The Auswine Forum

Hi all,
I am currently away in the UK, at Mousehole, Cornwall. Lovely place, full of picture postcard views. However, I won’t be home when the latest Wendouree mailer drops, so can you please post here so I can get my Sydney based daughter to fill it in and return it. She and her siblings are at a stage where they fully appreciate what they will ultimately inherit and therefore there will be motivation to send the order form back to the Bradys.

I really hope there will be some Malbec this year as I am appreciating previous vintages. And perhaps more Mataro. I didn’t order any Mataro last year so if anyone has experience with last year’s initial bottling I would appreciate your thoughts.

On another thought, how much longer do you think Tony and Lita will continue guardianship of this national wine treasure? It will be a sad day when they decide to pass on the baton.

Yes what an inheritance! Many friends I know have signed their kids up for MCC memberships ( and some of the kids don’t like sport ). I duly buy Wendouree each year for my daughter. There will be plenty of bottles as I’ve only just broken a case of 12 Shiraz Malbec 2001’s - one bottle stunning, one bottle very good.

If Wendouree changes hands it could easily go down the luxury brand route. And that’s the business of new owners not the majority of flippers who buy now.

My 2c
Think Tony and Lita will potter along with Wendouree for a few more years yet.

If/when its sold a number of us here will be reflective on how it will change from the quirky/unique operation it is now...to somebody taking it over and changing it forever. Hopefully not Warren Randall, or TWE, who inevitably will double, triple the price and completely fuck it up.
Hopefully a group of locals can get together and do something.
Adelina, could/may buy a portion of the land...a couple of wineries have sold in CV in recent times, so there's money around.

As for the inheritance, its already started with the lad taking over the mailer last year. I will put in what I want and he will take the rest.
Enjoy the spoils and no doubt a bit more commentary, when the mailer arrives in a couple of weeks.
Cheers Craig

I remember meeting Tony about 35+ years ago before Wendouree was more widely recognised. On an expedition to check out CV mainly for its rieslings we stumbled upon the winery. An unassuming guy dressed in field clobber he opened the small shed door to a very small tasting area that featured an old wooden cabinet that held a modest store of wines. Not much else as I recall. We were very impressed with his wines. They must have been dirt cheap as that's all we could afford in those days. Less than $10 was the rule. Bought some and drank them much earlier than they deserved. Sadly many good and great wineries have been sold to the big ugly corporate dudes who don't have the passion of guys like Tony. Grapes are important but passion and winemaking skills are just as important if not more.

When does the mailer get released? I wrote them months ago but never got a response Hrmm

Any day now!

Yes, inside a week to ten days
Cheers Craig

Have checked the correct address, apparently the team are out pruning, waiting for the printers to finish the mailer...in line with the long term average perhaps with a letter box date July 3-5
Time to rob a bank
Cheers Craig

Great....another month or two of waiting and hounding from the wife to see what a mere red crayon gets.

I called the winery yesterday to change address and the Mailer is imminent.

Scotty vino wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2024 5:25 pm I called the winery yesterday to change address and the Mailer is imminent.

If there was ever a thread to lure you out of the woodwork Scotty V then this is it. I thought of you this week, hope the CV property is going well and you and Matt might get first dibs.
I'm glad the lad has stated that Wendouree and MM Quintet are must buys for him...I taught him well
Will take a little pain out of what might be a rather expensive transaction.
Cheers Craig

Hrmm ! If they haven’t responded to my first letter in this long, may not bode well for me getting onto the mailer. Do you think I should write again or call them to confirm if they’ve received it?

I’m not sure of demand nor protocols getting on the list these days, though I’d say you being ambitious. Could be wrong and good luck.

I called them, they said they have received it and they said I’m on the list as a ‘new person’ , so not sure what that means. Fingers crossed !

phillisc wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2024 7:53 pm

Scotty vino wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2024 5:25 pm I called the winery yesterday to change address and the Mailer is imminent.

