The Vale: A Final Word

South Australia is truly blessed with great wine regions and McLaren Vale is a fantastic example of just that. It speaks to a sense of place, the geology, the terroir, the community. It embodies a list of winemakers and grape growers that strive to express themselves through their art.

The route to Cabernet and Cabernet Blends Tasting was cross-country viticulture tour From Penny's Hill & Mr Riggs to Maxwell Wines via Chalks Hill. The picks of this lot were:

• 2006 Geoff Merrill G&W Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2007 Geoff Merrill Wickham Park Merlot
• 2008 Geoff Merrill Fleurieu Cabernet Shiraz
• 2008 Kay Brothers The Cuthbert Cabernet Sauvignon - STANDOUT
• 2008 Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Merlot
• 2008 Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Cabernet/Merlot
• 2008 Maxwell Wines Lime Cave Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2008 Maxwell Wines Little Demon Cabernet/Merlot
• 2007 Mitolo Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon - STANDOUT
• 2009 Wirra Wirra Sparrows Lodge Cabernet Sauvignon

The final master class was at the Woodstock Coterie featuring Grenache in two brackets of four wines which proved to be (with the notes of curiosity):

• 2010 Wirra Wirra Original Blend Grenache Shiraz - great qwoffer [honourable mention]
• 2009 Penny's Hill Grenache - Fleshy, sea salt and summer fruits
• 2009 Chapel Hill Old Bush Vine Grenache - dried apricots, light confectionary
• 2009 Kay Brothers Grenache - fairy floss, confectionary, lovely tannins and clean finish [GREAT DROP]
• 2009 Shingleback Red Knot Grenache - Limestone & Orange
• 2009 Maximus Cadenzia GSM - This is featuring on the PM's table [TOP PICK]
• 2008 d'Arenberg Ironstone Pressing GSM - Love to see in 5-10 [honourable mention]
• 2007 Yangarra High Sands Grenache - I can't believe there is no oak! [GREAT DROP]

McLaren Vale is the Italian to Barossa's German, expressing varieties that are best shared with food or at very least don't dominate them. I associate McLaren Vale with the fruity mid palate and the perfume. Grenache and Shiraz are the stand outs for mine, and obviously for the community of McLaren Vale with Scarce Earth and Cadenzia.

This is a region of olde favourites, namely:

• d'Arenberg
• Samuel's Gorge
• Chapel Hill, and
• Woodstock

but I will take it on that more attention needs to be given to some new finds:

• DogRidge
• Kay Brothers
• Maxwell
• Wirra Wirra
• Yangarra
• Penny's Hill
• Mitolo
• Paxton, and
• Scarpantino

And that is all I have to say about the Vale...

Another Day in the Vale

There is something about walking into the garden at Coriole that triggers The Godfather Theme to instantly play in my head. You could imagine Vito, Fredo, Connie and Sonny all sitting in the partial shade sharing an bountiful feast with la famiglia. Maybe that is just me...

While some were worse for wear in the morning, I was about ready to go again as we pulled into Coriole for Breakfast, Whites, Rosés and Sparklings. Breakfast was not only much needed, but also a great opportunity to catch up with d'Arry Osborn.

In the theme of yesterday, there were some olde favourites and some new found joys.

Of the olde favourites d'Arenberg tops the list, with Peppermint Paddock, Hermit Crab and Dry Dam but from the newly founds:

• 2010 DogRidge The Pup Sparkling Chardonnay
• 2010 DogRidge Moscato
• 2010 Geoff Merrill Bush Vine Grenache Rosé
• 2010 Paxton Shiraz Rosé
• 2010 Scarpantoni Ceres Gamay Rosé
• NV Scarpantoni Fleurieu Sparkling Red
• NV Scarpantoni Black Tempest

It was time for Penny's Hill and Mr Riggs for a Cabernet Master Class. The two brackets of four wines proved to be (with the notes of curiosity):

• 2009 Mitolo Jester Cabernet Sauvignon - slight grippiness to the tannins, menthol, stewed oranges
• 2009 Penny's Hill Cabernet Sauvignon - great length, fruit cake
• 2009 Kangarilla Rd Cabernet Sauvignon - well structured lines, great tannin and length with the signature mid palate fruit
• 2009 Woodstock Cabernet Sauvignon - Savoury, tobacco, definitive oak
• 2009 Chapel Hill The Chosen Cabernet Sauvignon - Dark, brooding, ripe fruits [honourable mention]
• 2009 Shingleback 'D' Block Cabernet Sauvignon - Chunky fruit, dark ruby colour, mintiness [honourable mention]
• 2009 Wirra Wirra The Angelus Cabernet Sauvignon - Cedar Wood, brambly fruit [Best of Class]
• 2003 Geoff Merrill Pimpala Vineyard Cabernet Merlot - Greenery/Shrubs, oaky, aged and still going. [Great Drop]

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...

