It’s the most celebratory toast you’ll ever ching ching to, so make those bubbles sparkle with the tastiest drop of wine to ever grace your guest’s lips. Hey, a dream wedding deserves nothing but the best!
Photograph by Warren Photography
As weddings are a time of celebration, nothing says this faster than Sparkling. But who can give you the best, unbiased wine advice? Enter Rob Geddes, the Master of Wine. After tasting an extraordinary 8,000 wines for his fully revised 32nd edition of the best-selling book Australian Wine Vintages.
Rob knows which local drops are worthy of your spend. Here, Rob provides loved-up couples with a super selection of the best quality local vintages for your big-day nuptials…
Arrival drink: 2009 Moorilla Muse Extra Brut
“This is a very elegant style with refined delicacy of cool chardonnay citrus fruit and yeast,” explains Rob. “In the mouth, this has very fine long flavour and structure with detail and delicacy: a mouthful of cool citrus fruit on the very long finish.”
Dinner: White Wine, 2012 Crawford River Riesling
“This wine will happily pair with canapés to vegetarian dishes and seafood,” explains Rob. “The wines first sniff is impressive, with the tartness of citrus and subtle ripeness of apple and white tree fruits. In the background, spring florals, white tree blossom and flowers on the wind. The palate is pure, even, and has the easy drinking quality of Australian greatness – fine yet laconic. It has an effortless soft fruit filled front palate, holding the same white tree fruit flavours in the middle with enough acid, structure and extract to keep the line of flavour running all the way down the tongue and lingering afterwards. A bride’s bouquet in a glass.”
Dinner: Red Wine, Kalleske 2011 Moppa Shiraz
“An extremely pretty wine that is deeply fruity with a minerally pepper and blueberry complexity that will pair with Beef, Lamb and Game,” explains Rob. “It glides into your mouth, such are the velvety tannins, and the fruit is just behind with ripe plum, blackberry and blueberry that fill the middle palate. While early 2013, the tannins satisfy the finish and are dry enough to make it a great food wine. The late finish is full of minerals and savoury edges, which suggest aging short term.”
Dessert: 2009 Pressing Matters R139
“This dessert styled wine happily pairs with soft cheeses and fruit based desserts,” suggests Rob. “It won’t over power the wedding cake, yet its golden wattle blossom, honeysuckle and wisteria precede the brown lime aromas. In the mouth a gingery vitality, luscious brown lime fruit maturity and an evenly layered finish with brown lime.”
Toast: Arras Grand Vintage 2004
“This is wonderful wine and possibly Australia’s best, when only the best will do,” explains Rob. “Finely woven, complex and rich, yet still fresh. It is high quality due to the aged wine finesse and complexity. Classic yeast brioche and cracked yeast flavours abound, with a fine and seamless middle palate, finishing with very long interweaving yeast, cashew and citrus.”
Buy the Book!
Best-selling book Australian Wine Vintages by Rob Geddes provides readers with the definitive guide to selecting the best quality local vintages in any price range.
Aiming to showcase the top 10% of wineries that consistently deliver quality, the popular pocket-sized book (also available as an App) includes detailed tasting notes, vintage quality and indicative prices for over 6,000 wines from 317 of Australia’s best wineries. It also includes an updated list of Certified Organic and Biodynamic wineries, a scoring page to compare the writer and wine show scores, and a quick guide to the various wine varieties and regions so you know what to look for.
The Gold star list recognises the most consistent high quality wines in Australia, with an annual list of Rob’s top 100 wines tasted. This edition also provides up to date advice as to which cellar doors to visit, while the app includes interactive maps and tips on where to eat and stay in each region. Complete with full colour label images and winery details, this easy to use guide is written and published by Rob Geddes, only one of a handful of Australians to be awarded the prestigious international ‘Master of Wine’.
About Rob Geddes
Rob Geddes is a wine industry veteran, the author of seven books on wine and currently works as a presenter and freelance journalist. Based in Sydney, he is in constant demand for his executive level presentations on wine, as a lecturer and after dinner speaker, educator and wine show judge both here and overseas. Rob was admitted to the Institute of Masters of Wine in 1992, becoming the third Australian member of this prestigious body. He currently tastes over 3,000 wines a year.
