Coonawarra Visit.

[Scotty vino]

Cellar Dweller Program here

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulk2p57zo4d31pw/Cellar%20Dweller%20DL%20Programme_2016_final.pdf?dl=0

thanks Malcolm.

[mychurch]

We are heading to the area for the Xmas week. Hoping to visit the Wineries on the Sunday and Monday before Xmas, but that depends on the weather - we at least 1 day on a beach.

We’ve book a place on Mount Gambier for the 2 Xmas days as we figure not a lot will be open out of the ‘big’ city.

Has anyone been at this time of year ? Should I check before hand if I want to visit on the 24th or the 27th ?

Are there any interesting bottle shops in the area ?

[Mahmoud Ali]

A hotel and bar at the south end of Penola used to have an extensive range of wines in the basement bottle shop, including many older vintages. i cannot remember the name of the place but it was back in 2001 so maybe things have changed. Sorry, thats the best I can do.

Mahmoud.

[phillisc]

MC
Check with the Penola visitors centre, always a wealth of information.
Coonawarra.org is also a good site to look at.
I suspect that most wineries will be open Xmas eve, but they will advertise if not.
The Royal Oak (Roak), formerly the old Heywards Pub puts on a great meal, plus some entertainment. Pipers may be open ( normally shut on the Monday), so could do something for Christmas eve and or the 25th. Caledonian in Robe will be open.

Have fun
Cheers craig

[mychurch]

Thanks Craig

White wine is more my thing, so looking forward to tasting a whole lot of red wines for a change.

Sentiment will take me to Petaluma and Katnook, and possibly Mejella and Penley as well (the latter more for the 98 Wirra Wirra Penley Cab). Quite a few names I don’t know though, so i’ll be busy.

[phillisc]

Thanks Craig

White wine is more my thing, so looking forward to tasting a whole lot of red wines for a change.

Sentiment will take me to Petaluma and Katnook, and possibly Mejella and Penley as well (the latter more for the 98 Wirra Wirra Penley Cab). Quite a few names I don’t know though, so i’ll be busy.

Didn't get to Penley when in Coonawarra, but good things happening, new winemaker, good set up...although some wines overpriced. Tasting room in MV is pretty good.
Petaluma don't have a cellar door in Coonawarra...its at Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills. Suspect the fight between Croser and the GI boundary for the terra rossa left a sour taste in the mouth and he moved on.

Bout to pull the trigger on some Wirra Chook Block, expensive yes, but rather cheap when compared to some Barossa show ponies. If you are into whites there are some good Rieslings coming out of Coonawarra.
Cheers Craig

[Michael McNally]

If you are into whites there are some good Rieslings coming out of Coonawarra.
Cheers Craig

Hi Craig

I haven't found any that really wowed me at the Roadshows over the past decade or more. Which ones do you recommend?

Cheers

Michael

[Mahmoud Ali]

If you are into whites there are some good Rieslings coming out of Coonawarra.

I haven't found any that really wowed me at the Roadshows over the past decade or more. Which ones do you recommend?

I thought Bowen's Chardonnay to quite nice at a cellar door visit back in 2001 so that may be worth a try.

[phillisc]

If you are into whites there are some good Rieslings coming out of Coonawarra.
Cheers Craig

Hi Craig

I haven't found any that really wowed me at the Roadshows over the past decade or more. Which ones do you recommend?

Cheers

Michael

I thought Leconfield, Majella and Brands were all solid Michael. The Leconfield has won its class at the Limestone Coast Show the last couple of years.
Wynns make a Riesling, OK, and a late harvest, again OK. Patrick make one too, and a museum release. A cooler climate in Coonawarra should see some reasonable whites made. However, don't have the complexity or structure of Clare.

Cheers Craig

[mjs]

If you are into whites there are some good Rieslings coming out of Coonawarra.
Cheers Craig

Hi Craig

I haven't found any that really wowed me at the Roadshows over the past decade or more. Which ones do you recommend?

Cheers

Michael

Michael,

Bit like Craig, I would recommend stuff like chardonnays from Bowen, Majella and Balnaves. There's not a lot of riesling around, not like the old days. Wynns riesling is under-rated IMO, had a beautiful bottle of 2010 recently. Yes, Leconfield, Majella, Patrick all do riesling.

