Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Swirl Sniff Spit with Tom Carson

On 18th September, Swirl Sniff Spit is excited to bring you another opportunity to taste with, and learn from, one of Australia's leading winemakers.

Tom Carson, General Manager and Chief Winemaker Yabby Lake  is one of Australia's leading lights when it comes to the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties, and with this tasting comes the opportunity to taste not only the latest Yabby Lake releases, but also to taste them alongside a comparable range of French wines hand selected by Tom.  

You can read more about Tom and the 2010 Yabby Lake releases here.

This will be a paid for event, with ticket prices solely to cover the costs of buying in the benchmark wines.  Ticket prices are $30 plus a ticketing site admin fee of $2.79.  With the wines tasted totalling over $1400 that's a fair bargain.  Tickets will be made available shortly.

This is a fantastic opportunity, and one that is sure to fill fast.

Chardonnay

Bracket 1
Patrick Piuze Terroir de Courgis Chablis 2011
Red Claw Chardonnay 2010

Bracket 2
Pierre Yves Colin Morey Meursault Narvaux 2010
Yabby Lake Single Vineyard 2010

Bracket 3
Pierre Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne Montrachet Baudines 2010 1er
Yabby Lake Block 6 Chardonnay 2010

Pinot Noir

Bracket 4
Domaine de Bellene Bourgogne Rouge 2010
Red Claw Pinot Noir 2010

Bracket 5
Domaine Stephane Magnien Morey St Denis 2009
Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010

Bracket 6
Domaine de Bellene Beaune Clos du Roi Vieilles Vignes 2010 1er
Yabby Lake Block 2 Pinot Noir 2010


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Barossa Shiraz: An Exploration of its Sub-Regions

I’d be really happy if we could celebrate wine for what it is and not what it “should be”. Grapevines can be manipulated to an extent, but if we keep insisting that alcohol levels should be this, and tannins should be that (etc.) we will continue down the line of homogenised bland wine that will take the interest out of what is a remarkable product and can provide emotional experiences to the consumer. Let’s appreciate the natural tendencies of regionality and worry less about “the market place”. 

~ Andrew Seppelt, Winemaker & Partner at Murray Street Vineyards

Swirl, Sniff, Spit's next outing will be exploring the sub-regionality of the Barossa Valley through arguably its most famous grape variety - Shiraz - using the knowledge and insight of one of its favourite sons: Murray Street Vineyards Andrew Seppelt.

If you are wondering what sub-regionality is, we like to think of it thus: instead of being one singular entity, the Barossa is a complex patchwork of micro, or sub-regions.  Each of these sub-regions display its own unique character, and through this tasting we are looking to explore - and hopefully understand - those unique characters.

The wines are a mix of vintages and wineries so we will see some variation there, but the consistent element should always be the underlying notion of 'terroir' or the sense of place, the dirt from whence a wine came.

Western Ridge
Murray Street Vineyards 'Gomersal' Shiraz 2008 (VF) Twitter: @MSVWine

South Barossa
TeAro Estate 'Charred Door' Shiraz 2008 (VF) Twitter: @TeAroEstate

South Central
tbc

Foothills
Cirillo 'Steingarten Vineyard' Shiraz 2010 (VF) Twitter: @n/a

Eden Valley
Sons of Eden 'Remus' Eden Valley Shiraz 2009 Twitter: @SonsOfEden
Yalumba 'Swingbridge Vineyard' Craneford Shiraz 2007 (VF) Twitter: @Yalumba

Valley Floor
tbc

Northern Barossa
Westlake Vineyards 'Eleazar' Shiraz 2009 (VF) Twitter: @WestlakeWine

Greenock
Murray Street Vineyards 'Greenock' Shiraz 2008 (VF) Twitter: @MSVWine
Yelland  & Papps 'Devote' Shiraz 2010 (VF) Twitter: @YellandAndPapps

Central West
Whistler Wines tbc Twitter: @WhistlerWines

The tasting on 21st August and spaces open up 9am on 13th August on a first-come-first-served basis.

(VF) = Vegan Friendly