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CHEERS: Barton on Wine

I have  always been fond of the wines produced by Brown Brothers, the famous Australian winemaking family and have, on at least two occasions, visited the winery at Milawa, in north-eastern Victoria.

Last weekend I was back again, but this time for a completely different reason, which has perhaps given me a slightly new perspective, not only on the wines, but on that part of the Lucky Country where Australia's most notorious son, the bushranger Ned Kelly, once roamed and robbed.

Since my last visit, quite recently in fact, I have discovered that this is my spiritual home; that when my grandfather was born back in the 1880s this is where the family was living – at nearby Greta, which was also home to the Kelly family.

Suddenly my father's claims that his grandmother, my great-grandmother, once danced with Ned Kelly could no longer be dismissed as "beer talk.

Fortunately, on one of my previous visits I had been taken to Greta, or what little is left of it, by Ross Brown, now chief executive of the family company. Ross also showed me other points of interest in the Kelly saga, and pointed me in the direction of nearby Glenrowan, where Ned and his armour-clad gang were finally captured after a shoot-out with the police.

Thanks to this I was able to take my wife, daughter and one of my Australian grandsons to see where our family's history began on this side of the world. And it also allowed me to revisit Brown Brothers which grew from a vineyard planted in 1858 by John Francis Brown, probably at much the same time as settlers like my forebears were lured to the area by the discovery of gold and the promise of work.

Brown Brothers was not established as an entity, however, until 1889. It is now one of the county's best-known and most reliable producers, cultivating the largest selection of grape varieties grown in Australia, including a number not seen elsewhere.

Many of the wines that result are made in an experimental winery known as the "kindergarten", which enables the small parcels of fruit involved to get the care and the attention they deserve.

But the enormous range of wines available is not the only attraction for the thousands who visit the winery each year. The other is the Epicurian Centre, where stunning dishes are matched with the wines, taking the guesswork out of which to match with what. Similar advice is also offered on the Brown Brothers' website and on the back label of every bottle of the company's fine product is a tab containing details of the wine which can be detached for future reference. Smart eh!

Not all of the wines (they range from fortifieds to bubblies) are available in New Zealand but some of the most popular and unusual offerings generally are:

Crouchen Riesling ($15.99): A blend of mainly Crouchen, a delicate, but fuller-bodied, melon-flavoured white and riesling. The result is a fresh, fruity wine that's best drunk young, well chilled and at this time of the year.

Orange Muscat and Flora ($15.99): A dessert wine blended from orange muscat and a cross between semillon and gewurztraminer developed in California. Lemony, spicy and surprising fresh.

Vermentino ($15.99): A racier, but delicate citrus/stonefruit white thought to have originated in Spain. An ideal accompaniment for fresh Bluff oysters and other seafood.

Zibibbo ($17.99): A sparkling and rose bubbly made from the Muscat of Alexandria grape, also known as Zibibbo. Fresh and clean. A light, juicy red.

Cienna ($17.99): Developed in Australia by crossing the Spanish Sumol grape and Cabernet Sauvignon. As maker says, it's like tasting berries in a glass. A soft and spritzy summer red that should be served chilled.

Dolcetto and Syrah ($17.99): A taste of Italy and France blended to produce another delightful, spritzy summer red that smacks of darker berries and a shake of spice.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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