The food and wine festival season continues … 15th and 16th of May.

The  Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend program looks great and unique by   comparison to the other more frequented festivals such as Sea & Vines  and Barossa Gourmet Weekend.    For accommodation enquiries contact the Clare Valley Visitor Centre on 08 8842 2131.

 Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 Bank SA    “Sea and Vines Festival” – McLaren Vale. 

This is truly a highlight on the annual social calender and a fantastic day out with friends …

This year ticket prices are $20 per person which gets you entry to 4 wineries, a wine glass and a glass of wine at the first winery. 

For bookings go to www.mclarenvale.info

Favourite Cellar Doors

Favourite White Wine

• 2009 ‘LUCCIO’ PINOT GRIGIO BLEND

• 2008 THE WHITE MULLET (sold out)

• 2007 LUCCIO SANGIOVESE RED BLEND

• 2007 THE RED MULLET

To taste and compare two different red wines of the same variety but of different quality and compare the taste when the wines are decanted and not decanted (i.e. poured and consumed when the bottle is opened)

The Panel  
Joe Phillis -    Wine appreciator and good friend. A Shiraz guru.
Tanya Denning  -  Wine appreciator and good friend. A Shiraz admirer.
Mary Seely - Wine appreciator and good friend. A Shiraz enthusiast.
Caroline Offord - Blog author and a wine appreciator. A Shiraz admirer.  

 
The Wines

‘Mouthpiece’ 2002 shiraz (Barossa Valley) $9.95
Mitchell’s ‘McNicol’ 2001 shiraz (Clare Valley) $40  

 
The Process
Two glasses were presented for each panel member.  The panel (except myself) left the room whilst I poured the wine into two glasses so the panel could taste without bias.

• Wine glass #1 – Shiraz that had been decanted for 2 hours. 
• Wine glass #2 – Shiraz that was poured straight from the bottle (opened 2 bottles of the 2002 Mouthpiece).  

 The Results - 2002 ‘Mouthpiece ‘ Shiraz 

• Wine glass #1 – The taste was not too pleasing on everyone’s palates and with a highly tannic flavour  
• Wine glass #2 – A significant difference from the first glass.  It was like tasting a completely different wine! This wine was pleasant in taste and rated higher than the first glass amongst the panel.

 The Results - 2001 Mitchells ‘McNicol ‘ Shiraz 

• Wine glass #1 – The taste was bold, yet smooth and delightful and the panel were in immediate agreement that this wine was preferable to the 2002 Mouthpiece.  
• Wine glass #2 – The bottle briefly had contact with oxygen on opening but the cap was immediately replaced after the bottle was poured into the decanter.  In this case this wine tasted a lot better when poured from the decanter.   The taste straight from the bottle was sharp with an instant bite and spice. However, we all agreed the benefit in decanting was the more lingering and smooth flavour. 

Conclusion  

We found decanting the first bottle (2002 ‘Mouthpiece’) did not work favourably for that wine.   However bottle number two (2001 ‘McNicol’ Shiraz) improved through decanting (although this wine is magnificent from the bottle also).  

 So why is it I wonder then that we found the first wine was better straight from the bottle? 

 This was perplexing  for the panel and we agreed that perhaps regular quaffing wines do not require decanting, yet the more aged and top end wines (like the popular theory) do develop and enhance the wine’s characteristics.

 Summary 

Traditionally the use of a decanter is to separate the sediment from the wine, in particular aged wines.  These days a decanter is more commonly used to aerate the wine in order to enhance the aromas and wine characteristics to full potential.

 There are many different types of decanters on the market but essentially the main feature should be a wide base channelling into a funnel like top to allow the oxygen to be in contact with the wine (so it can breath), yet also practical to pour.  I have seen several types for sale and a feature of interest on some decanters was a mesh removable filter for the opening which would be of benefit for older wines and if a cork is damaged whilst opening.  We used a basic model glass decanter which served the purpose nicely and it was cleaned prior to the experiment in hot water (no detergent) and air dried

An interesting point on the McNicol Shiraz …

Recently a good friend of mine returned home to Spain for a visit with family and took a bottle of this wine for an uncle as a gift.  This particular relative is a huge lover of red wines and also very loyal to the notion of corks in wine as opposed to screw caps.  The ‘McNicol’ is a screw capped bottle and therefore received a cold reception and great hesitation to taste the wine, Eventually  the uncle caved in and tried the wine and loved it and was genuinely surprised.  So this bottle changed his outlook completely. 

Additional reading on decanted wine

 http://www.thewinedoctor.com/advisory/openservedecanting.shtml

 http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/top-drop/do-we-decant-20090710-dfne.html

The 2010 Norwood food, wine and music festival is on Sunday the 28th of February from 12 noon.  The weather forecast is looking to be a pleasant 31 degrees, a nice change from high temperatures in the past.

