These are my experiences as they happened... an edited highlight will follow along with some pictures...
Day 1 Friday 2nd March 2006
Very hard indeed leaving home and driving to the airport... But once on the plane there was no going back! I met with the group in London and we all shared a wee glass of sauvignon in the airport. First impressions all good; it's a long old flight and 24.5 hours after leaving Bridge of Allan, I touched down in Perth, WA. It was 3am or after when we got to the hotel and I phoned home to find them all out having fun! When we woke the next morning it was HOT. I went for a run along the river and got my nose burnt within 15 minutes wearing factor 15. We flew to Albany later on in the day and were met by Jonathan from Plantagenet Wines. Night out to the Earl of Spencer pub proved to be an intense bonding experience!
The group is made up of ten of the UK’s best wine merchants and two sommeliers.
Plantagenet
Every winery chooses to present themselves in a very different way and it has been interesting to observe. The people from Plantagenet got most of us up early and took us on a 10km cycle ride along the coast, then back for breakfast before the hard work of tasting began. The coastal path was beautiful, especially in the cool of dawn.
The wines were good - the Omrah range (designed to be approachable soon after bottling) is great value and the more serious Plantagenet wines can ages beautifully if the vintage was classic. We also tasted the Hellfire Bay range made from fruit sourced all over Western Australia and I continue to be impressed with the lovely balanced wine for the price. The 2005 vintage chardonnay has much less oak than previous vintages and is the better for it.
Favourite wines were the Omrah Pinot and the 1999 Plantagenet Shiraz.
Plantagenet have just recruited the services of winemaker John Durham, who until recently was the chief winemaker for Cape Mentelle. John is excited by the new challenge of making Riesling in this slightly cooler climate region. The team take it in turns to cook lunch every day and all eat together every lunch time. They have chosen to bottle 97% of their wines under screw cap as when they recently looked at an aged batch of Riesling ... far too many were found to have random bottle oxidation.
The 2007 vintage has not been good for most of Australia with severe drought affecting yields and some producers are down to 30% compared to last year.
Cullen
After a very very long and slow drive to Margaret River I was delighted to arrive at the Cullen vineyards. This estate is run by a lovely lady called Vanya Cullen and makes beautiful wines with perfect balance and no intervention. She achieves this by practicing biodynamically and the health and vitality of her vines was a joy to see. No chemicals, all wild yeasts, no acidification, just perfectly balanced fruit. We tasted grapes, juice, barrel samples, tank samples and 3 verticals: the Mangan Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and the Diana Madeleine (a Cab Sauv based blend named after her mother).
We were invited to Vanya's house for a BBQ in the evening and she treated us to many, many (far too many) of the best wines from WA. It was a fantastic night and her team explained and demonstrated the virtues of biodynamic practices. Lots of pictures to follow, but for the most striking demonstration that biodynamics works was the image of the field beside Vanys vineyard. There is a serious drought in WA at the moment and the field next to hers was bare, dry and dusty whereas the grass in between the vines was green and vibrant despite the fact that they do not irrigate.
I absolutely loved the whole set up at Cullen - the lunch was all grown in their vegetable patch and the quality of the wines they treated us to in the evening demonstrated their passion for Western Australia’s wines. It shows courage and confidence and a huge degree of inner peace to show wines made by other people - not to mention generosity.
After Vanya, we headed back to Perth - another bum breaking bus journey and got on a flight to Adelaide. I bought a copy of the James Halliday wine guide for 2007 which I'll keep in the shop on my return.
Grosset and Mount Horrocks
We were taken straight up to Clare Valley about 2 hours directly north. We went to see Jeff Grosset and Stephanie Toole who are a team making Grosset Wines and Mout Horrocks. Their story is inspirational as is their winery and whole set up. Jeff makes the best Riesling in the southern hemisphere and I was delighted to taste for the first time Stephanies oaked fermented Semillon and the unusual Cordon Cut Riesling.
