The May 2005 South Australian Tour Diaries

Click here for Chapter Three

Chapter Four – Tuesday and Wednesday – The Barossa

We are now halfway through this tour diary. The previous three chapters contain approximately 100 tasting notes and the following two chapters will contain approximately 100 tasting notes between them. As a result, the last two chapters will wind up being fairly lengthy. And then there will be a surprise feature story that came out of this trip as well.

Even The Pie Wimp was up bright and early this morning as the prospect of spending three and half days in the Barossa with Brian and I had got him truly excited. (Well, they do say small things amuse small minds. ) He may have been up bright and early, but that doesn't mean he was particularly "bright." We left home at 8 a.m. and dropped John's loving daughter, “The Feral” off at the bus stop.

……………………… Victory Desert

Speaking about feral, at dinner last night, Glen said to Vasaliki, "here try some of this; (referring to his main course,) it will put hair on your chest.” Quick as a flash, the Greek Goddess Vasaliki replied, "I don't need any; there is plenty there already.” After a pregnant pause and a little bit of sobering thought, Glen said “yes and they had better be all mine!"

After we'd been driving for about 10 minutes, and had about 10 laughs in that time; the ball went through to the keeper, the lights came on and somebody was finally home. John realised that he had forgotten his pills in the bathroom. Dear readers, you have seen what he is like when he takes his pills; having to put up with him for 3 1/2 days without them defies the imagination and was a situation that neither Brian or I were prepared to risk, so we turned the car around and headed back for home.

John came out from the house carrying his shaving bag and a couple of snack bars for him and Brian. I seriously wonder if the "forgotten pills" was just a ploy at getting a quick junk food fix.

As we drove past the bus stop where, 20 minutes before, we had dropped off Hosanna, John said, said “I would like to think I am a good disciplinarian but she just thinks I'm a boring old fart." Needless to say, neither Brian nor I disagreed with his Pieship.

We had decided to have breakfast at a little bakery in Hahndorf. I'd eaten a late lunch there some years previously, and it was fine. When we walked in, the place was obviously just opening but what struck me was the shabbiness of the place; it looked like nothing had been done, with the exception of minimal, and I stress the word minimal, cleaning but the pastries did look good and that was what I was after. I had a poppy seed Danish that was superb; it was so good, I went back for a second. Brian had a Cornish Pasty and it was no surprise when the Pie King had a pepper steak pie. Naturally it was tomato juices all round and the coffee was drinkable which was a bonus.

The effort of driving from Blewitt Springs to Hahndorf had obviously taken its toll on John as after breakfast he threw the keys at me and told me to drive, which I was happy to do as the Pie King obviously needed his post pie-prandial nap.

Our first port of call in the Barossa was Charles Cimicky Wines. I have been cellaring and enjoying wines from this winery since about the 1994 vintage but have not been back to the winery for three or four years. On my last visit, I tried a glass of Grenache which was corked. A second bottle was opened and the wine in that bottle was corked too. A third bottle was opened and it was also corked. They then placed the corked bottles behind the counter to serve to other customers. The person serving me admitted they had received a dodgy batch of corks and many of the bottles did have TCA. Whilst I sympathise with this situation, to me, it is abhorrent to keep serving wine to unsuspecting consumers that you know is corked, something this winery was quite happy to do. At the time, it also made me wonder about their attitude to replacing corked wine, and on this trip, unfortunately I experienced that attitude first-hand.

The winery is nestled away in an immaculately maintained, beautifully presented garden. The cellar door itself is in a minimalist style, with no clutter and although not brightly lit, it is spacious and gives the impression of being airy. In other words, there is no "unnecessary glitz” and that pretty well sums up the wine philosophy too. Honest, straightforward, to the point and without distraction. Speaking of distractions, their whistling Canary is a wonderful distraction and a voice to behold.

Charles Cimicky 2003 Trumps Shiraz sells for $25 at cellar door and is available on the street for $15-$17. A ripe, fruit-driven black nose leads to a soft palate of liquorice, blackberry, dark coffee, and chocolate that finishes with good persistence. Ample-weight, there are enough powdery tannins to hold the wine together and the complexity is both agreeable and harmonious. An easy-drinking wine, with loads of fruit, that would be perfect in a bistro situation, it is rated as Recommended with *** for value (based on the street price.)

Charles Cimicky 2000 St C sells for $32 at cellar door and is a Shiraz Cabernet blend. A ripe, fruit-driven nose showing good complexity; it is dominated by the Cabernet component. The wine has been well judged but the smooth, powdery tannins are still evident. The combination of off-sweet characters and very ripe fruit flavours are found in the blackberry, blackcurrant and chocolate. The pleasant mid-palate mouth-feel is enhanced by the long tannin finish. Ample-weight with a firm consistency, the complexity is well developed and harmonious. It will probably be better in a couple of years when the tannins have fully integrated and is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

Charles Cimicky 2000 Pressings Grenache sells for $26 at cellar door. The bouquet shows cherry with savoury nuances; not sweet or confected. The palate has a spicy uptake with some sweet offsetting undertones and finishes with good length powdery tannins. Medium-weight, the wine is firm and solid; with an agreeable complexity and the savoury profile is attractive. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

Charles Cimicky 2002 Autograph Shiraz sells for $40 at cellar door. The bouquet shows coffee French oak influence over black berry spectrum fruit. Abundant smooth, powdery tannins and distinct fruit produced a firm, solid, ample-weight wine that should be very enjoyable with another couple of years bottle age. Savoury, with coffee, mint/eucalyptus, blackberry, aniseed, and dark chocolate flavours, the complexity is agreeable and harmonious. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

During the tasting, we had long and involved discussions with the lady manning cellar door. The subject of corks came up and we were informed that with the exception of Rose, the winery does not have any intention of going to screw caps at this time. During that conversation, on three occasions, I mentioned the corked bottle of wine (1998 Cimicky Signature) I had opened a few nights previously. On the first occasion it was mentioned, my “bad luck” was basically dismissed. On the second occasion, when it was mentioned a bit more forcefully, the response was “did you bring it back with you?” I explained that we'd been travelling all over the countryside and that was totally impractical; and that was the end of it as far as the staff member was concerned. On the third occasion, when I mentioned it even more pointedly, the response from the staff member was to tell me that she knew what it was like because she had had problems in returning wine to other wineries. Clearly, this winery still has a problem with doing the right thing by their customers in relation to replacing corked wine and their dismissive attitude towards TCA has not changed.

From my personal perspective, this attitude completely turns me off any winery and under normal circumstances, I will not buy their wine again, no matter how good it may be.

The wines were all consistent in style with fine, powdery tannins and all were well backed by pure, obvious fruit.

Our next stop was to a winery that I had only been to once before, Schild Estate, which is located at the main intersection in Lyndoch. My first visit, some years ago, left me entirely unimpressed with this winery’s produce, but as things change, it was time for an update. The building is certainly impressive and we received a very welcome reception from (a Californian) cellar door manageress who could sell ice to Eskimos, whilst having a mouthful of marbles and being under water. She would certainly not miss a trick in any potential sales opportunity.

Schild Estate Sparkling Shiraz sells for $24 at cellar door. Like many at this price point, it is overly sweet and confected, but this one also showed, jammy, stewed fruit; it did finish dry. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.

Schild Estate 2004 Barossa GMS sells for $19 at cellar door. The nose was not particularly forthcoming, in fact it was downright dumb and showed little except for some confected fruit. The palate showed an upfront sweet, fruit driven nature with some spicy oak characters, minimal tannins, a soft consistency, an open structure and simple complexity. Brian described it as "a soft restaurant wine." Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.

