CD and trip notes
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:24 pm
It's been a long time since I've posted here, however, I now find myself with a bit more time due to my changed work commitments i.e. I have non at present! consequently, my partner and I decided to pack the car (Tent, fridge, 5 dozen bottles, bikes and credit card!) and take off on a bit of an Oz journey. Along the way we've dropped into a few cellar doors and had a couple of gems from the newly created car cellar (threw the rear seats out to make room for it!). so I thought I'd post a few notes. Caveat. Will post subject to: service, we've been in some fairly remote locations along the way hence for the majority of the trip thus far we've had no mobile/internet service; time, hey, we've got stuff to do, like drinking, hence putting notes together comes last, but I'll get there; power, we're in a tent, power is limited to what we can charge on the inverter while driving or when we have access to mains power - not often.
Based in Melbourne, we decided to pretty much skip Victoria and head West fairly quickly in order to miss as much much of the cold weather as possible. that plan didn't work out so well, but that's not wine related. I'm not going to provide notes on everything we've looked at, just what I think some of the more interesting wines were.
So, first stop,
Bleasdale/Langhorne Creek (Arrived about 5 minutes before they were due to close and the lovely ladies insisted we try the range, great cellar door)
2010 Petrel Reserve Shiraz/Cab/Malbec $29. Wow, what a stunning wine, this little beauty will cellar but is also delicious now.
2010 Generations Shiraz $38. A big powerful Shiraz. Destined for the long haul.
Winery comment is that 2012 will be the best year for over a decade, better than 2010.
Bleasdale have a great range of wines which I liked, particularly some of the alternative varietals, but the two wines above are just sensational.
This was the only winery we did in the region, we got in late and had to keep moving, so missed all the others. Pity really because we would like to have looked at a few others such as Lake Breeze - a favorite.
Next up, McLaren vale.
Kay Brothers/McLaren Vale (Fantastic cellar door experience)
2008 Hillside Shiraz $40. Fantastic, great fruit and structure, loved it.
2009 Hillside Shiraz $40. I preferred the 2008 to this, my partner thought the opposite.
2010 Block 6 Shiraz $70. I was really looking forward to this one, and while still very good, it just didn’t knock our socks off. Maybe it just needs time?
2010 Cuthbert Cabernet $40. Only produced in great years, a very big wine, will cellar. Needs at least a decade, where upon it should be awesome.
Dog Ridge/McLaren Vale
2010 All Rounder Grenache $25. One of the best Grenache’s we had in MV, delicious. More for intermediate drinking, but it’s so good, why bother cellaring
2010 Shirtfront Shiraz $25. Nice stuff.
2009 Grand Old Brand New ( Shiraz/Petit Verdot/Cab) $80. “Not bad at allâ€Â. Judging from the 09’s vs 10’s we tasted here, the 2010 GOBN should be a ripper?
Battle of Bosworth/McLaren Vale
Liked the 2010 Shiraz here. $25
Maxwell Wines/McLaren Vale (Special mention to Helen at cellar door who really looked after us – drop in if you’re in MV)
Found a couple of great value wines here. The 2011 Little Demon Cab Merlot gets discounted for under $15 and is pretty good value for the price.
The 2011 Silver Hammer Shiraz $18 and Four Roads Grenache $22 are both good wines.
2010 Ellen Street Shiraz $40. Powerful, oaky (24 mths), big structure, liked this and it’ll be a great wine in 10-15 years time.
The bargain wine here though was the 2011 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, for those who like a bigger, more oak style. This was being discounted to $11 bottle CD. We were going to grab a case the following day (we were riding so couldn’t at the time) but completely forgot about it!
more to come....have to go find a power source!
Based in Melbourne, we decided to pretty much skip Victoria and head West fairly quickly in order to miss as much much of the cold weather as possible. that plan didn't work out so well, but that's not wine related. I'm not going to provide notes on everything we've looked at, just what I think some of the more interesting wines were.
So, first stop,
Bleasdale/Langhorne Creek (Arrived about 5 minutes before they were due to close and the lovely ladies insisted we try the range, great cellar door)
2010 Petrel Reserve Shiraz/Cab/Malbec $29. Wow, what a stunning wine, this little beauty will cellar but is also delicious now.
2010 Generations Shiraz $38. A big powerful Shiraz. Destined for the long haul.
Winery comment is that 2012 will be the best year for over a decade, better than 2010.
Bleasdale have a great range of wines which I liked, particularly some of the alternative varietals, but the two wines above are just sensational.
This was the only winery we did in the region, we got in late and had to keep moving, so missed all the others. Pity really because we would like to have looked at a few others such as Lake Breeze - a favorite.
Next up, McLaren vale.
Kay Brothers/McLaren Vale (Fantastic cellar door experience)
2008 Hillside Shiraz $40. Fantastic, great fruit and structure, loved it.
2009 Hillside Shiraz $40. I preferred the 2008 to this, my partner thought the opposite.
2010 Block 6 Shiraz $70. I was really looking forward to this one, and while still very good, it just didn’t knock our socks off. Maybe it just needs time?
2010 Cuthbert Cabernet $40. Only produced in great years, a very big wine, will cellar. Needs at least a decade, where upon it should be awesome.
Dog Ridge/McLaren Vale
2010 All Rounder Grenache $25. One of the best Grenache’s we had in MV, delicious. More for intermediate drinking, but it’s so good, why bother cellaring
2010 Shirtfront Shiraz $25. Nice stuff.
2009 Grand Old Brand New ( Shiraz/Petit Verdot/Cab) $80. “Not bad at allâ€Â. Judging from the 09’s vs 10’s we tasted here, the 2010 GOBN should be a ripper?
Battle of Bosworth/McLaren Vale
Liked the 2010 Shiraz here. $25
Maxwell Wines/McLaren Vale (Special mention to Helen at cellar door who really looked after us – drop in if you’re in MV)
Found a couple of great value wines here. The 2011 Little Demon Cab Merlot gets discounted for under $15 and is pretty good value for the price.
The 2011 Silver Hammer Shiraz $18 and Four Roads Grenache $22 are both good wines.
2010 Ellen Street Shiraz $40. Powerful, oaky (24 mths), big structure, liked this and it’ll be a great wine in 10-15 years time.
The bargain wine here though was the 2011 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, for those who like a bigger, more oak style. This was being discounted to $11 bottle CD. We were going to grab a case the following day (we were riding so couldn’t at the time) but completely forgot about it!
more to come....have to go find a power source!