TORB's 2003 South Australian Tour Diary

Chapter Eight - Saturday – The finale – The Barossa (Click here for Chapter Seven)

 

Today’s the ninth and last day of tasting for this trip and although I have been at it constantly I am still hoping for another great day of tasting. Only two appointments lined up today and hopefully they will be good one. The rest of the day is then catch-as-catch can.

 

In the past I have always incurred the wrath of the staff at Elderton Wines when I have fronted up without an appointment and asked for them to open their top wines which they are loath to do unless prior arrangements have been made so this year I was determined to get into their good books by arranging an appointment. Besides the fact that Elderton can turn out some stunningly good wines they have one other major redeeming feature. They are one of the only cellar doors in the Barossa that open at a very respectable 9.00 AM. When I emailed the appointment request (to get in their good books) I requested 9 AM on this Saturday. Allister Ashmead replied that an appointment was a good idea and appreciated it; what was not appreciated was dragging him out of bed early on a day when the cellar door doesn’t open till 11.00 AM.

 

When Allister arrived at three minutes to nine driving the car on the right, I was a bit concerned. He quickly let me know that it was not his car it was his partner’s vehicle. His car has a real wine number plate (which looks a lot better when it’s not wrapped around a tree) and all the families’ company cars have vinous plates. It was good to catch up with Allister because although we have never met, I felt like I knew him as I have been drinking his wines for so long. The Elderton vineyards were established early in the 1900’s, almost a hundred years ago but the first wine to be produced under the Elderton label was in 1982. Because the vineyards have been there so long, they are almost slap bang in the middle of Nuriootpa township and surrounded by housing. The winery consists of 72 acres of mainly old vines, the majority of which is Shiraz and most of the vineyard is between 40 and 80 years old. All the fruit in the Elderton Range is from estate grown fruit. The “Friends Range” is comprised of purchased fruit; 50% from the Barossa and 50% Eden valley grapes which are purchased from about a half a dozen growers. The cellar door has an impressive presentation case of past Jimmy Watson Trophy winners and Elderton features in that display. Once Allister had the place open, it was time to try some wine. As I had tried a number of the wines previously, I only reviewed the wines I had not tasted to this point.

 

Elderton 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon had not been released when I tried it but should now be available for sale at about $21. The bottle had only been opened for milliseconds when I nosed it so it was no surprise to find that it was subtle but it did show lovely perfumed warm and rich fruit with some varietal Cabernet Characteristics. A well constructed, balanced and built wine with a good mouth feel despite is abundant very smooth powdery tannins and the wine shows its youth with lifted fresh acid. The fruit is also a quality standout showing blackberry/mulberry, mint, chocolate and mint that totally fills the mouth and takes yonks to dissipate. It’s a muscular weight wine with a firm solid structure and a well developed complexity that just needs another four years to show its true worth. Speaking about worth, it’s rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, a wine that’s worth buying.

 

Elderton 2001 Shiraz sells for $24 at CD but can normally be found on special in NSW for a fair bit less. The wine was aged in 25% new oak for fourteen months and 80% of the oak was American. The nose shows good complex inky black dark fruit complexity with contrasting notes. The fruit is strong, deep and concentrated with blackberry, prune and chocolate that fill the palate with a contrasting pleasant fresh acid wave that lifts the complexity. There is no surprise that it’s a full bodied wine and offers a big bang for your buck. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value (at $20 or less) it should peak around 2006.

 

Elderton 2000 Merlot was not available in the shops when I tried it at CD and it sells for $25. The aroma is all dusty oak with very green aromas and that’s what you get on the palate too. Loads of dusty tannins and oak deeply bury the fruit and I am not sure which will win out in the end. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.

 

It’s always with great trepidation and almost reluctant attitude that I look forward to tasting the Elderton Command and Ashmead because I invariably love the wines and they are hell on my bank balance.

