Notes from Australia 16: Coonawarra and Parker Coonawarra Estate

We arrived into Coonawarra on a rainy day. We flew from Adelaide to Mount Gambier. It felt like a trip out to Connemara on Aer Arann! The airport turned out to be teenchy and the baggage arrival was via a golf cart to a self collection shed. This was more like it. Welcome to Note 16 of my recent wanderings in the vineyards of Australia.

We were driven along the main drag to Parker Coonawarra Estate. Long lines of conifers yield to a flat and small town with a long straight road beyond and off which the various vineyards are located. On a wet misty day its quite a dreary place. Our first visit sharpened it all up though, especially when the time honored Aussie expression came to mind, Man Up Ecock. You're in one of the renowned cool climate wine growing areas of The World.    

Parker Coonawarra is part of the Rathbone Wine Group. (We had already paid visits to their Yarra Valley Yering Station and Margaret River Xanadu) It's small and compact. It has an air of competence to it. We met with winemaker Pete Bissel. It was one of those brilliant meetings. I could have listened to Pete for a very long time. I quickly formed an opinion that this wine is as much a philosophy (his) as it  is a product of its environment. Marry the two and you come close to the brilliance of Parker Coonawarra Estate.

Pete Bissel at Parker Coonawarra

 Pete was generous with his time and his knowledge. He brought us on a trip that showed us how ancient stranded coastlines, limestone reefs and dumped sands have all affected, and been formed into, the terra rossa of the Coonawarra. He brought us through John Riddoch back in 1891 to the present day where there are about 30 producers working the vineyards. He showed us that Cabernet Sauvignon has been cultivated here for over a hundred years! He explained in great detail how he grows grapes, picks them and makes wine. He then showed us the following incredible wines. My notes for each of the following are long, detailed and effusive. There is no doubt but the Terra Rossa First Growth wines are truly magnificent.   

Wines Tasted

2009 Favourite Son Chardonnay

2007 Favourite Son Shiraz

2005 Favourite Son Cabernet Merlot

2005 Merlot Coonawarra Estate

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra Estate

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra Estate

2004 Terra Rossa First Growth

2005 Terra Rossa First Growth

Diploma Grads - Take a Bow on a Job Well Done

I envy new WSET diploma grads. They tend to be at the cutting edge. They have just been through the education wringer and have now come out the other end. They know all the good new stuff!. I am of the opinion that the Diploma in Wine from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in the UK is the best and most useful wine education programme in the world!

                                               
This year Ireland has produced 9 successful Diploma of Wine graduates. Well done to them all.

Dermot Nolan MW, of Dermot Nolan Wine Services, lecturer to these students, announced today that the following are our new hero's:

        Ken Behan, Interliner Agencies Ltd
        Daragh Cassells, Hargadon's Wine Shop, Cabinteely
        Lynda Coogan, Sweeneys Wine Merchants, Dublin 11
        Paddy Cullen, O’Donovan’s Wines, Cork
        Stephen Dillon, Next Door Off-Licence Group
        Eileen Finn-Graham, The Old Schoolhouse Restaurant, Clarinbridge, Galway
        Chris Gifford, The Corkscrew Wine Shop, Dublin 2
        Tom Hanrahan, self-employed
        Emma Legrand, Bubble Brothers, Cork
        Philip Sweeney, Classic Drinks

In addition two prizes have been awarded awarded – the Wine Australia Scholarship which is awarded to the graduate with the best overall performance in the Diploma, and the George O’Malley Tasting Cup, gifted by Maggie McNie MW, awarded to the student who gets the highest marks in the Tasting Examination.

This year, the winners are:
Wine Australia Scholarship – Ken Behan
George O’Malley Tasting Cup – Lynda Coogan

Yarra Valley with Phil Sexton - Regional Hero

Phil Sexton is a wine maker, brewer, pilot, cheese and coffee aficionado, storyteller and seemingly all round interesting and happy guy. Wines of Australia did well to bring him in to Dublin last week for a  series of tastings in their Regional Hero programme. Readers of this blog know that Wines of Australia do things well and do 'well things' often. Last week I reproduced Willies Wine Blogs take on a Yarra Valley consumer event. Phil also presented a Morning in the Yarra to the trade and press in Fallon and Byrne. It was a substantial tasting and packed full of nuggets of info from Phil.

