Archive for June, 2009
Coriole Vineyards – “My Summer Wine“
Coriole Vineyards will certainly always remind me of my first summer in South Australia!
Coriole Vineyards in McLaren Vale
This winery is a famous address in the wine region McLaren Vale. Not only does the beautiful flowery garden of its venue contrast remarkably from the dry and brown South Australian landscape. Also, the lunches in the attached restaurant have an excellent reputation. But of course, most important are the outstanding wines.
The Italian variety Sangiovese is the ultimate summer drink. It has been described by many reviewers as elegant, displaying tastes of ripe cherry and plums. To me there is also a bit of strawberry freshness in it and it is definitely a lighter style of red wine. Coriole winemakers pioneered this variety in Australia to create a contrast to the full-bodied McLaren Vale Shiraz. During the hot months it was a perfect match with all sorts of light food such as pasta and prawns.
And when I think of summer, I certainly won’t forget the two week long heat wave in February. Temperatures would not decline below 38 degree at any time. The only bearable activity as a human being was to spend the whole day in a friends pool, sipping Coriole’s most refreshing Chenin Blanc.
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Coriole Vineyards ist eine der besten Adressen der Weinregion McLaren Vale in Südaustralien. Bei einem Besuch des Weinguts lohnt sich außerdem ein Blick in den wunderbar farbigen Garten sowie ein Besuch des exzellenten Restaurants. Eine Spezialität von Coriole Vineyards ist die aus Italien stammende Weinsorte Sangiovese. Durch seine elegante, fruchtige Leichtigkeit ist dieser Wein eine echte Alternative zu schwereren Shiraz der Region. Neben Sangiovese hat mich auch der frische Chenin Blanc durch den trockenen südaustralischen Sommer „gerettet“.
Helene Luckner
Hahndorf Hill’s success story
When I went to see Hahndorf Hill Winery in January – I sensed that this is a great place with fantastic wines. The drive into the property is scenic, the view from the restaurant magnificent and the wines are simply great.
Tasting at Hahndorf Hill Winery
I tried the Shiraz from 2004 and 2005 and immediately fell in love with them although it was a hot summer day with more than 35 degrees. Their Sauvignon Blanc is probably one of the best ones from South Australia and the HHW Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio are simply great examples of an excellent producer in a cool climate region.
Today I receive news from Co-Owner Larry Jacobs that Hahndorf Hill cellar door was voted in the Top 10 cellar doors in Australia in 2009 by Wine Business Magazine. And in the UK, influential wine writer Oz Clarke has selected the Hahndorf Hill Winery Shiraz 2005 in his list of 250 Best Wines 2010.
Well done guys, these are great achievements.
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Eine meiner Lieblingswineries in South Australia ist Hahndorf Hill Winery, gerade einmal 5 Minuten ausserhalb von Hahndorf Hill gelegen. In diesen Tagen hat die Winery grosse Auszeichnungen zu verzeichnen, thumbs up, wie wir hier Down Under sagen.
Ihr Michael Brecht
McLaren Vale’s Kangarilla Road Wines – wine finesse for less dollars than expected
I tried a bottle of Kangarilla Road Shiraz Viognier on the weekend, which reminded me of a recent visit to meet Kangarilla’s owner Kevin O’Brien. Kevin and his wife Helen started Kangarilla Road wines in 1997 – he himself a trained oenologist with 20 years in the wine industry.
Kevin O'Brien from Kangarilla Road
The winery and most of its vineyards are based between McLaren Vale and Kangarilla just on Kangarilla road. Because of its slightly higher position compared to most vineyards in the McLaren district, its fruit ripen slower with an aim for more elegance.
I was certainly impressed with their Chardonnay, I tasted the 2008 one with 13.5% alcohol and really liked its length and character, taking into consideration that this wine retails for $15 (under EUR9).
Asked for his own favourite, Kevin named his 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon for his completeness. The wine is full of flavour but not off. Historically McLaren Vale had a 50/50 split of Shiraz and Cab Sav plantings and only in the last years, the Shiraz variety had overtaken the Cab Sav’s number of plantings. Tasting this Cabernet it became clear why Kangarilla aims for this variety.
