Wine Talk
- Read moreLast Friday (24-01-2020), Matt visited Tomich Wines, who lost about a third of their vineyards in the recent Cuddle Creek Fires, to help out pruning some of the fire-ravaged vines.
- Read moreAdelaide Hills winery, Sidewood Estate previewed its new cellar door, cidery and restaurant on River Road, Hahndorf last week to industry friends. Situated next to the well-known Apple Shed, the venue is perfect for anyone wanting to spend a lazy arvo in Hahndorf or the surrounding Adelaide Hills.
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Our Italian Imports have landed!
We tasted hundreds of wines earlier this year at the massive German Trade wine fair, Prowein, at the Italian wine expo Vinitaly and throughout various Italian wine regions. Overseas we tasted and reviewed the wines at least twice and then we did it all again as a panel back in Australia, tasting and reviewing the best wines from those shortlisted for consideration. We settled on a very select few - just the 17 superb wines which are now in stock. Drum roll please…
Here’s a little info on each of the wineries from which we have chosen to import these beautiful wines:
Ca’ de Lion is a boutique producer which has been based in the Piedmont since 1655, making wine for many, many years. We’ve chosen to start with two of their brilliant Barberas from Asti. These are exceptional examples of Barbera and we
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Pindarie first produced wine under the Pindarie label in 2005. They have 100 acres planted on their 750 acre farm situated on the Barossa Valley’s Western Ridge. Fruit from the Western Ridge inspired the genesis of Spinifex Wines and forms the backbone of JJ Hahn, Murray Street, Kalleske and many other top end Barossa producers besides. Warren Randal of Seppeltsfield fame has also been snapping up vineyards in this part of the Barossa of late.
Tony Brooks from team Pindarie is a 6th generation pastoralist. He restored the stone buildings on site by hand, in the process earning for Pindarie a coveted and difficult to get Barossa Trust Mark…
Viticulturist Wendy Abrahart spent 12 years at Penfolds, becoming their senior viticulturist in the process before setting up and continuing to manage the 100 acre Pindarie vineyard.
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The Wallaroo Estate, located in the Canberra Wine District only 25 minutes from Parliament House in Canberra, comprises 300 undulating acres in the Hills of Hall area, with views over the Brindabella Mountains. Wallaroo Wines has about 100 acres under vine, yet make only about 800 dozen themselves from their best fruit. The balance of their fabulous cool climate fruit is supplied to several wineries rated 5 red stars by James Halliday, including Clonakilla, Nick O’Leary and Gundog Estate. The vineyard was established in 1996, with plantings of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and riesling. It sits at an altitude of 560 metres, and includes plantings on a northern slope of decomposed granite. Climate conditions in the vineyard are similar to those in the vineyards of the Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley wine regions. Their winemaker is Dr Roger Harris, who with his wife Fay, established another successful local winery, the Brindabella Hills Winery. While Wallaroo Wines produce both still and
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With so many wineries to choose from, views to take in, shops to visit and generally "things to do" a weekend hardly seems enough time to take in what the Barossa has to offer.
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A winters drive through the Adelaide Hills on a sunny afternoon is something that any Adelaide local should treat themselves to.
- Done and dusted for another year, the Adelaide edition of the Urban Wine Walk proved solid success as thrones of vino fiends trampled through the East End of Adelaide to experience a range of current wines on offer from some of the country's finest, including plenty of local talent. One of our WD family members Elspeth Love walked a purple stained mile on behalf of us at winedirect.com.au sampling a variety of wines. Some boutique, some well known, some less known, most of them excellent. El's pic for the day: Ministry of Clouds 2017 McLaren Vale Tempranillo Grenache Here are some snaps she took on the day. Don't be jealous.Read more
- Read moreThe Mornington Peninsula is making quite a name for itself as the edgier, more unique wine making district of Victoria, and If you take a look at some of their highly regarded wineries, it’s easy to see why. With a unique cool maritime climate and geographic location, producers in the area are churning out some really outstanding wines of the highest standard. Once dominated by the tourist-drawing cellar doors of the Yarra Valley, Mornington’s wineries are slowly but surely showing the world that their region and wines are second to none. So why not find out for yourself, with a little help from Wine Compass, here’s the 5 Mornington Peninsula Wineries You Need to Visit This Weekend… [caption id="attachment_2140" align="alignnone" width="625"]
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We are properly stoked to have the work of Rolf Binder wines back in the house! This time it’s not just Rolf Binder wines but also the wines he makes for JJ Hahn and Magpie Estate. We did stock JJ Hahn about 10 years ago and since that first batch ran out we’ve had requests for us to get it in again pretty much every other week. Here’s a little more on the winemakers.
Character and passion are reflected in the range of wines produced by Rolf Binder and his sister Christa Deans. These siblings who grew up in a winery family make exceptional wines. Winemaking in the Binder family stems back to 1955 with the purchase by Rolf Heinrich Binder and his wife, Franziska of a business they renamed Veritas. The subsequent name change from Veritas to Rolf Binder occurred in 2005 to honour Rolf Snr.
Rolf focuses on red winemaking, receiving international accolades. He worked his first vintage in 1978 for his parents. His formal education in oenology was completed
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Mike Farmilo is a former maker of Penfolds Grange, St Henri and Bin 707 and twice winner of the Jimmy Watson Trophy. He has been making wine in McLaren Vale for over 30 years and is a legend of the industry...
A truncated bio for Mike reads as follows:- Completed winemaking at Roseworthy in 1977
- Seaview winemaker in the 80s
- Worked for Angoves in the late 70s - including winning a trophy with a Riverland Riesling in 81
- In the late 80s Mike became Group Red winemaker for Penfolds/Southcorp – responsible for all Penfolds red wines including Grange and St Henri, Lindeman’s wines, Seppelt’s, Wynns and Leo Buring
- During his tenure with Penfolds/Southcorp Mike won at least one trophy at every capital city wine show every year and twice won the coveted Jimmy Watson trophy
- In the midst of all this Mike has also completed vintages in Germany, California, France
- Who is Kim Brebach? Kim Brebach is also known as the Best Wines Under $20 Guy to those who subscribe to his weekly mailer. However, first and foremost, he’s a wine lover, an unashamed Riesling obsessive and champion of the belief that great wine doesn’t necessarily have to come with a great big price tag. 'Kim is an outspoken defender of truth, justice and value-for-money in wine, and I respect his opinions, his passions and his convictions' - Huon Hooke Kim's runs a website - Best Wines Under $20 - and sends out his Best Buys Weekly mailer to subscribers, finding the best deals from around the country at the best prices - a one stop weekly wine catalogue if you like. Kim prides himself on his independence, and his reviews reflect that: they're direct and forthright, so much so that some retailers have complained that they're 'brutal', and some wineries refuseRead more