preparing...). A great young Riesling that will also cellar well, although I think this one is a little less acidic so might not be a super long term wine. For dinner, along with the lamb roast, we had the Saltram No. 1 Shiraz, which was everything one could ask for from a Barossa Shiraz - Big, Fruity (but dry) and long lasting. Looking forward to drinking the next two with a little age. I still don't know why it is discounted so much, I assume it was to clear the '03 vintage. I will have to check in the next few days to see if the '04 is there at the same price. Regardless of the vintage, I'd snap it up at the current $38/bottle price.

The Sunday Ritual

I made my fortnightly trip to Dan Murphy's this afternoon because I had heard rumours of Saltram No. 1 Shiraz being available for under $40/bottle (it usually retails for around $60-70/bottle) and we needed some 'dailies'. As it turned out, the rumours were true - $37.90/bottle for the '03 No. 1. As I said previously, I am a fan of Nigel Dolan's wines and I have always been keen to try this one but the price tag scared me away. Under $40/bottle, however, I couldn't resist, and bought the only three bottles they had left. I think I'll open the first one tonight and put down the other two...

I also managed to find the 2007 Mesh Riesling for about $22/bottle. Mesh is a 'joint venture' between Jeffrey Grosset, who is probably Australia's best maker of Riesling (and winemaker of one of my Top Five wines) and Robert Hill-Smith (Yalumba). I've had a few previously but have been looking for a few to put down. I guess I don't need to look any further. It was only released in 2002 and they only blend the two parcels together late in the process, but I would imagine in a few years time, this wine will be an icon in Australian Riesling.

Other than wine shopping and dog walking, it's been a pretty quiet day. Am currently debating whether I finish watching the Swans/Kangaroos match or take Seamus to the park before all the other dogs leave...yes, it's non-stop excitement today! It's not looking good for the Swans as the Kangaroos have just taken a three goal lead and the Swans have only scored six goals all game. I think I know the answer...

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to report on an outstanding bottle of wine and a miraculous comeback victory for the Swans