I've had wonderful luck buying AU wines. I've written about AU before; they're an Australian wine conglomerate that does a fair amount of U. S. Export under the Aussie Vineyards label. Their labels include 12 Apostles, Au, Buckley's Cove, Element 79, Fly and Tamborine. I've tried the Buckley's Cove Cabernet Sauvignon, and was somewhat underwhelmed, but I've enjoyed Au wines. I suspect that as a corporation, they may be rather similar to Bronco wines in the U.S. I've mostly been buying AU wines at Bargain Grocery, though I note I've seen AU Gold Label wines on several wine lists at restaurants in Seattle and Los Angeles. I've written abut their AU 2004 Barossa Valley Shiraz. This time I picked up a bottle of AU 2006 Granite Belt Shiraz, and am very much hoping I can pick up a couple more bottles. The fruit came from Aussie Vineyards Henty Estate at Ballandean in Queensland's Granite Belt.

It's lush and fruity in aroma, more plum than blackberry or cherry, and most of all, reminds me of spiced dried Chinese plums. It's a lovely deep plum red in the glass, and while the plum carries over to the taste as well, the spice is there; there's something almost Zinfandel-like in the spicy, peppery quality of the wine. I realize that it's probably barbaric of me to even suggest comparing a Shiraz and a Zinfandel, but it really does remind me a bit of the white-pepper spice of Zinfandel. The texture of the wine is lush too. This is a full bodied wine and it coats the glass. It's 13.8% ABV, and $2.99 a bottle at BGO, though I note that a large retailer where a friend lives in Southern California is selling it at $11.00 a bottle. Having inspected the official tasting notes, I'm a little alarmed that they refer to the wine's "chunky oak." I note that it does have that sort of oaky-tannin quality that suggests the wine has had prolonged contact with oak, though perhaps not in barrel form.

I'm curious about how this 2006 Au Granite Belt Shiraz would pair with Szechuan Chinese, but alas, there is no Szechuan Chinese to be had anywhere near me. I note, having just checked, that in fact Shiraz is one of the traditional pairings for Szechuan, and now, I'm really craving mapo tofu, and twice-cooked pork, and Szechuan spicy eggplant.