In The Barossa

Yesterday was an exciting day for anyone who loves Australian Shiraz. We arrived into the region of Barossa, considered by almost every wine critic in the world as the best place to grow Shiraz in Australia. Dan Philips started is import company when he discovered Barossa Shiraz back in 1997. Back then, the Australian wine industry was focused on Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra and Western Australia areas. But most Cabernets were lean, thin and produced a green, vegetal taste to most of them. But, Shiraz was considered to be a poor man's wine, blonk. In fact, many farmers were pulling up Shiraz plants and crafting over to Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. But one day Dan met Chris Ringland, a winemaker from the Barossa and with their partnership started the Shiraz movement globally. One of the great things about the Barossa are the poor, limestone ans sandstone that is spread throughout the valley. Also, there are several old-vine vineyards still in existence to make complex, rich-textured Shiraz. To Dan, this is his favorite place on earth and we are spending the next four days in the area.

Our first stop of the morning was to Burge Winery, and the exciting, silkly, elegant wines of Rick Burge. A few years back his family had a disagreement about the direction of the business, so Rick and his brother, Grant Burge, divided up the vineyards and Rick went on his own. Rick loves to blend his wines, and the 2004 Clochemerle GSM (Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvedre) tasted like a beautiful southern Rhone valley red. His top two vineyards are the Draycott and Olive Hill, and both of his flagship wines were powerful, complex Chateauneuf-du-Pape like wines, due to the fact that old vines from over 90 years old go into the blend. And, even though the reds were outstanding, Rick also produces a very clean, bright, rich 2005 Semillon. Rick says he serves Semillon as one would a Riesling or Muscadet, which is as an aperitif or with lighter seafood dishes, and or pate.

Our next stop was a quick drop into Trevor Jones Winery, which is famous for making the juicy, fun Virgin (Unoaked) Chardonnay. We did a quick tasting and tour, and then we were off to Rockford. The owner, Robert O'Callaghan, is all about old-school traditions. He still uses presses and holding tanks that were used by wineries fifty to one hundred years ago. They are hands on about everything that takes place in the vineyard to the cellar. They too make a wonderful Semillon, but their 2002 was bigger in structure. One of the finest wines in their book is the Mappa Springs, which is a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre (GSM). We tasted the 2001 at the winery and had the 1998 Mappa Springs magnum with lunch. We also had the 1996 and 1987 Basket Press Shiraz with lunch, which included Fennel & Almond soup, Goose Cassoulet and Pineapple Quince. It was an oustanding meal and it was a great way to see how the wines of Rockford have held up over time.

Our last stop of the day was to Hare's Chase, which is apartnership between Mike De La Haye and Peter Taylor. Peter is head of global wine production for Fosters/Southcorp/Rosemount. He wears many hats and travels frequently, but his love is this little hobby he has with his childhood friend. One of the best value's in Dan's whole portfolio, the 2005 Hare's Chase Red is a blend of Shiraz, with Merlot and a bit of Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo. They also produced a limited production Barossa Shiraz. All of the fruit for both wines come from their estate vineyards.

Tomorrow we are off to visit Two Way Range, Loan, Glaymond & Tscharke (pronounced Shark-ie), McLean's Farm, Hobbs and Dan's close friend, Chris Ringland.

Cheers,

Thad