Lehmann’s Vine Vale shiraz

Posted On September 18, 2009

It was just a year since Lehman Brothers went down, taking half the world’s economies in its wake.  Not exactly an occasion to celebrate, but more of one to drown sorrows in.  We found the (nearly) perfect wine.  It was an ’06 Lehmann Vine Vale shiraz from South Australia, clocking in at 14 percent. 

Vine Vale is the part of the Barossa under the slopes of Mengler’s Hill which was settled by the Ahrens family in 1842.  Their youngest daughter married Peter Lehmann’s great grandfather, and the Lehmanns still own the Vine Vale cottage and make wines there.  This wine is a really nice one, with oak and tannins among the dark fruits.  Its name has an extra ‘n’ over that of the failed bank, but it seemed appropriate enough.