We arrived knackered, jet lagged, having been cooped up in a bus for too long and the welcome was terrific. The table was set in the winery for dinner and we drank MH Riesling, MH Semillon, G Chardonnay and then the Gaia. The combination all completely went to my head and I spent the night finding everything very funny and got a reputation for being a bit of a giggler...
The next morning I went for run very early through the vineyards - a great start to the day.
We were taken on a tour of the vineyards for the Watervale Rielsings and Polish Hill - which has been rated by those who might know as the top 25 best sites in the world ... and Jeff Grosset was showing us round ... I was a little star struck by this very clever, funny man who applies this intellect to wine making - and it shows. His wines are beautiful.
When Stephanie was pregnant with number 1 child she was offered the chance the buy the neighbouring vineyard to Jeff. She took the chance and more recently purchased an old railway station to use as her cellar door. I was really inspired by the way she has grown her side of the business alongside her family... nothing is impossible.
They share wine making facilities, but nothing else. They are both extremely passionate about everything from soil, grapes all the way through to the wines. I could go on and on - I was really impressed.
Charles Melton
After Clare, we headed south east towards Barossa Valley where I had high expectations of enjoying some time with Charles Melton who makes some of my favourite wines in the shop. Barossa Valley (still not really a valley at all) showed the first signs of the mass production part of Australia’s wine making - some very large productions going on. We were due to head to the Murray River with Charlie and when it turned out to be a further 2 hours away, we were all wilting slightly! After a wee refresher of the Melton sparkling red, we got back on the bus and all I could think about was a glass of the Rose of Virginia, sitting on the back on the house boat ...
The house boats were like nothing I had ever seen before - the group was divided into 2 and our boat was driven by an American who was in slightly less control than he had hoped and as a complete disappointment to me, all we were offered to drink was cold beers (very Aussie) - no sign of the Rose.. Anyway, we stopped in the middle of nowhere and lead by Charlie, everyone enjoyed more cold beers ... it was not until during dinner that we were offered any of his wines and even then, he was very reluctant to talk about what he does.
This maybe coincided with a low point of missing the children so perhaps I should not be too harsh ... but I was disappointed - not with the wines. Still no Rose appeared all night except one bottle of a tank sample of 2007 - which had not finished fermenting, but was looking good.
Shaw and Smith
We met with Martin Shaw in the M3 chardonnay vineyards. Grapes were being picked. We then drove around to the winery which is fairly new, minimalist, practical and very stylish. I was advised to sit facing the good view and what a view it was. Down the hill over the vineyards you could see the Adelaide Hills in the background ... We have yet to see a cloud!
The tasting was conducted by Michael Hill Smith ... a lapsed restaurateur with a very practical outlook on wine -he was the first person to describe the climate as cooler rather than cool and we tasted the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc juice - which had a sweet turnip nose but I am assured that it will be good - although yields are down as elsewhere. The 2006 Sauvignon Blanc was showing well and their chardonnay which I normally find to be too oaky was just beautiful - served from a magnum and is all hand harvested, whole bunch pressed and allowed to start fermentation with wild yeast; a lovely complex wine. I also really enjoyed their Shiraz with bright vibrant fruit and some lovely pepper character on the palate.
John Duval
We then went on a tour of the winery whilst the tables were set up for lunch and were joined by John Duval ... one of the most famous Australian wine makers and recognised world over for his contribution to making Penfolds Grange. We shared a glass of Roederer champagne before lunch and John explained the meaning of his wines names Plexus and Entity ... He said that for years Grange was all about maintaining a style, but the penfolds RWT was more his style and Plexus is kind of following on from that ..
I cannot say how nice a man he was. Quite quiet, very modest, just lovely. And his wines spoke volumes. The best fruit sourced from mates in the Barossa put together in a very elegant way.
