This past weekend we enjoyed lovely Whiskey braised short ribs and my last bottle of my Harkham Aziza’s Shiraz. The whiskey braised short ribs are a true joy because the short ribs become so soft that they fall off the bone, yet they have enough texture and structural integrity to make the experience very enjoyable.

The thing about Whiskey braised short ribs is that it is sweet! Why? Because, the Whiskey may be enjoyable, when drunk from a glass, but once the alcohol is burned off, what is left is a bitter liquid that needs to be made palatable with honey or brown sugar. We use brown sugar and that makes for a somewhat sweet sauce.

The sweetness to me is fine, but when pairing this meat dish with wine you now are faced with a somewhat difficult conundrum. You see, meat – fatty meat like spare ribs, scream for a nice red wine. However, sweet food and red wine do not always pair so well. That is why we decided to go with a Shiraz or heavy Syrah (same thing, excepting for perceived styles). The wine easily handles the sweet notes and it has the power and soft body to make for a very enjoyable pairing.

The Aziza vintage that we had was really lovely. This wine has gone through a fair amount of change since we first tasted it in Australia, almost two years ago. Two years ago, the bottle was packed with floral elements and showed little to no blue fruit. A few months ago, the wine was showing lovely blue and black fruit, with a hint of floral notes. This one showed ZERO floral notes but had a lovely symphony of blackcurrant and blueberry fruit that lasted until it was over. The wine died Friday night and what was left was a shell of its former self, but it still showed a lovely reduction of blueberry and blackcurrant liquor. Nice attempt to me and one that, if you have any, should be consumed ASAP or forever hold your peace. To me the wine showed better than the second showing and nowhere near what I enjoyed in Australia. Who knows, maybe I loved the story more than the wine in Australia, but I cherish the memory of Sydney and the wine we enjoyed there, no matter the real score.

The wine note follows below:

2009 Harkham Windarra Winery Aziza’s Shiraz Preservative Free – Score: B++ to A-
The nose starts off with lovely and luscious blueberry, followed by a whiff of alcohol, that blows off soon enough, along with root beer, black pepper perfume, and cloves, and spice. The mouth has a bit of fizz, along with dark cherry, raspberry, blackcurrant, mouth coating tannin, and a hint of cedar that makes for a lovely and rich mouth. The finish is long and spicy, with chocolate, espresso coffee, smoky notes, and vanilla.

Over time the wine loses most of its fruit and displays a lovely and crazy nose and mouth of what I can only describe as blueberry and blackcurrant reduction liquor. The mouth shows hints of animal and the finish continues its stronghold of espresso coffee, white pepper, and chocolate, with a drop of cloves.

Blessedly, I had the wine at its time and enjoyed its after life, but this is a wine to be enjoyed now, or forever hold your peace! Bravo to Richard Harkham and his family for allowing me to share in this lovely wine experience.