Tag Archives: adelaide hills

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The Cider Series No. 1: Rauschenberg and the Hills Cider Company

Cider. It’s the shizzle. Increasing in popularity and sales in Australia every year. I’ve liked it for a long time (Dad’s been drinking Strongbow Dry for as long as I can remember *shudder*), but only recently have I truly fallen for it’s charms. Why? Finally, real cider made from real apples is widely available. Cider with genuine character, cider that changes flavour with the seasons. Cider that can even speak of the sense of place, or terroir, of where it’s fruit was grown. To share my passion I’ve decided to start The Cider Series. Yes, I know the title is a little wanky but please indulge me. It’s a nod to my favourite artist Robert Rauschenberg and his brilliant and highly influential Stoned Moon series.
So, let’s kick The Cider Series off with one of my favourites. I can highly recommend The Hills Cider Company’s 100% Fresh Apple Juice Cider. It’s only available in a few pubs and bottle shops in Adelaide at the moment but it is available online here http://www.meerkat.com.au/shop/the-hills-cider-company-c-37.html

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The Hills Cider Company (taken from the About section on THCC website):

1. Utilise 100% Fresh Apples without the addition of concentrates, flavourings or sugar.
2. We support our local farmers by using 100% Adelaide Hills Apples.
3. The day we extract our juice is the day we begin fermentation to ensure we preserve the floral notes that only freshness allows.
4. Minimal Intervention – The apples and hand selected yeast strains do the talking.
5. We are proudly Australian Made and Owned, supporting local businesses and families.

Great aromas of freshly crushed and slightly bruised apples (Really? How bizarre! Me and my amazingly perceptive palate) with hints of honey, lavender, chalk and white flowers. Fresh, dry and crisp with an underlying fruit sweetness that is balanced by the deliciously crunchy acidity. This cider has hints of the developed/oxidised characters shown in traditional English and French ciders while still maintaining impeccable pure fruit characters.

So if your drinking Five Seeds, Strongbow or any of those other apple-based lifestyle beverages please stop. There are quality ciders out there made by people with passion that taste infinitely better. So much better that you may truly fall in love with cider…. But if your not convinced, stay tuned for the next instalment in The Cider Series, the double blind cider challenge.

Cheers,
Ben

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Wine Review :: The #LAT10 Landmark Tutorial Series :: 2006 Shaw + Smith Shiraz

As you may or may not know, this week the Landmark Australia Tutorial is taking place in the Yarra Valley. Many of the world’s top wine writers/critics/buyers will taste their way through a treasure trove of some of the best Australian wine ever made. For more detailed information and/or to follow the event, check out http://www.landmark-wineaustralia.com/

To celebrate, i’ll be posting up tasting notes of any of the wines that I have tasted that are also being tasted at the Landmark Tutorial. Which won’t be many, as i’ve already polished off my dozen of each of the following classic wines featured at the tasting!

  • 1976 Yalumba Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa Valley
  • 1986 Yalumba Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa Valley/Coonawarra
  • 1987 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, South Australia
  • 1986 Riddoch Cabernet/Shiraz, Coonawarra
  • 1966 Saltram Bin 42 Shiraz/Muscadelle, South Australia
  • 1975 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, South Australia
  • 1998 Wendouree Shiraz/Mataro, Clare Valley

But, the 2006 Shaw + Smith is still a very, very good wine… Seek it out as it’s drinking beautifully now and will continue to do so over the next ten years.

PS :: I’ve tried a slightly different style for this review in an attempt to capture some of the joy and wonderment that the participants of the Landmark Australia Tutorial feel when tasting such extraordinary wines.

2006 Shaw + Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz

Aromas :: Imagine walking into a store filled with the finest cured and roasted meats. You walk up to the counter. Instead of asking for your order, the person at the counter instead starts smearing you dark cherry jam, violets, white pepper, blueberries and an uplifting mix of five spice and anise. The aromas combine with the cured and roasted meats. It’s intoxicating, and your anger at being smeared by the person at the counter with sticky jam, fruit and spices is replaced with the joy of having your olfactory system filled to the brim with wondrous aromas.

