Shiraz is a Fickle Mistress

There are several famous wine regions in Australia, and two of them are in the state of South Australia: McLaren Vale and the Barossa. To prepare for trips to these regions, we went to Adelaide's Good Food and Wine Show last weekend where we sampled dozens of SA wines and got our grubby little Canadian hands on as many food samples as possible.

In Line for the McLaren Vale Shiraz Tasting

We were a bit disappointed in the food on offer, but all of the vendors were really informative and generous with their wines. I will avoid boring details about bouquet and oaking techniques and local winery histories, but I will share some of the basics that we learned:

• This region is hot but is subject to maritime influences. The soil is loamy and dry, resulting concentrated flavours, tannins and phenols
• Shiraz, CabSauvs, Semillon, and Riesling vintages do well under these conditions
• Wines that are matured in oak barrels contain more phenols and complexity than wines that are just fermented in oak and then bottled
• The Shiraz and CabSauvs from both McLaren Vale and the Barossa often benefit from some aging in the bottle (1-4 years) because they possess tight tannic structures that need to mellow and break down...so it doesn't feel as though you've been chewing cotton balls

On October 15th our aunt and uncle took us to McLaren Vale. We started the day in Willunga, the main town in the region, for their weekend market. After sampling and buying some lavender fudge, we headed off for our first winery, Richard Hamilton Wines. It just so happens that our aunt used have a "thing" with Richard (ahem, I mean, Dr. Hamilton), so we just had to stop here. We weren't crazy about the vintages they were offering at their cellar door, but we did buy a Riesling due to the connection with the grower. We also stopped at Hardy's, Settlement, and Oliver's Taranga. We actually sampled a Shiraz and Tempranillo from Taranga at the Good Food and Wine Show, so we wanted to see where the grapes were grown. While we did not particularly like Taranga's Tempranillo or Cab, we really liked their Shiraz. In fact, Kate liked their 2007 Reserve so much at the cellar door that she asked me to buy her a bottle for her upcoming birthday. This Shiraz is juicy and has a full-mouth Cab feel yet finishes just dry and spicy enough to counterbalance that initial splash of flavour.

Outside of Settlement Wines. Can you Tell We've Had a Few? 

...When We Are Not Making Pizza or Drinking Wine

McLaren Vale was beautiful and only thirty minutes away from Adelaide. We are going to the Barossa in two weeks to see how their Shirazes measure up. But the important question is: who is going to be the designated driver?!