Mitolo
The day with started with us all agreeing to get up a bit earlier and head for Willunga beach. We had just 30 minutes, but in the cloudless sky, it was beautiful.
We met with Frank Mitolo and 2 of his children the 'A' and 'M' before tasting the current releases. It was so hot, I kept trying to move into shadow to stop even my feet being in full sunlight. Ben Glaetzer the wine maker arrived by helicopter and we were taken up after a lovely simple, Italian lunch on a tour over the McLaren Vale. We also met the grape growers as the winery where the Mitolo range is made is in Barossa. The Loprosti family were kind of like Italian wide boys ... yes there was passion and enthusiasm even if a little of what they said was bollocks! On leaving, Don the Dad said to me "My wife leaves me, you give me a call, I marry you, huh?"
The whole Mitolo experience kind of sums up the wines too - showy, a bit flash and very stylish on the outside.
Willunga 100 and S C Pannell
These guys make their wine at a big winery called Tinlins. They are the biggest producers of premium bulk wines. This was a fascinating insight into the Aussie wine market - it's not all romantic. But we got treated to the BEST winery tour so far. I took lots of videos of processes in action and also got to do a bit of cap plunging myself - even my whole body weight was not enough - the wine I was plunging was destined for a top Penfolds Shiraz ... Steve Pannell who makes his wines here too is a great character - very passionate and very funny. We tasted the Willunga range and also all of Steve Pannells wines which were fab.
We went to a beach that evening to watch the sun set and it was really nice to have some time to just sit still.
Clonakilla and Brokenwood
A very early start ... we were on the bus for 4.30am and drove to the airport where we caught a flight to Melbourne, then Canberra. The weather was still 100% clear blue skies.
The drive to Clonakilla was OK, but the bus was small and we were all a bit cramped. We were greeted by Tim Kirk - the son of the founder who is taking these Rhone style wines to a new level.
The enthusiasm and passion for quality wine making was evident and he was very good humoured despite having lost 95% of his crop in some vineyards due to 5 harsh frosts and the drought.
We tasted so many cask samples from different sorts of oak etc - and I managed to spectacularly miss the spittoon with a mouthful of shiraz all over someone’s white trainers ... oops!
Lunch was made by the assistant winemaker - also a trained chef and we all sat down in the winery for a 5 course feast. I did not manage the oysters, or the quail (I think I might become a vegetarian) but the wines were out of this world. The straight Viognier is superb and with only 36 cases going to the UK, I'll certainly be keeping some in my cellar. Also the Shiraz Viognier blends really were a delight, as was the Riesling which is not currently exported.
A nightmare journey followed taking us 7 hours to get to the Hunter Valley, via Sydney to replace the coach who air conditioning failed.
We arrived at Brokenwood to be met by a cheerful Iain Riggs and a very welcome bowl of soup. Unusually there was no laughter or even much chat ... We were all absolutely exhausted and ready for our bed.
Another early start for a 'surprise' before breakfast ... We were in need of cheering up and this was just the right thing to do. We got into 4x4's and headed up the hill. At the top, Iain produced a load of golf balls which were collected from the graveyard vineyard (right next to a golf course) and with a glass of Tattinger in one hand, we hit the golf balls off into the forest below. It was Monday morning - and i really think that a glass on champagne every Monday morning with breakfast is the way forward.
Brokenwood was set up by a group of friends who invited their friends up at weekends to help plant vines / pick grapes and have a bit of fun with good food, wine and company ... what more do you need? The atmosphere around the place is very similar today ... there is a bunk house where we nearly stayed, but it really was too hot and a lovely large communal kitchen dining. During vintage they hire a chef who caters for the team - we joined them for breakfast after golf, then after a tour and tasting, we had a lovely lunch. They also have a fantastic coffee machine which I got a bit excited about - 2 espressos for breakfast, then another 2 after lunch proved to be bit much for me! But I did enjoy being barista and making the coffees.