Schild Estate 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $24 at cellar door. Ripe, black cherry, blackberry and spice on the bouquet presented a palate of spicy oak and off-sweet fruits. Medium-weight, with unobtrusive tannins, a supple consistency, and an agreeable complexity it's an easy-drinking, lighter style of wine that goes well with food; whilst it's very drinkable it's just another red. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Schild Estate 2003 Shiraz sells for $24 at cellar door. The bouquet is attractive showing black fruit pastilles, spice, and coffee oak. Ample-weight with a firm consistency, the solid structure is well backed by fine, dusty tannins. Off-sweet, it is intensely savoury with coffee, plum, and blackcurrant flavours that finishes dry but there is a green tinge to the tannins. Rated as (just) Recommended with *** for value.

Schild Estate 2003 Ben Schild Shiraz sells for $45 at cellar door. The bouquet was refined, and whilst it was not showing a lot, the class was still evident. Ultra-fine tannins and pure fruit combine to produce an ample-weight, solid, tight wine showing some elegance, a firm but supple consistency and a reasonably harmonious complexity. Savoury plum, sweet black fruits with lots of spicy flavours including aniseed, coffee and dark chocolate complete the picture. It's approachable now but will improve over the next three years. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value.

The wines were very consistent in terms of house style, reasonably well made and certainly a lot more enjoyable than they were in the early days. The less expensive wines are all easy drinking and ready to be drunk now; they are fruit-driven with low tannins. The Ben Schild is a good wine, especially for the vintage, the only question mark surrounds the value aspect; speaking of which, the value aspect of the entry-level wines is only "just."

During the tasting, we were also informed that the winery was planning to launch a new Ultra- Premium wine called Schild Estate 2001 Moorooroo Shiraz which was going to have a price tag of $85. Judging by the reviews I have seen on this wine since its release, I won't be rushing out to buy it.

Speaking of reviews, I had a good chuckle when I was informed what great reviews some of their entry-level wines had received by journalists. When I asked “who had said what” the living proof was provided. There was a single glowing review from a “journalist” who I had never heard of; apparently this “journalist” has his very own web site.   I might add, neither Brian nor John and heard of this ‘journalist” either, and let's face it, we are pretty well wired into the Internet and have heard of most of the credible players, both pro and amateur. Whilst on the subject of credibility, the Schild web site states “The Schild family are confident that the 6th Generation are just as dedicated to the betterment of the label as the current family employees.” Notice, it doesn't say what the “6th generation” is referring to; they obviously hope the reader will assume winemakers. Ben Schild purchased a mixed farm, which included some vineyards, in the 1950s. They may be 6^th generation Australians, but what has this got to do with their ability to make wine? Nothing!

The level of self promotion is long on hot air and short on credibility.

We had coffee at the winery and it was very good; in fact I can recommend this winery for its coffee.

Grant Burge Cellar Door – A class act! ……………..

During the last May tour, despite repeated attempts to visit Liebich Wines, every time we went past it was closed and on this trip, I was determined to try and get there. Not wishing to leave it till the last moment, I thought we should hit it on day one when we had plenty of spare time. As we drove up the main road, the sign said “Closed – Open at 2.00 pm.” I just cannot win with this place; so we headed back to Grant Burge Wines. No matter which way you look at it, Grant Burge Wines is a class act with a top-class cellar door facility that allows, indeed even encourages people to taste their icon wines. The staff is justifiably proud of the place and it shows in the work that they do. It's a pity not every cellar door is as professional as this operation. Walking back into Grant Burge is like walking back into one of your favourite restaurants; you will know you will not only be welcomed with a genuine smile and receive good service, what you consume will be pretty good too.

The one criticism I have made in previous years, which in fact is not of Grant Burge’s making, looks like it has been rectified. In days gone by, as you drove up the long driveway to the cellar door, there was a stark, indeed ugly, strip of land which was occupied by Australian native animals. It turned out this was a protected refuge for injured wildlife and was owned by the next property. The animals have now been removed from what was substandard housing, and as a result, the entrance way to the Grant Burge’s winery, whilst being a little stark, looks better.

Grant Burge 2003 Miamba Shiraz sells for $18.50 at cellar door. The bouquet of youthful, ripe fruity plums and milk chocolate with some oak derived characters shows reasonable complexity. Pure, intense, exuberant fruit delivers violets, intense plums, milk chocolate with tobacco and smoky oak characters that linger nicely. Powdery tannins provide a solid backbone and grippy finish; ample-weight with a supple consistency, the wine will be better with about another three years in the bottle. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

………..The Grant Burge Trophy and Medal Walk

Grant Burge 2001 Holy Trinity sells for $31.95 at cellar door. I am not sure where this label is heading, but over time, to my taste, it is becoming less attractive. The soft, seductive mouth-feel it is very approachable but the wine has enough powdery tannin to hold it together. Red berry fruit, blackcurrant, spice, milk chocolate and smoky oak finish with reasonable persistence but the wine is a tad simple. Medium-weight with a supple consistency, solid but seamless structure and an agreeable complexity, the wine is rated as Recommended with ** for value.

Grant Burge 2003 Nebuchadnezzar sells for $31.95 at cellar door and is a Shiraz Cabernet (55/45) blend. The bouquet shows tightly bound fruit and dusty Cabernet components. A solid, well-built wine with excellent construction; the abundant, drying, powdery tannins provide a very-firm consistency and the structure is both tight and elegant. A baby that demands time; the fruit is currently submerged by the tannins, and provided the fruit eventually kicks through, the wine should be good. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, come back for another look in 2010.

Grant Burge 2003 Filsell Shiraz sells for $26.95 at cellar door. The bouquet shows youthful, ripe plummy fruit over smoky oak and dabs of cedar. Needing time for the tannins to integrate, the wine is well balanced; the quality fruit shows plum and chocolate but there is a slight green finish to the wine. Muscular-weight with a very firm consistency and solid structure, the complexity is agreeable and whilst it will be a good in time, it is not as good as the previous vintage. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Grant Burge 2000 Meshach sells for $89.95 at cellar door. The bouquet shows soft, approachable fruit with smoky oak and comes across the palate as liquorice, chocolate, plum, and black fruit flavours that finish with reasonable persistence; for a wine of this calibre, it is not very viscous. Ample-weight, it is approachable now and although the structure is elegant, it is a bit thin on the mid-palate. Whilst it will improve for few years, it won't last as long as most previous vintages and is rated as Highly Recommended with * for value. The 2001 has now been released and is bound to be a better wine.

No matter how good a restaurant can be, occasionally even regular diners will strike an off night. Whilst I walked out of the winery feeling a little disappointed, much of that disappointment probably has to do with a selection of wines from less than stellar vintages. No doubt, my next visit will be better.

Even the Pie King couldn’t get through the stodgy pastry ….

