B13 Barossa Weekend

[mjs]

Now in the lounge at Adl airport with grb2001 after another MWS three day weekend in the Barossa, our 13th such trip in the last 7 years in fact.

Friday saw the following CDs:
Romney Park (ok, I know, that’s Adl Hills, it was a drive by tasting en route to the Barossa)
Gods Hill Rd
Ch Yaldara
Bethany Wines, structured tasting
Saturday was a bit more leisurely (as was Sunday)
Angaston Farmers Market
Rieslingfreak for a structured tasting
Vino Lokal for lunch and a tasting of a number of small producers
Lindsay Wine Estate for a barrel sampling and then other finished wines
Sunday
Ubertas
Rosenvale
Cooper Burns

Certainly some cellar doors that we hadn’t seen before. Highlights were Romney Park (Blanc de Blancs, Chardy, Shiraz and Pinot), Rieslingfreak (lots of good rieslings in the line up) and Cooper Burns (Shiraz in particular) the latter in particular was very good value. The other two today were also very good. Charlie Scalzi at Gods Hill was very amiable, passionate and accommodating, tasted a fair range of expensive wines there. Bethany was good. Lindsay was good doing a barrel sample tasting from quite a few different wines of various ages. Ubertas, run by a young Australian Chinese couple was interesting. Mainly reds, all intense in coulour, Shiraz was good.

All in all, an enjoyable weekend

[phillisc]

Hi Malcolm, did you get to taste Riesling Freak No 1?

Cheers
Craig

[mjs]

Hi Malcolm, did you get to taste Riesling Freak No 1?

Cheers
Craig

No, wasn’t offered, dammit.

It was a great tasting though with Mark Thomas and John Hughes turned up as well for a while.

‘18 2, ‘18 3, ‘18 4, ‘14 3, ‘18 10, ‘13 6, ‘18 5, ‘18 8, ‘13 8, ‘11/12 7 all up. The 8’s were delicious as were the 10 and the older 3.

[JamieBahrain]

Ubertas, run by a young Australian Chinese couple was interesting. Mainly reds, all intense in coulour, Shiraz was good.

All in all, an enjoyable weekend

Must try next visit!

[mjs]

Forgot to mention that I have never seen such dryness in the vineyards, honestly, many of the vines looked like crap in the heat and lack of water. Not to mention the general lack of water across the hills, from east of Mt Barker as seen from the plane, to way down on the plains, screaming out for moisture.

In addition, this year’s vintage has been universally down on yield across SA, perhaps by as much as 70% in many areas, including Adl Hills. Perverse combination of frosts late last year and heat. Volume will certainly be down. Quality probably just ok.

[Rossco]

Forgot to mention that I have never seen such dryness in the vineyards, honestly, many of the vines looked like crap in the heat and lack of water

All the pics I have seen of the vines (especially in Barossa) look really thirsty. Almost shut down, leaves shrivlled and extremely dry. Wonder how long they will take to recover. Very worrying for those poor growers

[mjs]

Forgot to mention that I have never seen such dryness in the vineyards, honestly, many of the vines looked like crap in the heat and lack of water

All the pics I have seen of the vines (especially in Barossa) look really thirsty. Almost shut down, leaves shrivlled and extremely dry. Wonder how long they will take to recover. Very worrying for those poor growers

Leaves not turning beautiful golden hues through autumn at all, more like drying out and dropping straight off. Future depends a bit on what happens in winter I guess. there was really bugger all rain that replenished moisture at depth this year.

Yields are way down, so it will be tough for growers and makers.

[phillisc]

Malcolm, Adelaide has had just 7 mm to date this year, about 60 mm behind the average...to say we need rain is an understatement.
Big trees are cracking down the middle as a result of very minimal ground water.
My next door neighbour is attempting to generate a front lawn, his last quarter water bill in excess of $2000. I have given up.

Cheers Craig

[mjs]

Craig,
It’s not much better here in Melbourne/Vic. Melbourne has had 38mm so far this year, compared with the long term average for the period of 145mm. But I have to admit, I haven’t seen the sandy soil areas in the Barossa look and feel as dry as they are right now.
Cheers, Malcolm

[Scotty vino]

krondorf from the air ten days ago.

[mjs]

Scotty,
Looks like Burge on the lhs. I remember the view from the Mesach tasting room, over green vines down the the dam, just a brown puddle atm
Those hills look like sandhills
cheers, Malcolm

[ticklenow1]

It will be interesting to see the quality of the 2019 wines from these dry regions. I know several winemakers told me last May that the 2018 wines (from the Barossa/Eden Valley) were looking fantastic.

The yields were way down in 19 from what I've read and some of the smaller wineries will be really suffering. Hopefully Mother Nature helps them out over the winter and gives them some much needed precipitation. It's hard enough for the little wineries to make a buck as it is, let alone with lack of water.

I'm guessing the Golf course's are dust bowls at the minute. Looking bleak for our annual golf trip down to Adelaide/Barossa in May

Cheers
Ian