There is nothing better than a cooler evening, a bowl of Wild Mushroom Risotto and a bottle of pinot in hand. Well, the glass in hand but the bottle pretty close to hand too. It's a cracking match. This week thanks to my buddy Dan at winedirect.com.au, I am sipping a Picardy Pinot Noir. This Pinot comes out of Pemberton in WA. In fact, it's my first Pinot from WA. Thanks Dan, you gave me my first. 

A good burger doesn’t simply just require beer – especially one of this caliber!! For me, I am ALL about a good shiraz with my burger. Something bold, beautiful, and powerful (but not to the point where I can only drink 1/2 the bottle). 

Ingredients

Method

Sharing a winemaker with Dandelion Vineyards is Heirloom which began it’s life in the 2000 vintage with the intention of making exceptional wines from primarily old vineyards, planted to the best clones and embracing organic and biodynamic principles. They create wines from the McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, Adelaide Hills and Coonawarra which almost always pick up a bunch of gold medals and often trophies. At time of writing our selection of these fabulous wines shows 32 gold medals and 3 trophies.

You might remember the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes - in which a couple of impoverished tailors convince a preening peacock Emperor that they can make him the most fabulous set of threads in the universe. They also tell him that those too stupid or unsuited to their roles within the court won’t be able to see them. They don’t actually make any clothes and the King is too insecure to call them on it, as is his court and the populace who he parades in front of starkers. Nice kit champ! 

Less than 40km south of Adelaide, McLaren Vale is another one of South Australia's renowned Shiraz producers, accounting for roughly 50% of grapes crushed annually.