Resfreshing bubbly produced by Di Giorgio Family Wines

March 9, 2012

Di Giorgio sparkling

One of the many refreshing bubblies we tasted during our Christmas holidays in Glenburn, was this bottle of Di Giorgio sparkling, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. I had bought it in our local supermarket in Yea.

The bottle of sprakling on our kitchen table

Di Giorgio Family Wines is a family business celebrating in March its 10 anniversary. Some of the vineyards are located in Lucindale district of the limestone coast near Coonawarra, South Australia.

Stefano Di Giorgio migrated from Italy to Australia in 1952; with his wife Rita, he has four children. Apart from viticulture, the family holds interest in cattle, sheep, wool production and horticulture.

In 1989 the first vineyards were planted in Lucindale. Today, about 126 ha are under vines, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shirz, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes are produced.

The holdings in Coonawarra covers almost 228 ha under vines. Apart from the varieties above, they also include some Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo.

From 1998 onwards the Di Giorgio’s decided to move from fruit growing to wine-making, and in 2002 they established their own winery. The enterprise is not small. I wish to congratulate them to their anniversary and wish them well for the future.

The sparkling Pinot Noir (85%) Chardonnay (15%) is a very fresh and refreshing wine. I loved the strawberry aromas and the spicyness. It is not completely dry but carries some hints of sweetness. The soft creaminess is lovely and gives it a very “homely” character.

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Homecoming – Jakarta, Indonesia

April 10, 2008

I received a wholehearted welcome when I arrived at Jakarta International Airport. My twin daughters and my wife picked me up after 10 days in Germany.

We celebrated our reunion with a hearty meal and some good wine.

I love the ‘2000 Sharefarmers Cabernet Malbec’, a single vineyard wine from Coonawarra (South Australia) from Petaluma which consists of 64% Cabernet and 36% Malbec (www.petaluma.com.au).
The Cabernet gives spice and structure and the Malbec provides colour and vibrant fruit.

The other wine I fancy is the ‘2001 Ross Estate Old Vine Grenache’ from the Barossa Valley, South Australia (www.rossestate.com.au). The wine has a rich fruity aroma, good palate weight and a soft finish. I start to become a Grenache lover.

Both are very well made wines for every day and readily available from our duty free shop. They go well with any kind of pasta but also red meat dishes.

Afterwards I smoked a cigar and was happy to be back in good old Jakarta.

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Old Friends and Good Wine

April 6, 2007

According to Plato “only philosophers have what it takes to venture outside of the cave into the sunlight”. And what do they do there (apart from eating as we know from my last blog entry)?

They drink good wine of course!

When our friend Alan Wall came over from Canberra they other day, he brought with him, as usual, some bottles of good wine. Alan is one of these people who has forgotten more about wine then many of us will ever learn. He has a fine collection of about 3,000 bottles which are stored in his insulated garage.

We started with a single vineyard wine, a Mount Pleasant 2000 Lovedale, Hunter Valley Semillion. The bottle was decorated with five trophies of gold and top gold medal signs. What a wine this was. It displayed honeyed toast and hay aromas but it also showed some lemon and grapefruit character as many young wines do. It could have easily be cellared for much longer but when old friends meet, good wine has to flow. Of course we had food with it, a delicious seafood pasta.

The Hunter Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in Australia, is famous for its Semillions and its Shiraz. Whoever plans to visit Sydney should also include into their program a trip to the Hunter Valley just a 2 hours drive north of cosmopolitan Sydney.

The main dish was grilled beef (on my Weber) and with it we drank a Coonawarra Rymill Shiraz of 1996, a very well aged and harmonious wine of great depth and with a long finish. What a delight this was with it’s spicy peppery character and the blackcurrant flavours.

After the desert we continued with a wine from Sonoma County, a Chateau St. Jean Merlot of 2004 which displayed all the good Merlot charactereristics which we are looking for, deep cherry and plum aromas, with good texture, some weight in the mid-pallate and a long finish.

Of course the company was what really counted. Drinking wine we discussed about electoral systems, political party and democracy development and the future of the young Indonesian democracy. Life is just too short to drink bad wine.

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The Yarra Valley in Victoria

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