Rules for summer

I want to loiter in dappled shade...

Friday, January 27 2012 || Mrs C Says || BY Erica Crawford

Admit it, we had one bitch of a year in 2011: natural and man made disasters abounded, there were the politics and lies of an election and the daily grind of a tough trading environment.

The Rugby World Cup provided much needed respite, but all up it was a tough 2011. I am brain dead. I want to loiter in dappled shade, doze off and wake up and when I do, catch moments of test cricket on the wireless. I want to enjoy my favourite things guilt free and without analysis or exploration, I want to just do them.
Here are the all time favourite beverages I’ll be indulging in these holidays.

Champagne: Any time is a good time for a glass of champagne. There are two rules I never break. First, send it back if it is corked or flavour-scavenged. Corked wine imparts offensive, ‘mouldy carpet or wet cardboard’ whiffs and kills the fruit. The same applies to the sherry-like flavour of ‘tired’ champagne.
Second, do not compromise on the glassware and insist on thin, long stemmed flutes. Wrapping your lips around thick pyrex glass is sinful. You pay about $20 per glass, why spoil the moment and the cash? Tattinger, Pol Roger and Mumm are on my list.

Campari and soda: My late teenage years in Africa were hallmarked by campari. We sipped ‘red love’ and orange juice on hot, lazy Saturday afternoons. It is a ‘bitters’ — water and alcohol infused with herbs including cassia, cascarilla and quinine — and fruit. The recipe has been known to only one Italian person since Mr Campari concocted it in1860. Bitters are medicinal and have been used for almost 200 years as treatment for stomach maladies. That makes campari the perfect aperitif and digestive at relatively low alcohol levels (20% to 28% alcohol by volume). It smells somewhat medicinal, but it is the palate that I love. The texture is almost oily and it rolls about gently, delivering sweet, herbaceous flavours to the tongue, then brutally overlays it with bitter.
I love it with soda and a twist of orange zest — and on the rocks as a digestive. Try refreshing campari this summer and stay with it, it is an acquired taste.
Ice cold beer from the back of the fridge: I am not a sophisticated or big beer drinker and happily imbibe simple, mass-produced lager such as Heineken, Becks or Peroni. I insist on beer being a touch above freezing so the coolness and bitterness spreads outwards once inside you, washing away lingering flavours. After a long day of tasting wine, nothing is better.

Sparkling shiraz: This quintessential, much loved Aussie stalwart is a ‘must do’. I was introduced to it later in life and the love affair lives on.
The Aussies have been making sparkling burgundy since about 1880, but this style only became prominent and premium in the late 1980s after the torturous years of that sparkling red called cold duck. The good producers set aside a portion of their top shiraz and put it through secondary fermentation. The sugar content is high (around 20g/litre) and balanced by tannins and intense flavours. Serve with duck, turkey, lamb, ham and cheese. You definitely have to have a second glass, but beware, the sugar causes a ferocious hangover. E&E by Barossa Valley Estate is a splurge at about $70 and Hardy’s Oomoo a steal at about $20.

Tinta barocca: Tinta barocca is usually grown in Portugal and used as a port blend. In South Africa, some producers make varietal wine. Allesverloren is such a producer.
I stumbled on this wine as a young wine explorer. The vigorous, robust vines produce grapes with fragrant floral notes (purple flowers) and black cherry notes. I long for the soft notes, soft tannin, even the dose of brettenomycis that was prevalent then.
Today, this is Allesverloren’s best selling wine. It is well suited to cooler conditions, and import regulations allowing, this is a varietal Kim and I would like to explore in New Zealand.

Riesling: Riesling is my big love. When in doubt, pour Rhine riesling. So as we close this annus horribilis, I hope you will have a moment to slip onto your favourites, surrender and give yourself a break.
Merry Christmas,
Mrs C

Erica Crawford is the marketing guru behind Kim Crawford Wines, a member of NZTE’s Beachheads Advisory Board and a member of the Investment Committee of the University of Auckland Business School‘s Entrepreneurs’ Challenge