Gourmet food – Fine wine – Live music – Fashion parades

http://www.theparadenorwood.com

2010 Adelaide Hills food and wine festival “crush”

20 wineries will be show casing the hills finest wines and gourmet food

in a relaxed and fun atmosphere with live music !

check out the program at www.crushfestival.com.au

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/

I’ll be hosting two tours:

Tuesday 19 January (Stage 1) – Barossa Valley

Thursday 21 January (Stage 3) – McLaren Vale

For more details, check out my Events page or download the pdf flyer.

The weekend plan was to do 20 kms of the Riesling trail by bike … 8 friends in need of a weekend break.

The weather was grey and storms had started in Adelaide as we left the city, but we soon hit the country side on the drive to Clare which remained dry and yellow and truly majestic.  There is something  magical with the way the light hits the hay bails and the dry landscape at dusk and you can’t help but to feel a true sense of calm and begin to relax and leave the working week behind you …

We booked 2 heritage cottages for the weekend in the town of Clare; Roscrow cottage and Wishing well. Ian really has the B n B experience mastered and in the 12 years he has been running ‘Roscrow’ he has never had a weekend where the cottage has been vacant ! And you can see why when you arrive there, an old Masons Halls which was restored into 2 bedrooms each with private bathroom and a large open dining area which was a perfect social base for the 8 of us over the weekend.  Contact him directly via search on www.southaustralia.com under the Clare accommodation section you will find Roscrow and  his phone number.

Unfortunately, because of the unseasonably rainy weather, we were unable to ride our bikes on the Saturday and instead had to opt for the alternative and take 2 cars (and the most noble had to come forward and offer to drive).  We still drove to the main wineries along the bike trail and the first stop was Skillagalee.

Skillogalee - famous for their Riesling (especially the late picked Riesling) the cellar door is lovely and quant and the staff always friendly.  This trip I noticed they now make a sparkling Riesling which is something I have never seen before and also a Gewürztraminer (a sweet style wine with German origins).  My favourite has always been “The Cabernets ” a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) and Cabernet Franc (18%) blended with a small amount of Malbec.

Mitchell Winery- an old favourite, has a lovely cellar door and happens to be an old apple orchard which has been beautifully restored.  There are 9 wines to try (4 whites and 5 reds) and their Watervasle Riesling is consistently delightful year after year.  The GSM is a good reliable red but my favourite in their selection is the 2001 McNicol Shiraz.  At $40 a bottle it is definitely worth it and everyone else in our group agreed and we stocked up on this gem! Their sparkling peppertree shiraz is also fabulous and I often buy a few bottles and find them very difficult to part with even on special occasions.

Kilikanoon- this winery is my favourite in South Australia and I have been coming back year after year because their reds are fantastic.  The quality has remained consistent and although I have seen the prices go up and up but I can never resist temptation for the prodigal grenache, blocks road cabernet sauvignon and my favourite the oracle shiraz (currently priced at $75).

I was pleasantly surprised on an earlier visit in April this year to find they now produce a sparkling “champagne” white called ‘VOUVRAY’.  This wine is maade in Vouvray, France… $25 this stuff is excellent

We all dropped in next door to Penna Lane Winery for some platters for lunch which are a ploughman’s style with a few cheeses and home-made bread and chutney. 

The last winery of the day was Seven Hill Winery - which was established by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1851 to produce sacramental wine.  This cellar door is like a museum with old equipment and photos on display as well as a fascinating dusty old cellar underground.  I am unable to make recommendations on wines for tastings, however I always take visitors to this cellar door – it is a must !

On the sunday we visited an old favourite of mine – Pikes  this winery is famous for their riesling, however this is not my favourite … I have a particular fondness for the LUCCIO SANGIOVESE.  I can also recommend the ‘LUCCIO’ PINOT GRIGIO, the red mullet and the white mullet.  If you are lucky you might even be able to score a great deal on some cleanskins from the cellar door ! 

The next winery we visited was a new one for me Paulett Wines and this place has a fantastic view of the valley and was a pleasant surprise.  Pauletts have a unique product – they sell all their sparkling wines in a piccolo bottle which is excellent for picnics and ‘cinema in the park’ each of these bottles is 2 standard drinks.

We then drove to the small town Mintaro and visited Reilly’s which was a pleasant old restored cottage, the menu here looked great but dining here will have to wait for another visit …

Crab Tree Winery was the next destination and we were fortunate to have the wine maker serving us at the cellar door which was great.  The tempranillo was a highlight for me. 

The final stop was Mount Horrocks which is a highly reputable winery with a delightful cafe and  you simply must taste the cordon cut riesling …

Conclusion:

There are many more wineries to explore in this region and the tourism office provide excellent advice.  There is 2 places to rent bicycles in Clare for $25 a day and close to the riesling bike trail.