AceHighWine

After looking forward to the series for a long time, this month’s Sapphire Series at Burswood turned out to be a bit of a let-down, and in a strange way (and perhaps I’m just trying to find some silver lining somewhere), I’m a little glad that I didn’t make it through to Day two as it frees me up to put a dent into this workload I have.

Quick recap of the week.

$330NL tournament: was looking forward to this, but last minute got an invite to amazing truffle dinner at Gala Restaurant which is seriously one of Perth’s most under-rated restaurants and one of my top three places to eat in the city. I stand by my decision.

$440NL teams event: Personally, this was my tournament of the series as there was a great atmosphere and plenty of good teams in the field. Structure was a bit thin though, but still fun and found a few spots to get creative in. Burswood: have a monthly series for this tournament and make the buy-in smaller, $220 or $330 and set up a league with a cool prize at the end for the top team on the leaderboard (two seats to $1100 event or something). I reckon you will make a killing and get more heads in the poker parlour regularly because the atmosphere during teams event was awesome.

$120PLO rebuy tournament: This was the worst tournament of the series and the worst structured event I have ever played. Each casino is welcome to run its tournaments how it sees fit, but a confusing rebuy (NO ADD ON) format where with blinds of 25/50 and a starting stack of 2000 (rebuys only if you have 50 per cent or less of your stack left) and a rebuy period that ended three minutes from the end, there really wasn’t a lot of value to be had and I should have just got up after first rebuy. The number of drinks my friend Aleks was sending over probably had something to do with my decision to stay however and after we all busted, proceeded to have a laugh and some drinks. Was beaten by someone who called my shove with ace-high and a gutshot when I had top pair and up and down on the flop, but he turned and rivered perfect to make trip sevens. I laughed and wished everyone well while swearing off live PLO tournaments ever again - so what if I’m a one-eyed hold’em player…

$1100 main event: Had some good players on the table that made it possible to play some creative deep stacked poker. Interesting hand at 25/50: UTG limps and a few more limpers. I raise to 300 on button. He reraises to 1100. I make it 3000. He folds. I show him J-9o. At level 75/150 I manage to get away from AK after raising it on the gun and leading all streets on board of K-Q-5-9-3 rainbow and get reraised to 3000 on river after betting 1000 into pot of 5000 because I put villain on busted flush draw (check-call sometimes you donkey). As I’m going through hands while the rest of table goes on break, I realise how band I am at poker and ask if he’ll show if I fold as I’m only worried about J-10 (although this villain had crippled a player after calling with Kc-9c after UTG raised QQ and flops KQA, called bets, turn K, more bets and river 9, bet, shove, tank, call. ul QQ). He says yes fairly confidently and I fold my hand face up and he shows me Kc-3c for the rivered two pair. Sigh.

Nothing too exciting happens until about 150-300 (I think): Raise AA to 1000 in MP and get called by player two spots down and we go heads up to flop. Flop is 9h-10h-3c and I lead for ~1800 and he flats. Turn is a gross 8s and I slow down as it hits his range and he quickly goes all in for almost 8000 into a pot of just under 6000 (I can’t remember the exact amounts but it was a big overbet). Sigh. I’m leaning towards folding but just don’t like the bet amount as he’s the kind of player that bets there for value. If he made it 2500 I can fold, but his shove looks a lot like he’s still on a draw. I tank for about three minutes and reluctantly call figuring if I’m wrong, I’ll still have ~2k in my stack which isn’t horrible and there’s too much money out there to fold, although I hate calling off with an overpair. “Good call,” he says as he shows KJ for the naked up and down. Still, eight outs to fade for a big pot but my hand holds and I have about 19k which is double average going into break.

After that I probably try to run over table too much and lose a lot of chips when I flop flush draw with two overs with AcQc on button in a raised pot but play it badly and have to fold when villain shoves river into me. I entertained a ridiculous hero call as the board was double pair and he could have been doing the same with AK as the shove doesn’t make a lot of sense as he’s chasing out value, but calling for a chop (which would be like less than 10 per cent chance) is ridiculous and I don’t think he’s doing this with king high or a pair less than eights.