Palate :: Integrity. It’s a commodity in ever decreasing supply in our world. In a wine, put simply, integrity is when a wine tastes like it smells. It has flow. Continuity. A combination of the elements of smell and taste that lift the wine to a higher realm. This wine has integrity. Imagine scrapping the blueberries, dark cherry jam, white pepper, five spice and anise from your shirt and placing them in a blender. Take small slivers from the finest cured meats and add them. Add a dash of pure silk, a dollop of clinically defined tannin, a pinch of length, a handful of richness and cup of balance. Blend until smooth before decanting into your finest glassware. Close you eyes and bring the glass to your lips. The liquid enters your mouth. All is forgotten… Bliss.

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Intwines TV :: Great value Adelaide Hills Shiraz from Golding and Mike Press Wines

In this episode of Intwines TV I take a look at two great value wines from the Adelaide Hills.

First up is the new release from Golding Wines, their 2009 The Handcart Shiraz. High deliciousness and classy packaging make this a winner at $18.

Next up is the 2009 Adelaide Hills Shiraz from the undisputed king of top value, high quality wine Mike Press.  If you like a wine that will cellar for 5 to 10 years without a worry for around $14 , then please form an orderly queue for the Mike Press 2009 Adelaide Hills Shiraz! Hope you enjoy the episode, cheers!

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Wine Review :: 2007 Ngeringa Syrah

A great wine from a biodynamic Adelaide Hills producer. It’s got the funk, it’s got the flavour and I suggest that you get on board as this winery is gaining some serious momentum. http://www.ngeringa.com/

Aroma :: Great blend of old & new world Syrah/Shiraz characters on the nose. Bright red cherry soda, pancetta, white pepper and a whiff of freshly turned soil supported by enticing blue cheese (Roquefort). Not a hint of stewed fruits or plums you find in Shiraz from the warmer South Australian regions. Is that a bad thing? Not at all when the wine smells as bright, fresh and vibrant as this.

Palate :: Like the little cousin on Christmas Day who wants to have ANOTHER hit of cricket when all you want to do is have a siesta after too much food & wine; this wine is young, vibrant and fighting for your attention. Superb integrity, well balanced acidity and flavours with red cherries, beef sashimi with a mild blue cheese sauce, a killer top note of cool climate white pepper. These are all bought to a great finale by great tannin structure which gives the wine length and the ability to develop and improve over the next 5 – 10 years.

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Wine Review :: 2008 Nova Vita Firebird Shiraz

The first in a series of Shiraz reviews from the Adelaide Hills Winter Reds Masterclass at Mount Lofty House on Sunday the 25th of July.

The Nova Vita Firebird is a tasty example of Adelaide Hills Shiraz, and a good entry point to the genre for those more used to Barossa and McLaren Vale Shiraz.

Winemakers :: Peter Leske and Mark Kozned

Aromas :: Slightly restrained but a hearty swirl reveals cherries, red berries and a hint of vanilla. More time in the glass and Firebird starts to show the obligatory cool climate white pepper, some cumin spice, crushed cashews, a thin slice of pancetta and a vegetal note that I could probably do without. Solid but not mindblowing.

Palate :: A solid effort from what was a difficult vintage in most of South Australia (Coonawarra being a possible exception). The palate starts with a tasty combination of red cherries, raspberries, white pepper, a hint of dried herbs and a touch of spice. These flavours are complemented/freshened by a solid acid backbone which brightens the fruit. Mouthfeel is supple and the tannins are serviceable, the only thing stopping this wine from being really good is the lack of length. But it is easy to forgive this in a heat affected vintage like 2008. A solid effort and good value at $25 per bottle from https://www.novavitawines.com.au/

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Wine Events :: Adelaide Hills :: Winter Reds Weekend


ADELAIDE HILLS EVENTS


Winter Reds Weekend :: Warm to the Red Wines of the Adelaide Hills


Now this is what the Adelaide Hills should really be known for. Red Wine. Sure they grow Sauvignon Blanc that is pleasing to fans of that varietal. That stuff sells itself these days. And they make some of the best Chardonnay in Australia. I’ll let Penfolds/Fosters (and their marketing dollars) push that one along.

So what red grapes do they grow well in the Adelaide Hills? It is a cool climate region after all, isn’t it? Well, technically yes. Ask anyone who has fallen asleep outside in the middle of winter after overindulging in Adelaide Hills Wines whether or not it’s a cool climate region! So being a cool slimate region, they should grow decent Pinot Noir? Right? Damn right. But do they get the credit, dollars and prestige of the superstar wineries of Mornington Peninsula/Yarra Valley/Geelong/Tasmania? Nope. Should they? Hell yes. Ashton Hills, Whisson Lakes and Barratt are three of the finest producers of Pinot in this country.

