Heavy little light-weight
The Juice 2009 by Matt Skinner
Louise Johnson
Matt Skinner - The Juice 2009 [©Hachette Australia]
What to drink? It’s a huge question, one I constantly ask sommeliers and wine store attendants with a wide range of results. You see, I know a few of the rules, but it’s what I don’t know that I want to know and that’s why I ask others.
A girl stocking shelves at my local Dan Murphy’s pointed me in the direction of possibly the best, and cheapest, riesling I’ve ever tasted, while a sommelier at a restaurant gave me a cheek-sucking experience with a potentially great red wine that shouldn’t see light for at least another 10 years.
As discretionary spending gets tighter than a Champagne cork, getting the right wine is becoming more important. I see reports that BYO is back in fashion and many restaurants are dusting off their BYO licenses to help pull diners in. Great, but what do you take?
Little books like Matt Skinner’s The Juice 2009 are fantastic. Little is the keyword here. This 192 page guide is a teensy 13cm by 15cm and weighs 280 grams, which makes it eligible for a space in my handbag. It's a good car glovebox size, though it could get lost under the comparably weighty Good Food Guide, also a glovebox essential (and which, for interest's sake, weighs 500 grams).
Matt is a Melbourne lad, though he’s found fame in the UK providing The Juice for British wine fans. He’s great mates with Jamie Oliver and was part of the founding team for the Fifteen Restaurant in London. This the fourth edition of a guide that began as a weekly email sent to friends and workmates “in a vain attempt to help them drink better.”
I like his approach. In the welcome note he acknowledges the health of our planet and talks about producers who are trying to make a difference with lighter packaging, energy efficient processes, water conservation and natural growing methods. He’s done his bit too – “we cut out all of the travel that was undertaken to produce the photography for previous editions. Instead we just gathered up our gear and walked around the block to Holborn Studios, where we laid out a giant collage of every photograph we’d ever taken”. Great results, the effect is to create a fun, relaxed feel to a very serious guide to good wine.
It’s a hot 100, grouping wines to Drink now, Give away, Dine with, Splurge on and Stash for much later. Wine of the year goes to an Italian – Isole e Olena Cepparello 2003 from Tuscany, which winemaker Paulo de Marchi creates from the best parcels of estate-grown sangiovese. Matt says: “Walk over hot coals, sell vital organs, do whatever it takes to get your hands on this incredible wine.” It’s retailing in Australia for around $99 online.
Bargain of the Year comes home to Australia – De Bortoli, who also win his producer of the year mantle, get accolades for their Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2007, which Matt says is “ridiculously cheap” at under $20.
I love the chapter on giving wine. What a great gift, or way to say thank you, especially if there’s thought behind it. This chapter will also help you if you find yourself amongst “buttoned-up” wine connoisseurs. Matt says any of the 20 wines will make them “go fuzzy”. And 16 of these are Australians. Bravo!
Interspersed with cute anecdotes, tips and tricks, and plenty of references back to the environmental theme, this is a great little guide and as relevant here in Australia as it is for his UK buddies.
The Juice 2009 by Matt Skinner is published by Mitchell Beazley, RRP A$22.99. VisitVineyards.com Members and subscribers can purchase The Juice 2009 from our online book partner Seekbooks at 12.5 percent discount off the recommended retail price.
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