Jewels of the Upper Goulburn Wine Region Part I.

October 31, 2008

Today, I want to start a new series and introduce to you some wine and grape producers from our wine growers association, the Upper Goulburn Winegrowers Association. I plan to feature three to four wineries and vineyards at the time. The selection is random. I will start with the wineries with open cellar doors. Of the 30 odd members of our association, about 9 belong to this category. Another 12 are vineyards which also produce some wine under their labels but conduct wine tastings only by appointment. All the others are fruit producers only and do not sell wines commercially.

The first cohort of wineries to be presented consists of Kinloch Wines, Rees Miller Estate and, a small boutique winery, called Rocky Passes Estate. I want to be honest with you. I have tasted wines made by Malcolm Kinloch (Kinloch Wines) and David Miller (Rees Miller Estate) but not the ones made by Victor Oles (Rocky Passes Estate). I have visited the two former wineries (and I know Malcolm and David) but not the latter.

But this is no impediment to write about all three of them. Anyway, we are going to visit Australia for Christmas and we might take this opportunity to get to know the Rocky Passes people.

I am starting with Kinloch Wines. Malcolm and Susan Kinloch have established a wonderful wine business. The vineyard is located in the Booroolite Valley, about 15 minutes by car from Mansfield (almost next to another famous winery of our region: Delatite Winery).

This year at the Federation Sq Showcase Series the Kinlochs were rewarded two gold medals, one for their “2004 Mary Friend Cabernets-Merlot Blend” and another for their “2006 Don Kinloch Sparkling white”. Moreover, the “Mary Friend” red was judged the Overall Best Red Blend in its class at the Award presentation for the Victorian Wine Awards.

2008 was a most unusual year in the Upper Goulburn. Kinloch Wines harvested a record 34 tons of fruit of outstanding quality. From the 2008 vintage three wines have been released so far (cellar door prices in brackets):
-Unwooded Chardonnay (A$ 18)
-Sauvignon Blanc, and (A$ 22)
-a first rosè (A$ 18) made from Pinot Meunier grapes.

I have tasted earlier vintages of the two white wines and they are delicious. When we visited Kinloch Wines in winter, one could see Mount Buller in a not so distant distance, all in white with a beautiful snow cap.

How to find them:
Kinloch Wines
In the Booroolite Valley, the cellar door is warm and friendly and offers gourmet luncheon platters on weekends and public holidays.
Address: 221 Wairere Rd, Boorolite – 15 minutes from Mansfield
Open: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily
Tel: 5777 3447
Email: info@kinlochwines.com.au
Web: www.kinlochwines.com.au
Contact: Susan and Malcolm Kinloch

Rees Miller Estate is the next winery in my cohort. Located near Yea – about 15 minutes drive on the highway to Alexandra/Mansfield – Sylke Rees and David Miller own and operate a fully certified biodynamic vineyard and winery. Today about 7 ha are under vines, the farm has a total of about 64 ha. Sylke and David are both very much committed to the protection of the environment, and the organic production of food. They intend to produce pure products for consumption in a way that supports the land and its people.

We got to know Sylke and David when our wine stall was just adjacent to theirs at the 2007 Alexandra Food and Wine Expo. David conducted a very interesting wine tasting, actually my first wine tasting at such an event, and Sylke sold the wines. When we visited their cellar door some time later, they were both on Christmas holidays. To my great surprise Rees Miller wines were available at our duty free wine store in Jakarta, and we did not have to suffer any shortages of their beautiful reds.

How to find them:
Rees Miller Estate
Fully certified biodynamic vineyard situated on the Goulburn Valley Highway, just east of Yea.
Address: 5355 Goulburn Valley Highway, Yea
Open: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily
Tel: 5797 2101
Email: info@reesmiller.com
Web: www.reesmiller.com
Contact: David Miller or Sylke Rees

The last vineyard in this first cohort of Upper Goulburn wineries with cellar doors is Rocky Passes Estate, a small boutique vineyard of about 6 acres (5 acres Shiraz and 1 acre Viognier) located in Whiteheads Creek, near Seymour. I only know their one-page website and their listing in our membership directory. Rocky Passes Estate is another vineyard dedicated to organic grape growing and wine making (there are quite a few in our region). Cropping levels are kept low (about 2 tonnes per acre). The cellar door was opened in 2006. The wines can be ordered by mail, phone or e-mail.