What about other grape varieties? Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon normally thrive in warm climate regions you may say. But this is where the Adelaide Hills landscape comes into it’s own. A scenic drive through the Hills shows a myriad of altitudes, valleys, peaks, aspects, soil types and prevailing weather conditions. This variety means that with careful site selection almost any red variety can be grown in the Adelaide Hills. Shiraz? Shaw + Smith, Petaluma, Setanta, Kersbrook Hill, Ngeringa and more all produce stunning examples of Shiraz that are regularly rated amongst the best in the country by esteemed critics. They may not be the ball tearing blockbusters of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale but they match brilliantly with food and have more elegance and complexity than you can shake a stick at. Cabernet is an exciting variety, especially when blended. Tilbrook make a cracking Sangiovese Cabernet, K1 by Geoff Hardy’s Tzimmukin is delicious and Chain Of Ponds The Cachet has been rated as one of the top Cabernet blends in the country by James Halliday.

So do yourself a favour, expand your palette and spend a day or two in the Adelaide Hills when she is at her finest.

Check out all the details at http://www.adelaidehillswine.com.au/downloads/winter_reds.pdf

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Review :: 2008 Lobethal Road Wines Bacchant Chardonnay :: 96 Points

Price :: $40 – 45
Cellar Potential :: Up to 6+ years
Score :: 96
Music Match :: Sublime, uplifting wine deserves sublime and uplifting music.. Drink this wine while listening to Camille by Georges Delerue… If you don’t know Georges, he was a brilliant French Film composer that wrote over 350 scores for film and television. Make sure your seated when drinking the wine and listening to Camille, it is a heady and truly intoxicating experience.
The Summary :: Sometimes a wine you expect to be great turns out to be great. Sometimes a wine you expect to be great turns out to be disappointing. And sometimes along comes a wine of which you expect very little but delivers in spades. This is one of those wines. Uplifting aromas of honey, white peach, mandarins and a hint of oak. Near perfect balance and integrity on the palate with white peaches, citrus, oak and honey softly dancing on the palate. But that’s not the best bit. The texture. Oh, a joy to behold. Soft and silky it caresses the mouth in all the right places, making it almost a shame to swallow this wine. Is it a little pricey at $42? Not at all, at that price it’s damn good value. Do I still hate Chardonnay like I did six months ago? Not a chance. If we all tried Chardonnay this good the Anything But Chardonnay Club would be a lonely place.
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Review :: 2008 Michael Hall Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay :: 95+ Points

Price :: $39-45
Cellar Potential :: Great Drinking Now but will develop over 5+ years
Score :: 95+
Music Match :: Michael Hall is a great winemaker, Hall and Oates were a great act, back in the day. And this Chardonnay is classy, stylish and pricey (but still great value). Rich Girl by Hall and Oates matches this wine perfectly. Like Chardonnay, Hall and Oates aren’t as popular as they once were. But that doesn’t mean that they still can’t be great!
Summary :: This wine is all class. All of the elements that make up this wine; the fruit, the oak and the malolactic fermentation are managed perfectly in this wine. Complex aromas of peaches, figs, nectarines and a hint of smoked macadamias integrate beautifully with the rich, smooth and damned sexy palate. This wine seduces your mouth like an expert lover, teasing and delicately touching in all the right places… A hint of oak here, persistent stone fruit and pear flavours there supported by flurries of exquisite nuttiness, and an oh-so-slow and smooth finish… A completely and utterly satisfying wine.
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Highlights of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Tasting :: Part Four

THERE’S MORE TO GUMERCHA THAN A BIG WOODEN HORSE

Who needs acid when you can come to Gumeracha and visit the Big Rocking Horse!

Who needs acid when you can come to Gumeracha and visit the Big Rocking Horse!

Big things, I love them. Big wines. Big meals. Big occasions. And I especially love a Big Monument. Been to all of them in Australia. The Big Banana. The Big Pineapple. The Big Orange. The Big Sheep. The Big Koala. The Big Lobster. The Big Ned Kelly. But one of them holds a special place in my heart. It was the first Big Monument I ever saw as a kid. It was The Big Rocking Horse in the sleepy little Adelaide Hills town of Gumeracha. This Big Monument that showed me that dreams were possible. That even the pointless actually had a point (and a bloody big one at that)! Gumeracha has always had a special place in my heart. And that special place in my heart has grown a little bit bigger after getting to know the wines of Gumeracha’s own Protero.

