January has arrived and the nation’s mood has switched from chestnuts roasting on an open fire to wet socks drying on an exposed radiator. With the nights still long and the weather unremittingly miserable we pick at life’s little pleasures to see out the worst of the winter, and what better place to start than with a warming, full bodied bottle of red.
La Bohème, Act Four is a fine wine shipped from the famed Yarra Valley in Australia. Like its sister bottle, Act Three Pinot Gris And Friends, it is named after a Puccini opera, one which moved the composer so much that, in his words, he had to “get up and, standing in the middle of the study, alone in the silence of the night, weep like a child”.
As I say, it’s a real January tipple.
This intriguing red blend comes from the Northern vineyards of the Yarra Valley region, not far from Melbourne. The name “Syrah” is deliberately used here, instead of the more common “Shiraz” term for the same grape, which gives an indication of it’s less in-your-face, full-bodied style.
Lots of juicey cherries can be tasted from the off with a little raspberry and a decent helping of spice on the palate.
Drink with a rack of pork, roasted with rosemary. Failing that a slowly cooked chicken or turkey dish.
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