If there was ever a thread to lure you out of the woodwork Scotty V then this is it. I thought of you this week, hope the CV property is going well and you and Matt might get first dibs.
I'm glad the lad has stated that Wendouree and MM Quintet are must buys for him...I taught him well
Will take a little pain out of what might be a rather expensive transaction.
Cheers Craig

Well I’ve had all the wiring done on my build . What a task . Needless to say I’ve been busy . Still lurking on here but never find the time to post . Did go thru with grange night however and what a cracker that was . 71 grange absolutely stunning . The 2010 I took was bloody corked 73 cooked and 92 and 12 very good .

Shooting for an Aussie Pinot night end of July . Got a 2018 mm Pinot ready for that . Cork gods please be kind to me . !!

As for wendouree I called them to change address and they asked me to mail it in . True to snail mail form . Hopefully in quick enough to receive the mailer in time. I’ve be pretty lucky with my allocations so I’ll take whatever .had 2013 wendouree cab sav recently and it was travelling beautifully.

Nothing in the mail today. North Adelaide.

Slow Friday.

Be next Friday I reckon
Cheers Craig

I love the annual Wendouree thread ... I just had a look and its been over 20 years now on the forum that people have been debating letters and crayon marks and the eternal wait to see what gets delivered

Postie only comes every second day too in the modern era?

I’m actually off to Clare 2mrw. Was going to call Wendouree on a separate matter so will ask if the mailer sent.

I’ve just started looking at my 2001’s. The Shiraz Malbec was exceptional- two hour decant in morning double-decanted for evening serving. I’ll double decant a 2001 Shiraz Mataro tonight and take up to Clare. This hopefully takes travel-shock out of the equation.

Perhaps you can save on freight
Cheers Craig

phillisc wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 1:32 pm Perhaps you can save on freight
Cheers Craig

I’ve tried that once before Craig and they weren’t keen.

Next week mailer out.

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:22 am Next week mailer out.

How was the 2001 Shiraz Mataro compared to the Shiraz Malbec?

Opened and decanted the first of my 2014 Shirazs this morning for dinner tonight to see how it is tracking. Lovely aromas initially, looks to be at the lighter end of medium bodied.

I’ve lost your address …..

They both need intense preparations and I kid you not, won’t be pop and pour til the thirties sone time! There’s a similarity at this stage. The Shiraz Mataro showing more line and complexity. They’ll both be complex wines at peak.

I double decanted the wine to avoid travel shock,drove to Clare, and decanted again for 2 hours! Honestly, reminds me of preparing young G Conterno!

Interesting that all three restaurants I’ve visited have Wendouree on their wine list. Upon enquiring if the wines from the secondary market it seems they are not and winery allocation to the local Clare restaurant trade.

This wasn’t the case on previous visits. I think it’s great however the pricing not for those already on the list! BYO Wendouree to the Clare! $400 for a 2005 Shiraz Malbec!

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:22 am Next week mailer out.

In line with the long term average then
Cheers Craig

Ps.The Brady's obviously send a little bit of their wine to selected outlets. As I previously said a few moons back, nearly fell over when I spotted a couple of big stacks of cartons at a well known inner Adelaide southern suburban pub. Must have been 20 dozen.
East End Cellars no doubt will do their annual mixed 6 at about $900 a six pack...they don't advertise price anymore...think they had a few aggressive phone calls.
I also wonder what Doug's allocation at The Victory is? Certainly many pristine cartons plus a lot acquired though the secondary market. He offered to buy every bottle I have.

Local Clare allocations get a priority and it seems a very new concept. Older vintages on the list would have to be auction buys. Cheeky mark-ups but why not? The luxury tourist market will boom in the next 5 years.

I read on another forum that it seems like the mailer has been received by some of their regulars already, but they have been asked not to share the wines on offer or pricing publicly at this time.

Was this on AFF?
In 30+ years of buying never heard of an embargo...sounds like bullshit to me.
Cheers Craig

Yes was on AFF. I’m new to it all, so am not sure. That guy seems to have been pretty active on the list for a long time so I would be inclined to believe him.

I think the mailer should be imminent though from the sound of things, not that people weren’t expecting it this week already.