5 years in Air Force, 50 in the Wine Industry

Following on, the first afternoon in McLaren Vale tour was started with Shiraz and Shiraz Blends Tasting at Kangarilla Road. 40 different samples from the region where on show, further to those that stood out in the Master Class, my picks were:

• 2009 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier
• 2008 d'Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz
• 2008 d'Arenberg d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache
• 2005 Geoff Merrill Reserve Shiraz
• 2008 Kay Brothers Hillside Shiraz
• 2008 Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Shiraz
• 2008 Maxwell Ellen Street Shiraz
• 2008 Mitolo Jester Shiraz
• 2009 Mitolo Savitar Shiraz
• 2009 Paxton MV Shiraz
• 2009 Paxton AAA Shiraz Grenache
• 2009 Penny's Hill The Skeleton Key' Shiraz
• 2007 Yangarra Ironheart Shiraz

but by this stage the most impressive drop was the 'hail mary' from McLaren/Vale Beer/Company and their Vale/Ale and Vale/Dry.

After a chopper flight over the region and quick refresh at the McLaren Vale Motel, it was off to Willunga. The dinner plans were at Russell's Pizza accompanied by Aged Wine, Fortified and Stickies.

Now Russell's Pizza is quite the institution around the Vale, only opening Friday and Saturday evenings. In a rustic shed with big trestle tables, the pizza coming out of the wood-fired ovens leaves no doubt why it is a regular sell out. If you get the chance, eat there!

My opening drop was a 1998 Coriole Chenin Blanc that was simply sublime, the difficult job of staying on the wine after such a big day was made much easier by such a fine drop. But that was as far as I got before Scott from Woodstock had found me to show off a few of his craft.

His opening gambit was the 2008 Pilot's View Shiraz, an ode to Douglas Collett A.M. Douglas was a Spitfire and Hurricane pilot over Europe in WWII, the views from which was said to influence his decision to enter the wine industry on return to Australia. It is from his autobiography that the title of this post is taken. In 1973, he purchased Woodstock Wines which is now in the hands of his son Scott, who had some more plans for me in the name of 1999 & 2001 The Stocks Shiraz. True to the Woodstock name, you could probably pull the splinters out of your tongue even after a decade in the bottle. Great big tannins that are unique to this singular winery.

My other special mention for the evening goes out to Kay Brothers Rare Muscat, which was the last wine for me... till the morning...

I just don't (Pi)know

Mornington Peninsula... Well it turns out that half of Victoria heads there for the summer break yet strangely the wineries are left untroubled by the influx unless of course they happen to have a restaurant... and they all have restaurants...

In many places, it was nearly a surprise that someone was there only to taste. Which shows one of the peculiarities of the region, that being the common practice of the region for there to be a cost associated with the tasting (not payable if a purchase is made). These contributions are generally a modest $2-$5 per person which is a cheaper option than my usual inclination to make a sympathy purchase. I am indifferent to the charge, if anything, it relieves me of any moral obligation to buy a wine that I don't particularly like, which I am sure is not the result that the Vintner is aiming for much like the freakonomics story of the day care that imposed a penalty of $3 for each failure to pickup a child on time. As an aside, I would be interested in what impacts, if any, the paid tastings have on sales.

One can't really talk about Mornington Peninsula without broaching the topic of Pinot Noir. I am aware that it is a wine obsessed over and pursed with religious fervour, but I have to admit that I do not understand the obsession. I have enjoyed good pinot, but I can't help but finish up with the argument that it is not a $40/$60/$80 red wine. I realise that Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are not the same beast or even that Pinot is not even a beast. I wonder if this is different for people who come to wine through softer and more subtle flavours and I wonder if whether the opposite is true for them. I also wonder with the rise of cool climate shiraz and it's softer smoother grape juice, whether this will change the attitudes of people like myself who have been introduced to wine through the big Reds. I am not saying I don't like pinot, just that I don't understand it and thus I run it in a price contest with the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignons. The best solution really is to just spend more time with Pinot, which can hardly be a bad thing.

Pino-losophy aside, it turns out that we didn't take advantage of the obligation-free(ish) tastings as there really was some great drops on offer. Our first port of call was, in fact another great passion, Red Hill Brewery which purveys fine ales from their Brewery/Verandah nestled amongst their onsite hopyard. Red Hill start with a Golden Ale and a Wheat beer but it was their other stock the Scotch Ale that was closer to my taste. They have a range of seasonals, the highlight for us was the Christmas Ale at a solid 8.3% it will bring on the cheer. I am incredibly keen to take part in their hop-picking and associated Hop Harvest Ale.

