Wine columnist RICHARD CALVER ignores history’s indifference for Father’s Day and cooks dinner for his kids, matching it with three wines.

I really enjoyed looking up the history of Father’s Day and reading about the regular rejection of it as a day to celebrate because it was not thought warranted until the swinging sixties. 

That wasn’t because the Australian ethos suddenly embraced a more “hippy like” culture. 

No, advertisements and promotions helped embed Father’s Day into the Australian cultural calendar, encouraging families to celebrate the role of fathers for commercial gain.

Earlier in the 20th century, it was sure viewed with heavy scepticism. One web page quoted a 1911 newspaper as follows, with obviously a drinking father in mind: “A cynical lady correspondent suggests we should have the choice of three flowers emblematic of father – the scarlet geranium, because it resembles the bloom of his nose; the cornflower, to match the hue of his language when his liver is bad; or the mignonette, in sweet remembrance of his Saturday night breath.

Fast forward to this year when I cooked a three-course dinner and served up three wines to my two adult children plus a not-quite-yet-son-in-law-who-likes-good-wine-anyway Hanger On. He is a good bloke and even snorted at my dad joke: “What do you call a man with no shins?” “Tony.” 

The first wine was something different. It has been recently marketed by Brown Brothers in response to the growing demand for non-alcoholic and low-alcohol drinking options: their new Mid Strength Prosecco is only seven per cent alcohol and is therefore only four standard drinks per bottle. 

Apple overwhelms the palate, with my son saying he’d rather just drink cider and my daughter saying that it was difficult to taste any difference from the normal Brown Brothers Prosecco, which is the number one selling Prosecco in Australia. 

Hanger On loved the taste and said he thought the idea good as you could drink without being overly affected and the taste went well with the smoked salmon on offer as the first course.

The second course was chicken baked with paprika, olives, lemon juice and white wine. With the chook, I served a 2024 Devil’s Corner Resolution Pinot Gris, $35. 

This Tasmanian wine has a nose with a hint of pear, but on taste delivers a soft melon like flavour, not the expected stone fruit burst you get from a lot of pinot gris, with lower acid than expected from a new vintage. It seemed the food flavours overwhelmed this subtle wine so we moved on to a red. 

The red wine was the Calabria Family Wines Saint Petri Shiraz Carignan 2022, a wine made from Barossa Valley grapes and which won a trophy at this year’s Sydney Royal Wine Show, recommended retail price is $90. 

This wine was on the opposite end of the spectrum from the white and, regrettably, wasn’t a match for the food either. It should be served with a beef stew or a beef wellington that’s been made with a pate and mushroom mix.

The wine was a real head scratcher because of the many complex flavours and the way it changed in the glass. It has a nose of herbs and dark fruits. 

In colour, it is deep purple and it has a heady mix on taste, with lavender, liquorice and dark chocolate evident amidst a tannic burst derived, I believe, from the carignan, a feature that my son found not to his liking but was, in my view, a sign that this wine will keep well in the cellar. In the glass the tannins softened and the dark chocolate flavour became more evident. 

The percentage of shiraz to carignan was not disclosed on the bottle but the talent from the winemaker of more than 20 years, Emma Norbiato, shines through in this multifaceted blend.