Yarra Wine Tour
All this looking at art stuff in Melbourne gets to be thirsty work. So what can a person do to slake it?
Why, go on a wine tour, of course, and there just happens to be one in town, the somewhat unimaginatively (but unmistakably) named Australian Wine Tours company who will pick you up from your hotel and ensure that you get well-slaughtered on top-shelf wine in an afternoon.
Our guide was a bloke by the name of Nick (Collingwood Magpies) who knows heaps about wine and is pretty funny, especially at the expense of people from Queensland (which he calls “the Smart State”). A nice change from the usual Kiwi sheep-shagging stuff
Now while the respective valleys, Hunter and Barossa, tend to scoop up most of the limelight whenever anyone starts talking about Australian wine, we shouldn’t be too hasty in neglecting the Yarra. It’s also pretty handy to the big city with a lot of wineries being within an hour’s drive of the CBD and, without leaping to too many sweeping generalisations, the wine tends to be a little more subtle than that of other regions. You can either taste a lot of wines at a few wineries or splash your lips a couple of times at a lot of wineries, depending on how you want to slice it. Here’s my take on a few of the highlights:
Green Point
Not far from the legendary Johnny Farnham’s ranch is the Green Point winery, home to the Chandon label. This was chosen as the best place in the area for whites due to the better moisture-retaining ability of the soil. Definitely come here if you’re a fan of bubbles as, not only do they taste good but you can learn a whole heap of fascinating stuff about the French Methode Traditionale style of making sparkling wine. As the name suggests, a lot of it is super old school tradition, although the fact that it takes seven years to serve your apprenticeship in learning how to be a Riddler, i.e. a guy who spins bottles on a rack, frankly demands some urgent updating.
I particularly liked the:
‘07 Viognier – Very fruity, cinnamony flavour.
‘06 Chardy – Very mild, light and spicy. Gentle.
Rochford
These guys do big concerts similar to the Mission Estate in Hawke’s Bay and this year, it’s Rod Stewart whose March 1 concert had already sold out at the time of writing. Their wines were light even by Yarra standards with the Pinot Gris being hard to distinguish from water, to be honest. But they also had some beauties too. These guys really know their stuff, if you see their plain labels, buy them. At once.
I particularly liked the:
‘07 Sav Blanc – Gooseberryish, some banana. Not like drinking alcohol at all.
Latitude (second label) Chardy – Lightly wooded. Very nice.
‘04 Macedon Reserve Pinot – Beyond wine. Stronger than the usual Pinot. So mellow.
Yering Station
This place has its own restaurant where I had Kangaroo. Fine, tasty, low in fat and delicious! I totally recommend it. Run by Paul de Castella, who is a cousin of Rob, the famous marathon runner, Yering Station has been voted the Best Tourism Winery in Oz for the last three years straight. It’s easy to see why; they’ve poured heaps of money into the place. But it wouldn’t make much difference if their wines sucked. Fortunately for the de Castellas, their wines are magnificent too.
I particularly liked the:
‘99 Cab Sav – Great colour, mellow. Superb.
‘04 Fortified Shiraz – The best thing I’ve tasted all day.
Yering Farm
By far the most rustic of the wineries we went to, it, naturally, was my favourite. Especially after we were invited by the vintner to go in and sample some of the wines straight from the barrels.
I particularly liked the:
‘03 Pinot – Peppery, a bit stronger than the others we’ve tried today. Very nice.
‘02 Reserve Cab – If you don’t rave about Aussie reds yet, you will after trying this.
Warren Cairo Friend
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