2008 Victorian Tour Diaries Chapter Two

The Bigot Bros™ Turbocharged 2008 Victorian Tour – Chapter Two

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Day Two – Thursday – The Pyrenees

The next winery on the list was Eurabbie Estate. This was a winery I knew virtually nothing about and we were taking pot luck. We followed the tourist direction signs, and that ensured we went the long way round. No kidding. This time Brian's GPS was not to blame as he did not plug in the address. In many of the wineries we visit, the resident dog frequently comes out to greet us. In this case, the resident canines are different. Behind the wire fence was a family of black and tan Alpine Dingoes. John Higgins, the owner and winemaker is a retired journalist who is ardently involved in wildlife research, conservation and the caring of injured native animals.

During the tasting, John told us how he introduced Huon Hooke to wine journalism at the local Leeton newspaper and was responsible for overseeing his early career.

Pyrenees Villagers 2006 Old Malcolm’s Inn Shiraz sells for $19.75 at cellar door and is sealed under screwcap. The wine showed lifted black pepper and other spices together with black fruits on the nose. Unobtrusive tannins combine with lively acid and pure fruit to form a medium-weight, supple wine with an open structure and an agreeable complexity. Very ripe blackberry, pepper and spice flavours provide loads of fruit flavour. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink over the next five years.

Eurabbie Estate 2006 Avoca Shiraz sells for $22.75 at cellar door and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet shows five spice characters and blackberry. Find, dusty tannins combine with fresh acid and obvious fruit to form a medium-weight wine with a supple consistency. Intense blackberry, vanillin and coffee oak, together with spice, produces a wine with loads of fruit flavour. The very-ripe flavour profile is not typical for the area, but it will appeal to many wine lovers. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink over the next five years.

Eurabbie Estate 2005 Cabernet Shiraz sells for $28 at cellar door and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet shows coffee and spicy oak. The wine sits well in the mouth. The strong, deep fruit is intense and delivers a black flavour profile with blackberry, blackcurrant, tar, and coffee oak characters. A solid drop that is backed by unobtrusive, tight tannins it needs time to soften and for the crisp, fresh acid to integrate. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, drink from 2013 and beyond.

At the end of the tasting, John asked me what I thought of the wines. I told him I had rated them reasonably well, they were good, strong, credible wines, and then mentioned a number of the highlights, but they were not my preferred flavour profile. Whilst I was talking, in an incredibly defensive posture, John crossed his arms across his chest and his eyes were throwing daggers at me. He certainly didn't like what I had to say and took it personally. The only thing he said after that was goodbye. I can’t remember a single winemaker whose reaction was so openly defensive when someone stated that there the wines were good, by were not their preferred style. Ever. The reaction was extraordinary.

It was time for another round of potluck, and this time we went to St Ignatius Vineyard, home of Hangman's Gully wines. An Argentinean immigrant, Enrique Diaz and his wife Silvia purchased their property in 1992 and immediately started planting grapes. Their first vintage was in 1997. They now have twenty acres under vine and plan to plant a number of the more exotic varieties. The cellar door is still a work in progress. When we visited, they were building a new tasting bench.

There is a restaurant area that forms part of the cellar door but it is only used for a small number of functions, and to say the least, the Argentinean grill gets a hammering.

The joint looked like a bit of a bomb site but that was more than made up for by the warm welcome we received from Silvia. When I explained my mission, she was concerned that she didn't have much to show us, as they were between vintages. Silvia reluctantly, very reluctantly, offered to open some of the unreleased wines but was seriously concerned as they had just been bottled and may be going through bottle shock.

Hangman’s Gully 2005 Merlot sells for $35 at cellar door and is sealed under Diam. The bouquet opened up to show lifted alcohol/EA which blew off quickly to reveal perfumed, musky fruit. The wine has a terrific structure (for a Merlot.) The distinct fruit is firmly and solidly backed by tight tannins and fresh acid. The flavour profile is savoury with sweet underlying fruit; mushroom, musk, eucalyptus, milk and dark chocolate flavours are enjoyable as long as you don't mind a fair wack of eucalypt. A solid, credible wine it is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, drink from 2010 and beyond.

Hangman's Gully 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon will be released in March and will sell for approximately $35 at cellar door; it is sealed under Diam. The wine had just been bottled, so we were seeing it at its worst. The bouquet was flat and closed. Pancakes in a vault! The palate was more expressive and showed red and blue fruits with eucalyptus. Smooth, tight and fine tannins combine with fresh acid and pure fruit to form a well-constructed wine that is just ample in weight and sits well in the mouth. The harmonious complexity adds to its user friendly nature. At this stage, it looks like a good dry red rather than a varietal Cabernet, but that may change as the wine recovers from bottle shock. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine enters its peak drinking window in 2012 and beyond.

Hangman’s Gully 2004 Shiraz sells for $35 at cellar door, is sealed under cork and is just about sold out. The bouquet shows coffee oak which overshadows the dark fruits and eucalyptus. A well-constructed wine, it needs time for the fresh, crisp acid to calm down. Coffee oak on the uptake is complemented by the pure fruit which delivers loads of minty characters and blackberry/black cherry flavours. It's ample-weight, tight and has an agreeable complexity. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures. Due to the drought, this wine was cropped at 1 tonne to the acre.