You're really going for the reds, aren't you?

cheers, Malcolm

[mjs]

Thanks Craig

White wine is more my thing, so looking forward to tasting a whole lot of red wines for a change.

Sentiment will take me to Petaluma and Katnook, and possibly Mejella and Penley as well (the latter more for the 98 Wirra Wirra Penley Cab). Quite a few names I don’t know though, so i’ll be busy.

MC,

CDs should be open prior to Xmas. Mt Gambier is a little out of the way, you could just as easily stay in Robe on the coast west of Coonawarra. It's crayfish season. There's a fair bit of accommodation in and around Penola and I would recommend that. Coonawarra is really quite compact compared to other wine areas in SA or the rest of Australia for that matter (Barossa ~150 CDs, MR ~150 CDs, McLV not sure, Coonawarra - 28 CDs). Quality is not compromised though. Worth visiting .... Parker Estate, Balnaves, Bowen Estate, Majella, Redman, Laira, Wynns of course, Rymill, Katnook, Zema, Leconfield. Others of interest, Bellwether, Blok Estate, Raidis, Penley, Kidman, Banks Thargo. The Yalumba CD is closed, Petaluma doesn't have a CD, don't get me started on Lindemans (despite the excellent booze Brett Sharpe is producing), no St Hugo, Petaluma or Penfolds CD (despite Penfolds Bin 169 being an excellent cabernet), Hollicks and Patrick worth a visit, although Hollicks is struggling IMO.

The CDs are generally low key, not much has changed over the last few years, although having said that, Leconfield is building a new CD facility atm, and Redman are updating their CD.

Food options are limited, I suspect that Pipers of Penola (one of SA's best regional restaurants) will not be open in that Xmas week. Fodder at Ottelia in Coonawarra township is definitely worth the visit. The bakery in Penola is a favourite for lunch.

Take your time, wind down and enjoy a few reds. Hopefully the weather will be kind.

cheers, Malcolm

[Mahmoud Ali]

Lindeman's used to have a cellar door back in 2001, it was just north of Penola, on the left hand side as you exited the town. i recall tasting, the Pyrus, Limestone Ridge, and St George, and all three were very good. Back then I was scoring wines and all three came in with scores in the low 90s. Too bad they gave up on it.

[phillisc]

Yes Mahmoud, Lindies did have a presence...15 years ago.
It morphed into a Lindeman/Jamiesons Run/Mildara set up, then the Coonawarra Wine Gallery and then shut. They did serve fantastic coffee
Agree with mjs, Brett Sharpe doing some really good things under fair duress, the '16s look really good...I might have to buy.
Cheers Craig

[Scotty vino]

Thanks Craig

White wine is more my thing, so looking forward to tasting a whole lot of red wines for a change.

Sentiment will take me to Petaluma and Katnook, and possibly Mejella and Penley as well (the latter more for the 98 Wirra Wirra Penley Cab). Quite a few names I don’t know though, so i’ll be busy.

MC,

CDs should be open prior to Xmas. Mt Gambier is a little out of the way, you could just as easily stay in Robe on the coast west of Coonawarra. It's crayfish season. There's a fair bit of accommodation in and around Penola and I would recommend that. Coonawarra is really quite compact compared to other wine areas in SA or the rest of Australia for that matter (Barossa ~150 CDs, MR ~150 CDs, McLV not sure, Coonawarra - 28 CDs). Quality is not compromised though. Worth visiting .... Parker Estate, Balnaves, Bowen Estate, Majella, Redman, Laira, Wynns of course, Rymill, Katnook, Zema, Leconfield. Others of interest, Bellwether, Blok Estate, Raidis, Penley, Kidman, Banks Thargo. The Yalumba CD is closed, Petaluma doesn't have a CD, don't get me started on Lindemans (despite the excellent booze Brett Sharpe is producing), no St Hugo, Petaluma or Penfolds CD (despite Penfolds Bin 169 being an excellent cabernet), Hollicks and Patrick worth a visit, although Hollicks is struggling IMO.

