It’s beginning to look a lot like Xmas so for my small band of followers out there, here is my Good, the Bad and the Ugly of 2016
The Good
- Rose, who can forget the Pink revolution, and that awesome new cocktail the “Frose”.
- Chardonnay finally became the new black. Elegant, sophisticated wines full of flavour and complexity, supported by quality oak. You need to spend more than $25, but they are so good.
- The Grenache / Carignan based wines of Priorat in Spain. If you have not tried these wines yet then search them out. They are big, but with an energy and clarity which make Barossa Shiraz look so dated and old fashioned.
- Riesling – Nobody is drinking these wines except winemakers and people in the trade. The Best value wines on the planet. The most expensive Riesling in Australia is only $60, whilst the most expensive red wine is almost $1000. You do the sums!
- John Oliver – if you have not seen his show on TV or You tube- Google away. Very funny, very cutting and very English in an American kind of way
- The Woman’s Rugby 7’s team. Not only did they win Gold at Rio, but Charlotte Caslick becomes our best Rugby player, male or female.
- The Wines of Sancerre. When you get tired of Marlborough, you really need to try these wines. Full of mineral like stone fruit; seriously elegant and sophisticated wines.
- Binge watching TV –Game of Thrones and Ray Donovan were the highlights for me
- Barrack Obama – His saneness and level headed approach seems pretty good right about now. Sure there was a criticism in the US that he was better on talk shows, than on Capitol Hill, but within 12 months of being elected in 2008 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Somehow I cannot see this happening to the President Elect
The Bad –
Politics
- This time last year, no one had heard of Brexit, Pauline Hanson was a failed and discredited ex politician, who was better known for her “Please Explain” comment, Donald Trump was a joke who no one could quite believe was still in the Presidential primaries and everybody was excited by Malcolm Turnbull running Australia. Now? Well lets’ just say 2016 will not go down as a great year for Politics.
- The US Presidential Campaign – Sure it was bad that Trump won, but I am now officially over this. I do not care about the Electoral College anymore and I want to go back to talking about Wines and Sport at Dinner parties.
- The Wallabies – Losing to England 4 times in a row. I can kind of accept losing to the All Blacks, but not the Poms!!!!
- Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc – When will this trend every finish. Maybe never!
- Australian Cricketers – Sure they have improved a bit, but the funniest or saddest thing I heard about them all year, is that “…once you got Warner out, you were straight into the tail.”
The Ugly
- Donald Trump again – enough said, although I expect he will tone down his more outlandish comments as the weight of the US bureaucracy and financial constraints bring him back to more mainstream and logical values.
- His Beautiful Wall, so critical to his way of thinking a few months back, is now more an idea than a reality.