It was lunchtime and the famous Lyndoch bakery was beckoning. Last I heard, this place was an institution and renowned for its pies all around South Australia, so I had absolutely no chance of avoiding it. To make matters worse, as far as take-away is concerned, getting a sandwich, or almost anything else without pastry here is almost impossible, so I had no choice but to succumb to a goulash pie. It had an acceptable level of spicy flavour, but the pastry was too thick, stodgy and it should have been cooked for longer. On the TORB Pie Scale™, it was rated as Fit for Dog Food with * for enjoyment. I also had an Apricot Danish which was very heavy on the Danish and far too light on the apricot; it was rated as Barely Edible with * for enjoyment. Brian had a Mexican Chilli Pie which he rated 7.5 out of 10 on the Red Bigot Pie Scale™ (but I think canned Camp Pie would get 6 out of 10 for just fronting up and being called pie.) The Pie King had two plain meat pies, but as he has no taste, his vote doesn't count; however he did leave a huge amount of pastry which is indicative of the standard. Brian also bought a packet of chilli parmesan crisps; now these were worth eating! It took a while for the chilli to kick in, but once it did; oh boy! All we needed was a Sparkling Shiraz!

Why this bakery enjoys such as sterling reputation is now completely beyond me.

As we had some spare time before our next appointment we decided to take potluck and visit Kies Family Wine. Although I have driven past this winery on many occasions, for whatever reason I have never been in there so had absolutely no idea what to expect. It turns out that it is not only family-owned, but the family have been involved in grape growing and making estate wines for five generations.

Kies Chaff Mill 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $25 at cellar door. The bouquet was somewhat oxidised in nature and whilst the wine had a pleasant mouth feel, it finished short on the palate. A very dry style of wine with a chocolaty flavour; the abundant tannins provided a firm, solid structure but unfortunately it seems under fruited. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.

Kies 2002 Klauber Block Shiraz sells for $25 at cellar door. Ripe, cherry, and olive scents are marred by a tiny amount of EA. Reasonable viscosity and a good mouth feel; the silky tannins are enhanced by an agreeable, harmonious complexity and supple consistency. Cherry, olive, chocolate, coffee and coconut oak on the finish present an attractive flavour profile. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the wine is very drinkable.

The first sample of Klauber Block Shiraz presented was picked by all three of us to be absolutely dead set 100% guaranteed faulty; it had excessive EA/VA and the aroma was bad enough to qualify it as “DNPIM” (do not put in mouth.) When we politely asked the cellar door manager to check the wine, she thought it was fine but as she was not 100% sure, said she would get a second opinion. After having been gone for a couple of minutes she came back and informed us that the other person who had also checked the wine thought it was “sound and fine” but they were happy to open up another bottle for us (they obviously thought we were wine wan**ers and were doing the right thing by humouring us.)

When the second bottle was opened and the two were compared, it was blindingly, indeed embarrassingly obvious. With this, the second person who had checked the wine, who could hear the conversation, came out of the office; he turned out to be a marketing man. Either he hasn't completed a wine marketing course, or he failed wine tasting 101. Whilst the staff were very nice about it, and handled it well, in reality that wine should never have been on the counter in the first place.

To make matters even more “interesting” the Kies 2000 Dedication Shiraz has not been rated because the bottle that was open had a slight reductive fault and although the staff kindly offered to open another bottle immediately, we were running short of time.

Because of the positive and polite way in which these unfortunate events were handled, I will have no hesitation in going back to this winery at a future date. They were genuinely trying to do the right thing but unfortunately lack proper training.

On the way to our next appointment, John told us that he was thinking about a new venture that many people growers in his position have embarked upon. He was thinking about starting to produce his own wine under his own label. Instead of calling it “Pie King Bridge Vineyards” which would have instant brand recognition, he wanted to call it “The ****ing Ordinary Wine Company” and could not work out what the experts had against his new label idea. Indeed; one good idea a week does look like the Pie Kings limit!

Our next appointment was at Dutschke Wines. When we arrived, we received a royal reception. As expected Wayne was there, but so too was wife Brenda and their very well-behaved baby Samantha, who is such an angel she didn't even cry when she looked at me.  Wayne, being the gentleman that is, inquired as to our health and well-being, specifically asking where we had eaten lunch. Not a smart move, John got stuck in and lambasted poor Wayne about the tragic decline in the pastry in the pies at the Lyndoch Bakery. I bet he won’t be silly enough to ask about that subject next time we visit!

I first met Wayne two years ago when he was working out of the old Saltram winery and when the availability of that facility ceased, rather than going into another contract situation, he purchased land in Lyndoch decided to built his own barrel shed/winery. Wayne feels that he now has complete control, can be as uncompromising as his heart desires and can work till midnight if he feels like it. Although it's not open to the public now, except by appointment, the plan is to eventually have a fully fledged cellar door type operation/winery and a separate barrel shed.

In terms of volume, it is still a small operation and it will remain that way for sometime, there is only so many grapes that one person, his barefoot wife and their child can stomp at once, so to speak. In a normal year, they plan to crush between 70 and 80 ton. In 2005 with so much great fruit available, Wayne got a “bit emotional and carried away”; they crushed 89 tonnes and that's about as much as they can process. To put that in perspective, that’ around five and a half thousand cases. If he wants to grow the winery, he will have to have more children to stomp the grapes, but I understand he is working on it.

The majority of the fruit that is grown by Wayne’s family is sold off. In years gone by it was sold to Beringer, but like many other growers that were not under contract, this year it was a case of, “if it's not contracted, we are not interested”. Fortuitously, Grant Burge has extensive vineyards in this area and was able to take a sizeable proportion of their crop and a couple of other smaller neighbouring producers also took a share.

Whilst things may be tough for family grape growers, it has also brought opportunity to Wayne, the winemaker. Many growers are having trouble selling their produce and one of Wayne's neighbours came knocking on his door asking if he would like to buy fruit from a 70 to 80-year-old vineyard. Wayne inspected the plot and a deal was struck.

As we walked into the new winery, it was clear that Wayne had not only been twiddling his thumbs and producing babies; there were about 350 barrels full of wine! Wayne is incredibly well organised, which every small winery with space restrictions need is to be, but he gets a gold star for attention to detail and presentation. Not only is his basket press an attractive "Italian job," even the barrel labels are artistically and attractively presented. There is also one other small detail which I have never seen in any other winery. On many of the barrels, the age of the vines that the fruit came from forms part of the label identification.

Some wineries have a guest book but this winery has created a piece of useful history. Instead of having a normal paper book, Dutschke Wines uses wine barrels for the purpose. There are famous names like General Peter Cosgrove (commander of the Australian Defence Forces) as well as infamous ones like Mike Opdahl and John Pollard. Based on the current visitor rate, my quick calculation indicates that it will take 158.927 years to cover the end of every single barrel in the winery with signatures, so I don't think Wayne needs to rush out and buy more "visitors barrels."

Speaking of barrels, it looks like Wayne has caught Reid Bosward Disease (Kaesler Wines); rather than just using one or two different types of barrels, last vintage he purchased barrels from nine different Coopers.

Although the majority of Wayne's output is red wine, his true passion is fortified. Whilst we were there, the subject of fortified wine kept rearing its head in all sorts of unexpected places and ways. We would be talking about a particular topic and suddenly we would have switched topics and Wayne would say something like "smell the super raisin character in this one, it’s 28 beaume” and naturally it was going to be a fortified. As well as the new material, whilst we were there Wayne allowed us to taste barrels of older material that he had bought in for blending purposes. Some of it was truly amazing stuff.

The 2003 vintage saw the first experimentation with Liqueur Shiraz and the first bottling has just been completed; it sells for $35 for 375ml. It is called Dutschke Sun Dried Shiraz; just as well he is not growing tomatoes, Dutschke Sun Dried Tomatoes just doesn't have the same ring about it.

