Cinematic Wines - Pt 4: Mad Max reds

We were somewhere out in the desert when he said, “You know South Australia has the highest ratio of serial killers to population?"

The driver, a travelling winemaker, pointed to the dry hill exposed like a half-buried bone, "They found six people buried just over there."

Riverland, South Australia. This is Mad Max territory.

Out past the Adelaide Hills, the misty home to Grange, and keep driving for a few hours. You get to where there is only orange sandy desert. Then an hour later, endless rows of bright green vines.

The drought, and new sophisticated irrigation practices, are only some of the reasons why Australian wines have gone from an average of 12.5% to 13.5% in the past decade.

Of course, certain influential U.S wine critics don't help when they *cough* consistently give more scores for full-bodied monster truck reds.

Mad Max wines: full-bodied, full-throttle, ball-busting reds.

And it’s not just Australian wines inching up in alcohol. There’s wines from the Napa Valley also averaging at 14.5% alcohol.

Let’s see if this is just a fashion for macho wine or the end of the world is nigh (with Global Warming, who knows?).

But a backlash is brewing from big chain buyers. Marks and Spencer are not the only ones wanting them out. There could be a showdown.

Mz Darkly sez, "No censorship. Each to their own!"

Here are four Mad Max wines that'll stomp in your mouth wearing a black leather suit (if you like that kind of thing, that is):

• Tait The Ball Buster Red 2005 - 15.8% alcohol, Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot from the Barossa Valley is a purple bruise of a wine.
• Carnival of Love Shiraz 2005 – winemaker Sparky Marquis’ vivacious personality is apparent in this 15.8% alcohol Knight Rider from McLaren Vale. Ranked number 8 out of 100 in Wine Advocate. 99 points from Robert Parker.
• Shafer Napa Valley Merlot 2005 - 14.5% alcohol - not as high as it has been, but still enough to pack a powerful punch of fruit.
• XVI du President 2006 RED France - 16% alcohol from a hot 2006 vintage in the Catalan Hills.

Don't say I didn't warn you.


Previous Posts in Cinematic Wines Series:
Part 3: Gerard Depardieu
Part 2: Francis Ford Coppola Director's Cut
Part 1: Bandol and Bardot