How to find them:
Rocky Passes Estate
Situated at the southern end of the Strathbogie Ranges, the wines are made using organic practices and biodynamic preparations.
Address: 1590 Highlands Rd,
Whiteheads Creek, Seymour
Open: Sundays 11.00 am to 4.00pm or by appointment
Tel: 5796 9366
Email: rockypasses@activ8.net.au
Web: www.rockypassesestate.com.au
Contact: Victor Oles or Candy Westney

I hope I could stimulate your curiosity. The Upper Goulburn Wine Region is a rural place with real people who love what they are doing, have passion for their wines and commitment to the environment.

1 Comment | vineyards, wine regions | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Jewels of the Upper Goulburn Wine Region Part I

October 25, 2008

Today, I want to start a new series and introduce to you some wine and grape producers from our wine growers association, the Upper Goulburn Winegrowers Association. I plan to feature three to four wineries and vineyards at the time. The selection is random. I will start with the wineries with open cellar doors. Of the 30 odd members of our association, about 9 belong to this category. Another 12 are vineyards which also produce some wine under their labels but conduct wine tastings only by appointment. All the others are fruit producers only and do not sell wines commercially.

The first cohort of wineries to be presented consists of Kinloch Wines, Rees Miller Estate and, a small boutique winery, called Rocky Passes Estate. I want to be honest with you. I have tasted wines made by Malcolm Kinloch (Kinloch Wines) and David Miller (Rees Miller Estate) but not the ones made by Victor Oles (Rocky Passes Estate). I have visited the two former wineries (and I know Malcolm and David) but not the latter.

But this is no impediment to write about all three of them. Anyway, we are going to visit Australia for Christmas and we might take this opportunity to get to know the Rocky Passes people.

I am starting with Kinloch Wines. Malcolm and Susan Kinloch have established a wonderful wine business. The vineyard is located in the Booroolite Valley, about 15 minutes by car from Mansfield (almost next to another famous winery of our region: Delatite Winery).

This year at the Federation Sq Showcase Series the Kinlochs were rewarded two gold medals, one for their “2004 Mary Friend Cabernets-Merlot Blend” and another for their “2006 Don Kinloch Sparkling white”. Moreover, the “Mary Friend” red was judged the Overall Best Red Blend in its class at the Award presentation for the Victorian Wine Awards.

2008 was a most unusual year in the Upper Goulburn. Kinloch Wines harvested a record 34 tons of fruit of outstanding quality. From the 2008 vintage three wines have been released so far (cellar door prices in brackets):
-Unwooded Chardonnay (A$ 18)
-Sauvignon Blanc, and (A$ 22)
-a first rosè (A$ 18) made from Pinot Meunier grapes.

I have tasted earlier vintages of the two white wines and they are delicious. When we visited Kinloch Wines in winter, one could see Mount Buller in a not so distant distance, all in white with a beautiful snow cap.

How to find them:
Kinloch Wines
In the Booroolite Valley, the cellar door is warm and friendly and offers gourmet luncheon platters on weekends and public holidays.
Address: 221 Wairere Rd, Boorolite – 15 minutes from Mansfield
Open: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily
Tel: 5777 3447
Email: info@kinlochwines.com.au
Web: www.kinlochwines.com.au
Contact: Susan and Malcolm Kinloch

Rees Miller Estate is the next winery in my cohort. Located near Yea – about 15 minutes drive on the highway to Alexandra/Mansfield – Sylke Rees and David Miller own and operate a fully certified biodynamic vineyard and winery. Today about 7 ha are under vines, the farm has a total of about 64 ha. Sylke and David are both very much committed to the protection of the environment, and the organic production of food. They intend to produce pure products for consumption in a way that supports the land and its people.

We got to know Sylke and David when our wine stall was just adjacent to theirs at the 2007 Alexandra Food and Wine Expo. David conducted a very interesting wine tasting, actually my first wine tasting at such an event, and Sylke sold the wines. When we visited their cellar door some time later, they were both on Christmas holidays. To my great surprise Rees Miller wines were available at our duty free wine store in Jakarta, and we did not have to suffer any shortages of their beautiful reds.

