Cricket, for many of you, might seem like a foreign idea. It’s a unique game, especially the five-day test match format. I can’t think of any other major sporting match that can run five days and end in a tie. But for us Aussies and our Pacific neighbors, New Zealand, it’s a source of fierce rivalry and long-standing tradition.
Often referred to as the “gentleman’s game,” its image of a polite game dressed in white trousers and cable-knit pullovers, the odd cup of tea, a couple of clarets at lunch, a few beers and a puff on a cigar (perhaps a pipe) after the day’s play, is all but gone.
Today’s cricket players are now highly paid professional sportspeople, but spectators still revel in the social aura of this ancient game. It’s a thoroughly legit excuse to have a decent drink with your mates as much as anything else.
The 2015 Cricket World Cup is being staged in Australia and New Zealand this month, and to celebrate the match between the two host nations in Auckland scheduled for February 28, I am taking 11 Australian wines across the Tasman to be tasted off against my Kiwi colleague, Bob Campbell’s New Zealand 11. Game on!
It’s set to be a fascinating tasting because, whilst there are a number of wine styles that both countries excel at (think pinot noir and riesling), there are some slots in which we aren’t compatible, so different wines are being pitched against each other.
For example, where New Zealand has proven itself as an outstanding producer of merlot, Australia has struggled. I’ve pitched an old-vine grenache against the New Zealand merlot. I can’t ever recall using the words grenache and New Zealand in the same sentence, let alone ever tasting one.
Then you have selections like the sweet wines in which I’ve played the Campbell’s Merchant Prince Rare Rutherglen Muscat against Nick Nobilo’s Vinoptima Noble Gewürztraminer.
The matchups are strong and, as friendly as it is, this will be game on when the bottles are blind tasted against each other. The one thing I can guarantee is that we won’t see any unsportsmanlike conduct, such as Trevor Chappell’s underarm delivery rolled along the pitch to New Zealand in 1981. It was a low-handed tactic to prevent New Zealand’s Brian McKechnie hitting a six (think a home run) off the last remaining ball to win the game.
It remains the most uncomfortable moment in Australia’s proud modern sporting history, and I can assure you that, some 34 years later, it still makes us Aussies squirm and the Kiwis straight out angry. You can watch it here if you’ve never seen it or need a reminder of how not to play the game of cricket.
The wines set to feature in the Australia vs New Zealand Trans-Tasman Wine Challenge tasting on February 26, 2015 are as follows:
AUSTRALIA Team captain: Nick Stock
Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged 2002
Peter Lehmann Wigan Riesling 2009
Howard Vineyard Clover Pinot Gris 2014
Cherubino Pemberton Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2013
S.C. Pannell Arido Rosé 2014
Freycinet Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012
Seppelt St. Peters Vineyard Shiraz 2013
Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Spinifex Old Vine Moculta Grenache 2012
Campbells Merchant Prince Rare Muscat NV
NEW ZEALAND Team captain: Bob Campbell MW
Quartz Reef Méthode Traditionnelle 2009
Framingham Select Riesling 2013
Greystone Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2013
Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay 2013
Akarua Pinot Rosé 2014
Escarpment Kupe Pinot Noir 2012
Matua Single Vineyard Matheson Syrah 2013
Mills Reef Elspeth Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Mudbrick Vineyard Reserve Merlot Cabernet 2013
Vinoptima Noble Ormond Gewürztraminer 2007
Contributing Editor Nick Stock is a renowned Australian wine writer, author, presenter and filmmaker who reports on his worldwide wine tasting experiences for JamesSuckling.com.