Hangman's Gully 2005 Shiraz will be released in March and will sell for approximately $35 at cellar door; it is sealed under Diam. The wine was suffering from bottle shock, but its true character was still evident. The bouquet showed lifted volatiles with coffee oak over dark black and blue spectrum fruit. All the components are there in the right proportions and the tannins are superfine. A medium-weight, supple wine that is tight, solid and shows some elegance; it sits comfortably on the palate. The intensely flavoured fruit delivers blackberry and mint and finishes with good length and persistence. It needs time for the fruit to absorb the coffee flavoured oak, the acid to settle, and the components to weld together. I normally don't like this type of black flavoured profile, but the mint adds lots of interest. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, drink from 2012 and beyond.

I am glad we called in it Hangman's Gully, it was a pleasant experience. Silvia is a delightful lady and couldn't have been more helpful. The wines are credible and priced fairly. It'll be interesting to see how this winery progresses, and how their wines develop as they age. (Brian’s comment: I was a little concerned at the level of eucalypt aroma and flavour in some of the wines, if that doesn’t integrate with age the wines won’t suit my palate.)

Normally we would have gone to another one or two wineries but unfortunately we had to drive back to Ararat to pick up Brian’s forgotten clothing. (Brian’s comment: We had plenty of time (Victorian country roads are very good, you can average speeds near the speed limit) and I suggested calling in at Mt Avoca, but Ric declined. Another of his ulterior motives surfaced as we neared Ararat. He wanted to check out a bright red cotton dressing gown he saw in a shop window. We got there just before the shop closed, but it turned out to be synthetic rather than cotton. Ric responds: I put me hands up to it governor. You got me red handed and bang to rights.) Once we got back from Ararat we went to our accommodation at Summerfield. It's a great spot. It's so quiet that in the morning you can hear the sparrows break wind. Each room has their own kitchen as well as all the other amenities one would expect. The only potential downside is that the two-bedroom apartment is the only accommodation that has a phone line for Internet access.

The first of our virtual winery visits is to DogRock. The winery is located just on the other side of the Grampians – it’s on the western side of the Pyrenees and would have been our first stop on the back road from Ararat into the region.

The winery is owned by Allen Hart and his partner Andrea. When I requested a visit I received a very polite but to the point response. It turns out that both of them work at Fosters and that Allen is in a senior winemaking position. Whilst he was happy for me to try the wines, naturally enough he has to avoid any possible perception of conflict of interest. Given my writing style we agreed that it was safer for him to send the samples and I would gain the information needed from their website or by email. Very fair!

When you read the information contained on their website, a couple of things stand out like dog’s “rocks”. Three things are of prime importance to them in their quest to make good wine. In summary they are viticulture, agricultural and ecological sustainability; and a dislike for natural cork. By looking at these aspects more closely you will get a better understanding of what makes this winery tick and why they are different.

Clever woodwork crafting outside Eurabbie Cellar Door

It started in 1998 when they purchased one hundred and forty three acres of land just out of Crowlands. Most of the property is heavily timbered hillside but there was some cleared areas that looked perfect for grape vines. The hillside above the property is ‘only’ eight hundred meters high and has seen virtually no farm grazing animals. Not even David Jones would want to live there, let alone goats, so it is a natural haven for native Australian flora and fauna. Just in case there were not enough trees on the site, they planted an additional four thousand of them. In terms of ecology, that’s putting your money where your mouth is!

In 2000 they planted vines and built their house. I hope they had help or they would have been busier than a one armed brickie in Baghdad. The house they built was no project home. It runs on wind and solar power (no jokes about bald guys farting please) and the water supply is direct from the sky. They don’t even use a pump to move the water, just gravity. (Having experienced ‘dancing between the drops of water in the shower’ at the Pie Kings joint, I hope this one is more efficient.) The hot water is from solar panels and the need for summer cooling has been avoided by countersinking the house into the hillside. The winery. which was built in 2005 and has just completed its third vintage, has been built using the same principles. Communication to the outside world is not via carrier pigeons…. yet. There is phone line into the property.

They grow three different types of red grapes; Shiraz, Grenache and Tempranillo, as well has three whites. According to their website, there philosophy making wine is to produce wines that will be innovative and interesting, in a European in style that have elegance, balance, flavour, and will be rewarded by modest cellaring time. Sounds good to me!

There is a complete page on their website devoted to screwcaps; they like them. There is one line, in relation to cork. I love it, it states, "If a car maker had one of its wheels fall off 5% of its cars would you buy the car? I rest my case." Allen could also have mentioned the same brand of car called ‘Corked’ may also have up to a 5% failure rate where the engine blows up due to oxidation. That makes it marginally more reliable than a Lada! And you wouldn’t be seen driving one of them, would you?

DogRock 2006 Pedro Sparkling Red sells for $29 direct from the winery and is sealed under a crown seal. The wine is a blend of 50% Tempranillo, 40% Shiraz and 10% Cabernet. When the wine was poured, it looked like a raspberry soufflé and took about as long to drop. The palate is delightful and different. The flavour profile is diverse and it gets the tastebuds zinging with anticipation and that makes it a good food wine. It is very savoury, showing dark chocolate, red cherry, fruit cake and blackcurrant. As the wine warmed up, loads of drying tannins emerged and it also finished very dry and earthy. On the plus side, there is just enough residual sugar to balance the savoury aspects of the wine and the tannins are soft on the palate, but unfortunately it is slightly short on the back palate and doesn’t pull the flavour all the way through. Nevertheless, it is most enjoyable and is certainly worth purchase. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine gains a bit of bottle age.

DogRock 2005 Shiraz sells for $22 direct from the winery and is sealed under screwcap. The broody bouquet shows a touch of lifted volatiles with plum, chocolate, mocha and earthy notes. The palate shows pleasant, savoury, plummy fruit on the uptake and leads to pepper on the mid-palate, with a slight sappiness to the respectable length finish. There is nothing sweet about this drop at all. Abundant, slightly powdery tannins provide a very solid backbone to this medium-weight wine with a supple consistency and agreeable complexity. A good food wine, it needs a couple of years to settle down and for the tannins to integrate. Rated as Acceptable with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine enters its peak drinking window between 2010 and 2015.

