I decided that tonight was a slightly hearty meal night, what with the weather getting cold, nights drawing in …

The food was pork, grilled, and I made a sauce of onion, pepper, tomato, sun dried tomatoes and herbs (with wine, of course) for flavour.

So, what to match it with?

This Shiraz has sat, waiting, under the stairs, for long enough. I always worry it will be “too big” and overpower dishes, but in fact the Teusner wines have often impressed me with a good level of restraint (it is all relative, this is still at least 14.5% alcohol).

Served in my biggest glasses, this opened up to be marvellously rich, not too jammy, with a whole cakeful of black forest fruit, a sprinkle of black pepper and a dash of cream. This is good stuff. Power and elegance like a rugby player dressed in a dinner jacket – you know he is muscular underneath, but yet on the surface he’s suave … in a sort of Daniel Craig as James Bond sort of way.

I’m not sure how easy The Riebke is to find, but it reminds me that “fine wine” is also about state of mind and context, so I need to keep buying a bigger range of wines and keeping them as long as possible to see how they age to get to know the real potential of countries such as Australia (that too often sell you their wines FAR too young).

The Riebke, 2008 Northern Barossa Shiraz, Teusner Wines