Wayne was almost as excited about 2005 as he was about his fortified wines so these should be something pretty special when they are heart eventually released. The samples we tried were certainly good. And then Wayne was kind enough to open the 2002 and the 2003 vintages so I could compare them side by side.

Dutschke 2002 St Jakobi sold for $30 by mail order. Quality fruit is driving the bouquet but the oak is noticeable. Fine-grained powdery tannins and pure deep fruit show a well measured balance and construction. Rich chocolate and blackberry flavours finish dry with good length and persistence. Muscular-weight, the structure is solid and tight; and whilst the wine is approachable now it will improve until 2007 and beyond. With nothing sticking out, it is rated as Recommended with *** for value and the rating should improve as the wine matures.

Dutschke 2003 St Jakobi Shiraz has just been released and sells for $30 by mail order. The bouquet is attractive and shows great floral fruit characters. Abundant, drying tannins and distinct fruit combine to form a solid, ample-weight wine with a very firm consistency. Dark berry, plum, coffee and some mint characters produce an okay, but not great wine. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink from 2006 and beyond.

Dutschke 2002 Willow Blend sold for $25 by mail order. A blend of Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon the nose showed absolutely nothing. A full-bodied wine, with a firm, almost hard consistency, the abundant dusty, drying tannins need ages to integrate and this wine is hard to judge now; the worst possible case of vininfanticide. The palate is all coffee with copious quantities of tannins over the fruit, but there should be enough to eventually show through. There is some mint showing on the tail. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Dutschke 2003 Willow Blend has just been released and sells for $25 by mail order. A wine that is definitely not for the oak-a-phobic, the bouquet shows coffee and mushroom oak characters. This wine is certainly much easier to take and more approachable than the 2002. Savoury on the uptake with spice, black fruits, mint and a river of sweet plums below, the attractive fruit flavours are offset by plenty of oak influence. Whilst the tannins are abundant, the fruit is quite capable of sticking up for itself and this attractive, muscular-weight wine will be drinkable long before the previous vintage. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Dutschke 2002 Oscar Semmler Shiraz sold for $45 by mail order. Damn, I'm on the mailing list why didn't I buy any of this? A single vineyard wine showing coffee, rich chocolate, earthy mushroom and white pepper; whilst a big oak component is evident, the bouquet indicates there is enough fruit to manage the situation. With a pedigree balance and construction; this muscular-weight wine with a firm but supple consistency and well-developed complexity, is tight and shows some elegance and class for its size. A very good wine with loads of everything, and whilst the oak is dominant now, there is enough coffee, plum, chocolate, coffee essence, blackberry, and black pepper flavours, that are well supported by focused-long tannins, to sop up the oak in time. Finishing with excellent persistence, it is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value; the wine should peak around 2010 and the rating should improve in that time.

Dutschke 2003 Oscar Semmler Shiraz has just been released and sells for $45 by mail order. A broody, sulking little bastard, both on the bouquet and the palate! Despite its best intentions to remain hidden, a single sip certainly made the palate sit up and take notice. All the components are there; fine, drying tannins and pure deeply-seated fruit which deliver a sweet mid palate with savoury contrasting flavours of coffee essence, blackberry, plum and black olives. Full-bodied with a very firm consistency, tight structure and well-developed complexity, it's a baby that demands time. A good wine, it does not have as much potential as the 2002 but is still worth buying and rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

We also tasted our way through numerous barrel samples of both normal and fortified wines including a number of the components of the 22-year-old Tawny that was just about to be blended. Once again, it was fascinating to see the individual blend components and how they are selected, based on what they will contribute to the finished wine. As far as tasting the barrel samples of the non-fortified wines across a number of vintages is concerned, this is a pretty good way to obtain a broad-based indication of the quality that the winery is turning out. The news in this case, on all fronts, is all good.

Wayne is one of the most laid-back, amiable guys you could ever wish to meet; he is also a very talented winemaker. His wines are very credible, consistent, well-made and with lots of attention to fine detail. The value aspect is also quite reasonable. If you are not on his mailing list, it is worth while getting on to it now.

Our next appointment was at one of my favourite wineries; located at the other end of the Barossa, Kaesler Wines is one of the best “class acts” in Australia today. Having Swiss bankers to bankroll the operation helps but you still need talented winemaking too, and Reid Bosward is certainly a talented, smart operator. There are three things I really like about Reid’s philosophy. The first is his uncompromising standards of quality; the second is his no “bovine manure approach” to winemaking (and life,) whilst the third is a categorical determination to have excellent quality fruit as the basis for his wines. Naturally, the details of these three items could fill a Tour Diary chapter by themselves but a few examples will be provided after the tasting notes on their current range of wines.

Kaesler 2004 Stonehorse GSM sells for $17.50 at cellar door. It has an interesting, ripe bouquet of red fruit, dark chocolate and spice; it leads to a palate of blackberry, chocolate and pepper with a good contrasting combination of flavours that are mainly in the savoury spectrum. Ample-weight with a supple mouth-feel, the complexity is harmonious and this very drinkable wine will go well with food. With enough tannin to hold it together, the acid is fresh and the fruit pure. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, it's ready to drink now.

Kaesler 2004 Avignon GSM sells for $30 at cellar door. A sexy, fruit driven schnoz with raspberry, gentle spice and perfumed scents; it is a seriously structured wine backed by excellent long tannins that finish with good persistence. Housing and excellent mouth feel, this ample-weight wine has a supple consistency; the complexity is harmonious and sophisticated, whilst the tight structure should become seamless in time. Raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, chocolate, coffee and pepper flavours are chewy and more-ish. A damn fine wine, it is approachable now but will improve in the medium term. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

Kaesler 2003 Stonehorse Shiraz sells for $30 at cellar door. Ripe, perfumed plummy fruit is driving the bouquet but the palate is a surprise and much more savoury than expected with black plum, aniseed, and coffee oak that finish is to blackberry. Loads of dusty tannins and pure, deep fruit have not come together, and I don't know if this wine will ever reach its full potential. Very firm and tight, it needs time. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

Kaesler 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $25 at cellar door. The bouquet is very floral showing perfumed cassis, subtle cedar and vanilla and oak characters. Drying, well-judged tannin, obvious fruit and youthful acid are all the components needed but the acid sticks out at the moment. Not my favourite wine in the line-up, the palate is not as attractive as the nose would suggest. Muscular-weight with a very firm consistency, tight structure and agreeable complexity, the wine is hard to judge at this point but it looks more like a “dry red” than a varietal Cabernet. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, there are more attractive wines around for the price.

Kaesler 2003 Old Vine Shiraz sells for $60 at cellar door. Scents of smoky oak over clean, pure fruit delivers a palate of a black olives, spice, coffee oak character, blackberry and chocolate which finishes to an attractive bitter almond flavour. A seriously well-structured wine, with abundant silky tannins that are finely counterbalanced by pure, deep fruit; it needs a big sleep in a cool dark place. Muscular-weight with a firm but supple consistency, solid but tight structure, and well developed complexity; this is a very good result from a very difficult year. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, the rating could go higher as the wine matures around 2010. With food and a few hours of airtime, the wine softened considerably and it merited an Excellent *** rating.