DogRock is a small winery that is flying an ultra-light close to the surface of the ground. It will be interesting to see how they progress, and if they can eventually gain enough height to be picked up as radar blips.

We had arranged to have dinner with Dave Milne at Warrenmang Vineyard and Resort. I had met Dave on a previous trip and found him to be very helpful and hospitable.

When we arrived at the winery, we handed over our older wines so they could be decanted. Dave grabbed a bottle of what looked suspiciously like some FRS and some glasses and then we piled into a borrowed company “Limousine” for a short trip up the hill. After this morning's exercise, I am damn glad he didn't make us walk, although his dog either ran beside us, or played scout to make sure we didn't get lost. Who needs a satellite navigation system with a dog like that! For those who are old enough to remember, the Border Collie's name is Alvin, after Alvin Purple, which can only lead one to wonder what sort of debauched youth Dave had!

Border Collie's are known for their intelligence, and Alvin is no exception. In the 2005 vintage, Alvin lived up to his surname and worked out the purple juice spilling out of the fermenters was lovely and sweet. The problem was that some of it was fairly alcoholic. So now, during vintage, either he is not allowed to come to work or someone has to keep a very close eye on him.

The complex was started almost 19 years ago by Luigi Bazzani, making him one of the pioneers of wine and tourism in the district. In those days, interest rates were about 17% and Luigi was known as Mr Optimistic. At the rate (bad pun intended) things are currently going in Australia with interest rate rises and the difficulty of moving wine, things could be going full circle and there may be many more Mr Optimistics.

The four-wheel-drive rattled and jolted up the track until we reached the summit. What a view! We stood then admiring the view, although the wind was blowing a gale. If you think I'm exaggerating, I recorded our conversation on my digital recorder but the wind was so strong that it literally blew most of the words away. No kidding.

The unlabelled bottle, or “clean skin", was in fact a Warrenmang 2000 Sparkling Shiraz. When the wine was made, a pallet of it somehow got lost and despite looking for it, it could not be found. Recently some pallets of stock were moved and there it was; much to the delight of all concerned. The wine showed a lovely combination of aged, leathery characters with vibrant and fresh blackberry liqueur fruit below it. The wine was very savoury with just a touch of residual sweetness.

According to Dave, this wine was a saviour for him. In his past position, he worked in a Queensland winery that made a Sparkling Merlot that was terrible, and that turned him off sparkling reds until he got the Warrenmang and tasted something decent. Sparkling Merlot? Yuck!

Like all wineries in the region, 2007 was a tough year. Volume was down approximately 50%, but this year things are looking better. They had a good dump of rain around Christmas which put a bit of water in the dam, just enough to get them through summer if they use it judiciously.

The last time I visited the winery in 2004 there was a thumping great big bloody hole at the back of the winery that had been scooped out of the side of a hill. It looked like they had moved half a mountain to make this hole. At that time, a merger had been proposed that would combine Warrenmang with the 800 acre Landsborough property, GlenKara Estate. A Melbourne consortium had intended buying both businesses and then floating the combined project. It was meant to be signed sealed and delivered by the first of February. In a good news, bad news situation, the 2004 vintage was a record harvest for both GlenKara and Warrenmang. Both organisations were busy with harvest and they didn't have a chance to finalise the deal. Then they hit a new financial year and because some of the details changed, a new prospectus had to be issued. For 12 months, every time they put the champagne on ice in anticipation of a celebration, something else would go wrong. Finally, due to the consortium’s inability to conclude the purchase of Warrenmang, instead of the deal being floated, it sank. Luigi and Athalie Bazzani still own the property and are actively involved in the day-to-day running of the operation.

Big holes don't go away of their own accord and Warrenmang’s sat there until the middle of 2006 when construction started on a new barrel shed. The journey to the barrel shed was an interesting one. We rattled our way back down the track until we hit the bitumen; drove past the restaurant and down to the cellar door. At the back of the cellar door behind the counter there is a tunnel with barrels stacked up on the left-hand side. I am sure a Harlem Globe Trotter could walk down this tunnel, provided they did it on their knees and made sure they bent their heads too. The tunnel does have atmosphere (otherwise it would be difficult to breathe) and engenders a feeling of being in a winery. The end of the tunnel leads into the winery and once you turn left you are in the new shed.

This is a barrel shed with a difference. It has the most amazing atmosphere. When we walked in it was lit by candles. I was most relieved to hear that this was not the proposed venue for our dinner. Having a candlelit dinner in a secluded place with these two guys would get tongues wagging. Absoludle! Part of the room’s charm comes from the bare earth floor. I asked Dave why they hadn't sealed it. He said, “$70,000 worth of concrete might have had something to do with it.” They have started using the room for wedding functions and apparently it has been very successful. They roll out red carpets all over the place to increase the atmospherics. It also stops the bride's high heels sinking four inches into the earth and then going ‘splat’ onto their face. Spitting out all that earth would also mess up their lipstick.

At their current production rates they feel it is probably not necessary to seal the floor, but if they take the next step, they will have to examine the option again.

By this stage, we all had a good appetite so we headed up to the restaurant for dinner. The hors d'oeuvres were amazing. The first item was a game consommé with confit duck. The second item was a Moreton Bay bug nori roll. The only way to describe the consommé is to say it was bliss; sheer bliss. It was subtle yet intense and had a hint of star anise. When I said that it reminded me of a great Pinot, for some strange reason the other two laughed. The nori roll was very different and had an abundance of both garlic and ginger. To quote Brian, a fellow not exactly known for his verbosity, "Yum!" It was a beautiful combination of flavours.