Between McLaren Vale and Kangarilla
Back to my wine of last night: a 2006 Shiraz – a blend of selected parcels from the district. Mixed weather conditions with loads of rain in spring and a mild summer led to a milder February than usual in McLaren Vale. The use of 25% french and the rest american oak helped display a finer flavour than usual from this region and I really enjoyed the dark plum characters with a good elegance.
A nice example of a fully ripened but not overdone Shiraz from McLaren Vale.
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Bei meinem Besuch in McLaren Vale vergangenen Sommer schaute ich bei Kevin O’Brien vorbei, er startete vor 12 Jahren die Kangarilla Road winery gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Helen. Die Weine liegen preislich am unteren Ende der weiten Preisskala der Region und dennoch muessen sie sich keineswegs hinter den Wettbewerbern verstecken. Ich selbst probierte am Wochenende den 2006 Shiraz, der durch eine gute Eleganz auffiel, die Reben von diversen Lagen etwas oberhalb des McLaren Vale geerntet und daher mit Finesse ausgestattet.
Michael Brecht
Cool delights in the Southern Highlands
Last weekend saw the first ‘Cool Flavours’ event of its kind here in the Southern Highlands. The tourism bureau in Mittagong had labeled this long weekend the ‘Event of Cool Delights’ and the event met all expectations: great food, a great selection of wines to taste from the region and it was cool – extremely cool.
Cool Delights at Tertini Cellar Door
A Queens Birthday weekend is usually the start for the cold winds in the Southern Highlands and that is what we got. Colder temperatures with a very chilly breeze invited all of us to focus on red wines and find our spot close to the next open fire. The cellar door of Tertini Wines luckily had both and so we indulged in their Italian cheeses, great Pinot Noirs and I didn’t move from the fireplace myself.
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Im Juni wird hier in Australien der Geburtstag der Koenigin gefeiert, auch wenn der tatsaechliche Geburtstag der 21. April ist. Sei’s drum, der Montag ist anerkannter Urlaubstag und so entschloss sich die hiesige Region in den Southern Highlands, das Wochenende zum ‘Food and Wine’-Wochenende zu vermarkten. Bei eisig kalten Winden wurden vor allem die roten Weine probiert und gekauft, ich selbst positionierte mich bei Tertini Wines an deren offenem Feuer und genoss italienischen Kaese zu feinstem Pinot Noir. Cool climate eben.
Ihr Michael Brecht
White wine tasting dinner at Mount Barker in Western Australia
These are exciting times. With our recent growth in readership across Australia and abroad, more and more wineries are contacting us here at downunderwines with the request to publish information or to try wines from regions we were not covering before. This is what our wine blog is all about: getting to understand more about wines from across Australia and sharing this knowledge with you.
Harvesting at Galafrey Wines near Mount Barker
This post is about a wine dinner to be held in Western Australian wine region Mount Barker. Situated in the South of the most western state here down under, the region is home to some excellent wineries such as Plantagenet (we wrote this article right at the beginning of this blog and therefore it is in German language only), Galafrey Wines with its incredibly active operations manager Kim Tyrer or Xabregas Wines, of which we will taste some drops in one of our coming stories.
The Mount Barker Wine Producers Association is organising this year’s wine dinner as a white wine tasting of Mount Barker’s best drops. Wines from nine wineries have been chosen by wine writer Peter Forrestal to complement a degustation menu prepared by Frasers’ Restaurant Executive Chef Chris Taylor.
So if you are in the region on Friday 26th of June, do not miss this event but as the seats are limited, you have to book early by contacting info@galafreywines.com.au .
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Unser stuermisches Wachstum in den vergangenen Monaten zeigt erfreuliche Nebenwirkungen. Immer mehr Weingegenden, Winzer oder deren Vertriebskraefte kontaktieren uns, um ihre Region, ihren Wein oder gar bestimmte events ueber downunderwines zu promoten. Wir finden das grossartig – denn so koennen wir Ihnen die Vielfalt der australischen Weinwelt zeitnah naeher bringen und lernen so ganz nebenbei selbst dazu. Good on you guys!
Anabel
