Food & Drink

In this section of the show, Murray and Philip taste two Red wines. The first is the Shiraz Merlot. For those in the Old World it used to be a Shiraz Syrah, a Syrah grape but the New World calls it Shiraz. The blend is slightly more dominant in Shiraz but the Merlot there is the softening effect of the wine. Shiraz tends to be a great variety for Australia. It's probably the most recognised red variety now for Australia. Looking at the colours, they're very attractive, almost a purple, crimson sort of colour. It looks very attractive on the table and it show the youth of the wine and all those lovely fruit flavours that then accompany that wine, so it makes it quite a joyous drink.

The second wine that is tasted is a Cabernet Merlot, which again is a blend of two wines - Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and this is known in the New World as a Bordeaux Blend so it's the great marriage of the two classic varieties from Bordeaux, and again you get the balance of the two. The Cabernet Sauvignon has the richness and the great weight. It's supposed to be the prince of grapes, and then the Merlot is a beautiful plumy taste, so it's a marriage made in heaven. It's up in the 13, 13.5% area in terms of alcohol content.

It's worth noting that every vintage is different - it wont be the same year after year and the wines reflect what happens in the vineyards.