The first wine opened was a Primo 1996 Joseph Moda that was corked. I know it is not a representative sample, but three out of the last ten bottles of Moda that I have had from the 96 and 97 vintages have been corked. Not happy Jan!

The second bottle opened was a Houghton 1999 Gladstone Shiraz which was Brian's contribution. I was glad Brian had brought this wine as we split a six pack and I wanted to see how it was progressing. The bouquet is lifted and bright showing tobacco and pepper. When the wine was released it was showed lots of oak but the fruit has now to digested it. The wine has softened beautifully but there is still a skip full of silky tannin, so it has a long future. The fruit is youthful and finishes dry and clean with lovely persistence. The flavour profile is black, but it's not that overripe black profile; there's loads of pepper and dark fruits.

The warm bread rolls were home-made, covered with poppy seed and the rosemary inside was a novel twist. They hit the mark.

The last time I ate at Warrenmang it was a boiling hot summer day. When I arrived at the restaurant it was stinking hot inside. The open windows were about as effective at cooling down the room as bicycle brakes on a 747. If you ordered a bottle of red from their wine list, OH&S would have dictated the waiters wear asbestos gloves to prevent burns when serving it. Drinking hot wine is about as pleasant as a visit to the proctologist. It’s not something a normal person does for pleasure, so the place received a bollocking in that Tour Diary. It seems these name and shame tactics work. Dave had a great deal of pleasure in telling us that since my last visit, a new air-conditioning system has been installed. The ambient temperature in the restaurant was perfect.

We had left the starters up to the chef so we had no idea what was coming. When it arrived, it's just as well we already had eaten the hors d'oeuvres otherwise Brian would have been drooling. Simply put, the dish was a work of art, and I don't mean Jackson Pollock. Three individual dishes were presented. The first was a steamed oyster topped with Red Nahm Jim and crisp shallots. When I popped the oyster into my mouth, the flavours literally exploded across the palate. It was like a rocket and the Catherine wheel going off on your palate at once. Awesome! The seared scallops were served on a micro Caesar like salad that had been dressed with a Thai style dressing. The scallop was also special. It had a delightful combination and balance of flavours including sweet, a hint of chilli, salt, and unusually, pepper. The lobster was served on a slice of fig and a base of pork. The flavours in the lobster dish were complimentary and were in perfect harmony but it was the combination of textures that was the stand out. The lobster was firm, the fig soft, and the pork crunchy and chewy. Stunning! The chef has had a significant amount of Thai culinary training, and Dave is a huge fan of Thai food and Thailand. I had to sit there bored out of my brain while Brian and Dave, two Thai wannabees, gasbagged on interminably and swapped reminiscences of Koh Samui and other exotic locations. Why couldn’t they talk about Pat Pong or somewhere else interesting?

The next bottle of wine opened was a Hardy 1994 Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon. When this wine was first released I adored it. Unfortunately the next couple of times I tried it I was not impressed. It hadn't just crawled into a hole; it had buried itself in a depression so deeply that I thought it was either comatose and never likely to come out of it, or dead. Drinking it was dead boring, so I sold all bar two bottles which I buried in the cellar. They were exhumed in a recent stock take and I decided to take one on this trip, figuring that if it was a skeleton of its former self, Brian could drink it at the wake, whilst I praised myself for not drinking much alcohol. (Brian’s comment: That explains a lot. I’ll remember that when picking wines for the next trip.) The bouquet showed bright, lifted fruit which is driving the wine. The tannins have softened and integrated beautifully. As the tannins have started to drop out the wine has thrown a huge crust, it's gone from being a huge wine to being almost medium-weight. Blueberry and cigar box flavours dominate the palate, and as it opened up, some green bean characters emerged.

For the main course I had rose wine crisp duck, pickled cherry, caramel gaa laon lombok, spring onions and garlic chips. It was served with a side order of hand-cut, twice cooked chips. As Jamie Oliver would say, the full-flavoured duck was posh. The cherry sauce was sublime. The authentic Thai salad that accompanied it had a wonderful combination of flavours. The twice cooked chips were unsurpassed, sheer perfection and just typing this up, is making my mouth water, as I remember the taste of this food. We tried one of the other house signature dishes, mash with truffle oil and garlic. When I tasted it, I went, “Waaaahoo - it is this good or what? God help anybody that gets near me tomorrow with the amount of garlic in this dish!”

We also had a Black Puma 2004 Shiraz with the food. The full tasting note is located below.

After we finished our main courses, David Jones from Dalwhinnie sat down and joined us for coffee. He had been attending a local winemakers’ dinner and meeting that had been held in a private room.

We had been only going for two days and you would either have to be completely stupid, or a politician, not to be able to work out the Victorian wine regions’ latest strategy. And it's a good one. Let's face it, brand Australia which sold sunshine in the bottle whilst offering great value, is no longer working as well as it once did. The impact on Australian wine sales from the reliance on high Parker points in the US market has had its day. A new strategy for Australian wine exporters was absolutely necessary and long overdue. The Victorian winemakers have embraced the new regional focus with gusto. However, where this gets interesting is not with the overseas strategy, it's with the local strategy. The Victorian winemakers are determined to drive this strategy faster and harder than Kimi Räikkönen in a Formula One Ferrari.