Phil Sexton sold a successful winery in the Margaret River in Western Australia and chose to begin again in the Yarra. I had always assumed (usually a a mistake) he meant that he'd looked around Australia. Not a bit of it. Seems he looked all the way from Oregon to New Zealand. A bag of cash really does give you freedom. His choice therefore was based on what the Yarra was uniquely capable of. He set up the Giant Steps winery slap bang in the middle of a small town called Healesville. I wrote up a bit about Giant Steps after I visited it earlier this year. It's a fantastic place and its a winery I'd love to work at - even if I had a choice of Oregon or New Zealand! Everyone seemed to be drawing positive energy from everyone else. That includes the baker, barista, waiting staff, wine makers and just about everyone really.....

The Yarra has a diverse range of ancient rocks and soils. It's a relatively cool area; serviced and is visited often by a Melbourne population eager to buy wine; it specialises in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sparkling wine and it looks absolutely fantastic.

Yarra in purple just East of Melbourne

Our tasting last week began with the 2004 Yarra Burn Blanc de Blanc. (Most of the wines at this tasting had been included to show how brilliant the Yarra is and are for the most part not available in Ireland. Indeed Phil sourced some of the rarer wines himself). Phil told us with a great deal of sadness that Constellation Wines had just announced it will shortly close Yarra Burn down. Unbelievable and further proof that the likes of Constellation shouldn't be allowed near wine. This is iconic sparkling wine of the highest quality. It is a skilled and living work of art.    

2008 Donny GoodMac Chardonnay: Very charming style with crisp lean edges to ripe citrus fruits. Fabulously long and peppered finish.

2008 Chardonnay Tarraford Vineyard, Giant Steps: Complicated bouquet showing 'gunsmoke' (Phil), warmed nuts and a rich fruit sauce. Great intensity here. Love the wine until the finish - too sudden!

2008 Chardonnay Sexton Vineyard, Giant Steps: Fruit dominant nose yields to complexity and intensity leads to extreme and well balanced acidity holding a rich and balanced citrus dominated fruit together expertly. Fabulous wine.

2008 De Bortoli Chardonnay: Warm nose showing heat; soft and only marginally interesting. Leaves too much to the end, revisit.
 

2008 Yarra Burn Bastard Hill Chardonnay: Lean tight and rich.Super acidity, fantastic depth of quality. Extremely fine example of high quality cool climate chardonnay from Australia.

2008 Yarra Yering Chardonnay: I wrote a full page of notes on this wine and I expect most people won't like it at all! Bizarre. Loads of buttered effects on nose leads to soft and voluptuous style; very big fruit but also a very buttery finish. This wine shows texture and warmth and wine making like no other. 

2008 Pinot Noir Gladysdale Vineyards, Giant Steps: Fine and light pour; intense young raspberry; enticing perfume showing oak and rose well; tannin a tad lighter than the fine acid; tantalising wine.

2008 Tarra Burn Bastard Hill Pinot Noir: (only 200cs made) Rhubarb and beetroot; captivating warmth to the nose; soft and warming on palate; silky and smooth; loses its pure varietal character as it progresses to the finish. 

2008 De Bortoli Riorret The Abbey: (Riorret is Terroir backwards...) Found this quite young and in need of time. Showing a bit rough and ready and dumb for my liking. 

2008 Yering Station Pinot Noir: Big style with very ripe dark plums and some sweet liquorice;  palate is rich, warm and inviting. This is a very obvious wine and would work well as a teaching aid to the Yarra. 

2008 Harry's Monster, Giant Steps: (Cab Sauv, Merlot, Petit V and Cab Franc)Big fleshy and well peppered; tremendous palate with super big fruit; needs to be as tannin and acid come in quickly; mind you they both stay respectful and not aggressive!

2008 Punt Road 'MVN' Cabernet Sauvignon: V small nose with leaf and berries looking out; soft and intense wine; everything is super extracted; savoury strong varietal effect; has a brilliant future.

