Sweets, Fortifieds and Richard Buller x 2

Mr Richard Buller Sr and Mr Richard Buller Jr joined us for a lovely tasting that took many of us by surprise last Friday night.

We brought out the sweet and fortifited lines that don’t often get a showing at our Members Tastings, and it was a revelation for those of us lacking a sweet tooth.

Richard’s Moscato Rosso laid them in the aisles and we have already begun taking serious orders. A pretty light cherry in colour, this wine straddles the border between sweet and dry. It is fresh and fruity with a delightful spritz on the finish – and was consumed decidedly quickly by a group of mild drinkers as an aperitif later that weekend. The piece de resistance with this number is that the alcohol is only 7% – it’s about half the alcohol strength of everyday table wines from Australia.

We learned so much from Richard about the history of fortifieds in the Australian wine industry -  in particular, how they are rapidly gaining in popularity and kudos again in the ongoing wheel of wine trends.

As well, we heard about the trouble with botrytis, the varieties behind the mysterious label ‘port’ and, although neither Richard Sr or Jr would articulate it as such, we came to understand the respect we should be affording to these wines, created as they are by the wisdom handed down by the generations of the Buller family and similar dynasties. The highs and troughs of the industry, sellers’ markets, buyers’ markets, the good days, the vine pull days, the myriad tests handed down by ‘nature’ - they’ve lived through it all, and now here they are in Asia, still surviving and still personally pouring and passing around these wonderful wines for us to discover.

Incoming: Boutique Winemakers Aplenty

These are happy times at Adelaide Cellar Door.

We’ve already entertained the highly regarded Buller Wines this August, and are about to welcome half a dozen more suppliers of just the same ilk.

Cape Jaffa Wines, Lincoln Estate – week commencing Aug 10

Leabrook Estate, Alsare, Mosquito Hill, Redden Bridge, Somerled, Bundaleer – week commencing Aug 31

The wines that our boutique winemakers are introducing us are  hand-made, quality-driven boutique wines of exquisite quality.

So this is a month to pick up these individually created wines to savour, share, pair thoughtfully with extravagant meals and, if we can between sips, hear more about how these beauties came to be from the winemakers themselves.

Can they do no wrong? Cape Jaffa Wines

Cape Jaffa Wines - perfect scores again for vintage 2009. I hope they’re not getting bored with the lack of drama.

CJW is in Mt Benson, South Australia, and The crop is slightly lower than average, after a ripening season of near perfect conditions. The heatwave was too early in the season to damage any of their fruit. Vines remained disease-free thanks to minimal rain.

Anna Hooper, CJW winemaker, wraps it up thus:

“We expect to see awesome quality this year, perfectly placed in the middle of the spectrum with regards to ripe flavours.”

Cape Jaffa Wines provides us with their crisp and flavoursome whites, deep reds and the stunning brand new La Lune range of organic and biodynamic Cab and Shiraz.

‘Especially Well Paid Forward’

‘Pay It Forward’ – it may sound like a glib movie title to the cynical few, but even their hearts would have been dripping like molasses at what Aussie expats Tim and Lisa Felton have done with this theme.

The couple is packing up and leaving Hong Kong and have managed to leave HK charity Po Leung Kuk with a handy $140,000 HKD on their way home.

How? By throwing a massive going away party, asking Adelaide Cellar Door to sponsor the evening, and jollying everyone they know into spending up on raffle tickets and donations.

And with that, they are off. And having won some very fetching stripy pyjamas in their raffle, I imagine it’s now my turn to Pay It Forward …

Non-mainstream Wine Tasting – Our Wild Side

It’s a deep and trusting relationship that we Australians have forged with our friends chardonnay, riesling, shiraz and cabernet.

But at our next tasting, we bring you the new generation: among them pinot gris, tempranillo and grenache blends.

Too wild, you say? Well yes, it is a bit, for us! But we’re intrigued by what these skilled vignerons are planting and experimenting with. It’s a freedom afforded to wine producers in New World countries like Australia and the US, and the benefits for us are enormous.

We’ll be pouring some great examples, and chatting about why the producers veered from the well-trodden path, and what their experiences have been along their new road.

So come and join us, at our office on March 19, or order a Sample Pack of these wines, which comes with Tasting Sheets – so that you can do the whole thing from home!

Here are the wines we’re bringing out:

Buller Rutherglen 2007 Moscato

Pancake Estate 2007 Semillon

Tim Adams 2008 Pinot Gris

Tim Adams 2006 ‘The Fergus’

Hare’s Chase 2005 Red Blend

Hare’s Chase 2006 Tempranillo

Tim Adams 2005 Reserve Tempranillo

Barinia Vineyards

Expletives abounded when describing the Barinia 2009 harvest as well: we shall perhaps paraphrase it as “outstanding”.

The shiraz has come off the vine and has great flavour and colour intensity.

The cabernet is yet to be picked, but will match the shiraz in quality, again because of the same high points of the vintage acknowledged by Bundaleer, Summerhouse and Redden Bridge: good leafy canopies, and a long, slow ripening season.

Delicate Kochy from Redden Bridge

Greg Koch frightened us with a few very vivid expletives about vintage, before laughing and adding, “nah, only joking”. So another region seems to have escaped the scorching sun and endless dry patches this summer relatively unscathed.

Redden Bridge Wines is in Wrattonbully, a new but already very highly regarded region east of Coonawarra. Greg has excelled in the art and science of grapegrowing here, and has produced a great crop again because he had access to “abundant” water. The heat did have a minor impact on yield, but all else is looking good for an impressive 2009 range for Redden Bridge.

Summerhouse Bombshell!

Or at least “very interesting news” from Summerhouse, if not “bombshell”:

Joining Summerhouse Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the shelves in 2009 will be:

Summerhouse 2009 Guwertztraminer, and

Summerhouse 2009 Riesling

Both will be dry whites and will be released later in the year.

Iconic Summerhouse from NZ

Yes – we know you all know Marlborough NZ’s Summerhouse Wines. I’ve just got the lowdown from owner Heather Davies on what Summerhouse 2009 looks like!

Firstly, the chardonnay from the bubbles is about to be picked – they pick it earlier than chardonnay for the still wine.

Everything else is getting plucked from the vine in 3-4 weeks time.

Summerhosue Sauvignon Blanc is our biggest seller at Adelaide Cellar Door Hong Kong. Heather said her sauvvie grapes in particular are deloping really intense flavours this year. So them’s fighting words – it’s going to take a bit to knock them off the podium this year!

First Taste of Vintage: Bundaleer Wines

In early December last year, the heavens opened in South Australia. While everyone else sneered at the sky during soggy Christmas parties, vignerons like Ang Meaney from Bundaleer smiled with glee. Her canopy was growing!

Spawned by the downpour, this generous leafy canopy on her vines in Eden Valley and the Southern Flinders protected her grapes over what Ang describes as the “searing two week heatwave” in February.

You may be familiar with Ang’s Bundaleer riesling. The 2009 vintage is being harvested as we speak, albeit intermittantly. Pickers are dodging and weaving the recent, albeit less dramatic, bouts of rain and are bringing in parcels of fruit when the grapes are cool and dry.

This riesling is looking as great as the shiraz and cabernet – and it’s because of the very long, slow ripening season this year. Ang has pegged March 13th to pick the shiraz. We can’t wait to see the fruits of her labour – so to speak – up here in Hong Kong and it shouldn’t be too long before we get a taste of this Bundaleer 2009 Riesling.

If we ask her nicely she might bring a few bottles up in May! She’s up here then promoting these lovely Bundaleer wines.