Many of the Victorian producers have targeted the Melbourne restaurant market as their number one focus and drive. That makes so much sense it is surprising that there has not been an orchestrated effort like it before. Melbournians will support anything Victorian. Look at that stupid game they call football. If they will buy that pathetic excuse for a game, there is no reason they won’t buy their states own wine. Get the Melbourne Sommeliers and restaurateurs on side and they have a real advantage in the market. Sensible! And Simple.

The Pyrenees winemakers were discussing the possibility of creating sub regional marketing push for the Moonambel area. The objective would be to differentiate themselves from the wineries at the Avoca end, stressing the different climatic conditions between the two sub regions, and the effect it has on the wines. According to David, he likes the idea because it will enable the sub regions to add more definition to their identity. David then went on to tell us that Decanter Magazine is going global. Apparently they sent a Technical Editor who was based in South Australia for six months and spent much of that time looking at the regional terroir of the Australian wine industry. The French have been selling this concept for centuries, and the Italians haven't been far behind; both have been very successful so there is no reason why we can't do it too.

Apparently there has been a lot of interest in Asia and the magazine is about to be translated into Mandarin. That could possibly have huge implications for the Australian wine industry in the long-term.

That was the end of a terrific day and a most enjoyable dinner. But it is not the end of this chapter by a long shot. We have the samples that were sent to me for review, as well as more virtual winery visits.

Dave from Warrenmang was kind enough to post selected samples to me so I could try them at home at my leisure. They have been included here.

Bazzani 2005 Shiraz Cabernet sells for $156 by the case ($13 a bottle) at cellar door and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet shows spice, cigar box, blackberry, cedary characters and some oxidative handling. The wine is well-balanced with loads of everything. There is nothing subtle about this muscular-weight wine, but it works. The sweet and savoury nuances deliver plum, eucalyptus, coffee, chocolate, cloves and liquorice flavours that finish with good persistence and is cleaned up by the fresh acid. Well backed by powdery tannins, the consistency is soft and the complexity is diverse. I cannot believe that this wine is only $13 a bottle and it offers heaps of flavour for the dollars. Drink over the next five years, it is rated as Recommended with ***** for value. They don't come better than this at this price.

Warrenmang 2005 Grand Pyrenees Cabernet Blend sells for $35 at cellar door and is sealed under cork. The bouquet shows cedar, spice, mushroom, coffee, and menthol. It is fruit forward but well backed by powdery tannins. The sweet and spicy, juicy-fruit delivers blackcurrant, hints of pepper, sour cherry and mocha flavours that finish with good length. It's a muscular-weight, harmonious and has a pleasing flavour profile. A very enjoyable wine, it is approachable now but will soften and improve in the short term. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, it should reach its peak drinking window between 2011 and 2015.

Warrenmang 2004 Estate Shiraz sells for $60 and is sealed under cork. The bouquet shows sweet, juicy-fruit that is subtly perfumed with plum, chocolate, eucalyptus and menthol. An impeccably balanced wine that is locked tight with nothing out of place; its ample-weight with a supple consistency and maintains a harmonious complexity. The fine and tight tannins are perfectly matched to the pure fruit which delivers plum, cherry, eucalyptus, chocolate and hints of pepper, and together with the coffee oak, it finishes dry. It is sweet on the uptake with a savoury mid-palate and finish. It needs time to show its best and if you are going to drink it young give it a good decant, as once it opens up it becomes seamless. A classy wine, it is rated as Excellent with *** for value and should be in its peak drinking window between 2012 and 2019. This was my favourite wine of the line-up.

Black Puma 2004 Shiraz sells for $80 at cellar door and is sealed under cork. (The wine was tasted twice, once in the restaurant and once at home. Separate tasting notes were made on both occasions but they were remarkably similar.) The bouquet is tight, pristine and shows a wine of obvious quality, oozing menthol and high-tone berry fruit, together with pepper, spicy and coffee oak. A wine of some class, it sits beautifully in the mouth and is perfectly supported by silky tannins. Black plum, cherry, liquorice, chocolate, and vanillin flavours are savoury and finish with good length. An almost seamless wine of ample-weight with a supple consistency; it is a linear across the palate. It has all the components, which are impeccably balanced but tightly glued together now, and it needs time for them to relax and unwind. A fine wine, it is rated as Excellent with ** for value; it should reach its peak drinking window between 2012 and 2019.

All the wines were good and the Bazzani blend is the best value wine I have found for some time. When I tried it, I never believed it would be so inexpensive. You would be completely nuts if you don't buy cases of the stuff for everyday drinking. Three years ago they produced 1600 cases and now they are producing 10,000 cases a year and growing.

As far as the restaurant is concerned, there is no need to regurgitate a heap of superlatives. It could not be faulted and that’s high praise from me. Service was professional and the food was some of the best we have had on any trip. If you find yourself in this remote part of the world, eat here; you won’t be sorry.

I have no idea how I got hold of the next wine as I don't remember asking for a sample to be sent, but as it was a Grampian Shiraz I decided to include it here.

The Story 2005 The Orphan Grampian Shiraz sells for approximately $18 and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet is black with blackberry, pepper, aniseed and cedar. A very youthful, savoury, food-friendly, medium-weight, wine that is interesting; the pure fruit delivers blackberry, cherry, pepper, eucalyptus, and vanillin oak. There is nothing sweet about the wine and the fresh, crisp acid gives it a clean finish. There is not much on the back palate but who cares. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

The story behind The Story sounds about as quirky as the story behind Rory Lane, the man that owns the store. According to his Web site, it’s a small urban winery in Melbourne. The Story makes Grampians Shiraz and little parcels of other novelties. The aim is to bring the winemaking experience to the city, where people can see, learn and enjoy it, rather than having to travel hours to get to it.