Blinds creep up a little too quickly and I’m forced to make ridiculous play at 200/400 when after three other players limp my BB, I raise to 1800 with 62o and get called by CO who has big stack. I lead with a little more than half of my remaining 6k stack on Q-high flop and villain tanks and tanks before eventually folding. I show the bluff in the hope of getting plenty of action when I do pick up a hand.

I get my wish a few hands later when I get QQ and after UTG raise (1100) from young aggressive player who knows how I play, reraise him to 3k. Folds back around and he shoves and I snap call as a third of my stack is out there and considering out history, he would probably do this with 10s up. He throws his head back and exclaims “You must have aces.” Shit. Two other players say they each folded a queen so I’m drawing dead. I probably should have been able to fold as in a bubble, UTG opens and four-bets with exactly QQ, KK, AK and AA only as far as I’m concerned but then again, poker isn’t a game played in a vacuum and plenty of factors affect our decisions. None the less, there are worse hands to bust out of a tournament with, so I can’t complain too much that lady luck wasn’t on my side.

Anyhow, thank God (hence the significance of the Amen Brother 45 pic posted) that I don’t play live tournament poker for a living. Having to endure the sort of every-mistake-could-be-your-last pressure that comes with tourneys makes the prospect of holding down an office job very appealing. Stay in school kids.

WTF I hear you cry - a wine review? Better late than never I say (probably a little too often to be honest) but now that AHW is back online, expect more regular updates and content.

One of the first 2007 Margaret River cabs off the rank, this has set a cracking pace for the others to follow. Compared to the longer, cooler ‘06 vintage, the shorter and warmer ‘07 vintage should produce more fruit-driven chardies that I suspect will look better on release, but not live as long as those from the previous vintage.

Enticing and youthful aromas of cashew, nectarine and panacotta on the nose. The tightly structured and elegantly textured palate combines nectarine, stonefruit, apple and creme brulee flavours that finishes in a length, subsiding finish with plenty of nutty complexity. Not quite as poweful and broodingly acidic as the ‘06, but a serious wine of excellent focus and texture. 18. www.mosswood.com.au

VINTAGE 2006 was very late in Western Australia and people aren’t expecting the traditional red powerhouses (cabernet, shiraz and associated blends) from the season to be stand-outs: clever winemaking will no doubt be the year’s saviour. However, some of the ’06 pinot noirs that have trickled on to the market place and in to my glass have been tasty efforts, though many such as the Cullen offering are (or were) cellar-door only jobbies. While I doubt Western Australia will ever compete with Victoria’s Yarra Valley in the top value pinot stakes – some “experts” even (wrongly) suggest WA has no place being involved with any kind of pinot production – this MadFish release is all about accessible, food-friendly pinot for those after quality and value. Very varietal and complex Aussie pinot aromas of earth, herbs, blackberries, that unmistakable pinot stink and a flash of mintiness. A string of juicy fine tannins create a velvet, seamless mouthfeel tying together baskets of cherry and red berry fruit that linger on the palate and finish. Perfect summer style of red that was perfectly suited to Friday night pizza after a whirlwind week (and a couple of slices of post-Saturday morning gym pizza too). 17. www.madfishwines.com.au

After shooting to global prominence on the back of its Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough has slowly been building up its wine repertoire with pinot noir starting to show much promise. Produced by Marlborough’s Seresin Estate, this is one of the region’s most impressive pinots I’ve tasted in recent times. A blend of hand-picked and hand-sorted fruit from three different Marlborough vineyards, this smells funky and feral like the Mucky Duck Bush Band doing a set of James Brown, Meters and Sly and the Family Stone covers. Couple with more than just a smattering of raspberry and black cherry aromas, this is unmistakably pinot. The palate sees the aforementioned band members red-level the intensity as waves of sour cherry and red fruit latch on to palate with the assistance of fine, astringent tannins: the reverb-soaked finish is long-lasting and cause for rapturous applause. It’s all there and it makes you want to drink more and more - and that’s before you factor the nigh-on laughable asking price. Coupled with an excellent sauvignon blanc, MoMo is a relatively new Marlborough brand value-hunting wine drinkers should keep an eye on, possibly two if you can spare them… 18.5 www.seresin.co.nz

