By Mike Bennie
Above: Neil Ashmead GTS Grand Tourer Shiraz
I know I’m not an averaged sized guy. Skinny jeans, tight t-shirts and tailored jackets all are an anomaly in my wardrobe and I have the gait of a person that moves with force rather than dexterity. I played rugby for years and enjoy the fine art of lifting heavy shit in gyms. This is all compounded by years of wine box moving in a former career, and The Good Life of graft and corruption provided by willing parties eager to convince you of their wine related merit. Through all this I figure that I’ve developed some size, but not the kind that’s pronounced enough for someone to pat my belly and quote Mr Creosote. On a recent wander through a farmers market I was affronted. From behind a pile of Single Paddock Premier Reserve A-Grade Lamb from Baa Baa Estate came a quip so felling and pivotal, heard a thousand times, yet never with such gravitas to move me so:
“Hey Big Fella, you look like you want one of these steak sandwiches.”
Primarily I broke down because I’m tired of being gauged as a Big Fella. Sizable I am, but obese I am not. What is the yardstick for Big Fella? Who judges what degree of size qualifies an individual for Big Fella status? Forget the insinuation that Big Fellas gorge at meaty troughs or would have dead animal slapped between bread on their mind at every point of the day. It’s the anonymous judgement of a loose-chinned, sleepy-eyed nobody to label me Big Fella, and for once I just don’t want to be part of the clique.
But who am I to judge? I often speak of The Big Fella At The End Of The Table when talking wine. In my mind it is the sleazy uncle, Les Patterson-esque in stature, with bib and stains, flotsam and jetsam in teeth, proudly fisting tumblers of muscular red wine oblivious to food stuffs or prevailing weather. The Big Fella At The End Of The Table is attracted to gargantuan wine of such fruit weight, ripeness and alcoholic magnitude that nasal cavities throb and cheeks turn ruddy. These are wines that can be instantly impressive. They are lip-smacking, iconic and have firmly shouted Australia’s name into the international wine arena. Though often mocked by wine glitterati, they are enjoyed by Big Fellas at ends of tables around the world.
Try:
Wild Duck Creek Springflat Shiraz 06
From one of the great personalities of the Australian wine industry, Dave Anderson’s Victorian Shiraz is rippling with dark berry fruit, slippery texture and port like alcohol volume. Strangely, the fruit contains the alcohol heat and you get a grand wine that finds some surprising balance. Dave couldn’t care less if you drink this with sashimi.
($49.95. Call the winery on 0427 188 313)
Elderton Wines Neil Ashmead GTS Grand Tourer Shiraz 2008
Great to see the gearbox motif on the top of the capsule on this bottle. Vroom vroom, Big Fellas love cars. This wine shows a hell of a lot of complexity for a full-bodied red. 100% French Oak lends some spice, savoury character and a seamless vein for the fruit tannin to channel itself down. A cult wine in the making and in scarce quantity. This does great justice to big wine styles.
($80.00 approx. Call 1300 655 732 for retailers)
Wirra Wirra Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2008
Not your atypical ball-tearer, but one so loaded with fruit flavour that you can forgive its clanky structure. Joyous expressions of fruit often come with winery manipulation, and though this wine is made in volume, it provides that hunk of pure red grape fruit, spike of sweetness and a balloon of mouth-feel befitting Big Fellas.
($18.00 www.wirra.com.au for retailers)