The second of our virtual winery visits is to Summerfield Wines. On my first visit to Summerfield in 2000, I wasn't particularly impressed with what I found; and neither were my two travelling companions. I gave them another shot in 2004 and was pleasantly surprised. Since that time, I have tried all their new releases and generally speaking, vintage variation allowed for, their wines have been worthwhile, credible efforts. When I emailed Mark about my trip, someone must have told him I was coming to the area. He had arranged a fishing trip in New Zealand. The old saying, just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that somebody isn't out to get you, comes to mind. It's amazing how many winemakers “are suddenly overseas” when I am coming to their area. I need to buy a travel agency and give them a copy of my schedule before booking my winery tours. That would be a tidy little earner.

I know from past experience Summerfield’s new wines will be released shortly, so I asked Mark to send me the unreleased samples so I could try them at home. Luckily I still have left over backup samples from previous years and I also opened these for comparison purposes.

By comparing a couple of vintages, especially if they are a couple of years apart, I can gain a good appreciation of the consistency of the label as well as an impression on how the wines are likely to develop.

Summerfield Accommodation

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Summerfield 2004 Merlot is sealed under cork. The bouquet was a touch reductive, very sweet, and had musky fruit lurking below the surface. The reductive character eventually blew off. Abundant, powdery tannins combine with fresh acid and pure fruit to form a solidly-structured, firm, medium-weight, tight wine that comes across more like a dry red than a varietal Merlot. Plum, chocolate and coffee as well as spicy flavours finish long and dry. The fruit may have possibly have been a bit too ripe. It needs time for the fruit to surface from below the tannins and is rated as Acceptable with *** for value; drink between 2011 and 2016.

Summerfield 2006 Merlot will sell for $23 at cellar door when it is released on March 29 and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet shows lovely, perfumed soap like characters with chocolate, musk, plum, and abundant dusty, coffee, cedary oak. A well-structured, solid and credible wine that is backed by fine powdery tannins, it is medium-weight and tight. This is real wine and not NutraSweet lolly water. It is approachable now and has a harmonious balance and construction, but it should soften further and open up in time. The palate profile is off-sweet and spicy with plum, spice, aniseed, coffee and hints of oregano. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink over the next seven years. It's short on the back palate but amongst a lot of positive attributes that’s hardly an issue.

Summerfield 2004 Tradition is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet is not just closed, it's dead and the wine is in a hole. Shut down for the duration. Its shows reasonable balance but stuff all else. There is no point in reviewing it now. If you have any in the cellar, leave it for a few years so that it has time to dig itself out of its crater.

Summerfield 2006 Tradition will sell for $23 when it is released on March 29 and is sealed under screwcap. The wine is Shiraz Cabernet blend. The bouquet shows fresh, vibrant fruit, crushed arrowroot biscuits, spice, and cedary oak. Mouth-filling fruit is solidly backed by fine tannins, and together with the unobtrusive acid they form a well-balanced, medium-weight, ultra-tight, solid wine with a diverse flavour profile. The attractive palate profile shows savoury plum, sour cherry, dried herbs, blueberry, vanilla and coffee oak, which lingers nicely and has good persistence. Rated as Recommended with **** for value, the rating may improve as the wine matures.

Summerfield 2004 Shiraz is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet shows blackberry with sweet baby poop (it's not as disgusting as it sounds,) and vanillin and coffee oak. The palate is savoury and fresh, but some sweetness in the secondary layer adds interest. Lots of blackberry, coffee, plum, dried herbs and chocolate flavours linger well. Just ample in weight, the unobtrusive but sufficient tannins provide a soft consistency and the noticeably crisp acid makes this ideal to accompany pasta dishes. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink over the next three years.

Summerfield 2006 Shiraz will sell for $23 when it is released on March 29 and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet is closed! It's spat the dummy and is shut for the winter. Thankfully the palate is more cooperative. It sits beautifully in the mouth and all aspects are in harmony. The pure fruit combine with fine, unobtrusive, powdery tannins to support this ample-weight wine with a supple consistency and tight structure. The flavour profile is off-sweet and savoury. It’s intense with plum, blackberry, aniseed, and hints of dried herbs on the finish. A very easy drinking wine, it will be hugely popular. Drink over the next five years, it is rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Signs in main street of Ararat outside Sicilians Restaurant. Times don't change.

Notice it was planted in 1856, but the second sign shows permission was given in 1874.

Summerfield 2004 Reserve Shiraz is a back vintage and is sealed under cork. The bouquet shows mushroom, earthy spectrum characters, blackcurrant, and vanillin oak. An admirable balance has been achieved by the combination of fine, unobtrusive, long, dusty tannins and deeply-seated, strong fruit, and the components are in harmony. Its savoury, with plum, delicious chocolate, a touch of mint, coffee, and blackberry flavours, but there is some sweetness below in a secondary layer. The wine dawdles across the palate and finishes long, persistent and dry. It's ample-weight, reasonably tight and is a lovely wine with a splendid flavour profile. Rated as Excellent, it should be in its peak drinking window between 2010 and 2015.

Summerfield 2005 Reserve Shiraz is the current vintage and is sealed under cork. It retails for $43 at cellar door. This wine was way better than it was a year ago. It shows sweet, perfumed fruit over dried herbs and spearmint. It's perfectly balanced with all the components in harmony. Slightly powdery, very-fine, smooth, tight tannins combine with fresh acid and pure, deeply-seated fruit to form a muscular-weight solid and tight wine that will become seamless. Plum, milk chocolate, aniseed, oregano, and sour cherry flavours finish with good length. It's all about structure at this point and needs time to open. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine enters its peak drinking window between 2011 and 2016. If it continues to improve the way it has over the last 12 months, this wine will have been underestimated by everybody, including me.