The CDs are generally low key, not much has changed over the last few years, although having said that, Leconfield is building a new CD facility atm, and Redman are updating their CD.

Food options are limited, I suspect that Pipers of Penola (one of SA's best regional restaurants) will not be open in that Xmas week. Fodder at Ottelia in Coonawarra township is definitely worth the visit. The bakery in Penola is a favourite for lunch.

Take your time, wind down and enjoy a few reds. Hopefully the weather will be kind.

cheers, Malcolm

I was at redmans in 2016 and hmm yeah it was looking waaaay overdue for an overhaul. My mate and I were looking around when we went in . Crikey are we in the right place?!! Friendly folk no doubt and up for chat so no issues there.....

[mychurch]

Thanks Craig

Take your time, wind down and enjoy a few reds. Hopefully the weather will be kind.

cheers, Malcolm

Malcolm,

That’s the plan. I’m not exclusively a white wine drinker - I’m on the mailing list for Wendouree, Sami Odi and Oakridge - but I don’t get that excitement from reds like I did in the old days. I can still appreciate them though. My tastes have changed a lot over the years and maybe this will start me off on another Cabernet phase. Only planning on 2 days max visiting vineyards - rest will be spent lounging, hopefully in 24 degrees.

Does anyone make a light, crunchy, drink within a year red in the area ? It would probably be a waste of the Terra Rossa strip, but winemakers in Auz seem to have no compulsion about transporting grapes a few 100 kms for fermentation.

Would have liked to have visited Terre a Terre as I had a great white from them recently and I do like Cab Franc. Headquartered too near Adelaide though.

[mjs]

Does anyone make a light, crunchy, drink within a year red in the area ? It would probably be a waste of the Terra Rossa strip, but winemakers in Auz seem to have no compulsion about transporting grapes a few 100 kms for fermentation.

One that comes to mind is Rymill The Yearling Cabernet

[url]http://www.rymill.com.au/product/2017-The-Y ... -Sauvignon[/url]

[phillisc]

Zema Cluny, although cellars well over the short term. Yalumba The Cigar.
Cheers craig

[JamieBahrain]

Finally did a Coonawarra visit last winter . Bitterly cold- but a cottage and a fire and never ending old Coonawarra cabernet made for great evenings. Cellar doors were great. Good memories

Highlights - bucket list snap at railway sliding .

Lowlights - where are all the big lobsters these days?

[Scotty vino]

Here's some shots from back in 2016. thought id dig em out.

[mjs]

Great snaps, Scotty. I will avoid adding the three trillion that I have

Love the '73 Mildara VP, what Mildara was doing in the 70's with red blends and whites was outstanding. Alas, no longer

[mychurch]

Things have been a bit more relaxed than we intended and wine has not been the number 1 priority so far. We did visit Cape Jaffa on Tuesday and I was impressed. I had liked their plump easy drinking reds before, but they have started experimenting and there were a few interesting wines on tasting. The 19 Samphire Skin Contact white is a chardonnay blend that we had drunk in Robe the night before. Modern and thick, this is really a light orange wine. The 18’ La Luna Field Blend reminded me of a Grenache Blanc. Very complex with lanolin, marzipan, grillled nuts and pear. Most interesting was the 18 Mesmer Eyes White and Red Blend. Gewurtz, fermented on its skins and then on some Shiraz skin. Odd. Rich Rose colour, nettles on the nose, wild strawberry, raw elderflower, high acidity and slightly tannic. Serve chilled with a sausage sizzle - have 1 in the fridge for tonight’s dinner. Had a couple of reds and they were fine. Best was the En Soliel Shiraz from Wrattonbully which featured a stalky nose , menthol, red fruit, a grainy texture, violets, liquorice and plenty of tannin. Good fruit underneath, but it needs a few years at least. Overall a good house and worth following.

We drove up to Coonawarra yesterday and only intended to visit Katnook, but ended up at Penley and Majella as well. All houses I have enjoyed in the past, but today only Penley estate made me excited.

