Wine and Dine

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Forever on the look-out for ways to improve their already superb and widely appreciated Shiraz wines, top Aussie winemakers like Bill Calabria have taken a leaf out of the northern Rhone wine recipe book and tried adding a drop of Viognier. Now adding white wine to red might seem an odd idea on the surface but in the world's greatest examples of Syrah - Cote Rotie and the like - it's been the norm for a century or more. What Viognier brings - and we're talking about no more than 5% here - is a more open, attractive, floral bouquet to an otherwise tightly furled wine. In the case of Calabria Esate Shiraz Viognier 2006 it's a great success. Classic bramble and black pepper-scented Shiraz with a refreshing twist of burnt orange and violets. Full and rounded in the mouth with smooth tannins padded by rich, ripe fruit flavours.