Something Wicked This Way Comes

Halloween arrived and so did one god awful stormy night.  I think the correct phrasing should be "something wicked this way CAME" - as in past-present and past tense.  When I arrived home from work, I wondered if we were going to see any kids trick-or-treating at all, given the rain.  As luck would have it, the kids' love for the night was stronger than the rain clouds were.  The rain paused for an hour or two and we saw our standard 100+ kids come to the door.

The scare of rain was enough to drive a guy to drink though.  Not that I'm ever really in need of an excuse.

1274.  2008 R Wines - Skulls Shiraz (South Australia)

Described by the provincial liquor board as "midnight in a glass," I figured
Skulls - and its distinctive label - was fitting for a Halloween sip.  It's been called a "monster" for a legitimate reason.  It comes in at 16.9% alcohol - and what's really scary is that you don't even notice all that alcohol because it's hidden by all sorts of intense fruit and big body.   If you're looking for some of the newer Aussie wines that are holding back for a more refined style, this isn't going to be your wine.

R Wines isn't exactly known for its subtlety though.  They're the folks that produce the Bitch and Evil brands among others.  And, like those others labels, this is a tasty sip - if you can handle and enjoy your wines big and fruit forward.

Even if you haven't tried any of the R Wines labels, you might well have come across or heard of winemaker, Chris Ringland.  During the 1990's, he founded his Three Rivers winery in Australia but only made 60 cases of wine a year.  His wine became a cult favourite though, known as the Screaming Eagle of Australia, when Robert Parker awarded him with four 100 scores and two 99's in nine vintages.  The wine was soon commanding prices that can run around $500+ a bottle.  He also teamed up with Sparky and Sarah Marquis, now of Mollydooker, to start the Marquis Philips label from 2000 to 2005.  I understand that Ringland still has the Marquis Philips label even though the Marquis' are no longer involved.  On top of that line and R Wines, he consults with projects in Australia, Spain and Italy.

Busy guy.

Given the strength of the wine, we were lucky that our sipping was continually interrupted by knocking at the door.  After a steady stream of super heroes, robots and zombies, we turned off the Thriller music and closed the door.  Lo and behold, there was enough of the bottle left for us to fill our glasses and take to the sidewalk to watch fireworks hit the neighbourhood skies.

Neighbourhood fun and monster wine in the glass.  Not a bad evening, I'd say.