 

Elderton 1999 Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $85 at CD. The wine spent 30 months in new French Oak and only 400 dozen were made. Although the nose was closed, you could instantly tell this is a high class wine. This is a big full bodied powerful wine with loads of dusty drying tannins and pure strong concentrated fruit that presents itself as a true varietal Cabernet with blackberry, prune, flowing through to mint and it will hold its own against icon Cabernet. The sophisticated developed complexity makes you sit up and take notice and whilst there is nothing subtle about it but given ten years the beast should be tame. I hated spitting the wine and wanted to drink or spit another glass just so I could relish it longer. Rated as Excellent with (just/almost)*** for value I was luck enough to pick it up for $55 a few weeks later from a Sydney retailer which is a very fair price and great value. Drink 2009+

 

Elderton 1999 Command Shiraz sells for $85 at CD. Although it had just been opened, it has a beautiful perfumed complex bouquet expressing violets, liquorice and spice. The wine has good mouth feel and structure which are provided by abundant the smooth dusty tannins that should become creamy in time and strong deep persistent fruit. On the palate it’s a black wine with rich chocolate, blackberry and prune that builds and builds across the palate like a small tatsumi. Considering the intensity of the fruit, its not heavy and like the Ashmead its sophisticated harmonious complexity and layered solid structure will ensure this is a great wine in time. Rated as Excellent with (almost) *** for value, I was lucky enough to pick it up for $55 a few weeks later from a Sydney retailer which is a very fair price and great value. Drink 2007+

 

Elderton 1999 Ashmead Sparkling Shiraz sells for $48 at CD. If packaging is any guide to what’s in the bottle, this should be a winner. Italian Spumante bottles and a classy label adorn this wine. This wine was made in celebration of the 21^st anniversary of the first vintage. It comprises parcels of Elderton Estate and Command Shiraz from the 1994, 95 and 98 vintages which spent two years on lees with no residual sugar, but it did have some high quality Rutherglen Vintage Port added when it was disgorged. Its an ample weight wine that’s rich in fruit with some sweetness in the mid palate and a bone dry finish. Its yummo and the best Sparkling Shiraz I tried on the trip. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value. As a matter of interest the wine was made in celebration of Elderton Wines 21st vintage as a winery, it is only the second sparkling they have made. The first was a1988 Pinot pressings which won the trophy at the Sparc awards in Melbourne despite the fact it was supposed to be only for family consumption.

 

After we had finished tasting Allister and I headed out to tour the facilities which are impressive. They have spent over six million dollars on improvements to the winery over the past few years. There was the purchase of a winery building that was surplus to Southcorp’s requirements and a brand new barrel shed, and some “shed” it is! We drove through the vines and they look as good and as old as any you will find in this area but what is different about this vineyard is the sheer amount of old vine material they have available. When the winery was purchased it was old but functional and Elderton had to spend millions getting it up to their standards. As a result, the winery is an interesting dichotomy of technology. There is everything from ancient old concrete fermenters to the latest in technological equipment sitting side by side. The objective is simple, if its old and it makes great wine Elderton kept it and will use it; and if its new technology and it helps to make great wine they will also have it. You can see the result for yourself.

The Seventy Year Old Concrete Fermenters versus The Brand Spanking New State of the Art Equipment 1

      

  

A modern winery with some old fashioned touches; these old fermenters are very much in demand and used in wineries like Henschke and Kays. You can see the modern gantry and plumbing running above them.  When the renovations were being made to the winery application for expansion to the barrel shed was made to the local council. As you can see, the houses back right onto the vines and many of the residents were not happy they would have to look at a bigger building but when it was explained that it was either the bigger shed or about 100 new tiny homes, the residents saw the sense of the barrel building staying there and being expanded.

 

The building is impressive and has the latest in design and construction technology. It is incredibly well insulated and relies on passive cooling. One thing that did look unusual is the lack of open drains running through the flooring. The reason given was that drains can harbour nasties and make sanitation difficult so the floor is sloped to one small central drain hole.

