The Auswine Forum

Hi All,

The Adelaide Fine Wine Appreciation Club annual picnic to start the year is on again in just under a months time - it is back to being a catered event, so bookings will be absolutely essential this year. AFWAC is a not for profit club established in 1986 that meets the last Monday of each month upstairs at the Norwood Hotel - sometime later this year it should have its own facebook page and/or up-to-date website finally up and running.

This years picnic, scheduled for Sunday 23rd Feb 2014 will see a return to the much loved catered format. At $30/person, attendees will be treated a selection of cooked (BBQ) hot foods, salads and desserts.

This event is open to members and non-members, and is a good opportunity for anyone interested in the club to introduce themselves, all they need to do is book, bring chairs and bottle or two of wine to share, and enjoy the day. Partners & guests are welcome, but bookings are essential to assist with the catering.

The venue is Richards Park, 130 Magill Rd Norwood - 12.30 to 4.00pm south west corner, good shade and toilets available. A good attendance will ensure that this initiative can be carried forward and a catered Annual Picnic can once again become a regular feature of the AFWAC calendar programme.

Other events scheduled for the rest of the year include a March bus trip to the new Grant Burge cellar door for a very long lunch with a very big bottle(!), then the regular tastings at the Norwood Hotel commence with O'Leary Walker in April, then a look at Durifs with Troy Kalleske in May.

If you're interested, please reply to AFWAC at - afwac365@gmail.com

Cheers,
Ian

Ian, can you give a sense of the demographic of these events and the number of people that usually attend. Ie. is it a retired lawyers club or is the demographic a bit more diverse. Not that I have anything against lawyers just trying to get a sense of what to expect.

TrickyH wrote:Ian, can you give a sense of the demographic of these events and the number of people that usually attend. Ie. is it a retired lawyers club or is the demographic a bit more diverse. Not that I have anything against lawyers just trying to get a sense of what to expect.

AFWAC was a club that started about 1986 as a group of people who had finished a WEA Wine Tasting Course and wanted to continue exploring wine in general.
Relaxed, casual and no pretensions. Neat casual for a dress code.

cheers
Phill

TrickyH wrote:Ian, can you give a sense of the demographic of these events and the number of people that usually attend. Ie. is it a retired lawyers club or is the demographic a bit more diverse. Not that I have anything against lawyers just trying to get a sense of what to expect.

In general, it's a reasonably diverse group, usually people in their 30s-50s from a wide background - sometimes we get a few people in the wine industry attending these things, but with the picnic that's very dependent on the timing of the vintage.

The number of people who go varies, it's usually anywhere between 18 to 30 per event, recently it's been towards the lower end of that scale. The picnic used to be a big drawcard in the past and would regularly attract 40 people or more, but a combination of bad weather and clashes with other events haven't helped in recent years - at least this year there's no clash with the Cellar Door Festival, Clipsal 500, etc, etc...

Cheers,
Ian

With a week to go, it's time for a quick reminder for anyone interested.

Last day for bookings to this catered event is C.O.B Wed 19th February as the caterers need numbers to ensure enough food for all - if you roll up without notifying the club, there is no guarantee that there will be a meal for you to eat. Special dietary requirements can be catered for, again by replying to the club email before the end of the 19th at: afwac365@gmail.com

We hope to see some of you there or at some of the future events.

Cheers,
Ian

Ps. There has been a quick change for this month's event which was going to be a bus trip to Grant Burge's new tasting room at Krondorf road for a long lunch with an imperial of 1990 Meshach - unfortunately the room hasn't been completed, so AFWAC has arranged an alternative theme for the usual Norwood Hotel venue March 31st.

We will be looking at a horizontal of the 2004 vintage from South Australia - the ten year mark seems a pretty good reason to look at some of the top show awarded wines and some flagships from what is widely regarded as the best vintage of that decade. The wines to be looked at are:

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
Grosset Watervale Riesling
Jim Barry Jud's Hill Riesling (Adelaide Best Riesling Trophy 2004)
Thorn Chark Shotfire Ridge Quartage (Max Schubert Trophy 2005)
Lake Breeze Bernoota Shiraz Cabernet (Max Schubert Trophy 2006)
Geoff Merill Reserve Shiraz (Jimmy Watson Trophy 2005)
Gemtree Obsidian Shiraz (Hyatt Advertiser Wine of the Year)
Liebich The Darkie Shiraz
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz
Majella Cabernet Sauvignon (Stodart Trophy 2005)
Yalumba The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon
Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon
Liebich Vintage Fortified Shiraz VP

The cost will be $40/person for AWFAC members $50/person for guests.

RSVP is required to attend - If you're interested email the club: afwac365@gmail.com


Cheers,
Ian

1991 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, South Australia (cork): 13.5% alc. Corked.

A quick thank you to Lucy and Sparky at TWE for replacing this bottle - TCA result came in at 8ppt for those interested.