Brokenwood is serious about wine quality, but don't lose sight of the fact that it is drunk for enjoyment. The soil is fairly rubbish (which makes vines dig deep) and the rows are not straight (due to some being consumed before planting all those years ago).
The range is great! The ILR semillon was enjoyed by all and I still prefer the pure, clean fruit of the Graveyard Shiraz ... although we also tasted Wade Block 2 McLaren Vale Shiraz - some people had a problem with a Hunter Valley winery producing McLaren Vale wines ... I thought it had such a wonderful texture I could probably bin any purist tendancies.
Wh had a night off in Sydney! I caught up with an old school friend who was not drinking on a Monday night, so that was an interesting experiment!! I think my body was grateful adn I spent much of the next day typing up all this - and doing a bit of boomerang shopping!
The next evening we went for a meal at Wildfire restaurant overlooking the Opera House and just under the Harbour Bridge ... fantastic setting altogether. We had the private dining room which overlooked the main restaurant and I bagged the seat with the best view .... Just behind Jon and Kenny I could see the boats come and go all night, with the floodlit Opera House behind that. We played wine options with Tony Jordan - a great game for wine freaks. For those of you who'd liek to know, we tried 1981 Micheton Rielsing, 1977 Chardonnay which had been bottled under screw cap, 2004 Cape mentelle Sauv Sem, and a wacky french blend brought over by Frederick from Philglas & Swiggot, Yarra Yerring 1993 Cabernet, An Australian nebbiolo 1998, Cascabel Monastrell, Langmeil 2004 Barossa SGM, Old Vine Shiraz Peter Lehman 1999, finally botrytised semillon with 120g rs from Chandon / Green Point. Full tasting notes available on request!!
What Tony does not know about the world of wine ... So we all listened ... He said that 85% of Australian wine is produced by 4 large companies and that teh Aussie wine market has now come full circle and they are ready to put their world class wines on show. "the whole world is a game of marketing" and he reckoned that the reputation of the country depends on the top 15% of quality wine.
We also tasted the heathcote Shiraz from Greenstone Estate which is made up of mark Walpole (Brown Brothers), Alberto Antonino and David Gleave.The 2005 vinateg came from 18 month old vines - hard to believe ...
Overall impressin of Australia ... top quality, ageablity, screw caps rock, regional differences perhaps not as extreme as in France. Off to New Zealand!
Ata Rangi
Lovely people - Phyll, Clive and Ali! We were greated with a cuppa and some shortbread - how refreshing! martinborough seems to be a very civilised part of the world. All very tasteful. We stayed with friends of the family and Kate and I shared a fanastic little guest house in the middle of a Pinto Gris vineyard.
We ahd a vertcial tasting of the Ata Rangi Pinot - notes not to hand, but the passion adn depth of knowledge of the land really comes through. Despite the weather, due to teh meticulous handling adn treament of each different clone /parcel the wine team manage to create a fairly consistent style which is very intense and perfumed and a great example.
We went for dinner to the Martinborough Hotel and were treated to a degustation menu to match each of teh current release of Ata Rangi wines. Oysters with the SB, smoked eel with teh Pinto gris, citrus salmon with teh chardonnay, duck confit with the pinot noir, cheese with the celebre and the bot riesling to finish with petit fours by teh fire adn some coffee. Mathieu (our 2 michelin star sommelier) was asked to toast teh chef - it really was a treat.
Delta and Tin Pot Hut
next day a flight to Blenheim - we virtually booked out the flight - a very small aircraft for the 25 minutes hop down to the south island. We had a really relaxed, long lunch amongst the vines after a tour with winemaker Matt (who also makes Mudhouse). I liked teh Tin Pot Hut Syrah from Hawkes Bay.