2008 Dry Red Wine No. 1 Yarra Yering: Expressive; obvious, precise and excellent fruit. Incredibly well defined. Clean as a whistle, very attractive; this is outstanding. Seamless blend (Cab Sauv, Merlot, Petit V and malbec) and very soft tannin hovering in the background. long, well structured and soft wine of immense charm and pedigree.

2008 Jamsheed Yarra Syrah ' Silvan Vineyard': Rich young purple ruby with enormous nose of rich dark and soft fruits balanced by pepper and spice. Game and earth lead to dark fruits and buckets of tannin and acid. Rich, big and long; exquisitely built, strong and muscular and excellent all round.

2006 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier: Full depth ruby; dirty and toasted; clay adn dried brush wood; lifted palate with bright notes to the fruit; soem beetroot and rhubarb leading to black olives and dried herbs; well structured but also a bit clumsy with the odd tannin stumbling about. Superb finish.

Another tasting privilege. 

As ever my tasting notes for each of these wines is far longer than anything I have posted here!

Bulgaria: Bursting with Wine Opportunity

I received three bottles of Bulgarian wine recently. Lucky they were sent to me as there really aren't any in this market AT ALL. It's a shame really because when Bulgaria was sending us over some (communist regime) wine in  the nineties not only were they very good but they took control of the varietal market before the Australians had really arrived at all! Every supermarket was stacked high with wine from Bulgaria.

When I visited the vineyards of Bulgaria way back in the mid nineties I formed two opinions.

• One was that the industry may well have been doing well at that time but it was chronically underfunded and dependent on funds being repatriated from the UK in the form of machinery etc

Modern bottling line devoted to bottles destined to the UK in the 1990's. Problem was that the cartons were local made and of such rough cardboard that they rubbed the labels off the bottles in transport! So, each bottle had to be taken off the fancy line and and hand wrapped in protective paper before being boxed!

• The other was that the country was packed full of unplanted but brilliant vineyard sites side by side with planted but boring fields of vines that, at times, stretched to the horizon.

 Endless collective vineyards. Once labour was unavailable the grapes fell to the ground at end of season. Concrete posts meant that machinery couldn't be used. Then the locals wanted their land back....Oh, mine was an acre just to the left of that bend up there and I'm going to raise chickens from now on...

Times have changed and everything has moved on since the nineties.  Most of the cooperative wineries and the collective farms have disappeared. To a large extent wine exports have disappeared also! Imports into Ireland are effectively zero. Quality and supply issues have dogged the trade. The net result is that confidence in Bulgarian wines has been lost, listings have dried up and without a great deal of investment the Bulgarian wine trade won't be here again any time soon. That said the three wines I tried were well worth looking at.

Bulgaria has its regions of origin clearly mapped out and a fine selection of both indigenous grapes and imported varietals at its disposal.  There is a local skill set that knows its way around both vines and wineries. Joint venture and/or direct capital investment can reap rewards. Whether the EU wants this to happen is a moot point. After all there is a serious potential for Bulgaria to produce an awful lot of very good wine.

The wines? They're from the Bessa Valley in the South of the country on the Thracian Plain and are labeled under the Enira brand. Just compare the photo's below (from the Enira website) with the ones above from the 1990's.

Investment, site selection and know how. Bulgaria is proving that when these are put together the results will be worth looking out for. For now I won't bore anyone with notes on wines that are not available here. I will however reserve the right to say one day -  'I told you so'!

Yarra Valley Tasting from Willies Wine Blog

One of the Blogs I keep an eye out for is Willies Wine Blog here in Ireland. Willie keeps me in touch with the 'Real Economy' of Wine. Not the one wine writers often write about but the one people are actually drinking! Willies blogs are getting better and better. When I saw his report on a Wines of Australia tasting this week with Phil Sexton of Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander, a winery I visited last May, I asked Willie if I could reproduce it here. I was also lucky to catch up with Phil this week. It was at a press tasting where he showed a  completely different set of impressive wines to the wines  Willie tasted. I'll blog that up soon. In the meantime here's Willie.......   

Wine Australia Yarra Valley Tasting

Last night myself and a couple of likely lads had the pleasure of attending another one of John McDonnell's Ozzie tastings. This evening it was the turn of the Yarra Valley, a cool area just north of Melbourne. John was joined by Phil Sexton of Innocent Bystander/Giant Steps wines.