 

There is a lot of wood in this place, Elderton is not afraid to use oak and it shows. The Command and Ashmead normally spend 30 months in (mainly) new oak. We tasted barrel samples from a number of vintages of these wines and it was one of those occasions where I regret having to spit. Some of the upcoming vintages of these wines will be sensational.

 

Plenty of room for expansion is available in the barrel room but according to Allister, the Friends and Tantalus wines are the only ones with expansion plans at this stage and there will be no new wines for a little while. The estate fruit will always be kept for the upper end Elderton “Estate” wines like the Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Command etc.

 

Elderton summary – They know where they are going and how they are going to get there. The entry level wines are recognised for their consistently good value; the Estate Labels in good vintages are more than credible wines and represent real value. In poor vintages unfortunately they are not as good as they once were but hopefully that can change.  The Icons can be fantastic but the pricing is a bit over the top and like many wineries they represent poor value. If you are lucky enough to pick them up on special for about $55 they are absolutely worth purchasing for a special occasion.   

 

Next stop was my appointment at Turkey Flat which has an excellent reputation for making high quality restrained (by Barossa standards) wines at reasonable prices. They are at the end of their 2000 releases and I was hoping I would be able to taste the 2001’s. As I arrived a little early I had to wait outside till they opened up at 11 and was then informed that Mr  Schulz had forgotten about my appointment but the lady on CD would be pleased to look after me, which she did admirably so all was not lost. Apparently Peter Schulz doesn’t like technology like the internet and uses it as little as possible, something he is not alone in when it comes to the winemakers.

 

Turkey Flat 2001 Grenache sells for $17.50 at CD. The wine shows good balance with NutraSweet raspberry that almost instantaneously goes savoury with loads of dark chocolate on a very good length finish for the price point. Its medium weight with a well developed complexity for a Grenache.  Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

 

Turkey Flat 2000 Butchers Block is an MSG blend. This will be a good summer wine to accompany food. The wine is lean in weight with supple consistency showing some elegance and an agreeable level of complexity from the chocolate, raspberry and meaty flavours. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.

 

Turkey Flat 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $27 at CD. A varietally correct Cabernet showing sweet fruit with lots of green notes on the bouquet which translates to a palate showing good depth of fruit with initial green and capsicum flavours that progresses into sweet light cassis. It’s a smartly made medium weight wine with refined complexity, a solid layered structured that should become seamless in time and the smooth dusty drying tannins provide a firm supporting structure. Lovers of refined mid weight Cabernet (that don’t mind capsicum) will love this one and it should peak about 2006. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

 

Turkey Flat 2000 Shiraz sells for $32 at CD. An inviting bouquet expressing wonderful fruit purity; on the plate the sweet upfront fruit goes chocolate and finishes with excellent length. A well constructed and well made wine, like the rest of this line up it will be a great accompaniment to a good meal. A mid weight wine with some refinement and a well developed complexity, it also shows elegance in structure and should become seamless as it matures around 2006. Rated as Recommended (with room for improvement) with *** for value.

 

Turkey Flat 2001 Shiraz will be released in mid July and will sell for $33. A richer more intense wine than the 2000, it shows dark fruit and dusty oak on the nose. There two standout out features to this wine, (about as obvious as canine testicles.) The first is the pure deep fruit which expresses itself as sweet raspberry (but not sickly sweet) that’s well contrasted to the blackcurrant and dark chocolate flavours. The second is the excellent rock solid structure from a combination of ample weight fruit and smooth dusty tannins that combine to form a wine with sophisticated well developed complexity that’s terrific now but will only get better as it matures. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

 

Turkey Flat 2001 Butchers Block will be released in mid July and will sell for $25 at CD; it’s an MSG blend. This is a very good wine if you like the style. Smooth drying tannins and refreshing acid with pure deep fruit combine to form an ample weight wine with an agreeable complexity showing loads of chocolate, some cold meat characters that are not intrusive, mint and aniseed. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures around 2007.

 

Turkey Flat Summary – The wines are sedate by typical big Barossa standards. They are all well made and stylistically consistent within the range and vintage conditions. You almost know what to expect (in the way of style) before the wine is poured, which is a good thing. A consistent performer.  