VEEE-ON-YAY… IS A-OK (as are Goats and all that they produce)

If I was a goat I would like to live here

If I was a goat I would like to live here

So, we’ve done the Rose, loaded up on good Chardonnay and had some wonderful Cheese and Oysters. But before we hit the Protero stand i’m distracted by a delicious looking platter of Goats Cheese and Quince Paste tarts. I think that Goats are probably the most underrated food producing animal in Australia. They produce delicious milk, cheese and meat. Curry Goat is bloody delicious. But anyways, I was peckish again so I *Bad joke alert* grabbed one of those tarts faster than a footy player would on his end of season footy trip. Were they good? Delicious. Who made them? Couldn’t tell you. Sorry. It was a catering company in the Adelaide Hills that do weddings, parties, anything… If anyone who was at the tasting knows please leave a comment below because I would like some more Goat’s Cheese and Quince Paste tarts. Please.

On to the Protero stand. There were more people ready to serve wine than being served wine at the stand. Which isn’t hard when there is no-one being served wine. But do you really need four people to man one stand? Maybe not but the first thing that struck me about the folk at the Protero stand (a bunch of owners/assistant winemakers) was there enthusiasm and love of what they do. Always a good thing, especially when you’ve passed a couple of soulless Foster’s/Constellation/Pernod stands. These are the three companies that produce the vast amount of wine in Australia. They dominate the wine industry in a similar fashion to the way Coles, Woolworths and IGA dominate the Supermarkets. Which brings me to another point. While I love wines from wineries and companies of all sizes, why is it so easy to pick the big brands at wine tastings??

INTWINES GUIDE TO PICKING (and avoiding) THE BIG THREE AT REGIONAL (or other) WINE TASTINGS

  • Excessive Promotional Material
  • Excessive highlighting of awards no matter how minor
  • Tight ass pouring of wine
  • Rude, holier than thou and uninterested staff manning the stand
  • No wine above $20 RRP available for tasting
  • Start Packing up 3 hours before the end of the Tasting
Ahh, cascades... So relaxing, so nice after a silly rant.

Ahh, cascades... So relaxing, so nice after a silly rant.

Rant over. Back to Protero. Enthusiastic people. Excited for me to try their wines. Excited for me to spread the word about their wonderful wines. You don’t need me, I say, you have some fancy Winestate Wine Of The Year award for your Merlot. No, they say, we want real people to spread the word. It works best they say. Agree I do. And then they give me a taste of the most delicious Viognier I have had for a while.

2007 Protero Wines Viognier

Protero Viognier 2007

Protero Viognier 2007

Price :: $29 from http://www.proterowines.com.au

Cellar Potential :: Delicious now and will stay that way up to 3 years

Score :: 94

Music Match :: Delicate, sensual and refined… The music to match this wine could only come from Minnie Ripperton, of Lovin’ You fame. Why? Minnie and Viognier are both underrated. In the wrong hands they can become a caricature. Yes, i’m looking at you South Park and various nameless winemakers. But when they are treated right they are both capable of soaring to undreamt of heights. Forget Lovin’ You and head straight to Inside My Love, in my humble opinion her finest moment. Grab a bottle of this sexy, slinky wine. Grab your partner. Put on Minnie Riperton. And let the magic begin…

The Summary :: This wine is delicious. In the wrong hands Viognier can be oily, horrible stuff that tastes like the juice in a tin of sliced Apricots or Peaches. But not this stuff. Sure the signature Viognier apricot is there. But the aroma is more apricot kernel than pure apricot. And it’s supported by lifted citrus, quince and pear notes. Delicate. These intriguing notes continue onto the palate where they dominate the apricot to the point of almost making it disappear. But it’s really all about the mouthfeel. Buttery, slinky and balanced with the right amount of acidity. Not in the least bit oily. Refined. And for my money one of the best value Viogniers in Australia.

* This post is dedicated to the memory of Keith Floyd, a true legend who bought class, humor and irreverence to the world of food and wine. I heard the sad news of his passing as I was writing this post. He will always be a great inspiration to me and many others. RIP Keith Floyd*

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Highlights of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Tasting :: Part Three

(LET ME TAKE YOU DOWN, ‘CAUSE I’M GOING TO) LOBETHAL ROAD where the Chardy’s unreal.