Phil gave us a potted history lesson on the Valley e.g.

• Viticulture only really started there in the 60's.
• The Wine output of the valley is tiny by Australian standards.
• There are approx 600 vineyards and about 120 producers.
• In terms of temperature the Yarra is warmer than Burgundy but cooler than Bordeaux
• Bushfires in 2009 nearly destroyed the entire crop.

We started with a glass of Domaine Chandon NV - I liked this a lot. It was toasty and creamy and I'd have been hard pushed to differentiate between this and Champagne in a blind tasting. Fool your friends for the modest price of €20

The main tasting was divide into the sections by varietal; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz.

The Chardonnays

2009 Innocent Bystander Chardonnay (€14-99) - Big fruity nose, quite acidic and citrusy on the palate. Not subtle but tasty.

2009 PHI Chardonnay (€32-95) - Lovely, much more depth of flavour, less sharp and a bit minerally. Twice the price of the wine above though.

2008 De Bortoli Chardonnay (€30-00) - Best chardonnay of the night for me. Lots of fruit, big round flavours, smooth and a huge finish.

2006 Yering Station Chardonnay (€18-99) - Soft and creamy, again lots of acidity here.

The Pinot Noirs

An interesting tidbit from Phil - "Pinot Noir expresses its origin ruthlessly" i.e. you can't make Burgundy anywhere else. Terroir is King.

2009 Innocent Bystander Pinot Noir (€14-99) - Sweet on the nose, quite acidic with some nice berry fruit. Good value at this price.

2009 Shelmerdine Pinot Noir (€22-95) - We all loved this. With some gentle acidity, this was oaky, smokey and very long. Very good value for this complex wine.

2008 William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot Noir (€49-99) The star of the night for me. This guy only makes Pinots, nothing else, and it shows. A supple perfumed nose, raspberry fruit and some gentle tannins made this one special. The most Burgundy like - and yes, also the most expensive, I'm not a cheap date.

2008 Yering Station Pinot Noir (€18-99) - Not bad, plummy and oaky. Perhaps suffered in the tasting from following the William Downie.

The Shiraz's
2008 Innocent Bystander Shiraz (€14-99) - A gem, with 2% Viognier this was sweetish but not sickly, very tasty. Phil maintains this is the only Shiraz on the night to taste of Pink peppercorns, as opposed to white.

2007 De Bortoli Shiraz Viognier (€30-00) - A little bigger and rounder than the Innocent Bystander but not enough to justify doubling the price, in this blogger's opinion.

2006 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier (€18-99) - perfectly fine but I didn't think it was as special as the brochure made out. Tasty and rich though.

2004 Harry's Monster Giant Steps - (€18-00) - This is a very unusual blend of 25% of each of the following, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Petit Verdot (I think). This was fantastic; big, bold, fruity, tannic. I'd love to get more of this but I don't think it's imported to Ireland, boo!

Lastly we had a 2009 Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato, which I thought (sorry Phil), was harsh and vile. I do like me a sweet wine but I just couldn't get behind this highly original concoction. However I was definitely was in the minority, so what do I know.

We then had supper accompanied by a 2008 Innocent Bystander Pinot Gris and a 2006 Little Yering Shiraz Viognier. They were both fine, I wish I could tell you more about them but by this time I was famished so I concentrated more on the grub than the vino, apologies.

I did learn, however, than Pinot Gris (or Grigio) is a red grape. But when the juice is left in contact with the skins, the result is foul, hence Pinot Gris (or Grigio) grapes normally make white wines only.

Big thanks to John and Phil for a very enjoyable evening in the Yarra Valley.http://willieswineblog.blogspot.com

Haut Brion Tasting in Dublin Courtesy of Clarence Dillon Wines and Febvre and Co.

This was a good tasting. On time and efficiently dispatched so we could all get back to work - on time.

Last week Febvre and Co, agents for Clarence Dillon Wines, hosted a tutored tasting at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin. Our speaker was Gerard Blanloeil, Managing Director Clarence Dillon Wines.The idea was to introduce the Clarence Dillon properties, Ch Haut-Brion and Ch la Mission Haut-Brion; to explain their differences; to introduce their respective second wines; to explain the blended wine from the second wines of both estates and very importantly to launch a new Bordeaux brand, Clarendelle, from Clarence Dillon Wines. 