Will these geese be outside Lehmann after Christmas?  1

A visit to Peter Lehmann is always on the agenda for a visit because the winery is a class act and has the whole range available for tasting. As I like the style of many of their wines, it even more enjoyable to visit them. The weather had started to turn nasty by this time, intermittent squally rain and a strong wind so when I walked into CD the open fire looked very inviting. Unfortunately it was not drawing as well as it should have been and there was a noticeable pervasive aroma of smoke hanging around the cellar door. I found a strategic spot at the end of the bar where the air conditioner was blowing the smoke away from me so it wasn’t as bad, but it still made assessing the wine more difficult than normal.

 

Peter Lehmann 1999 Seven Surveys is a GSM blend that sells for $20 at CD. A well made wine with a good mouth feel showing good rich chocolate and some liquorice which is neither sweet nor savoury. It’s an ample weight wine with well developed flavours and smooth unobtrusive tannins that’s highly enjoyable now and good value to boot. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.  

 

Peter Lehmann 2001 Shiraz sells for $22 at CD but can frequently be found for substantially less at some of the major retailers. A well made easy drinking muscular weight wine that offers good quality rich fruit. Pleasant rich blackberry/mulberry flavours moving through to mint that hangs around the mouth for a good long time but doesn’t go all the way back on the tongue. It’s a very agreeable bistro wine and a safe bet to buy, year in and year out. Rated as Recommended with *** for value at $22 its ***** value at $14 when it’s on special. 

 

Peter Lehmann 1998 Mentor sells for $40 at CD. It’s always enjoyable to taste a wine that you have purchased based on its previous track record and your own experience. There are not many vintages of this wine I have not bought since 1990. The bouquet is seductive and the mouth feel is well, sexy. This is not a Nicole Kidman wine; it’s more like a 30 year old Elizabeth Taylor. Full bodied, tight and firm but supple, not what you would call elegant but well developed and gorgeous. Tannins are smooth and silky, the refreshing acid helps cut through the deep strong pure fruit flavours of blackberry, blackcurrant, liquorice, chocolate and mint. Damn good wine now, but should peak after 2006, it’s rated as Excellent with *** for value.

 

Peter Lehmann 1999 Eight Songs sells for $55 at CD. I loved the 1996 and 1998 of this wine and was looking forward to trying the new latest release. The wine shows an inky black nose and is impenetrable dark purple in colour. Strong concentrated fruit comes across as loads of big prune and blackberry but to my way of thinking its bordering on dead fruit. Tannins are smooth and velvety which provides a silky consistency and seamless structure. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

 

Peter Lehmann 1997 Stonewell sells for about $70. By way of background I loved the old American oak version of this wine and was not at all impressed with the 96. It was technically perfect but boring and it was with almost trepidation that I tasted this wine. The 1997 may not be as technically good at the 1996, but it holds more interest. A full bodied wine, the fruit is obvious, strong and persistent with savoury prune on the uptake, a sweet mid palate of raspberries with some chocolate and a green finish made up of mint and eucalyptus. Tannins are smooth and the wine is seamless and layered; so the good mouth feel is no surprise. Favours are huge and the wine is not heavy it is jammy. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value.

 

Peter Lehmann 1996 Black Queen Sparkling Shiraz sells for $35 and is only available through CD. I loved the 1994 and was looking forward to tasting and buying the 96. A muscular eight wine with very rich blackberry and prune plate finishing to liquorice that seemed very sweet with little savoury character. The complexity is well developed and I tried hard to like it but it seemed a little too sweet and confected for my taste. Others will no doubt disagree (hi Campbell  ) . Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

 

Peter Lehmann 1987 The King Vintage Port sells for $50 and is only available through CD. This wine certainly gets the attention faster than a sergeant major screaming in a soldier’s ear. There was copious quantities of spearmint on the nose and it was not as volatile as many VP’s. The wine has an incredibly unusual and sophisticated flavour profile with a tongue lashing of spearmint, eucalyptus, mulberry, chocolate and hints of aniseed. A simply awesome drop that’s rich but not heavy. The velvety silky consistency that’s still tight but seamless ensures the wine tickles the tonsils as it gently glides by. Rated as Outstanding with *** for value, I had no hesitation in parting with some cash. Long live The King! 