Summerfield 2006 Reserve Shiraz will sell for $43 when it is released on March 29 and is sealed under cork. The bouquet is reticent, tight and restrained. It's like a champion racehorse before the start of the big race. A well-balanced wine that is every bit as good as the 2004, the fine and tight tannins back this muscular, solid, supple wine that has a diverse complexity. Plum, sour cherry, milk chocolate, coffee and eucalyptus flavours are transported across the palate on long tannins that linger beautifully. It needs time to show its best but is rated as Excellent with **** for value, and should be its peak drinking window between 2011 and 2017.

The wines up till this point were enjoyable and could not be faulted. But oh me, oh my, that changed when I got to the (standard) Cabernet. In fairness to the winery, their Cabernet’s do sell, so people like them, but I don’t. Essentially they have taken quality fruit, and savagely and brutally murdered it. One of the joys of tasting wine is tasting the fruit. Licking tree trunks after a forest fire is not my idea of fun. Admittedly I like burnt timber less than the next person but pleeeease. Throw the flame thrower out and let the fruit shine through.

After Mark saw these tasting notes, he explained that after the 2004 vintage the oak regime changed. Firstly, prior to the 2004 vintage, he wanted to get to a four year barrel cycle in place and that meant that in some years, he had to use more new oak than usual. Secondly, he changed barrel suppliers after 2004. The results can be seen in the 2006 Cabernet which had not used napalmed oak.

How could you go past an offer like this? Its the general store/post office in Great Western

where we had a couple of good hamburgers (that cost more than $5 each!)

Summerfield 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is a past vintage and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet is dusty and dark; it's earthy and broody with blackcurrant, vanilla, iodine, caramel and cedar. The unobtrusive, smooth tannins provide a solid backbone for this medium-weight wine. It's both savoury and off-sweet with blackberry, and loads of eucalyptus, and tarry, toasty oak running right through the palate. There is a hint of sweetness in a secondary layer. When I tried this wine 18 months ago the toasted oak was noticeable, but at this point, rather than receding, it is dominating, and I don't like the way this wine is developing. Rated as Agreeable.

Summerfield 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon will sell for $23 when it is released on March 29 and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet is restrained, with pleasantly perfumed black aromatics, mocha and eucalyptus. The palate shows noticeably toasty, charred oak over dark fruits, chocolate, and cigar box. It's savoury and finishes long and dry. It is ample-weight with a supple consistency that would have been better with less oak influence; rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Summerfield 2004 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a past vintage and is sealed under cork. The bouquet shows quality fruit over noticeable, quality oak. A good wine, the deep, strong fruit is solidly backed by fresh acid and fine, unobtrusive tannins that enables the wine to sit comfortably on the palate. It's savoury with some herbs and spice, dark fruits, cigar box, and has eucalyptus/mint on the intense finish. An enjoyable, muscular-weight, supple wine that would have been better with less oak character, its still needs time to show its best (and absorb the oak) and is rated as Highly Recommended; it should hit its peak drinking window between 2011 and 2016.

Summerfield 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon will sell for $43 when it is released on March 29 and is sealed under cork. The bouquet is very similar to the 2004 but the fruit seems to be slightly higher quality; it is tight and shows mocha and blueberry. The almost silky tannins are fine and unobtrusive, and solidly back this supple, muscular-weight, tight wine. The deep, strong fruit delivers blueberry, toasted oak, dried herbs and cigar box flavours that are intertwined between sweet and off-sweet layers. The finish has excellent length and persistence. It sits comfortably in the mouth and in time should become seamless. The best to date under this label, it is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, and had the toasted oak been less noticeable it would have been rated as Excellent with **** for value. It should peak between 2014 and 2020.

Within each label the wines were remarkably, indeed eerily consistent. That consistency applied to both the fruit and the winemaking style. The only real differences could be put down to vintage variation, and that is the sign of excellent vineyard management and a winemaker that knows what he is doing. In my eyes, Summerfield is now at the point where if you know you like the previous vintage, it's a safe bet that you will like the next one. And that's great.

Hands up those who have heard of Polleters? It sounds like some form of terrible avian disease, or something that sailors pick up in exotic ports, but its not. It’s a small, family owned vineyard a couple of clicks south west of Moonambel, which was planted in 1994. In 2001 they released their first wine and Mark Summerfield has been making the wine for Polleters up to and including 2006. Mark found the extra work was stretching his capacity, and didn't want the quality of either brand to suffer, so he decided to concentrate on Summerfield and the Polleters wines are now being made by Michael Unwin.

I tried a couple of their wines previously but they seemed patchy, however with Mark making the wines, I thought they were worth a second look. The guy is a talented winemaker. The Polleters website is basic, about as basic as a moped. It's got the engine, two wheels, brakes, and it will get you from A to B, but there's not a lot of luxury. The Polleters website provides a couple of paragraphs of history, a couple of sentences on the available wines, Halliday's tasting notes, a price list, and contact information. That's it. The basics and nothing more, so unfortunately as I have not visited them in person, I cant go into all the gory details about vestal virgins handpicking the berries, comely wenches treading on the grapes, their use of a 400 year old slate fermenter that had been washed ashore in a ship wreck, the use of an ancient basket press that was made by Dom himself, and their wonderful four zillion year old golden, volcanic soil that was created when Bondi Beach’s father had an affair with Mt Etna. No, I can’t go into of that detail because all I can tell is Polleters grow grapes and have Mark make the wine. That’s all I need to know. What’s in the bottle is the important bit. They were kind enough to send me two vintages of almost everything, both of which have not been released, so I was able to get a good sense of their style and what is coming down the track. Here is what I found.