In a tasting last night where too many wines were overpriced and quite frankly overdone to the point of looking like caricatures of the big, bold, predominantly South Australian blockbuster style of red, this came up smelling like proverbial roses: though in reality, it was more like a hedonistic, heady flurry of white pepper and grilled meats. The effects of this wine (a blend of shiraz, grenache, mourvèdre and viognier) in the mouth were almost instantaneous - I sat up a little straighter and my chicken-scrawl handwriting jolted to life, trying desperately to keep up with the stream of superlatives being relayed synapse-to-synapse from my brain. Incredibly balanced and poised and defined by shades of pepper, meat and ripe plums whose purity, clarity and restraint shone like a beacon. Finishes clean and dry with a lingering trail of succulence. Fine, elegant and lengthy - one of the best Henry’s Sevens I’ve quaffed in recent memory. And finally, does anyone else think the name sounds like a championship winning rugby side? 18 www.henschke.com.au

Things have been a’changing at Capel Vale. There’s been a uniform lift in the quality of wine across the board, the introduction of the exceptional “Debut” range and the winery’s logo has been given a modern, fresh new look that mirrors the brand’s own tale: moving forwards whilst still respecting its history. A story also embodied by this wine, drawing on the Pratten family’s old-vine holdings in the state’s cool Mt Barker region. While masochists might enjoy the brute force of high-powered riesling and its cutlasses of lively acidity, I’m enjoying tasting riesling later rather than sooner as it lets the wine settle down a tad and give those subtle palate nuances more of a chance to shine. In this case, it’s a gently acidic mouthful of clear-cut lemon and lime flavours delivered with elegance, poise and softness. Everything is looking remarkably balanced and the wine finishes dry and clean with a burst of lime and citrus succulence. Refreshingly cleansing and seemingly tailor-made for this God-awful hot spell being suffered by us good West Australians - I wish I had more bottles of this in the fridge over the past eight weeks. 17. www.capelvale.com

The latest addition to the Quaff ($19.95, Hardie Grant) collection on the bookshelf is as good as ever - and I’m not just saying that because I’m part of the tasting panel.

Once the lovechild of the vinous matrimony between Melbournite Max Allen and Perth boy Peter Forrestal (a bit of trivia - Forrie was the founding editor of Australian Gourmet Traveler WINE), the Scarborough wine writer has been granted sole custody of Quaff and has really taken to growing the annual guide to Australia’s best value drops, both in terms of the final product and weekly updates on the Quaff website.

While a handful of horrible growing seasons has led to the much-publicised wine and grape glut of yore starting to dry up, those hunting for value will still find plenty of options vying for their wine buying dollar. According to Forrie, of the 400 sub-$15 wines recommended in the book, 50 - one in eight - are “seriously good”.

Sadly, I missed the tasting where Quaff 2008’s wine of the year - the 2007 Peter Lehmann Eden Valley Riesling - was unearthed, but I can vouch for the objectivity of all the tastings: four seven-wine brackets, all served masked and organised by variety, and the democratic discussion of the tasting panel. It’s a real thrill to discover some of the gems studded throughout the crowded Australian wine market and their subsequent lowly asking prices - some of the value on offer in the fortified stakes (thanks must go largely to Seppelt and Morris) is just bewildering.

Regular Quaff-ers will also notice some other changes to the book including a top 20 round-up of outstanding wine bargains and a reshuffle of categories to reflect the changing industry trends. There’s also a selection of more than 100 recommended drops more than $15 to hunt for, all written in Forrie’s succinct and insightful style.

If you’re still smarting after the commercial success known as “The Festive Season”, Quaff could well be your knight in red and green shining armour - either as a gift for fellow winos or a cheat sheet to unearth some of the nation’s best value drops. www.quaff.com.au