Sommelier enchanted eventing
Wine critic, grape ape and author of The Big Red Wine Book, Campbell Mattison talks to Myffy Rigby about ordering wine with confidence... and air guitar
Camplell Mattison has anose that knows truffles
Who's your wine hero? Maurice O'Shea. He spent his whole career at one winery - Mount Pleasant in the Hunter Valley, from 1920s to the 50s making wines most people didn't want, because they weren't the fashion of the day. In time, those wines became legendary. I mean, how romantic is that?
As a first time wine drinker, where do you advise starting? A lot of people try dodgy wine and are put off. Try something decent and see how you go - a shiraz is a good place to start, because there's usually a bit of fruit sweetness there. Try the Red Knot Shiraz 2006 ($14) or something really easygoing - Brown Brothers Dolcetto Syrah 2007.
How would you persuade beer drinkers to try appreciating wine? Fortunately it's not either/or. Start sweet-ish and work towards drier styles. Let's face it, nothing beats a good red on a winter's night. Wine's been wooing folks for thousands of years - it's currently wooing more people than ever. Surely you'd want to explore what the fuss is about?
Never mind Australia's top wine, what's your favourite? Toss up between Majella Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra), Castagna Genesis Syrah (Beechworth) and Penfolds St Henri Shiraz.
Which Sydney bottle shops do you rate? I always rate Dan Murphy's. But I also have a soft spot for both North Sydney Cellars and North Shore Cellars.
How would you go about ordering wine in a restaurant with confidence if you have no idea what you're talking about? Never order the second least expensive wine on the wine list - because that's what everyone does, and so it's often the wine with the highest mark-up. There are a couple of other easy tips: look for classic wine/region matches like a cabernet from Coonawarra or shiraz from the Hunter or the Barossa or pinot noir from the Yarra Valley etc.
What's your prediction for the next big trend in wine? Lots more pinot noir, from Victoria and Tassie but lots more from New Zealand too. Lots more Italian-influenced Aussie reds - things like sangiovese/cabernet/ shiraz/merlot blends. And lots more focus on ‘regionalism' - where the wine came from - because everyone ends up searching for their own identity, and where a wine comes from is wine's equivalent.
What do you want to drink before you die? One of the Mount Pleasant ‘Mountain Series' reds from the 1930s (I've got Buckley's - they're horrendously scarce).
What do you drink when you're alone? Once I've finished playing air guitar I start with a pinot then move on to a sangiovese then a nebbiolo before sucking on one of the big hitters: shiraz and cabernet.
What would you pick for a first date? Whatever she wanted! Though if it was up to me - the best, slinkiest, sexiest bottle of pinot noir I could afford.
Top 5 Wines under $50
- Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz 2007 Guts, glory, the lot. $18
- Mount Pleasant Phillip Shiraz 2005 Lots of class for not much dosh. The Hunter Valley in a bottle. $15
- Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz Viognier 2006 Much smoother than a baby's bottom, and just so sweet, dark and ripe. $20
- Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz 2006 It's always good, but this is a ripper. $24
- Escarpment Pinot Noir 2006 It should be good at this price, but if pinot noir is your thing, this is the duck's guts. $48