The First Morning

To be clear this was a wine appreciation trip. After a quick stop at Toops Hill, view shown left, I was off to Yangarra Estate the hosts of the Grenache and Grenache Blends tasting, not to mention a much needed coffee and a bite of breakfast.

The standouts from the tasting were:

• 2008 DogRidge CADENZiA Grenache
• 2008 Chapel Hill McLaren Vale Bush Vine Grenache
• 2009 d'Arenberg The Cadenzia GSM
• 2008 Yangarra Old Vine Grenache, and
• 2008 Yangarra Cadenzia (GSM).

So what is Cadenzia? Well it is a wine that is 100% McLaren Vale fruit, Grenache-dominant and approved by the members, or more eloquently from the McLaren Vale site:

"Cadenzia - n. A creative and individual expression of McLaren Vale Grenache made by an inspired winemaker to demonstrate harmony, excitement and energy.

McLaren Vale’s CADENZIA project makes music from Grenache. Great composers like Beethoven and Bach often left gaps in their sheet music, where the lead soloist could play a Cadenza, letting go some heartfelt improvisation before returning to the score.

At the end of vintage, McLaren Vale’s winemakers look away from the score and infuse some virtuoso interplay with Grenache, each blending something that’s rhythmically driving: CADENZIA. Music you can drink."

Really the Cadenzia project is one of those organised things that define a region, a deliberate pursuit of an expression of place and style. Similarly, for Shiraz, McLaren Vale has recently launched the Scarce Earth project. And although these great wines weren't on the schedule, a Shiraz Master Class was -- off to

Wirra Wirra.

On show turned out to be (with my notes of curiosity):

• 2006 Ulithorne Frux Frugis Shiraz - Aged Release (Feb 2009), Graceful

• 2008 Mitolo GAM Shiraz - Made by Ben Glaetzer

• 2008 Maximus Shiraz - Colour & Blackcurrant

• 2008 DogRidge Shirtfront Shiraz - Surprise Find

• 2008 Paxton Jones Block Vineyard Shiraz - Great Savoury Drop

• 2008 Woodstock The Stocks - Great one to age, Nearly get splinters

• 2008 d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz - Well known, Greatness

• 2008 Chapel Hill Vicar - Could've sworn it was a Grenache... Apricots

• 2009 Maxwell Silver Hammer - Ripper food wine

• 2009 Shingleback The Gate - Taste directly follows nose

• 2009 Wirra Wirra Woodhenge Shiraz - Another great Foody; and

• 2009 Yangarra - Perfume and Purple.

You can see how detailed tasting notes could get lost! If I had to pick the top 5... Shirtfront, Silver Hammer, The Stocks, Vicar & Dead Arm with honourable mentions to GAM, Woodhenge and Maximus.

Well it was now 1225 on Day 1, and time to head for the burgeoning varieties tasting at Chapel Hill. The highlights were:

2010 Coriole Sangiovese

2009 Coriole Sangiovese Shiraz

2006 d'Arenberg Sticks and Stones Tempranillo Grenache Tinta Cao Souzoa

2009 d'Arenberg Cenosilicaphic Cat Sagrantino Cinsault

2005 DogRidge MVP Petit Verdot

2009 Kangarilla Rd Sangiovese

2008 Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Mataro

2009 Yangarra Mourvedre, and

2010 Yangarra Roussane.

One Thing Leads To Another...

The quality of the South Australian Wine Regions, often leads to some oversight of the wonderfully diverse and old region of McLaren Vale. I am guilty of too often stopping at the same olds, but who isn't?

The standard tour that I would run around McLaren Vale when I resided there, would start with d'Arenberg, then onto Chapel Hill, before the amazing Samuel's Gorge. There might occasionally be a new opportunity stop, such as Woodstock, but really they were just speed bumps on the way to Hahndorf for lunch, but you have heard about that before.

I recently got the opportunity to have a deeper look at the region, 30 km South of Adelaide. The region is firmly rooted in viticulture, grape-growers with a purpose and a region with a sense of place. The story of the region goes beyond the 1838 Reynell first plantings to geological formations and change of the order of 1.6 Billion years history. The remnant soils on geology are attributed with many of the unique characteristics displayed by McLaren Vale wine. No more clear than the abundant citing of perfume arising from the sand on clay from Blewett Springs.

But geology and soils are but a part of the oft misattributed terroir. Climate and geography are critical components too. McLaren Vale, bounded by the Gulf of St Vincent, from Hallet Cove to Sellicks Beach sees coastal climate-moderating effects typical to the Mediterranean, where the southern Mount Lofty Ranges crash into the sea. The border of the region runs up the foothills along Willunga Fault until it reaches the Adelaide Hills region at around Clarendon. The belly of this approximate triangle is undulated and diversity of terrain, incorporating:

• Ancient Rocks,
• Sand and Sandstone
• Limestone Country,
• Clay Plains of Aldinga,
• The Piedmont,
• Talus Slope, and
• Alluvial Flats.

