Discover the wineries impressing Paul with their quality, consistency and value.
Wirra Wirra Vineyards - South Australia
The name, Wirra Wirra is an Aboriginal one that translates to the phrase “amongst the gums”. The Wirra Wirra winery located in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia was first purchased by cousins Greg and RogerTrott in 1969. Since then the Wirra Wirra wine experience has truly been set in motion and not looked back since. Today, the Wirra Wirra brand name denotes one of Australia’s most recognised wineries with its array of high quality, well crafted and yet relatively affordable wines.
When you take a close look at how the Mitolo story has fared so far and then taste their wines, it is clear that the Mitolo brand is about commitment and quality. Mitolo Wines are a South Australian boutique wine producer, established in 1999, with vineyards in the McLaren Vale and BarossaValley. Mitolo is the wine child of Frank and SimoneMitolo who from day one have had a clear and meticulous focus of making individualistic high quality Australian wines.
Occasionally I have been known to dip my metaphoric toe into the Tasman Sea and take a big step across it to sample wine from New Zealand. Here are some well made affordable Kiwi wines from both the North and SouthIslands, which you should be available to find back here at home.
Coldstream Hills' current winemaker, AndrewFleming continues the quest towards premium winemaking, in line with a journey that started in 1985 under the winery's founder JamesHalliday. The conditions for the 2006 Coldstream Hills vintage were such that it was a low yielding one which featured a warm summer, a relatively good amount of rainfall and led to the earliest vintage on record commencing in February.
Here are the latest reviews I've written in my weekly column at Australian internet search engine webwombat.com.au on the widely anticipated Penfolds New Wine Releases Autumn 2007. Overall, they are excellent wines that you should be able to find at a price that resembles good value, especially in light of the high level of discounting from the larger retailers throughout the country. The 2004 reds deliver beyond expectations as top notch wines, the excellent Tumbarumba Chardonnay just seems to be getting better each release and you also get a glimpse at a couple of the 2005 reds, from a much lauded vintage and in the case of the Bin 128 get to compare them side by side with both the 2004 and 2005 vintages being released. Try a couple and see what you think.
- South Australia