Kaesler 2003 The Bogan Shiraz sells for $50 at cellar door. Lovely perfumed fruit, it is similar to the Old Vine but shows more coconut oak. Deeply buried plum and dark chocolate fruit flavours are currently dominated by tannins and coconut oak; at this early stage it is hard to like but there is a ton of room for improvement. Full-bodied with a very firm consistency and an agreeable complexity, the wine is tightly structured and totally shut down. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

Kaesler 2003 Old Bastard Shiraz sells for $180 at cellar door. A big, brooding bouquet that is tighter than a Swiss bankers vault. The palate is much better than the bouquet would suggest, with dark black fruits, including black chocolate and olives; this is a full-throttle Formula One that races all round the mouth. All the components are there but it’s a criminal waste to drink now as it needs time for the components to mesh; which they will. Muscular-weight with a firm consistency, solid structure and sophisticated complexity that will developed further, the authoritative tannins backs an impressive package. Rated as Excellent with room for improvement as the wine matures around 2010, who cares about the price - as long as someone else is paying for it!

Kaesler 2002 WOMS is a Shiraz Cabernet blend that has now sold out. A supremely-focused wine backed by sumptuous, deeply-seated fruit which produce an impressive amalgam of flavours; the dusty tannins finish with great length and drying persistence. Ample-weight the wine has a certain captivating charm and the harmonious complexity should be improved as the structure becomes seamless in time. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, I just love this little baby and look forward to consuming my first bottle in 2010.

A trip to Kaesler and an appointment with Reid would not be complete without a trip down into the bowels of the building to taste through a myriad of barrel samples and discuss the meaning of vinous life; an experience I always look forward to. The first philosophical gem to come out all of this relaxed session was from Reid who said, “The finish on the wine has got to be like the finish of a great chord in a rock 'n' roll song; you can't just stop it abruptly, it has to finish perfectly; if either one finishes in midair, it's just plain stupid.”

Whilst we were tasting samples, I asked Reid for his opinion on the last few vintages, here is what he had to say. "2002 would have to be the most ramped up, for no particular reason, vintage I have ever seen. They are very good wines but they are completely atypical for the Barossa. The wines from this vintage are real sleepers and don't look like they are going anywhere soon; they are stuck in time. 2004 is a very good vintage with plush fruit and should evolve very nicely over five to ten years. It's a bit early to tell about 2005 but I think there will be some very interesting wine. However, there was some real delineation between vineyard sites and soil profile had a big impact on the concentration. Grapes from gravely or sandy soils had small berry size and very concentrated flavour whilst those that came from soils with more clay, were a bit more dilute.”

Much later in the conversation, after we had tasted a number of barrel samples, we came back to our discussion about vintages. It was very interesting to hear Reid's comments on 1998, which in short he described as a flashy year. “Here we are seven years into it, and the great wines should be shut down and sleeping; instead many are drinking fantastically well but they will peter out when they are still relatively young.

2005 may be similar; there is not much below 15.5% and I think the alcohol may come back to haunt us. They have impressive fruit but the structure is a little bit lighter and whilst they are very nice wines, sooner or later the alcohol is likely the comeback. They don't have the density required to make great wine. We bought a hundred and fifty new barrels this year and have thirty of them left over. Volumes were up but the fruit wasn't strong enough to be able to sustain all the new oak so we just didn't use it. But I am only guessing, how can anyone know now; it is way too early.”

Interestingly enough, during this whole dissertation there was no mention of 2003; possibly a vintage many wineries would prefer to forget. Later in the conversation, Reid made one reference to 2003 which reinforces and illustrates his commitment to quality. In 2003, volumes were way down and on paper, apparently the winery lost a fortune. It would have been very easy to produce more Old Bastard or more Old Vine Shiraz but there is absolute in no way Reid was prepared to compromise the quality of his wines. He is acutely aware of the likely damage it would do to the wineries reputation and is not prepared to risk it. He said, “Other than our vineyards, our reputation in the marketplace is the most important asset we have, and we have worked very hard over the last three years for it.”

Here are some impressions of the barrel samples I tried. The 2004 Old Vine Shiraz is excellent and one of the will definitely wind up in my cellar. The Old Bastard is friggin sensational, incredibly complex with wonderful fruit, an excellent structure, a "complete" wine that will be hard to beat; it also had a huge amount of layered levels of flavour. The 2004 Bogan has a small percentage of Viognier in it although it won't be advertised as such; it will be loved by the US market. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon as excellent fruit and will also be worth buying. Soft and balanced already, it has sensational structure that will do nothing but improve.

Reid is still using the huge variety of oak barrels and goes to great pains to match each wine to ensure the most complimentary fit. He told us that in some years some batches just do not marry up to the oak as well as expected and in those years, those particular wines do not make the final blend. One of the other talents behind the excellent wines to come from Kaesler obviously relates to his ability as a master blender. Reid openly admits that he is not a one man band when it comes to making wine; he is ably supported by Stephen Dew in the winery.

About three quarters of the grapes come from their own vineyards and to illustrate how important they feel the quality of the grapes is to the finished process, the viticulturalist does not have a budget. Nigel van der Zande has a critical role of supporting the winery in the vineyard; his brief is to spend whatever is necessary to ensure that they get the best possible quality crop. The balance of their fruit comes primarily from very-old, established vineyards under a series of handshake agreements. As Reid is fully cognisant of the critical roles that growers play in the making of great wine, he does not believe in screwing them over financially for short-term gain, believing that it's better to pay more for good quality grapes and support the long-term survival of growers. During this very tough period for growers, Reid has managed to pick up parcel after parcel of ancient old vine material. Everything except the Cabernet is hand-pruned, hand-picked et cetera. Generally speaking, the vines are so old that if machinery went anywhere near them they would fall apart.

We also talked about the direction and trends in red wine making, here is what Reid had to say. "The last generation of Barossa wines have been dealt far too much American oak and they have been picked far too ripe and heavy.

We are looking for freshness, lift, vibrancy and raciness. We are looking to make wines in between what they were in the 70s and mid 80’s (13% alcohol) in where they have been in the last few years. We want to get some delicacy about them whilst avoiding overripe characters. Ripeness is important but the one thing we fear is over-ripeness, before hotness, sulphides, VA or any other fault; I can’t stand dead fruit!

Wine is a drink; it's not an artistic presentation from some artistic wine wan*ing winemaker who has his head up is ar$e and is not in touch with a public. From the bottom to the top of our range, we want people to be able to drink the whole bottle. We are not after ‘one glass wonders’ where there is massive interest on the nose but after one glass you've had enough.”

Reid also has a very “interesting philosophy” about the role of the marketing department in a winery, and especially so in the case of the large corporate companies. According to Reid, marketing departments screw more wineries then they help, so why does he think this way? “Once you have a marketing department you have a group of people in the middle who are getting in the way between the people who are making the wine, and the people who are buying the wine; to make matters worse, those people are also trying to justify their existence. Marketers have no idea what makes people by wine and always take the path of least resistance; they are out of touch and they waste money, they waste huge amounts of money.”

(Gee, I am so glad I was in marketing for all those years, Reid’s speech made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. )

“If I ever got back into a large company I would give the marketing department a bigger budget, and the vineyard crew a smaller budget. If the marketing department thinks they should be planting a new vineyard, or planting a new variety, it will have to come out of their budget which will ensure they think long and hard about it. It will also ensure the marketing department is tied to long-term strategic direction of the business.”

Whilst in some ways this is a little more simplistic than real life, the basic idea and objective does have some merit.

One thing you can definitely say about Reid, he does have an opinion, is not afraid to express it; and not surprisingly, most of the time the majority of what he says makes a lot of sense. Clearly, he is a smart man and making some equally smart wines. Kaesler is a winery to watch, they are certainly going places.

