A long winemaking history, varied landscapes, large area under vine and sheer numbers of winemakers underlie the Barossa Valley’s ability to make so many wine styles so well. Riesling, semillon, chardonnay, viognier, shiraz, grenache, grenache-mourvedre-shiraz blends, cabernet sauvignon and a range of sublime fortifieds all earned gongs at last week’s Barossa Wine Show. This tasty … Continue reading Barossa show turns on a treat
Schild Estate Barossa GMS 2004 $19 Ed Schild and family own vineyards sprinkled between the banks of Jacob’s Creek and the village of Lyndoch in the southern Barossa Valley. A significant proportion of the vines are mature (up to 150 years old) and produces wines of stunning quality – like this gift made from vines … Continue reading Wine review — Schild Estate, Oxford Landing & Penfolds
Part 1 28 August 2005 Amongst Australia’s two thousand wineries, mostly comparatively new wineries, significant numbers date from the mid to late 19th century. Some — like Penfolds (established 1844) – now belong to larger companies. Others, like Tyrrell’s, Drayton’s, Yalumba and Bleasdale remain in the hands of their founding families. Amongst these family-owned veterans, … Continue reading Tahbilk — retrosective tasting higlights unique wine style
‘You’ve never heard of a champion race horse with a bad name’. Attributed to viticulturist Vic Patrick during a prolonged, and at times rancorous, debate over the naming of Wrattonbully wine region. Wrattonbully, the biggest of several new wine regions on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, sprawls for forty kilometres along the Naracoorte Tableland, touching Padthaway … Continue reading The rise of Wrattonbully — unique new Aussie wine region
In the wine industry the lead-time from vision to realisation can be twenty years. It takes that long for vines and winemaking skills to mature. Indeed, in some cases, it may be even longer before consumers perceive the benefit of a visionary decision made decades earlier. For example, when Karl Seppelt established vineyards at Drumborg, … Continue reading Rich, luscious viognier, straight or blended
Boag’s Honey Porter, about $10 to $12 for 4 375ml bottles Luscious is the word for this wonderful new Tassie brew. It’s a tad paler than some Porters – a deep, appealing, mahogany rather than black. But it’s full-bodied and complex, combining malt and roast malt flavours with fragrant hops, a terrific, drying hops bitterness … Continue reading Wine & beer review — Boag’s, Redbank & Annie’s Lane
By April this year, Clare and Eden Valley riesling makers could hardly believe their own good luck. They’d barely finished crowing about 2002 — the best vintage in twenty years, they said — even better than the excellent 2001s. And, here were the barely fermented 2003s looking every bit as good as the 2002s, perhaps … Continue reading Vintage 2003 — outstanding for Aussie rieslings
As a Johnnie-come-lately of the wine world, Australia boasts some remarkably old wine dynasties. We can’t equal the 600 years of Italy’s Antinori family; nor the 952 years claimed by my old mate Ferdinando Guicciardini of Poppiano, Florence. Considering the comparative recency of our own industry — and the lack of a popular wine-drinking culture … Continue reading Saltram celebrates 140 years
Grenache, one of the world’s most widely planted red grape varieties, produces delicious but mainly frivolous and fruity wines from Spain, to Sardinia to Southern France to California to Australia. It can and does make reds of substance, sometimes in its own right but especially in tandem with shiraz, mourvedre or, in Spain, with tempranillo. … Continue reading Grenach — frivolous, fruity and fun
This article, written two years before the Clare Valley Riesling Makers’ screw cap initiative, predicts the decline of cork in favour of alternatives, and reports how the battle began with synthetic plugs.