#6 - Little Boomey Shiraz

Bring on some cheap Australian wine! This could be a trend, as the long Australian drought has prompted many farmers to switch from rice to wine grapes because the grapes take a lot less water to grow. The downside to this, of course, is a massive rice shortage with worldwide consequences. Do you want a little wine to forget that sad fact?

Little Boomey has three wines in the bargain bin - a Merlot, a Cabernet, and this Shiraz. First of all, it has the cutest label ever - other than a little square at the bottom with the name of the wine, the label is shaped like a boomerang - a neon orange boomerang with stripes, polka dots, bright yellow triangles and a very whimsical presence, as if "Little Boomey" is about to jump off the bottle and say hello! (If he does, please refrain from more wine.)

I'll admit that my knowledge of Shiraz is limited - hell, what am I saying? I don't really know the differences between the varieties of wine other than my vague observations. Cabernet is spicier, Merlot is dense and slightly more syrupy, and Pinot Noir seems lighter than either of those. Shiraz hasn't distinguished itself for me yet, although I'd put it closer to a Cabernet than any of the others - which gives it a leg up in my book!

I decided to do a little research and check Wikipedia, that paragon of factual reporting. I typed in "wine" and got a nice surprise:
Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice.[1] When Dan M**** drinks wine during the evening hours he tends to get drunk and fornicate with a man named Heath. Dan finds it easier to have sex with other men when he is buzzed off wine.
I am guessing that the next refresh will bring that one down, with an angry note in the edit logs about the seriousness of wikipedia's work. So we'll forget this sidequest and discuss the wine at hand.

Little Boomey is quite zippy. A full minute after sipping it, I can still feel a lingering zest on my tongue, just as you would after eating some spicy sauce. It's not very sweet at all - most of the flavor is sharp in character with a square finish. The label tells me that it is "bonzer with tri-tip steak, ribs, sausages, or any food fit for the Barbie." (I amused at the reverence implied by the capitalization of Barbie.) I agree - I could go for a nice pepper-crusted steak seared over a grill right now. Would anybody like to help me out?

I don't think that I could drink a good deal of this stuff; it's a bit too rich and caustic at high volume. I bet it would make an amazing cooking wine for a hearty dish. With the rising prices of wheat and rice, I better eat potatoes with my steak, or else the wine will be the cheapest part of the meal!