Redbank Sally's Paddock 1997

We had the cousins over for dinner and told them we had hunted for a bargain red but we love them too much so we opted to open up something worthy of our last supper. The cousin folk were quite pleased that no $10 reds were locatable ( I blame Nansia for their MIA status), and were pleased with the idea of being spoilt with something fantastic.

Sally's Paddock is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. Very much an Aussie version of a Bordeaux rouge. Although the label states the winery is Redbank, Sally's Paddock is no longer made by Redbank since it was sold to Yalumba around 2003. However, Neill Robb still makes Sally's Paddock in the Pyrenees region of Victoria, and the wine continues to have an excellent status, in Langtons.


This wine has the ability to age many years, but we thought we'd open it at the ripe old age of twelve and were far from disappointed. The flavours were rich, tasting of briar, stewed fruit, black currant, eucalyptus and tea leaves. The oak is finely integrated and combined with fine tannins. All in all, this wine tastes much younger than its twelve years and would easily cellar for another ten years.

We had it with pan fried steak seasoned with Balsamic Vinegar and herbs. It was a match made in heaven! Good food, good wine, and good company.

At the time of purchase, this wine was around AUD 50.00. Current vintage is around AUD 60.00 which is a very modest increase, and makes it easy to justify inviting Sally over for dinner again. Who's Sally you ask? Best leave that question for Neill, its a rather complicated relationship.

Wirra Wirra Church Block 1997 Cabernet Shiraz Merlot McLaren Vale

"Kneeling at the Altar"

Eleven years on, the 1997 Church Block shows why McLaren Vale has gained the tag "The Middle Palate of Australia" - very moorish! It is a subtle mouth-filling wine with complex flavours of berries, pepper, and spice. It goes down a treat with aged camembert and victorian blue vein cheese.

This blend has become somewhat of a McLaren Vale signature.
The perfect marriage of three grape varieties proves that three is company and not a crowd.

The wine showed distinctly raisened fruit characters as a result of aging. Oak flavours come through, toasty with a touch of honeycomb. There is good length which finishes with a savoury aftertaste.

Purchased at around $15, current vintage retails for around $24, we still think this is very good value.

Saltram Mamre Brook 2002 Barossa Shiraz

Tonight, we decided on Saltram Mamre Brook 2002 Barossa Shiraz.

We opened this wine because today is very special...... it's Monday! And it's been a crazy kind of day with storms and traffic that drove me insane! (well more so than usual)

Anyway, the wine.... 2002 was an outstanding vintage for Barossa Valley, SA.

Despite a whopping 15% alcohol, this wine is very well balanced. It has great depth, loads of fruit flavours, blackcurrant, plum, as well as liquorice, black pepper and vanilla from the American oak. It had turned six years old when we drank it, however, Nigel Dolan, the wine maker, affords it another 2 years on top of this. We think he's been conservative, and believe that it could go for another 4-5 years.

Although no longer family owned, the style has remained true to form. Mainly because Nigel and his family have been making wines here for decades. Although, unfortunately, Nigel did retire in late 2007.

I paid around AUD 18 for it, probably in 2004. Current vintage 2005 sells for around AUD 26.00.

Beer Lesson for the day

While I was chatting away with Keith, the head brewer at Hunter Beer Co, Nansia was clicking away with her camera. I like this one she took.

With help from the man himself, here is the simple lesson on the main beer ingredients - (from left to right)
Green pellets are the hops, followed by malted barley: pale malt, crystal malt and chocolate malt, and of course, water (not pictured).

Not all of these ingredients are used in commercial brewing, but when they are used, the depth of flavour is instantly noticeable and well worth the money.

Weekend at Hunter Valley

It's our yearly tradition to spend some time together just before Christmas. Normally, it's dinner for two at a restaurant we've never been to. This year, we decided on a trip to the Hunter Valley instead. If we may say so ourselves, it was a good decision!

We stayed at the Vintage on McDonalds road. Had a nice apartment complete with our own BBQ, and a very funky bathroom with a view through to the bedroom and vice versa. Very interesting!

Went to the Hunter Valley Cheese factory shop on McDonalds road, enjoyed some cheese and olive oil tasting. It was impossible to leave without a tub of the very moorish "marinated Fromage blanc with sun dried tomatoes", as well as "the Fourth village extra virgin olive oil". Also popped next door to the Mcguigan cellar door which in our opinion was largely forgettable except for "the Genus 4 Shiraz."

A fairly quiet night after the drive up, punctuated by a few laps in the pool, a light dinner and of course some beverages, mostly consisting of an interesting Brazilian pilsener called Palma Louca (Crazy Palm). A very refreshing beer which had a slight zing but lacked any real depth. However at $35 a case it makes VB and New look like pretty ordinary options.