Moyston (Great Western) Home of Australian Rules Football Who wooda thunk!.............

Polleters 2005 Merlot will sell for $25 when it is released in late March and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet is quite varietal and shows savoury, spicy notes over sweet, musky fruit with plum and chocolate. The unobtrusive tannins provide enough backing to hold the wine together and it is better structured than many Merlots at this price. Coffee, chocolate, plum, and dried herb flavours savoury and finish clean. It's a medium-weight with a supple consistency and is uncomplicated and inoffensive. It's very drinkable and it will undoubtedly be successful, but I find it so boring. Rated as Recommended with *** for value drink over the next 10 year (**** for value based on the case price of $20 a bottle).

Polleters 2006 Merlot is scheduled to be released in 2009 and is sealed under screwcap. It is totally closed down, and the bouquet wanted to communicate with me about as much as my ex-wife. The wine was possibly going through bottle shock so I was seeing it at its worst. Yet the structure seems more integrated than the 2005. Pure fruit combines with fresh acid and tight, fine tannins to produce a medium-weight, agreeable wine that is consistent with the previous vintage. Coffee, chocolate, and dried herbs together with eucalyptus and mint finish clean and with good length. It currently shows some elegance. Rated as Recommended with *** for value (**** for value based on the case price of $20 a bottle).

Polleters 2005 Cabernet Franc will sell for $25 when it is released in late March and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet shows floral characters over black fruits and cedar. The palate shows a huge amount of intense, black flavour profile fruit. Blackberry, blackcurrant, and black coffee flavours together with mint are off-sweet. It's a medium-weight, tight, elegant and almost seamless. Very damn drinkable, it's worth buying for something different and is rated as Recommended with *** for value; it should be in its peak drinking window between 2011 and 2016 (**** for value based on the case price of $20 a bottle).

Polleters 2005 Shiraz will sell for $25 when it is released in late March and is sealed under screwcap. The nose showed sweet plum, vanilla, clove, nutmeg and liquorice. The deeply-seated fruit presents a flavour profile that is mainly black with plum, black cherry, blackberry, dried herbs, spice, and liquorice. An ample-weight wine, it’s firmly backed by powdery tannins, and whilst there is a skip load of flavour intensity for the buck, it needs time for the tannins to integrate. Rated as Recommended with *** for value; it will improve markedly when the tannins integrate and it reaches it peak drinking window between 2010 and 2016 (**** for value based on the case price of $20 a bottle).

Polleters 2006 Shiraz is scheduled for release in 2009 and is sealed under screwcap. Well-balanced with no rough edges or sharp points, it’s a better wine than the 2005. It’s medium-weight with a supple consistency, tight structure and harmonious construction. Plum, sour cherry, milk chocolate and minor hints of dried herbs makes this a very drinkable drop. Rated as Recommended with **** for value, it’s approachable already.

Polleters 2005 Morgan’s Choice will sell for $25 when it is released in late March and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet showed a pleasing level of complexity with milk chocolate, very sweet red fruit characters, plum, and pine/eucalypt notes. The wine is a dichotomy. The noticeably, powdery tannins, at this stage, make the fruit look a little thin, and yet the wine still manages to sit nicely in the mouth. It has a very solid structure which should ensure a long life, yet the consistency is soft. The palate is also a surprise and is more off-sweet than sweet. Plum, chocolate, cherry and dried herbs finish try and with reasonable persistence. It's medium-weight but needs time for the tannins to integrate. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink from 2010 to 2016 (**** for value based on the case price of $20 a bottle).

Polleters 2006 Morgan’s Choice is scheduled for release in 2009 and is sealed under screwcap. The bouquet appears to be more floral than the 2005 with earthy notes, charcuterie, milk chocolate, mint, and a hint of pine. I have a feeling the wine may have been going through bottle shock so I was probably seeing it at its worst. Fine, powdery tannins combine with fresh acid and obvious fruit to form a medium-weight, supple wine that is solid, and has a locked-up-tight structure. The individual structural components are synchronised harmoniously. Sweet plum on the uptake turns off-sweet with sour cherry, milk chocolate, subtle spice and mint flavours. The wine needs time to relax and is rated as Recommended with **** for value, but that rating should improve as the wine enters its peak drinking window (possibly ***** for value based on the case price of $20 a bottle, but I would need to retry it at that time).

The Polleters wines, if nothing else, were consistent, but there is more than that to them. They are well crafted, credible and reliable wines. The pricing is fair too. However, even after tasting all these wines, I still have no idea what a Polleter is, and neither does my trusty online dictionary. The answer to that question will have to wait until I do a real visit to the winery.

That’s it for this Chapter. The next one will be significantly shorter and will cover our time in Bendigo.

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From Rory: Thursday 13 March

As always... a great read TORB.

Interesting though, David Jones comments on cork, DIAM and stelvin. I'm a little shocked that in this day and age, DIAM was trialled only three years ago, but not Stelvin as well. Now we have to wait another 5 years to see whether he is happy with that! And by the sounds of it, only in his whites. And by no means are his wines less susceptible to cork taint than anyone else's.

From Michael: Friday 14 March

Yes, another great read.
Just wonder about the Bazzani Shiraz Cabernet . Is is a NV ? Cannot find a year mentioned.

TORB Responds: I am so glad Brian proof reads my work. Can you imagine what it would be like if he didn't? I also asked Dave from Warrenmang to check for any factual inaccuracies. Despite all of this, it still managed to slip through the cracks. Its the 2005 and I have now edited the text. Thanks.

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