 

Peter Lehmann Summary – Frankly this winery confuses me big time. The low end wines like the Shiraz, Cabernet and Seven Surveys are consistently good well made wines from year to year. The Mentor has always been very good but the 1998 is pushing the envelope. The Eight Songs which uses French Oak was originally a more restrained and elegant wine than the Stonewell but the 1999 Eight Songs is a huge wine with dead fruit characters that’s gone to far. The 1994 Stonewell was a huge American oak wine, the 96 with French Oak influence was so perfect it was elegant and boring whilst the 97 is pushing back to the bigger style but it’s gone to the jammy end of the spectrum. In short, the three icons are all over the place and there is no consistency in the line. It’s made even more confusing by having a range of three vintages of the icons to compare (97 Stonewell, 98 Mentor and 99 Eight Songs.) Hopefully they will rediscover their identity at the top end quickly but because of the vintage spread it may be quite some time before it becomes apparent.

 

   

I have been drinking Yalumba wine for as long as I can remember drinking wine and although they have been around under the same family ownership since 1849 I have never been to the winery so it was high time to make a visit. They are located at Angaston and the complex is reasonably large with a combination of old style architecture and modern looking facilities. Unfortunately I did not make an appointment so only got to try the normal range of wines on offer, which was not particularly exciting as I had tried a number of them previously. Based on what I understand the winery normally has available for tasting, unfortunately I think I struck a bad day and although it was soon obvious I was on a serious mission, nothing extra was opened. This is not uncommon in some of the large companies however when serious wine lovers make a special trip to the winery and only get the ‘ordinary stuff’ it can potentially cost the wineries more business than the cost savings that may be made. (This comment or one like it has been made in every tour diary and trip report I have ever made.)

 

Being a wet and cold windy Saturday with almost no visitors the staff seemed to be in a very relaxed mood. Whilst I was there one of the staff members took their lunch break and was micro waving some deliciously aromatic pasta which made me feel quite hungry and possibly was responsible for the comment “will go well with food” that was notated on some of my tasting note sheets.

 

Yalumba 2001 Vinnovation Zinfandel sells for $19.95 at CD. The bouquet immediately shows this as an unashamedly forward, fruit driven wine with spice and pepper to back up the sweet berry fruit. A perfect gutsy ample weight bistro wine, the tannins are smooth, it’s open, uncomplicated and easy drinking. Very sweet upfront raspberry fruit goes into savoury chocolate and spicy black pepper. The best feature of this wine besides its fruit intensity is its long finish. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value it’s a safe bet in a restaurant.  

 

Yalumba Cellar Door 1

Yalumba 2001 Vinnovation Sangiovese sells for $19.95 at CD. A floral spicy attractive aroma is reproduced on the plate with mushroom and spicy flavours. The wine is medium in weight and the minimal tannins smooth and unobtrusive but they provide enough backbone to keep the package together. A medium weight easy drinking food friendly wine; its rated as Agreeable with *** for value. I have never been a great fan of this grape as a single varietal wine.

 

Yalumba 1999 Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $25 at CD. Shows good varietal definition and character with abundant drying dusty tannins, refreshing acid and the fruit is there but it’s buried under the tannins at present. The wine is ample weight and solid but locked up tight with blackcurrant, aniseed, milk chocolate and mint which needs another five years to show its stuff. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures.