So what do you do after you’ve tried some great Chardonnay? Well, at the Hills tasting you eat some delicious cheese and then drink some more great Chardonnay! The cheese in question was from a company that i’ve loved and supported for a very long time. B.d. Farm Paris Creek. I’ll try not to waffle on but these guys have been making a great range of organic and biodynamic milk and yogurt products for almost 20 years. Recently they have also started making a equally good range of hard and soft cheeses. If you want more information on them and their products, check out http://www.bdfarmpariscreek.com.au/.

So, with a belly full of cheese it was onto the Lobethal Road stand. Call me ignorant but i’d never heard of Lobethal Road wines before attending the tasting. Especially ignorant as one of my favourite Hill wineries, Tilbrook (more on them in another post but just quickly their new Sangiovese Cabernet blend is brilliant), is also from Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. But I digress… Great Chardonnay is what we are looking for so we ask for a taste of their top of the line model, the Bacchant.

What's this? This is where your head'll be when you drink this Chardonnay!

What's this? This is where your head'll be when you drink this Chardonnay!

2008 Lobethal Road Wines Bacchant Chardonnay

Price :: $40 – 45

Cellar Potential :: Up to 6+ years

Score :: 96 Points

Music Match :: Sublime, uplifting wine deserves sublime and uplifting music.. Drink this wine while listening to Camille by Georges Delerue… If you don’t know Georges, he was a brilliant French Film composer that wrote over 350 scores for film and television. Make sure your seated when drinking the wine and listening to Camille, it is a heady and truly intoxicating experience.

The Summary :: Sometimes a wine you expect to be great turns out to be great. Sometimes a wine you expect to be great turns out to be disappointing. And sometimes along comes a wine of which you expect very little but delivers in spades. This is one of those wines. Uplifting aromas of honey, white peach, mandarins and a hint of oak. Near perfect balance and integrity on the palate with white peaches, citrus, oak and honey softly dancing on the palate. But that’s not the best bit. The texture. Oh, a joy to behold. Soft and silky it caresses the mouth in all the right places, making it almost a shame to swallow this wine. Is it a little pricey at $42? Not at all, at that price it’s damn good value. Do I still hate Chardonnay like I did six months ago? Not a chance. If we all tried Chardonnay this good the Anything But Chardonnay Club would be a lonely place.

YOU MUST BE OFF YOUR TROLLI!

…And now for something completely different. After more food treats (possibly the best smoked salmon, kingfish and prawns i’ve ever tasted from Harris Smokehouse in Hahndorf) it was off to sample the wines from Hahndorf Hill Winery. Tasted the whites, and sure they were agreeable and nice but the wine that really took me by surprise was their Rose. Deliciously fresh, dry as a dead dingo’s donger (like all good Rose) and totally unique. Unique because it is the only Rose in Australia made from the obscure grape varieties of Trollinger and Lemburger. Apparently these grapes are a little bit like David Hasselhoff’s singing… Big in Germany and Austria but pretty unpopular everywhere else! Anyways, the Rose is delicious and great value too. So put away your Rockford’s Alicante Bouchet and grab a bottle of this when it gets warm.

HHW Rose

HHW Rose

Price :: Around $19

Cellar Potential :: Don’t even think about it, drink it young and fresh!

Score :: 91 Points

Music Match :: This Rose is a deliciously dry delight, so it needs some deliciously dry music to match. With the wines German heritage you need some German music to really match this well. Dry German music doesn’t sound very appealing but one brilliant pop song fits the bill. It’s got to be the most popular Cold War-era protest song ever, 99 Luftballons by Nena.

The Summary :: Australia has been plagued for years by overly sweet Rose wines. But the tide is finally turning with drops like Hahndorf Hill Trollinger/Lemburger Rose. On the nose I got a blast of raspberries, strawberries, apples and marmalade. Many of these notes continued onto the palate with the berries dominating. Texturally this wine is silky smooth with great mouthfeel. It finishes bone dry, inviting another sip… Then another.. Then another… Dangerous but delicious summer barbie wine, ditch the Banrock Station White Shiraz or Rockford’s Alicante Bouchet and grab a bottle of this.

STAY TUNED FOR PART FOUR or GUMERACHA (IT’S GOT MORE THAN A BIG WOODEN HORSE)