To round out this introduction to McLaren Vale, I should probably introduce the wines. Based on 2008 figures, the region produces approximately 80% Red Wine of which it is dominated by Shiraz (66.4%) with some supporting roles by Cabernet Sauvignon (15.9%), Grenache (6.7%) and Merlot (5.2%). In the White Wines, the usual suspect of Chardonnay (54%) is the major, supported by Semillon (12.3%), Sauvignon Blanc (11.9%) and Riesling (4.7%).

I promise we will eventually get to the wines...

2011 Harvest Festival

After a previous post, I was tempted to try something a little more than wine, jazz & cheese. The first such place visited was Little Bridge Wines, an intriguing quadrumvirate dabbling and seemingly doing well in their efforts. I recommend the site linked above to read of their tale. It is a refreshing change to "Alfred who begot Gertrude who begot Caufield succeeded by Jiminy", if you take my meaning.

Their range includes a Vintage Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Shiraz, Cabernet Blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Personally, I was taken with the Riesling and the Cabernets (although the latter may have been inspired by another little Bordeaux-styled number).

It wasn't particularly the wine that drew us there, as I was embarrassingly ignorant of them, nor was it the obligatory "band & cheese" that is the apparent cost of featuring a winery in the Canberra region. The attraction of something novel is what made the decision for us, that novel thing was the opportunity to make wine.

The details were sketchy and barely made more clear prior to arrival, but true to the promise, there were freshly picked Pinot Noir grapes (reportedly of 13.4 Baume). The deal for the day was merely to see to the crushing of the Pinot and the beginning of fermentation. A simple contribution but with the promise of further involvement and ultimately some wine at the end, well worth the effort.

Some other wineries visited on the return journey were Affleck Vineyard, who offered a range of very decent drops at very approachable prices, and Shepherd's Run, who were overrun and not accommodating to our party.

I look forward to more novelty in the future of the Canberra Region.

What Makes a Region?

The first time I visited the Canberra Wine Region was 2008, it was a fleeting visit, a test of it's maturity. As a region, it failed. But it made me wonder what makes a wine region? It is clearly more than terroir, the Barossa is as diverse in terroir as all of NSW's growing regions. It is more than one or two flagship wines or even varieties.

What stood out to me were the responses to questions of where else to try in the region. Such questions were often met with indignation. No favourites, no cross-referrals, no sense of community.

There is something else about a region, a sense of community. The sense of community needs to be more than the farmers having been neighbours for as long as the vines have grown. It is more than the kids playing together and following in their forebears footsteps. There is a certain maturity that comes to a region that is beyond the first Cellar Door. It is all of these things; a definitive variety, flagship wineries, iconic labels, a daring to go beyond the expectations, ever emerging new talent and genuine belief that all of the produce of the region should be enjoyed by as many as possible.

Please take this as it is meant, there were some great wines tasted on that brief tour including Clonakilla and Helm, lovely people and fantastic characters. What was missing was the glue, the sense of place, the unity of region.

Now in 2011, I feel the region has come a long way. The region is varietally defining itself with Riesling and cool-climate reds, flagship wineries are standing up and being counted. There is new blood, emerging talents and just the right amount of challenging the status quo.

I am an advocate of Canberra wines, but as a region it is still maturing. Take, for example, the imminent Harvest Festival. 26 of the 33 wineries in the region advertise activities, but most are a simple variation on the cellar door being open, a few gumboot tours and a smattering of Jazz. I'll admit there are a few different things like Dionysus bottling wine, Little Bridge Wines making wine (well crush and begin ferment, but you can go back over the weeks to engage in various parts of the process) and even a unique Thai-style dinner (unfortunately cancelled). But it still feels disjointed, lacking unity of action and a centre of critical mass.

Where do people gather? They have to arrange their own transport between wineries. How do people know where to go? They have to choose or flit between the options. Lots of things may actually occur, but there can be no sense of where or what is happening beyond each venue.

I will be out there trying a few of the interesting options during the festival, but I yearn for the day when it becomes a celebration of the community of the Canberra Wine Region.

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.

Why my dad has purple hands...

As some of you know my Grandparents are in town... So Jules and I have taken advantage of the circumstance to combine the Quality Time (QT) with designated drivers.... Today was Barossa.

A few people do tend to ask me about some wines and wineries that are worth their time... My favourite winery is Elderton, who have a spectacular new Zinfadel. Other favourites from the Barossa today; Old Block Shiraz (St Hallet), Blackwell Shiraz (St Hallet), Bella Rouge (Langmeil), The Freedom 1843 Shiraz (Langmeil), Fifth Wind Grenache (Langmeil), Magpie Estate Gewurztraminer (Rolf Binder/Veritas)... but there are always more to be had...

The best find of the day was a kids book from which the title of this blog takes its name. What a fantastic little tale :)