Kim Crawford
We were then taken over by Julia from Kim Crawford for a wee tour of their sites and wine making facilitites. KC is the biggest producer we were visiting and I was expecting not to like it at all. But ... I quite admired the very clever business man who took full advantage of the wine market and is making easy to understand wines. he is also a bit of a bloke - considers vintage like child birth ... and machine harvesting a bit like a section - much quicker, less messy and better all round!! I didn't agree with everything he said!
We stayed at the Vintners retreat where it was great to get an appartment all to myself although time on the sofa was only 10 minutes before dinner, it was a good 10 minutes! I crashed and burned after a few glasses, but really enjoyed ny chat with Julia the winemaker and I hope we do go to Chile one day!
Wild Earth
Next morning was another early start as we headed back to Blenheim ariport for a double legged flight to Queenstown via Christchurch. We went to see Wild Earth - a fairly new company creating wines from bannockburn in Otago. The flight into Queenstown is fab - through the mountains adn bannockburn is in the middle of nowhere. We were treated to a very honest tour of the vineyard - warst and all, or at least poor fruit set and problems with wind. These guys practice organically, but have chosen not to certify to keep options open as they really are at the mercy of the weather way down there.
We had a bbq/homemade smokery whislt some indulged in some fishing or clay pigeon shooting, and of couse some lovely wines. Quentin, the owner, is also commercial diver, so we the seafood on offer was fanastic and all cooked in an odl wine barrel over some manuks bark. The goat and hare were too much for me (I really think I am becoming a vegetarian) but the salmon was fantastic. It was a scramble in the dark back up to the coach but we al made it and for me it was time to say goodbye to most of the group as they were all of home the next day and my solo adventure was about to begin!
Peregrine and the Gibbston wine and food festival.
What good timing! I headed back out to Gibbston with Kenny (Villeneuve) who knew the man who started the whole Pinot grape thing in Otago -he's called Alan Brady and from Belfast, we got on well. The Gibbston wine and food festival happens every year and all the wineries in the area turn up and show their wines as do some of the best restaurants. We tasted Sam Neil's Two Paddocks amongst others ...
I had a quick tour of the Peregrine winery which is almost worth the trip alone. Greg said he'd had long enough to think about it, but the new winery completed just a few years ago is very stylish, practical and cool. the wines are great too! Especially the Rieslings ... 3 were made with different levels of residual sugar.
I left Queenstown later on that afternoon (with thanks to Alan for getting me on the plane) and flew to Wellington via Christchurch and experienced the first delay of the trip. There was an oil leak and we had to disembark and wait for another plane. The area was for arrivals and departures and I found it very hard indeed to sit amongst families re-uniting :-((
Alana
I was met by a good friend of my Mums who lives in Porirua and enjoyed a warm Northern Irish Kiwi evening! We drove the next day over the Rimutakas again to Martinborough to visit Alana Estate. There had been a 10km through the vineyards run on that morning and so I found the team quite wet after the rain!
Alana was the first gravity fed winery I have encountered on the trip - the winery has been built into a hill and the grapes arrive at the top, get sorted into the tanks where they ferment and the juice then flows through a hole in the floor to the barrel room below. This means there is minimal pumping of wine going on and if you ever get to taste a wine in bottle shock, then you'll know how important that is. I thought the Alana range was very impressive and only wished I had booked a table for lunch - they arrange the menu by dishes to match the wines they serve and it has been so popular that they have extended into the barrel hall for private dining - very cool.
Neudorf
The next morning I was truly on my own as I caught the Interislander ferry back to the south island (stunning views as you arrive in Picton) and picked up a hire car to drive to Nelson. I have casually told people in the shop before that neudorf and nelson are just beside marlborough, well 3 hours later I was beginning to realise just how big NZ actually is. The drive is lovely through the Rai Valley and the beaches on the other side are stunning - I wish I had had some time. I got to Nelson easily enough, but had not reckoned on Neudorf being about 40km out the other side - and of course it's in the middle of nowhere - probably why they taste so good.
