G'Day!

Barossa - Day 3 First on the agenda today is a trip out to the infant winery of rising star Troy Kalleske. John has been able to organize a private tasting with this amazingly young, but after being anointed by Robert Parker, now internationally known winemaker. The winery is only several years old and much of the operation is still being done in Troy’s brother’s big tin shed. As we walk toward the shed some very serious barking emanates from the side of the house. Its Tyson, a Tyrolean Shepard, who is a monster of a dog; but not in the Wine Dogs book. Troy says he friendly and he’s released to bound up and greet us. Through Troy’s generosity we taste through some amazing examples of Shiraz and Grenache. The Grenache wines are wonderful spicy wines, almost Christmas cake in a glass, and the Shiraz is certainly outstanding. The top of the line, the 2003 Johann Georg Shiraz, comes from vines that go back to 1875 and some of the fruit used to go into the greatest Australian wine Penfolds Grange. By the amount of drooling he does, Tyson seems to envy our enjoyment of the wines. Before we leave I ask Troy if he would autograph a magnum of his 2003 Shiraz for me. Thanks Troy! That bottle is going into the cellar for a loooong time. The next winery is Torbreck Vintners. One of the most impressive things about Torbreck is that almost all of their wines are available for tasting, unlike a number of wineries who hold back their top line wines. The Torbreck wines, especially the 2003 Descendent, are very impressive. Their icon wine, Run Rig, is outstanding, but for my money it is pipped at the post by the Descendent. The next winery is Veritas where we are served by Mrs Binder. The first wine she serves us is the 2004 Mrs Binder Barossa Riesling. It’s a wine that the advertising blurb says was specially made for her and I would imagine that she deserves it. When most people would be retired she is busy serving wines quietly but effectively to anyone who walks in the door. Good-onya Mrs Binder! Lunch is a Maggie Beer’s little establishment overlooking a small lake. The food is quite excellent but we have to rush through it as we have to meet Matt Wenk to taste his Smidge wines. Matt is also winemaker for Two Hands and so we head out there but we arrive late and are told he has gone on to the Branson winery, where he is also the winemaker. Branson is also a little hard to find but after wandering around, or maybe its through Seppeltsfield, we see the fermenter shed on stilts that we were told to look for. The tasting with Matt is one of the most interesting experiences we have during our Barossa trip. We taste his bottled wines, especially his 2002 Zinfandel, The Tardy, and then head into the barrel shed. This is where it gets educational. Matt has 2004 Zinfandel in French oak barrels from Langhorne Creek that was fermented using different yeasts. The wines are completely different, ripe fruits of blackberry/blueberry in one case, more subdued spices of nutmeg in the other. But the wine to watch for is the 2004 from Barossa fruit. It apparently will be called The Donald. This wine is more typical of zinfandel, spicy and fragrant, and covers the palate with ripe, intense fruit flavors. Matt also lets us taste the Two Hands 2003 Ares shiraz from barrel as well as its sister wine the Aphrodite, made from Cabernet sauvignon. The 2003 and 2004 Aphrodite are outstanding wines. The 2003 Ares is one of the best wines I’ve tasted. Many thanks to Matt for a great tasting, and the bottle of The Tardy! The last winery for the day is Thorn-Clarke. Miranda obviously does not want to destroy the memory of the Smidge/Two Hands wines and stays in the car while the rest of us go through their line-up. The best wine is clearly the 2002 William Randell Shiraz. Dinner is at 1918, and this time everyone is ready for wine. First up is The Doctor Sparking Red from The Willows Vineyard. Entrees are with Smidge Wines 2002 The Tardy Zinfandel. Main meals are over a comparison of Greenock Creek 2001 Alices Shiraz and Torbreck 2003 The Struie.