                                 
                      Gerard Blanloeil introduces Clarendelle, Ch Haut-Brion and Ch la Mission Haut-Brion  

The tasting was professional, quite brilliant, got to the point quickly and delivered its message with clarity and understanding.

Wines Tasted
Clarendelle Blanc 2007
24% Sauvignon Blanc, 64% Semillon, 12% Muscadelle Very attractive Semillon character

Clarendelle Rose 2009
 40% Merlot, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon Wild fleshy fruits balanced well to definite soft tannins.
Clarendelle Rouge 2004
80% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon Sombre dark fruits; some animal, fine gravelly tannins

Clarendelle is a very accomplished range of wines that will have wide appeal. Brands of course have achieved success over the years not simply on merit and quality alone. They have also offered good and consistent value. There is no doubt but there is something special about a brand that has a wine making team that also produces a first growth wine! A better term for these wines is Premium. This is premium quality at premium prices. As such they are very good value. 

Labelling? a bit dark but elegant 

 

La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion 2006
22% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon Fine perfumes and lifted scents, attractive and 'pretty' style, full fruit, big structure, relatively tough young tannins edged with tobacco and earth.



Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2007
 51% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon: Classic cassis and tobacco style, elegant and well tended fruit, light fig and liquorice, soft attack, broad, generous and fleshy, well developed tannins, attractive twist of youthful cherry on the finish.

Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion 2001
 62% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon: Touch of the ocean, fresh sea breezes, lifting personality, charming edges of tobacco, earth and fig, dark berry fruit, extreme depth great elegance, slowly grows in stature on palate, structure well matched to fruit, fine gravelly tannins, excellent soft and silky fruit, caresses well!, seamless finish.  

Chateau Haut-Brion Rouge 1999

60% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon: Looking young, instant leaf and fruit bouquet, strong herbaceous edges, dark berries  with some bright uplifting cherry, rich juicy attack quickly met by big structure and extreme tannin gravelly, strong palate showing liquorice and tobacco well knit to a cassis backdrop. Super acidity. Young in its make up! 


Clarendelle Amberwine 2003
Monbazillac Appellation. 10 % Sauvignon Blanc, 80% Semillon, 10% Muscadelle
Exquisite wine immense delicacy and endless grace. No sugariness here! This is dessert wine with balance.

Small quibble: We were supplied with tasting notes for each wine some of which were 'Robert Parker Tasting Notes'. These distract and influence tasters. If they must be printed onto the tasting sheets then they really ought to have been dated. After all, I am tasting this year. When did Parker taste the same wine and has it changed since?

Kevin Ecocks Wine Course is Back!

Errazuriz Seminar 2010 in Dublin

Every year I blog up my thoughts on the annual Errazuriz Seminar. I like the way Errazuriz spends huge amounts of time and money researching something and then gives all the info away for free! I like it that a major company such as Errazuriz bothers to give us their time and effort gracefully and with graciousness. I like the seriousness of it all - academia comes to a wine tasting. The 10th Annual Errazuriz took place this week and was presented by chief winemaker Francisco Baettig. Here's a  guy that I like a lot. Over the years I've learned a bunch from him.

Francisco at Fallon and Byrne this week

Memorable topics such as oak in wine and the effect soils have on wine have been well covered in the past. This years topic was titled The Amazing Errazuriz Specialties. It dealt with two contrasting vineyards within the Errazuriz empire and the contrasting effects site can have on grapes and consequently on the wines that they produce.

The venue was Fallon and Byrne. Kick off was slated for 11.00 with lunch at 1.00 Nothing got going until well after 11. Didn't look good for lunch unless you had the time to hang around....

Maybe I was a bit grumpy about the late start but the lecture seemed to head off into areas that were either vague or obvious. Either way it wasn't holding my interest - and I'm a wine seminar geek! (Maybe Francisco shouldn't have spliced in home videos....!)