That was the end of the day's formal tasting activity and we had just enough time for a quick shower before dinner. The original plan was to eat at 1918, but when The Pie King rang to book at the last moment, he was informed they were booked out. We are not sure if they were really booked out, or if John asked if they had pies on the menu and they then decided, that indeed, they had no room. Not trusting John to make the next booking, I made a reservation for us at Vintners.

Naturally, we ordered a taxi as we had four open bottles of Kaesler Wines that Reid had been kind enough to give us after our tasting. It's always good to be able to try these wines with dinner and after a bit more airtime. Vintner’s is one of the icon restaurants in the Barossa which has an extensive wine list but still allows BYO, and that makes it extremely attractive. When we walked in Stuart Blackwell from St Hallett's was hard at work trying to sell their wine to a young lady who is furiously tasting and making notes; she was nodding studiously at Stewart's undoubted wisdom, so things look like they were going well in this serious business discussion. Boy was I glad the formal part of the proceedings was over so I could enjoy a good glass or five of wine. There was a large table close to us, and judging by the amount of wine on their table, they were out to enjoy an end of season party, so no matter what your reason for dining out, this place is a good choice.

John’s main course – ……..

Lamb loin on ‘pooey’ lentils …..

For a starter I had a terrine of roast red capsicum, vine ripened tomatoes with separate slices of bocconcini and lightly seared tuna which was a superb combination of savoury flavours and textures. The bocconcini has been dressed with olive oil and aged balsamic; seriously yummy. Brian had shredded quail with chilli, ginger and coriander dressing; the dish was presented on a bed of “crispy, bits” that the boys thought were Dorritos. Brian said it was authentic Thai with a good combination of sweet, sour, hot, salty etc and there was a good bed of chilli as the foundation. John was being a gourmand, he ordered the mini pizza and whilst he said it was fabulous, his only complaint was the “mini” component.

John proceeded to then tell as a great story and did not realise the tape was running and his every word was being recorded. Here is what he had to say. “I had a community development program meeting organised at work. At council, a few of the guys wanted to set up ‘The Mainstream Men Accessing Community Health Services Program’ which was an opportunity for all these men to get together and share deep and meaningfuls.

They wanted me to be involved but I told them I can't be involved. The one thing I am certain of is men can’t understand women; they are a mystery. Men are two-dimensional; one dimension is alcohol and the other dimension is sex. We always know where we stand; our idea of foreplay is a woman showing up naked and bringing the beer. I was adamant, and said it in a public forum that was full of women. That is what men are interested in; you can not convince me the guys here have deeper dimensions. All you are going to do is to find that deep inside, as these guys peel off these nonexistent layers, there is nothing else there.

It's important for men to feel comfortable with the fact they are inherently shallow and that recognition will make them happy. If men think that they are deeper than they really are, and try and model themselves on women, who are beyond male understanding, they have nowhere to go.”

 ……………… Brian’s main course –

……… It’s always Quack, Skippy or Moo Cow

When Brian asked John how that was received in the public forum, John said, "Very badly.” Gees, I wonder why? But no one can accuse the Pie King of being afraid to speak his mind.   The only thing that surprised me in that dissertation was, when John was describing what turned men on, there was not one mention of meat pies.

With a few hours of extended aeration, the Kaesler wines were vastly improved. Overall, tannins are soft and silky and the wines are integrating magnificently with the soft fruit the driving force. However I will say that as good as the wines were, and clearly they were bloody good, it's hard to plough your way through such young wines after tasting them all day, and clearly, older wines would have been easier on our systems.

By this stage our main courses had arrived. When I asked John what he was eating, he said “no idea” which obviously means he was enjoying himself. Brian analysed it to be lamb loin with ‘pooey’ (puy) lentils and prosciutto. Brian had a rare grilled sirloin with garlic confit and caramelised red onion surrounded by a very rich sauce. I had a gourmet pizza (that would have even been big enough to keep the pie King happy) that was topped with prosciutto, mushroom, red capsicum and assorted other things.

We drank the 2003 Old Bastard with our main courses and it was absolutely magnificent. Silky smooth, a wonderful mouth-feel, some elegance, impeccable class and it absolutely "kicks arse.” A perfect pizza wine; just as well I didn't have a hamburger, or I may have needed a bottle of Grange! The 2003 Old Vines was very similar but not quite as subtle as the Old Bastard. With food, the Old Vine tannins smoothed out the rating would be increased to Excellent; it went better with the non-pizza dishes than the Old Bastard.

Over dinner, we talked about Reid’s philosophy for Kaesler wines. One of his objectives is, in 50 years time, to be able to open up a vertical of his top reds going all away back. At that tasting, he wants to be proud of the wine he has made. This isn't just wistful thinking; this is one of the driving forces beyond a talented winemaker and smart businessman, who has every chance of successfully achieving his objective. A long-term game plan and commitment to it, is much more likely to produce consistently high-quality wine, than a company that is driven by obtaining quarterly fiscal results.

By the end of the main course, we had finished, indeed had demolished, the bottle of the Old Vine Shiraz, yet the Old Bastard was far from finished. Whilst the Old Bastard is a lovely wine, you'd need a Brontosaurus steak as a food match and the Old Vine was far more food friendly. We happily sipped our way through the Old Bastard without food.

For dessert, I had a fresh raspberry tart with vanilla bean ice cream that was a work of art. The raspberries were magnificent but unfortunately the vanilla bean ice cream could have come from the supermarket, only it was a little creamier; there was also scant evidence of vanilla bean. The Pie King and his apprentice shared a cheese plate accompanied by the remaining red wine..

At this point, over dinner when we looked back on the last few day's activities as a whole, a few interesting thoughts emerged.

According to John, it’s very rare you smell a wine and say “that’s great oak” although you will often say “that's great fruit”. Unfortunately, over the last few days, on a number of occasions, a number of wines we have nosed have aromas of great oak but alas, the same cannot be said for the fruit. No disagreement from me on this conclusion.

The Kaesler wines were simply outstanding. Even the 2003’s, which were from a very difficult vintage are showing reasonably well and are a step above many other wineries 2003 efforts. Many of the Barossa wines from 2003 show tannins that are so firm they are on the point of being hard. The better the talent of the wine maker, but more importantly, the higher the quality of fruit the winery had access to, the less this harshness showed. Kaesler's wines are showing well for this vintage. Generally speaking, the wines from 2003 will drink earlier than the wines from 2002 and possibly even 2004.

As usual, John was staying in the Tanunda pub, but this time with a difference; the place was full and the only room available was the ‘Honeymoon Suite,’ which he was only to happy to take at $60 a night. I wonder what sort of couples would have their honeymoon at the pub; possibly a local biker and his moll. Just as predictably Brian and I had booked rooms in the Weintal Resort for $80 a night so all we had to do was to get back to our respective lodgings, which proved to be a little more difficult than expected. A cab was called and we went outside to get some fresh air and wait. After a few minutes, the Piewimp started bitching about the cold and went back inside so he could sit next to a heater. As Brian and I both come from cold climate environments, we thought it was lovely outside, not even “fresh” let alone “bracing” and thought that the word ‘Piewimp’ should possibly have the first three letters removed. Brian and I admired the stars but it soon became evident that Brian had forgotten as much about astronomy as I had, although he would not admit it. He would point in the general direction of the heavens and say, “see, there is Taurus and there is Orion.” On questioning exactly where, it was a case of a very fast shoe shuffle that would have made Fred Astair envious.