 

By coincidence as I was typing this up, I was sipping on a glass of their 1996 Clare Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon so I thought it might be appropriate to past that tasting note here for a comparison, as it’s so close at hand so to speak.  The wine has more than a lifted aroma; it has a fairly high level of VA which had not blown off after 45 minutes in the glass. Aroma of blackberry, milk chocolate and a huge amount of nose clearing menthol makes this wine more reminiscent of a Barossa Shiraz than a Clare Cabernet Sauvignon.  As the wine opened up, some minty characters emerged and eventually the VA receded. Blackberry flavour of some intensity is offset well by the tobacco, milk chocolate and mint with nuances of mocha and liquorice. It’s much more like a Cabernet than the bouquet originally suggested but still not typical. Never the less, it’s very enjoyable. Complexity is a touch simple but on the plus side the tannins are ultra fine and have integrated to the point they are seamless but the backbone is there and the wine still has years ahead of itself. Rated as Highly Recommended, the longer it was open the better it got which points to a bright future.

 

Yalumba Summary – Yalumba has a huge range of wines from the inexpensive to the costly and they arrange across a huge spectrum of styles. It’s difficult to provide an accurate summary based on the three wines tasted on this trip but they do make some very credible wines at all price points which may help explain why they are Australia biggest and oldest family owned winery.

 

When I tried the Heritage Roscoe Shiraz sample that was sent to me whilst I could not point to a fault it appeared the wine was not showing as well as expected so as I was driving past the winery I called in to have another sample. Catching Steve Hoff is never easy for me, when I tried earlier in the week it was at the time school comes out so he was playing dad and chauffeur. Today when I arrived there was no sign of him despite the open sign being there. The person who came to talk to me said that Steve was out with a chain saw chopping down a problem. (I hoped it wasn’t a disgruntled customer.) After explain my mission, a search party was sent out to find him and in less than ten minutes he was there.

 

Heritage 2001 Roscoe Shiraz sells for $34 at CD. The wine had just been opened so it was closed!  Deep intense fruit and smooth dusty tannins with refreshing acid balance and provide a muscular weight solid structure that’s still very tight. Mouth filling fruit flavours are dominated by blackberry and the wine has a very big finish. Its well made and should improve over the next four or so years. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, if you can find it for $30 make it **** for value.  

 

Whistler Cellar Door 1

Right next door to Roscoe is Whistler which is another winery that I had heard positive vibes about but they as they are only open on the weekend I had never been able to connect and try their wines. The drive into the winery looks good; it’s inviting, looks welcoming and is professionally done without any overkill; all the way from the sign on the gate through the rose lined driveway and down to the cellar door facility.

 

Whistler 2001 Cabernet Merlot sells for $18 at CD. A lifted mint and sweet berry nose leads to savoury attractive palate flavours of blackcurrant, mint and aniseed. This is a medium weight, smooth, balanced, well made wine that’s easy drinking and would be hard for anyone not to like it. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

 

Whistler 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $20 at CD. This wine is as honest as it gets no surprises or dirty nasty tricks up its sleeve. The bouquet shows good fruit purity and that’s exactly what comes across the palate. Pleasant sweet upfront red berry fruit layers across into savoury flavours with liquorice, and then onto chocolate with surprisingly good length for a wine in this price bracket. Its ample weight and the smooth slightly dusty tannins provide a supple consistency. A good easy drinking wine that’s well made and good value, it’s rated as Recommended with *** for value.

 

Whistler 2001 Shiraz sells for $25 at CD. The aroma of this one is quite unusual. Sweet berry fruit is typical but the sweet fortified raisin character is normally not one found in Shiraz. The wine has an interesting well developed flavour profile with sweet blackberry immediately moving onto savoury pleasing flavours of pepper, chocolate and liquorice. The pure obvious fruit and smooth tannins provide the backing for its muscular weight and great creamy mouth feel. This is another soundly made wine and well worth the money, it’s rated as Recommended with *** for value.

 

The wines mirror the attitude and look of the place, tasteful, well done but not expensive. It turns out the wines are made by one Mr R. Binder Esq and his sister Christina so its no surprise they are well made. They are all clean with taste and style, just like the winery and if you see these wines they are worth a try.