How to find them:
Rees Miller Estate
Fully certified biodynamic vineyard situated on the Goulburn Valley Highway, just east of Yea.
Address: 5355 Goulburn Valley Highway, Yea
Open: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily
Tel: 5797 2101
Email: info@reesmiller.com
Web: www.reesmiller.com
Contact: David Miller or Sylke Rees

The last vineyard in this first cohort of Upper Goulburn wineries with cellar doors is Rocky Passes Estate, a small boutique vineyard of about 6 acres (5 acres Shiraz and 1 acre Viognier) located in Whiteheads Creek, near Seymour. I only know their one-page website and their listing in our membership directory. Rocky Passes Estate is another vineyard dedicated to organic grape growing and wine making (there are quite a few in our region). Cropping levels are kept low (about 2 tonnes per acre). The cellar door was opened in 2006. The wines can be ordered by mail, phone or e-mail.

How to find them:
Rocky Passes Estate
Situated at the southern end of the Strathbogie Ranges, the wines are made using organic practices and biodynamic preparations.
Address: 1590 Highlands Rd,
Whiteheads Creek, Seymour
Open: Sundays 11.00 am to 4.00pm or by appointment
Tel: 5796 9366
Email: rockypasses@activ8.net.au
Web: www.rockypassesestate.com.au
Contact: Victor Oles or Candy Westney

I hope I could stimulate your curiosity. The Upper Goulburn Wine Region is a rural place with real people who love what they are doing, have passion for their wines and commitment to the environment.

Leave a Comment » | vineyards, wine regions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Miranda – Sam Miranda

April 20, 2008

After posting my recent blog entry on “Cool Climate Wines” I had second thoughts as regards the accuracy of my assessment. I thought about the label issues, than visited the Sam Miranda website again (www.sammiranda.com.au).

There I learned that Sam Miranda had sold the family business (Miranda Wines) to McGuigan Simeon in October 2003. And then things fell into place. Of course the bottle I had bought must have come from McGuigan Simeon (www.mswl.com.au). When I visited their website today I found the Miranda brand and learned that they also source fruit from the King Valley.

So the bottle of Miranda I had the other day came from McGuigan Simeon and not from Sam Miranda of King Valley.

However, I can maintain my general assessment.

1. Wines from the cool climate King Valley Wine Region are excellent and worth trying.

2. The “High Country” Cabernet Sauvignon from Miranda (McGuigan Simeon) was a good buy.

and

3. I will visit the Sam Miranda cellar door next time we are in Glenburn. That’s for sure.

Leave a Comment » | vineyards | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Cool Climate Wines

April 19, 2008

“High Country – Cool Climate Wine” is what the label on the bottle said and that is why I bought it in my local duty free shop during my monthly ration collection.

Our own wine producing region, the Upper Goulburn Wine Region (www.uppergoulburnwine.org.au) used to call itself “High Country” for a while, before settling a couple of years ago for the new name and regional denomination.

The ‘2005 Miranda Cabernet Sauvignon’ from the King Valley Wine Region

The wine came from Miranda (or today Sam Miranda), a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, and retailed for US$ 15.30 here in Jakarta. The price suggested “a wine for every day”, nothing special but enjoyable. And enjoyable it was. In fact I loved the mid-palate weight, the structure, the aroma of dark fruit and the long and strong finish.

As always while writing blog entries I was enticed to do some more searching on the net and to find out more about the circumstances of the wine and/or the winery where it came from.

Last year I visited the King Valley for the first time. It’s a spectacular entry if you come from the Mansfield side, breathtaking views down the valley floor. This is Ned Kelly country, a kind of Australian version of Robin Hood. Vines and vineyards are high up on hill terraces, the lowest at Milawa at about 155 and the highest at the Whitlands plateau at about 800.

The cool climate allows the production of high quality grapes. The deep red clay loan soils are very fertile and well drained. In recent years a plethora of new/innovative and less usual varieties has been planted in the area such as Saperavi (from Georgia), Arneis (or Barolo Bianco from Piemont, Italy), Tannat, Petit Manseng ( a grape variety from the Pyrenees, France, producing aromatic, sweet wines), Mondeuse, Graciano, Marzemino, Dolcetto, Sangiovese and Tempranillo.

For more information please visit the excellent and very informative website of the King Valley Vignerons association (www.kvv.com.au) to learn more about this treasure trove of Victorian wines.

One finds boutique vineyards (such as Avalon Vineyards) next to the big corporates (such as Brown Brothers in Milawa). Other well known producers are: Pizzini Wines in Whitfield, Dal Zotto Estate is Cheshunt and of course Sam Miranda in Oxley Flats to name just a few. There are a lot of Italian names on the list of King Valley wine producers.

Miranda’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot are produced in Oxley on the floor of the valley. The labels on the wine bottles on the Miranda website (www.sammiranda.com.au) are different from the bottle I bought in Jakarta. I suppose that the “High Country” wine became ‘High Plains” wines, but I am not sure because the production dates do not suggest that this assumption is correct.