Next morning we decided to venture outside Pokolbin (in the lower Hunter), and came upon Adina Vineyard on Lovedale Road. Doing the responsible thing, we filled up the tummy first. What can we say....breakfast was great and reasonably priced! By the time we finished, the wines were calling. We tasted an impressive Muscat (blend of Hunter and Rutherglen), but the "boss" informed me that we have no more room for fortifieds and that she was hunting for reds today. So we filled our bag with Shiraz and Sangiovese (from 30 year old vines).


On the way home we stopped at The Hunter Beer Co at Potters hotel on Wine country drive. We met the Head Brewer Keith, sampled some oustanding Australian tributes to the beer styles of Europe and America whilst sniffing the aromas of freshly brewed beer from the brewery only meters away from my itchy fingers.

These guys brew their beer in a traditional method where they mash and kettle all their ingredients which takes time, unlike some of the more commercial breweries which cut these corners dramatically. You can taste the difference.

Again we found some room in the swag for some of their "Kolsch" - a golden ale styled after the beers from Cologne, as well as The Hunter Bock which is reminiscent of the dark beers of Bavaria. No need for coffee when you drink this sort of beer as the dominant flavour is roast coffee and chocolate.

Forget Germany, visit the Hunter Beer Co instead, and buy your beer in magnums for even better value. Next time, it'll be our first and last stop, especially as there are beers untried inside the hotel bar.

St Hallett 1998 Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

the Turks and the Germans ride again!

what the hell am I talking about?

Tonight we decided to have Turkish Pide (it's bloody good!) and drank it with St Hallett 1998 Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Still, you asked, where the hell are the Germans?

For those of you who don't know, the Barossa Valley in South Australia was settled largely by Germans in the late 18th century. And many families there today are their direct descendant.

Onto the wine.... 1998 was ranked as a 10 out of 10 vintage for Barossa Valley. Big rich ripe fruit which was destined to mature if handled correctly. Ten years on, this wine has tonnes of plums, good oak and fruit integration, and good depth.

The flavours are typical Barossa, lots of fruit, spice, and a touch of sweetness. Many Australian wines of 1998 vintage promised good cellaring potential including this one. Many fell short, but this wine kept its promise and could have slept for a further five years.

Purchased price was around AUD15.00 in 2002. Have seen this exact wine for sale for around AUD 90.00. St Hallet doesn't always release a Cabernet Sauvignon, but when they do, it sells for around the same price as their Faith Shiraz at around AUD 21.00. Well worth searching for.

The Tusker Prayer

We found this in a pub called "The Anchor" at Port Vila, Vanuatu, on our cruise trip in August.

How appropriate.

The Beer was icy cold, just perfect for the hot summer day!

Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 1993 vintage

So! Nansia had a tattoo done. She admitted it was Painful with capital P, there was no if or but about it. She said no regrets, but don't think she'd ever do it again either.

I thought we should celebrate the occassion. I opened a bottle of Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 1993 vintage from Barossa Valley, South Australia.

This wine was thoroughly enjoyable. Fifteen years on, the only regret we had was there wasn't more of it! Grant Burge states that "This wine has a character and structure to give it the longevity I required." I'm not 100% sure what he meant, but fifteen years was pretty good, and probably had another 2-4 years aging potential.

Once the wine breathed, it opened up to display flavours of rhubarb, plums, Spice, dusty oaks, black berries with fine grained tannins.

We enjoyed this wine with pork chops pan fried with spanish onions, mushroom and soy sauce.

I think current vintage probably retails around $30 (AUD). A baby brother to Meschach Shiraz which is a AUD $100 plus wine. Both have the ability to age superbly. Grant Burge Filsell is an excellent choice if you aren't in BRW's Top 200 list. ENJOY!

Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2000

Tonight, we uncorked a bottle of Guigal Cotes du Rhone (Grenache Shiraz) 2000 vintage.
Eight years on - Pretty good. We enjoyed it.
The wine tasted dusty with flavours of Aniseed, white pepper, clove and cinnamon.
It was pretty tight at first, but when it opened up, it had a lucious warm and that typical Cotes du Rhone pencil shaving characters.
It probably had the potential to go for another 2 years, but we enjoyed it superbly with a "Norwegian Nachos" dish we invented tonight.
I have tried several vintages of this wine over the years and believe it to be a good value example of France's famous Cotes du Rhone region.

Current vintage probably retail around $30 (AUD).

Norwegian Nachos ala Liquid Dining (the lazy Friday night dinner)

Spanish onions, garlic, kidney beans, tomatoes, can of sardines, salt, white & black pepper, coriander, cumin, papprika.
Served with Jatz crackers.