Our first winery was the next morning, The Cups Estate showed some diversity of the region featuring Blanc de Noir, Rosé, Moscato and Pinot Gris. The standouts were the Sparkling Shiraz, Merlot and Fortified Pinot that is made at Pfeiffer's in Rutherglen. For lunch, the stop was the Pig and Whistle, an english-style pub that features not only Old Speckled Hen but the Mornington Peninsula Brewery Beers of which the Right-Knacker Brown Ale was absolutely stellar.

After lunch, we struck out to Ten Minutes by Tractor, which I have to tout as the one cellar door in the region that absolutely can not be missed. As a one stop show of the region, Ten minutes shows the wonder of terroir with the single vineyard (Wallis, McCutcheon and Judd) ranges in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir showing great diversity each with unique and worthy characteristics. The reserve range Ten Minutes by Tractor produced from the best barrels of the flagships and also a Tempranillo. The entry level label 10X displaying great value drops that are a great introduction to the region and the label. By far and away, the best wine tasted in the region was the 2006 Wallis Whole Bunch Pressed Pinot Noir which has opened my palate to what Pinot can be, and I was left wanting more.

Foxeys Hangout was the next stop in the short tasting day (11-5), featuring a funky cellar door that really does have to be appreciated. The still wines from Foxey's featured great showings from the Rosé, Pinot Noir and Shiraz but the unique aspect to this particular haunt was the Sparkling. Foxey's can run an educationally focussed tasting in preparation for the disgorging, dosing and corkage of your own tailored blend. Our last stop for the day was Paringa Estate, but it was such a rush that I really don't think we could do it justice. Instead it will go on the list of places to head back to when we next try the region.

The drive home presented an opportunity for a quick stop or two in the Yarra Valley. With no preparation at all, we gave the first stop of the region over to Helen's Hill Estate. It was a fantastic decision, where we were entertained by Allan Nalder and shown through some fantastic drops. The standouts in the Ingram Rd range were a great dry Pinot Rosé and the Syrah. The top of the tree in the Helen's Hill range was the Bordeaux-style blend The Cabernets which showed as a genuine big Red, that still needs some time for it's full potential to be realised.

Our last stop before we headed back up the Hume was at the Innocent Bystander complex including little brother to Little Creatures, the White Rabbit Brewery. Truly, if you can't find something that you like here -- Give up.

2010: A belated beginning

I started this post on 17 Jan 2010, but life got in the way... It went a little something like

In the week of heading back to work for 2010 after a generous 2 month holiday, I figure it is time to declare the goals of 2010. I realise this is a little premature given that I haven't reported back on 2009, but I will catch that up in the coming weeks.

This will be a series of posts as I explain the reasons for the goal and how I plan to achieve them, but for now the 2010 Goals:

Health: Waist circumference <= 100cm

Reading: The Bible

Cooking: Sauces and Beer

Finance: Improve my net position by 10%

Family: Spend Quality Time with Hayden and Julie

Study: Finish my 2nd and 3rd Masters Degrees and take my longest break from study since Pre School

I am sure I would've explained a little rationale behind the goals, instead I have drifted along a path. As always, I can't help but think I am exactly where I should be.

Early in the year, I became aware that there was a position on the Canberra Officers' Mess Committee as the Wine Officer. And given that wine is something that I am passionate about, I decided to take it on. The role of the Wine Officer is to nurture the appreciation of Wine among members and provide opportunities to access great drops.

Some of the ways that we this had previously been achieved is through a combination of tastings, Wine Appreciation Dinners and through a bottle shop service. Although only remnants of the Dinners and a shadow of a bottle shop remained.

I will aim to describe the Wine Officer's journey through this Blog over the coming weeks/months.

But before I sign off an update on the original goals:

Health: Start 115cm - Now 105cm

Reading: Not Started

Cooking: Not Started

Finance: Improved by 7.5%

Family: What does that mean?

Study: Two assignments and two subjects remaining in MSysEng

New Goals:

Health: Spend 45mins/day exercising averaged over the week

Boutique Beer

Sunday was unremarkable with the exception of a visit to an impressible Microbrewery down in Goolwa that the guys introduced me to in February... If you get the chance get into the stuff, the standout is the Truffles... Australia's only Fortified Beer