Miranda’s “Snow Road” label wines (low price end of A$ 12.-/bottle) show some “bizarre” blends (blends I would never consider to buy) such as ‘Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc’, or ‘Merlot Pinot Noir’. Rare varietal wines are presented under the “Symphonia” label.The flagship of the collection is certainly the “Sam Miranda” range of handcrafted wines exclusively sold at the cellar door.

Apropos cellar door. On a travel website I found under the heading, “Australia’s most unusual wineries”, a further hint why it might be worthwhile to visit the Sam Miranda Winery (http://travelaustralia.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=446482).

Allow me to cite from this source. It says about the Miranda cellar door:

“From an architectural viewpoint, the new cellar door at Sam Miranda winery is a standout. Designed by well-known Sydney architect, Alex Popov, this modern marvel literally towers over Victoria’s King Valley — 40ft to be exact. From the car park you’ll enter via a subterranean passage, giving you the feeling that you are submerging into an underground cellar. Contrary to your expectations, however, the passageway opens up to reveal a bright, airy tasting room which is lit up by light streaming in from the 40ft light tower which stands sentinel above the bar. But it’s not just the architecture that’ll catch your attention, the wines here are superlative.”

Well, if possible I will get some more of Miranda’s wines from my local bottle shop and next time we are in Glenburn, we might decide to go on a day trip to the King Valley and check out some of the wineries there.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Vineyard news – Two Hills in winter

August 21, 2007

thwinter07.jpg

Victorian winter and Two Hills Vineyard

I would like to bring you up to date on some recent developments. The dry season seams to be over in our neck of the wood. When we arrived at Two Hills Vineyard our small dam was full and the larger “irrigation” dam was slowly collecting runoff water from the surrounding hills. However, when I was digging out some blackberry roots I quickly discovered that the ground was still rather dry. Only about the first 5 cm of soil showed some moisture but below there were hardly any to find; not quite dry as a bone but still too dry. We will need much more rain in order to refill the ground.

unproonedwines.jpg

The un-pruned vines

Another exciting news is, that we are extending our vineyard. We are in the process of planting 1 ½ acres of Chardonnay (clone P 58). The posts are almost in. Peter Thwaites could not finish the job because it was too boggy. The spacing is 3 meter between the rows and 6 meter between the panels. Pro panel we will plant 4 vines (1.5 m per vine). We have 20 new rows of different length but about 1200 vines should find a new home at Two Hills Vineyard. We have to be patient though. Experience suggests that we will have to wait another four to six years before we can drink the first drop from this site.

postschardonnay.jpg

neblock.jpg

The new Chardonnay block in the making

Leave a Comment » | vineyards | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Sauvignon Blanc

July 10, 2007

My morning newspaper, the International Herald Tribune, carried the other day an article summarising the tasting of 25 Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand. Sauvignon Blanc is one of my most favourite white wines. The results were interesting. Only about 10 of the 25 wines found the approval of the tasting panel (it was a New York Times event of the dining section). For the judges, the tasting was a disappointment. They were looking for the bold, pungent refreshing SB but found that too many wines were dull, too sweet or simply wishy-washy or as Eric Asimov put it “commercially inoffensive”. My favourite SB from New Zealand, Cloudy Bay came up third (behind “Villa Maria” in number one position), described as “quieter than the top wines” but still “bold, zesty and delicious”. In my bottle shop in Jakarta it retailed for 40 US$ the bottle last week. Gone are the days when I had to pay only 18 US$ for this most delicious white.

Mr. Asimov is of the opinion that many producers have decided to push quantity at the expense of quality and that they are over cropping (too high yields per acre). I learned something else from the article: that in New Zealand wine producers are allowed to add sugar or acid to make up for “green” (not fully ripened) grapes, as we say. In Australia, we are not allowed to engage in this technique or should I say “manipulation”. Next time in the bottle shop it will be much easier for me to walk away from the dear SB from Marlborough and turn to some cool climate Sauvignon Blanc of Australian provenance. I might be enticed to make some Two Hills Sauvignon Blanc again in 2008. Kinloch Wines (www.kinlochwines.com.au) Sauvignon Blanc of 2006 is sold out, as I learn from their website. Guess who provided some of the fruit for this most delicious wine from the Upper Goulburn River (www.uppergoulburnwine.org.au)?

Leave a Comment » | vineyards, wine regions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver