A Farmyard Party

Some wines are just plain agricultural.  Basic, gutsy and down to earth, and they can be enjoyable for it.  But some aspects of the farmyard are quite disagreeable, such as brettanomyces.  A little bit of gaminess and earthiness can be pretty interesting, but it gets to obliterate any grape or place character when it goes over the threshold.  Where the line is drawn is personal and learnt.  The WRXers are very tolerant of the farmyard, but SWMBO is intolerant, and I tend towards the dismissive end of it.

A nice roast lamb dinner was the occasion for the 2002 Leasingham ‘Classic’ Clare Shiraz.  The label has had its issues with the problem and this vintage was in the middle of it. I’d expected it to be a gone-burger.  On opening, black as black still, but the unmistakable tone of wild horses running rampant came out on bouquet.  SWMBO grimaced.  But the WRXers, a tad cautious, slowly began to beam big smiles.  They like a “party in the mouth” with wine, and sure, it was a “farmyard in the mouth”.  On tasting it, there was a mass of brett, but surprisingly, this was still sweet and luscious.  Amazing fruit for sure, and the tannins not obtrusive at all.  No sign of drying or hardness.  I could imagine what it might have been like if it was clean.

   

The bottle was drained, mainly by the WRXers, a little glass by me, and nary a sip by SWMBO.  Enjoyment is just a balance of how you reconcile the various positives and negatives, the time and the situation.  Here, for me, it was a good wine.