Eventually our cab arrived and it was back to our various motels. And so ended a terrific day.

Normally, I end each chapter at the end of a day, but with this Tour Diary, I will break the Barossa section into two, so this chapter continues until lunch time the next day.

Wednesday – The Barossa

Up bright and early with enough time to catch up on my email and do a few necessary updates to my web site. As is tradition, we arranged to meet for breakfast at a little takeaway greasy spoon in Tanunda. John left the Council owned Pie Limo at our motel last night so I drove the two of us into town. With his Pieship staying in the pub, one never knows what to expect the next morning when John walks in; he may look fit and well, or he may look like death warmed up? Surprise, surprise! This morning he almost looks like a human being. When we asked why, his answer was surprising. When he got back to the pub, he was tempted to have a few ‘cleansing ale’ before bed but as he walked into the bar, he decided that the thought of the honeymoon suite and Fox sport was a better option so he headed up to his room instead. (Sue, he really did say this so if this behaviour continues, that doctor’s visit we were talking about should be arranged as soon as possible.)

Speaking of doctors, my throat was sore this morning and my voice was starting to get raspy but luckily my nose was 100% clear. On these trips I use Rhinocort nasal spray as a preventative.

This morning’s breakfast was pretty predictable; tomato juice all round, a combination of various coffees, and an assortment of bacon and egg toasted sandwiches, Brian had a slightly more healthy grilled chicken toasted wholemeal sandwich. Note to self; arrange to have cholesterol check when the trip’s finished, (and a grease and oil change too.)

It’s as hard to find a winery open at 9.00 am in the Barossa as it is in McLaren Vale so I had made a 9 o’clock appointment with Steve Kurtz at Kurtz Family Vineyards. I have been calling on Steve for five years now and the last two visits were not as good as I had hoped, so with the 2003 wines being featured, I was not all that hopeful of a great outcome. For those that don't know, the Kurtz family are not exactly new to this area, and like many old-timers, their family has been in the growing business for some time. They must be pretty good growers because parcels of their best Shiraz grapes, from one particular block (which gets a lot of moonlight) normally makes it into a certain unnamed icon wine (with a black label) named after a well-known Barossa legend, whose Christian name has ‘canine’ connections; but I'm not allowed to tell you where they sell their grapes.

As a hobby more than anything else, Steve decided that he wanted to start making small parcels of his own wine some years ago. The first vintage was 1999 and those wines were a cracker. Some of the wine is sold to the US, some is available in Australia at retail, but as this is a hobby rather than a get rich scheme, a lot of it is sold at "mates’ rates” to Tour Diary readers via mail order and the value is exceptional.

In past years, Steve has produced three different wines. In order of ascending price they were; a Grenache blend, Boundary Row Shiraz and their pinnacle wine, the Lunar Block Shiraz.

In 2004, Steve had some excess grapes that he was having difficulty selling. Let's face it; in 2004 you couldn't give away Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon, so Steve hit on an idea. As you could buy Cabernet Sauvignon extremely cheaply, and he was going to get nothing for his excess grapes, why not go out and buy some missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and produce a blended wine himself. It would not cost much to get the extra grapes and he wouldn't have to sell the wine for much to be in front, so that's exactly what he did and a new label has been born.

………… Steve Kurtz behind “the bar”

Kurtz Family 2004 Seven Sleepers is a blend of 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Petite Verdot and Grenache weighing in at 13.1% alcohol and sealed in Stelvins. It sounds like a wacky blend and frankly I didn't know what to expect. Likewise, when I was told that it was going to cost $9 a bottle at mates rates, I certainly wasn't expecting terribly much, but it works. Deceptive! An easy-drinking, fruit-driven wine that’s perfectly balanced and put together; the Cabernet component dominates. Blackcurrant and mint, its savoury, but there is a sweet lower layer of chocolate as well. Ample-weight with a supple consistency and harmonious complexity, it’s most enjoyable and will be perfect with pasta. Rated as Agreeable with ***** for value, it is a steal at $108 a case (mates’ rates) and every home should have a couple of cases.

Kurtz Family 2003 Boundary Row Shiraz is available at mates’ rates for a $180 a case direct from the winery. Sealed in Stelvin, the wine opened up with a little bit of stink (which blew off) and showed coffee oak and black fruits. With enough tannins to hold the wine together, it is not as “in your face” as previous vintages. Fruit-driven, with an attractive supple mouth feel, there is coffee on the uptake, intense ripe blackberry and liquorice on the mid-palate, with coffee and milk chocolate to finish. Whilst the wine lingers nicely, it does not have huge length. Ample-weight, with a supple consistency and harmonious complexity the wine is easy drinking already and will go well with food. A good result for a difficult vintage, it is rated as Recommended with ***** for value.

Kurtz Family 2002 Lunar Block will be released towards the end of the year and will sell at mates’ rates for $25 a bottle. Less than 60 dozen have been made. The bouquet was brooding and after spending 26 months in oak, the fruit is lurking. The wine is well structured and well made; the deeply seated fruit is in balance with the oak which adds to the complexity, rather than taking over. With an off-sweet flavour profile, the fruit has enough strength to kick through the fine-grained powdery tannins that needs about three years to resolve. Muscular-weight, with a solid, tight, layered structure that shows some elegance, this is a wine that is definitely worth buying. Rated as Highly Recommended with ***** for value.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these wines, then e-mail Steve at Kurtz Family Wines. Don't be surprised if it takes Steve time to respond, he is hopeless at responding to e-mail in a timely fashion but normally does eventually answer them.

I was very pleasantly surprised with this visit. Steve has backed off on the use of oak in the Lunar Block and the wine is better for it. The Boundary Row Shiraz is a very credible effort for the vintage and worth buying at the price. I honestly expected the Seven Sleepers to be swill, but as an everyday quaffer, it's a dynamite wine and the “quaffer” buy of the year. It was a very positive way to start the day's wine tasting and I will certainly be buying some cases of these wines.

We had some free time before our next appointment at Elderton so I decided to put it to good use; the districts major stationery/office supply shop is located literally around the corner from the winery and I wanted to check out digital micro recorders. Readers will remember that my existing recorder sustained some damage when it was dropped on to ceramic tiles, a couple of days previously in McLaren Vale, and although it was working, I thought if I could pick up a good one now, it would be worthwhile. The shop had a range of them with a bewildering array of differing specifications; it was clearly not as simple as “how long will this (tapeless recorder) play for?” Digital may be better, but it was certainly more complex than I had envisioned; it was not as simple as plugging a cassette in and banging on the record button. It truly was a case of RTFM and as I did not have an hour to read the manual, decided to postpone the purchase until I had got home, had time to research the features required, and then work out which was the best one to buy. So I naively and happily walked out without buying one.

There is something about going to Elderton Wines that I always enjoy. I have been drinking their reds for many years so there must be something about their style that appeals to me. It looks like I'm not alone; when I recently had a look at the search term statistics for the Tasting Note page of my website, the name Elderton is at the top of the list and has been for some time, so it's obvious that lots of other people, who are not lucky enough to visit the winery, are anxious to find out about their wines. When Allister Ashmead heard I was coming, fearing that I would want to meet him at 9 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday, decided that his presence was needed in the United States, so instead, this year we lucked out and were met by his charming and entertaining brother Cameron. I had heard Allister banging on him about Cameron for years, so felt like I knew him well; now having met Cameron, there is obviously a very close bond between the brothers because Cameron was banging on about Allister all the time.