When I arrived told the girl I was looking for Judy - she asked was I the one from London here for a tasting, so I thought for a second and then said 'yes'! In fact Judy was not there, so I had Tim Finn all to myself for a 2 hour tour and tasting. He is a world reknowned wine maker and I was a little star struck. Luckily this was near the end of the trip and I had truly developed my wine bollocks, so manged to talk the talk about clones etc and actually had a lovely chat as well. I half expected the person from London to turn up and blow my cover!
They are experimenting with putting mussel shells under some old vines to improve the reflected light therefore UV getting to the grapes. All parcels are vinified separately etc and Tim thinks it is working. They are at a very interesting stage in their business ... they have managed to keep it small enough to be very successful and still in demand. Also their young vines (which were specific Burgundy clones planted later) are now getting quite mature and arguably producing better fruit than their old vines, original clones. It will be interesting to be in the blending room for the 2007 vinatge. As a result they have changed the rbanding on their Pinot for 2006 and produced Tom's Block (formally called Nelson) as well as the Moutere. My palate much prefers the Tom's block which is very new world style with just a touch of the tar that might amke you guess New Zealand Pinot. I have been so spoiled with good wine ... The range is stunning and to taste it with the wine maker ... After a coffee, I was on the road again - a happy woman.
Dog Point
Back over the winding hills to Marlborough and all I had to do was find Godfrey Road! Well a few phone calls later I arrived at the Bell Tower B&B in the middle of the Dog Point vineyards. I took so many pictures of the view - which is great, but I was also very releived to have arrived in one piece, just before sunset.
I got a lft in a classic Holden (one of the first, Aussie made) through the vineyards to the winery where I had dinner with james and ivan and their wives wendy and margaret. I'm sorry to go on ... But James is Mr Cloudy Bay winemaker until recently and Ivan, as well as growing the grapes for Dog Point, still produces a significant amount of fruit for NZ's most famous.
We had a lovely dinner (great cake) and chat before I accepted a lift for an early night because I was due to actually really work tomorrow and pick some grapes!!
After a great breakfast (if you get the chance, you must stay here) thanks to Kirsty I was ready for picking. i joined a team of 16 who are full timers in the vineyards here. The rules are - don't pick opposite someone, pick to the post, and check each bunch for second set and botrytis. I lasted about an hour when the heat got to me and I had an important tasting to attend.
The DP range is small, but perfectly formed. Their SB is a great example of the best of marlborough and their oak fermented SB is an interesting alternative. I love the perfectly balanced chardonnay and their Pinot is a great New World Pinot - soon to be in the shop I think. Obviously the 2007 Pinot will be absolutely stunning and having picked the grapes, I'll probably try and sell it to everyone!
After a lovely lunch with Margaret, I took the hire car on a short trip to isabel Estate - just around the corner. Isabel Estate has been around for a while now too and we often speak of their connection with Cloudy Bay as well. After a tasting and brief tour I had a cup of tea with Mike - a former air line pilot who literally saw potential in a frost free patch of land during repeated flights in and out of Blenheim airport. The range is growing slightly with a Pinot Gris and a Dry Riesling. I tasted the latest vintages of Pinot and Chardonnay - a slighly different style to the previous vintage with less oak. The winemaker is a lady from Chile and she has been there now for 4 years.
So! Just now I am in Melbourne airport on my way home. Waiting for a connecting flight back to London, then Edinburgh and after a few cuddles a lovely drive to Bridge of Allan. I have learned a huge amount and in the main, been very impressed by the Estates I have visited - that's not to say that all OzNZ wine is great - I have tried every wine on the Qantas list so far (not impressive) and the house SB at the martinborough hotel was so bad, I could not even finish my glass (not like me).
I am ready for home, but after 18 flights and god knows how many miles, I'm off to plant a small forest. I think I will put together an OzNZ case of wines I enjoyed the most and of course I'll be aorund to talk Shiraz with you all at the end of the month.
Cheers!