With Summer on it’s way I thought I’d finish off my last bottle of my favourite Summer Red 2006 in time to stock up with some bottles of 2007.
Brown Brothers Tarrango is a light bodied wine preferably served chilled. It’s a juicy, fruity wine with a dry finish that leaves you wanting more. Brown Brothers describe it thus:
A delicate, light-bodied red wine that should be served lightly chilled. The wine is a vibrant cherry red colour with lifted aromas of raspberries, ripe cherries and a hint of spice. These fresh berry aromas are reaffirmed on the palate. With fine, well integrated tannins, a juicy clean mouth feel and a fresh dry finish, this is the perfect wine to sip on.
I really don’t think you can go wrong serving this lightly chilled at at BBQ. With some modern rosé wines being more like “watered down reds” this wine is THE choice to spring on people as a fantastic alternative.
As ever the Brown Brothers website gives us some nice info about Tarrango (from their 2007 vintage page)
THE GRAPE VARIETY
Tarrango is a unique Australian grape variety, bred by CSIRO scientists in 1965 by crossing the Portuguese red grape variety Touriga with the versatile white grape Sultana. It was developed specifically to produce a light, fresh red wine ideal for summer drinking in the many countries with warm to hot summers. Named after the tiny township of Tarrango in the Mallee district of north-west Victoria, where it was designed to thrive, the vines bear generous crops that ripen late and maintain a fresh acidity and soft grapey flavour. The Brown family has been making wines from Tarrango since 1980. In recent years, a small amount of fruit has been fermented by the carbonic maceration technique, as practiced in Beaujolais and other areas in southern France, where berries are allowed to ferment whole and uncrushed. This contributes added complexity and flavour to the final wine.TECHNICAL INFORMATION
The Tarrango grapes used to make this wine were grown in Victoria. The fruit was harvested in parcels from late February until the end of March at a range of baumé levels from 11.5° to 13.0°. Approximately eleven percent of the fruit underwent carbonic maceration. It was then blended with other parcels and bottled soon after fermentation and was completed with an alcohol of 12.5%, a pH of 3.45 and an acid level of 5.8g/L.
I’ve consumed a fair amount of this wine in the past so my wine tasting notes aren’t too detailed (are they ever?).
Hmmm… Just as nice as ever, a touch more dryness than I remember, maybe due to age? Still almost refreshingly fruity but that nice dryness to make you want more.
Well, there you have it. A real winner. I’ll give it 4 stars as it doesn’t quite make it into my “all time greats list” but is still a great Summer wine. Enjoy!
Brown Brothers Tarrango 2006
Grape: Tarrango
Alcohol: 12.5%
Guide Price: <£5.50 in-store (Tesco)
I bought this wine at: Tesco’s (instore)
ITs Food Rating: Four stars