 

It’s Sunday afternoon, day nine of tasting wine and frankly by 2.00 PM I have had enough so I head over to Barossa Valley Estate with the distinct and misguided hope  that they may have their Black Pepper Sparkling Shiraz on tasting, I could murder a sip or two of a cold Sparkling Shiraz. No such luck, only the low end stuff and a re-release of one of the 97 Ebenezer (which they must have had trouble selling) and a 2000 Ebenezer Merlot, a tad more  exciting then cleaning out the kitty litter tray after all the great wines I have tried recently and my current mood of “red overdose.”

 

Next misguided stupid idea is to head on over to the historic Seppelt facility at Seppeltfield hoping they may have the 1999 Great Western stuff available for tasting. The best I could try were the Liquor Muscat and Tokay. The Tokay was mildly corked so as I was doing so well decided it was time to head to Adelaide before I wound up drinking c-through.

 

The night before I booked a last minute “deal” at The Chifley on South Terrace at only $99 through wotif.com.  It turned out to be a great deal as it was a very swish **** hotel.

 

The next day I had a pre sparrows flight home so head of to Gouger Street where there are a million restaurants and decide on what looks like a good specialist fish and seafood called ‘Stanley’ and figured I would have some Frog Bubbles with it as I (almost) can’t stand the thought of a bottle of red, I must be sick!

 

Food menu looked great as did the food the diners were tucking into, but the wine list was less exciting than cleaning out the kitty litter tray. The highest quality bubbles would retail for about $13 in the stores and as I didn’t want drink bubbly plonk went to the red list. The best bottle from a bad list of choices was the Henschke Keyneton but no vintage listed, but what did it matter, the last few were all good so ordered it. The waitress poured a sample into the ‘bistro boob holder’ - one sniff even in this revolting glass was enough to know it was very badly corked and after minimal fuss, another bottle was produced.

 

For starters I had chilli prawns and anyone who doesn’t think that young fruit full red wine goes with spicy food should try it and see what they are missing. Main course was “Bugs” which were served with chips and salad. Both cooked to perfection.  Decided to be decadent and had Tiramisu for desert. Total bill was a $101 and worth every cent. This place must be one of the best fish and chip shops around and worth a visit despite the very ordinary wine list.

 

Early night and at the airport at 6 AM for an early morning flight home. Early enough to score seat 1A so was able to stretch out and sleep on the way home which as you can imagine I needed.

 

Summary – random thoughts and wrap up

 

It was a wonderful trip with many highlights and very few low points, in fact the most enjoyable to date. Two years ago went I went to SA I was very critical of the number of corked bottles that had been missed by the staff. On this trip there were very few, so it looks like things are improving and the winery staff is learning how to spot dud bottles. Well done to all of them.

 

The sheer number of new wineries and brands will mean it’s unfortunately inevitable that many of them will not survive. It’s not just enough to buy a plot of land, plant some grapes and produce wine. The wine must be well made, properly priced and well packaged before it even stands a chance of success. Unfortunately many of the new producers (not many that I visited on trip) simply do not understand this fundamental business reality. Prices of many of the new releases are simply at the top of their possible pricing bracket which makes them unattractive for people to try for the first time.

 

French Oak is a great alternative to huge American Oak blackcurrant milkshakes but it is not a panacea and still has to me managed properly. Whilst some wineries are using French Oak with Shiraz to good effect unfortunately many still have a big learning curve in front of them and it’s just as easy to make a badly structured wine (or a poor selling unattractive one) using French Oak as it is using American Oak.

 

It was very encouraging to see house styles emerging and being refined in so many wineries. Consistency is one of the main things the consumer requires.

 

It would be remiss at this point if I didn’t thank the wineries visited for their generosity and hospitality which has made this Tour Diary possible. And finally to you the readers, thanks for taking the time to read my work. Knowing that it will be enjoyed by so many people makes the effort worth while.

 

The next Tour Diary (hopefully) will be the wineries of Victoria and if all goes to plan you can look forward to reading them in November 2003.