The outside of the winery is extremely attractive, and if cars are your thing, either old or new (hoon mobile,) there is always something to see. The inside of the cellar door is functional but fairly stark and is overdue for a bit of a tart up. However, as long as they keep paying close attention to the wine and it continues to improve, the look of the cellar door is not a big deal in the scheme of things, although a coat of paint would not go astray to freshen up the winery.

I have tasted the Friends Range previously and whilst it offers excellent value for money, as there are only so many wines I can taste in a day, decided to go straight to the Estate Range. For good-quality everyday drinking wine, for many years my yardstick was Bin 389 – when it was about $14.95 (by the single bottle not on special) and I used to compare other wines to it for value. Without even realising it, over the last few years, wines like the Elderton Estate Shiraz have taken over that role as a wine for benchmarking value and quality. That is no mean feat!

Elderton 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $20 on the street and like all the Estate range, is made entirely from their estate grown grapes. A delightful fruit driven bouquet with loads of menthol, leads to a palate of blackcurrant, aniseed, spearmint, chocolate and coffee. With an excellent structure and balance, it sits well on the palate and the long, silky tannins finish with admirable persistence. Muscular-weight, the complexity is well developed and harmonious; a very smart, varietally correct wine that is worth buying. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value (based on the street price), it should peak around 2008.

Elderton 2003 Shiraz sells for a street price of approximately $20. A sensational, fruit-driven, perfumed bouquet; it shows plums, chocolate and vanillin oak characters. Smooth tannins, unobtrusive acid and pure fruit are well-balanced and deliver a spicy uptake with plum; blackberry on the mid-palate and mocha to finish. Ample-weight, it is elegant by Elderton standards and a good result for a difficult vintage. With a well-developed complexity, it is a pleasant, chewy wine that is approachable now and rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value (based on the street price.)

Elderton 2001 Merlot sells for $24.95 at cellar door. Normally I try and avoid tasting Merlot and was going to pass on this one, but Brian said it was worth trying, that is praise in itself! No wonder Brian wanted me to taste this wine; it is seriously structured and balanced with dusty tannins and pure fruit. The plum, musk and cherry aromas found on the bouquet are replicated on the palate with spicy oak and coffee. Muscular-weight, this solid, firm wine with a well-developed complexity is certainly not a wimpy wine and without doubt the best Merlot I have tasted in ages. It's certainly worth buying and rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value.

Elderton 2001 CSM sells for $38 at cellar door. In future years, the name of this wine will be changed to "Lorraine's blend" in honour of Lorraine Ashmead, the matriarch of the winery. Why this wine should be so much more than the Shiraz all the Cabernet I don't know, but in good years it sensational and worth the price. A supremely-focused, classy wine; it is well backed by ultra-fine, smooth tannins and pure, persistent fruit. Ample-weight with a supple consistency, some elegance to its structure and a harmonious complexity; it is approachable now it will improve. Red spectrum fruits with some minor leafy characters and a blackberry finish, this is a sensational blend and rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value; the rating should improve as the wine matures.

Elderton 2001 Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $85 at cellar door but can be found for as low as $65 on the street. Matured in 35% new French oak, the bouquet shows deep, brooding, black berry fruit with loads of coffee oak character. With a fine counterbalance between ultra-fine tannins and sumptuous fruit, this muscular-weight, solidly-structured harmonious wine is bloody serious but needs time to build complexity. Enhanced by its mouth feel, the black fruit, chocolate, plum and cherry flavours may not be exactly "perfectly varietal" but the wine is a seriously good "big red" that should become seamless in time. Rated as Excellent

Elderton 2001 Command Shiraz sells for $85 at cellar door but can be found for as low as $65 on the street. A big, ripe, sweet nose with coconut oak; there is some good complexity lurking below its broody nature. A big, old-fashioned Barossa Shiraz that is not as bombastic as previous vintages, the abundant tannins are balanced to deep, strong fruit that deliver ripe blackberry, dark chocolate, and coconut oak characters. The wine finishes with good persistence but it needs time, lots of it. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, it should reach its drinking window at about 10 years of age and the rating may go up in that period of time.

The 2004 Shiraz will be released in October as the volume of the 2003 Shiraz was minimal. There is a horror story associated with the volume of this wine. A very large percentage of it had to be destroyed, not because there was anything wrong with the original product. An employee made “a small error” that resulted in a pump running dry which left a rubbery smell and taste in a large percentage of the batch. Rather than comprise their reputation by releasing a substandard wine, the affected material was destroyed; the employee now works somewhere else. Just as well it wasn’t Allister.

As the Cabernet crop was not good enough, there will be no 2003 Ashmead Cabernet produced although I understand there will be a Command Shiraz.

I have yet to walk out of this winery feeling anything other than satisfied with what I have tasted, and that is one of the great things about this winery, it is remarkably consistent. The old-fashioned family values that are obviously so important to both Cameron and Allister carry through to the philosophy and running of the winery. Whilst other wineries may be stretching volumes, Elderton steadfastly sticks to its decision to only use its best quality home-grown fruit in its Estate range ensuring its consistent quality. Over the last few years the wines are starting to take on a little more refinement; the intensity of ripeness is lessening and dominance of overt oak is being reduced; all good things that will ensure this winery's long-term success. Without doubt, this is the best range of wines I have tried at the winery. One of the first wines I purchased when I returned home was the CSM and I'm still thinking about the Merlot. Whilst I didn't write a tasting note, their current dessert wine is delicious; laced with lots of apricots it had a wonderful, clean acid finish to it that certainly makes it a worthwhile purchase.

This is going to be a great morning; we are going from one of my favourite wineries directly to another one. Considering the lengthy story I wrote on Rockford's Winery last year, when I planned this visit I thought I would be writing the tasting notes and not much else; but as usual, Rockford is full of surprises. Since my last visit, the crew have been very busy with major renovations, building a new Stonewall members’ tasting room, as well as a new luncheon restaurant and kitchen. As luck would have it, the new Stonewall tasting room had just been completed and we were the first people to be privileged to taste in it “as customers.” The three of us as their first customers, a truly suspicious (pun intended) occasion!

The design of the two new buildings is certainly sympathetic to the original structures. Although the buildings are obviously new, from the outside, they blend in perfectly and are in keeping with the character and nature of this very special winery.

The Library

Below the tasting room it is a wine storage facility which you or I would call an underground cellar, but in typical Rockford style, it will be known as “The Library.” I wouldn't mind a “lending card” for this library when the shelves are stocked. Unlike most cellars which are fitted out with wooden or metal racking, they have constructed purpose-built brick cubicles to house the wine. Besides looking different, it is both stylistically sympathetic, and aesthetically very effective. Although this building is ultra modern, the combined use of timber, brick and exposed cement lends itself to the period theme running through the existing parts of the winery.

….. Ian Bickford and Red Bigot in the new Luncheon Room

Our host, Ian Bickford then took us on a tour of the new luncheon room facility. The plan is to have a weekly Friday lunch, for a limited number (16 max) of guests, with Rockford wines matched to the food coming from the library. Wherever possible, Robert O'Callaghan will host the lunches. John thought “the lunchroom was really classy, although they don't serve meat pies” and he is right on both counts. (When I planned this trip, at that stage I didn’t know this facility was open or I would have made sure I was there.) In time, they hope to have it functioning on both Thursdays and Fridays. The forecourt to the luncheon room was originally the family saltwater swimming pool. It has been very tastefully filled in, bricked over,