Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

baiden said:
Do you buy direct?
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Yes. While there is no cellar door you can arrange a tour and tasting by appointment (I believe). I met Brad when he was in Perth for a tasting. I got in touch when I knew I'd be in Adelaide a few years ago and we went for a tasting. He spent a good couple of hours with us and opened everything. He's a great bloke and I really like his style of wine. Some of the reds are a little lighter in style which I dig.

I know he regulardly does tastings at events around Adelaide and interstate pre-Covid. I'm sure if you get in touch he'd point you in the right direction if you want to buy local or just go direct.

I've seen a lot more of his wine in smaller bottles shops and wine lists these days too.
 
Daver6 said:
Yes. While there is no cellar door you can arrange a tour and tasting by appointment (I believe). I met Brad when he was in Perth for a tasting. I got in touch when I knew I'd be in Adelaide a few years ago and we went for a tasting. He spent a good couple of hours with us and opened everything. He's a great bloke and I really like his style of wine. Some of the reds are a little lighter in style which I dig.

I know he regulardly does tastings at events around Adelaide and interstate pre-Covid. I'm sure if you get in touch he'd point you in the right direction if you want to buy local or just go direct.

I've seen a lot more of his wine in smaller bottles shops and wine lists these days too.
Click to expand...
@boomy
Food for thought 💭
 

Scientists have finally worked out the effects of consuming red wine.​

journals.plos.org

The power of Dionysus—Effects of red wine on consciousness in a naturalistic setting

There is lack of research on effects of red wine on consciousness when drank in wine bars designed to enhance the pleasurableness of the wine drinking experience. Effects of a moderate dose of red wine (≈ 40.98 g of ethanol) on consciousness were examined in a naturalistic study taking place in...
journals.plos.org journals.plos.org
 
received_831890620854854.jpeg

Pic from a tasting we had at the weekend. The theme was to compare typical varietals from regions within Australia to see the difference/what we liked (all done blind).

LEAS Chard (WA) v. Vic Chardonnay (Hardy)
Actually the Hardy is a multi-regional blend including Tas, so maybe not the best comparison. In this bracket it was hard to differentiate the regions particularly as the LEAS always represents the avant garde of MR Chardonnay and is much leaner than what many remember. The Hardy presented very well, deep golden colour, lots of pineapple and melon, judicious oak (maybe a touch too much). Most preferred the Hardy; although I disagreed it was much better than I expected.

Tolpuddle Pinot (Tas) v. Yabby Lake (Vic)
I love Yabby Lake, have a real soft spot for them. Gee whiz did it get steamrolled - the Tolpuddle was aromatic, kirsch cherry, clean, precise, long; made the Yabby look muddy, imprecise fruit etc... Perhaps because the Yabby was from 3 half bottles and had prematurely aged? It wasn't showing well, regardless the Tolpuddle was my WOTD. Everyone picked the regions on these immediately.

Grange Cochard
The Beaujolais was a little blind I threw in with some 'black' glasses to try and get some people tricked on wine colour - unfortunately it's such a big obvious Morgon that everyone picked it as a red. Works better with a much lighter Beauj or huge chardonnay.

WG Grace Cab (WA) v. Menzies (Coonawarra)
Sad to see the WG Grace now under foreign ownership, and have heard reports that the 18 Cabernet was average (crazy in a vintage when you couldn't make a bad cabernet!). A sigh of 'that tastes like home' the second everyone tasted the Grace - no mistaking the region. I also thought the Menzies was very typical of Coonawarra, dusty, fuller bodied, darker fruits. Given we are in WA this is a biased tasting, and we all predictable preferred the WA wine.

Dead Arm (SA) v. St Peters (Vic)
All allocations were done randomly, and I ended with SA Shiraz, which I have barely any of. Never the less I thought to bring the Dead Arm which I see as very typical of the McLaren Vale style. I had low hopes for this wine, and fully expected to be beaten by a lovely aromatic cooler climate style. Unfortunately the St Peters did not show well at all, and one of my favourite Shirazes! On the other hand the Dead Arm was delightful only ever so slightly burnt, rich but mellow, long and starting to enter it's window. Everyone picked the regions, but probably by exclusion as the Dead Arm was so obvious and everyone preferred the Dead Arm. Such a pity, and further damages my campaign to get this group to drink cooler climate wines.
 
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cove said:
Was pleasantly surprised by the Grace Madeline at Cullens Winery today. The 2018 is a white wine that I really enjoyed even though I generally only drink reds.
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Sounds interesting @cove.

But I had to stifle a laugh when I looked at the label and it has a picture of a bird's nest that Vanya Cullen collected in that vineyard in 1987.

I may be wrong, but it has a striking resemblance to the nest of the Western Silvereye (scope the 'Feeding' section here: Western silvereye - Wikipedia), which can be a serious pest of vineyards in Margs in years when flowering of Marri (aka 'redgum') (Corymbia calophylla) is poor.

It caused huge grief in the early days. I remember talking to Tom Cullity at his then fledgling Vasse Felix about the problem in the autumn of about 1972 when his riesling was still fermenting (he'd just been tasting barrel samples when I rocked in, which is what I distinctly recall).

A brief research project soon after, apart from clarifying the importance of Marri flowering, was inconclusive as to control measures (nets hadn't been thought of then and would have been too costly in any event).

(Anecdote: Asking for directions to the Vasse Felix vineyard at the Cowaramup general store or servo was met with puzzlement until someone asked someone else and I eventually got a vague description to where, in effect, some weirdos were growing grapes to make wine. How things have changed just in our lifetime - especially for a younger bloke like you. 😜)

Ironic if that's the case - especially given not just the organic, but biodynamic :rolleyes:🤔🧐, push by Cullen.

That bird is the reason for the widespread netting in Margs.

Biodynamics notwithstanding, Cullen is not immune. Eg. check 2010, 2015 and especially 2019: Cullen Wines - Wilyabrup Margaret River

But maybe those thousands of square metres of synthetic bird-exclusion mesh were produced biodynamically...
 

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