Katnook have a good Cellar door and we enjoyed the chat, but the wines are from a by gone age, particularly the super premium wines. I can cope with the tannins that the ‘13 Odyssey showed, but the coconut and the wood aspects were too much - 36 month in oak is from the 90’s and early 00’s. The 14 Prodigy was better as the fruit had soaked up more of the oak. It was still heavier than expected though and although there was a hint of tomato leaf at the end of the finish, this needs time to develop. Best wine was actually the 16 Caladonian Shiraz Cab blend - these grapes go well together and this was no exception. Luckily they sell a few older bottles as well and I took an 04 Cabernet for old times sake - only $10 more than the asking price of the current and very young ‘16.

Majella is easy to summarize: acidity. Plus point for me as it gives the wines a nice food friendly nature. Only problem here was that the base product was missing. Did not think much of the estate Merlot, Shiraz or Cabernet. Luckily though the 14 Mallea was on tasting, and the bouquet of cassis exploded from the glass. This showed better fruit than the Katnook wines and this, together with the higher acidity means gives it the stuffing to integrate the obvious vanilla oak. Come back in 8 years.

Penley Estate was on another level. Even forgetting the snazzy pictures on the labels, these wines showed a bit of class and restraint. I like the entry level Phoenix and thought that the higher entry wines justified their price points. As with Cape Jaffa they are experimenting here and releasing small batches of wines made by different techniques. The 18 Spring Release Cab Franc is juicy and sappy and has not seen a trace of oak. Joyous now slightly chilled. They only made 300 bottles of the 19 Project Whole Bunch Cabernet (I took 3 and 1 was opened for tasting) and agian it’s light and silky with moorish berry fruit. 13% alcohol and I presume wood free. Lovely stuff. They have 2 Shiraz wines in the same series and i’ll Try them at home soon. Only downer here is the odd bottle shapes which make them difficult to store.

A few places are shut tomorrow, but I’ll join in with the expected crowds and try a few. I’ll go with an open mind, but not sure it’s really my sort of wine area any more.

[mychurch]

Well we never made the Vineyards in Boxing Day, but went up today. 4 visits

Parker Estate
Balnaves
Bowen
Bellwether

Best of the lot was Bowen. 3 wines, all under $30 and all exactly what a lover of Coonawarra should be looking for. The Chardonnay is the best I had tried all week and the ‘18 Cabernet is soft, round, full of fruit and built to age. Had I been after wines to put down, this would have been the obvious choice. Not my style, but if you want an age-worthy, traditional red then look no further.

Almost as good was Parker. The range is slightly more expansive than Bowen, but not by much. Best wine, which I doubt many here will agree with, was the 18 Early Release Shiraz, which was fresh, juicy, oak free and fun. Yum. On the more serious side the 18 Estate Cabernet was well made and showed the tomato leaf I was expecting. Enjoyed the previous 2 vintages and this is a reliable mid week red. At the premium level the 16 95 Block, was very complex, full of Xmas cake flavours and having an old feel. Yum - took a bottle home. The 14 First Growth tastes like a younger version of the 16 95 Block. Classy, but it needs time to grow up.

Last call of the day was Bellwether. Badly signposted, this looks a bit more new age than the other wineries. The Vermentino and Chardonnay are good wines that I already knew about and it was good to try a few others. In the very odd style was the 18 Riesling, which has a nose of aviation fuel, honey and beeswax. The taste was just as complex with lanolin, citrus and candle wax. Very odd. The reds looked like they would be quite good, but they were stored badly - serving at room temp when it’s in the 30’s is a beginners mistake. Best wine was the ‘17 Bianco d’Alessano, that had a Chenin style sherbet nose, 11.5% alcohol and was quite thick due to partial skin contact. Needed to be chilled more, but this was a perfect wine for the hot summer day.

Disappoint if the day was Balnaves. Some of the wines had reasonable fruit - the 16 Shiraz and the 13 Tally being the best - but all the wines had this enormous dry tannin. Stained the mouth, hurt the teeth and I don’t think the fruit was good enough to outlive the tannin. First close look at this house and it’s one I will avoid in the future.

Fun visit overall and thankfully, there was a bigger selection of styles than I expected. Still prefer the Yarra, but it’s been fun to visit.