PORT TOWNSEND — Australian wines get no respect. Witness the Monty Python sketch that characterizes a certain blend as “a bottle with a message in, and the message is ‘beware.’”
Wines from Down Under have come a long way over the past 30 years, according to Pippa Mills, an Australian transplant who operates Pippa’s Real Tea at 636 Water St.
Mills, who has operated the tea room since August 2012, is expanding her business to include wines from Australia and New Zealand.
The ceremonial opening of a bottle of a wine called Four O’Clock Chardonnay is planned at 4 p.m. today.
“Australians are generally thought of as being friendly, open and unpretentious, and I think our wines are like that, too,” Mills said.
“And the Kiwis — well, they’re a bit special, aren’t they, and so are their pinot noirs and sauvignon blancs.”
Mills is beginning with a selection of about 16 wines from Australia and New Zealand.
She will sell by the glass, serving “a healthy 6-ounce pour” for between $5 and $10.
Customers can buy a bottle, drink a few glasses and take the rest home, but the to-go business will be handled at The Wine Seller, 1010 Water St., which already is stocking many of the featured wines.
The tea shop, which has been open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays only, will extend its hours for wine service, with wine served from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. the same days.
“I am not competing with Sirens or the Cellar Door or any of the other bars downtown,” Mills said.
“In England, you have a spot of tea in the afternoon and finish it with a glass of champagne. This is a good way to segue into the cocktail hour.”
Australian wine has changed since Mills first sampled it in the 1970s.
“When I was growing up, there were two Australian whites: a Mozelle that was sweet and a Riesling that was supposedly dry. They both came in boxes and were pretty nasty stuff,” she said.
“Now, the reds are bold, jammed full of body with real fruit flavor, and the New Zealand chardonnays are like summer in a bottle.”
One unique wine served is a sparking shiraz.
“They call them ‘black bubbles,’ but to me, that sounds too much like the bubonic plague, so I call them ‘dark bubbles,’” she said.
“These wines are light and delicious.”
Assembling the wine list took research and testing, working to select wine that was of quality and affordable.
“I had to taste my way through 40 different wines, and it was horrible,” Mills said facetiously.
Mills said wine and tea are similar in the way they are appreciated by connoisseurs or, as she calls them, wine snobs and tea snobs.
Mills said both worlds embrace the first crop of tea or grapes and can tell whether a cup comes from the first or final harvest.
“Tea is my passion,” Mills said. “Wine comes second.
“I’m not sure where my husband and children fit in,” she mused.
“It’s probably somewhere in the middle.”
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