Within the realm of Specialties we compared two cool climate vineyards and tasted wines from them. The vineyards in question look extraordinary. The first is the Aconcagua Costa Manzanar Vineyard planted in 2005 (near the coast in the Aconcagua Valley!) and the second is the Casablanca Vineyard (near the coast in the Casablanca Valley!) The latter is relatively warmer. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were compared valley to valley with an emphasis placed on wild ferments for the latter two. As Casablanca didn't show too well for me in any of the wines I was left wondering whether I was seeing cool climate differences or simply valley differences. The point was getting muddled. Vagueness began to creep into the argument. Mind you I always like someone talking wild ferments....

   

Yeast in a barrel










  


Manzanar Vineyard at Aconcagua Costa : Outstanding wines

We were then shown three single vineyard varietals: Aconcagua Syrah 2010, a MaxV vineyard Carmenere 2008 and an Ocoa Sangiovese 2007. Within a Specialties seminar these showed well (Syrah was outstanding) but the seminar was disappearing at this point and the event was turning into a tutored tasting.

Finally we looked at The Blend 2007 - only alright and perhaps a pointless style - and  a Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2008 which was served too warm and was quite frankly not much to write home about.

I learned more about Errazuriz than I had before but heretofore the Errazuriz seminar encouraged me, nay transported me!, to learn more about wine. The experience this week was too introspective and full of  Aren't We Great Guys? That's a shame because its not the question you want to ask after a fairly ordinary seminar experience. 


Francisco is great and Errazuriz has so much to offer that I will be first in line for next year. One poor year out of ten will not change my mind that this seminar series is still one of the best around.

Niggle points:

• Finally as lunch was being served at 1.50 I had to leave before my plate arrived! I give my time free to events such as these. There is no excuse that justifies a late start and a late finish.

• The glassware supplied didn't match. I had a mish mash of types

Notes from Australia 15: St Hallett treats us to a Regional Masterclass

I met Toby Barlow last year at one of the very fine Regional Hero Tastings organised by John McDonnell of Wines of Australia. Toby impressed me no end with talk of terroir, soils and regional variation across the Barossa. He brought rocks and soils into focus and related them directly to the wines. I was looking forward to meeting up with him on his home turf at St Hallett. Welcome to Note 15 of my recent wanderings through the vineyards of Australia.

Toby Barlow winemaker wasn't too pleased that we were late! He didn't say it but we knew. In turn we didn't tell him that we were very tired! We didn't say it but he knew. I could see why he was a bit ticked. He'd wanted to show us a lot more vineyard, land and rock than we now had time to see. He had also arranged an amazing outdoor tasting on the lawns at St Hallett. 

First off we headed to some 70 to 120 year old shiraz vines on the banks of Jacob's Creek that St Hallett uses. Like Peter Lehmann St Hallett doesn't own many vineyards but uses contract grape growers as its source of fruit. These were great old vines. See the pics. Gnarled old fists with long twisting fissures. How on earth they direct enough water and nutrients up to the grapes is beyond me! You'd be forgiven for thinking these vines had been neglected for a very long time. 

Toby and St Hallett needs to have an intimate understanding of these old vines as they, and others like them from across the Barossa, are used to to make up the icon St Hallett Old Block Shiraz.

Then Toby took us on an unbelievable virtual tour of the Barossa through the wines in his barrel room! St Hallett keeps up to 200 different lots of shiraz separate each vintage. It is possible to effectively 'taste' the soils of the Barossa and how they relate to the grapes they produce. We tasted barrel after barrel. This is pure genius at work.  
One of the things I really like about St Hallett is that they produce entry level wines of a very high standard year in year out and all of the fruit is sourced from the Barossa. Both Poachers Blend and Gamekeepers always offer up great reward in terms of quality, value and satisfaction. Their Riesling is Eden Valley fruit and Toby reckons its very much starting to emerge now and shows best 8-12 months after release. But the heart of St Hallett is shiraz. It's their focus and their passion. It's the story that they want to tell - vintage after vintage.My fave? Faith 2008!

Wines Tasted
St Hallett Riesling 2009
Poachers Blend Sauvignon/Semillon/Riesling
Gamekeeper Shiraz/Grenache/Tourigo
Gamekeeper Shiraz/Cabernet
Gamekeeper Shiraz
Faith Shiraz 2008
Faith Shiraz 2002
Blackwell Shiraz 2008
Old Block 2006