Session 27 - Bird on a Wire Wine with Caroline Mooney

Swirl, Sniff, Spit's September tasting sees us joined by a very special guest: Caroline Mooney of Bird on a Wire Wine. 


This is a ticketed event, get your ticket(s) here.

Widely regarded as a rising star in the Yarra Valley, Mooney, a Yarra Valley native, previously plied her trade at Yering Station before setting out on her own under the Bird on a Wire (BOAW) label.

In this exciting tasting, Caroline will be taking attendees through three brackets of wines: Chardonnay, Marsanne and Syrah.

Each bracket will feature three of Caroline's own wines along with a fourth wine hand-selected by Caroline. The intent of the tasting is to provide a great insight into the Yarra valley, showing what influences which grape varieties are planted where, and why. We'll look to demonstrate regional influence - will you be able to guess the odd wine out?

Don't just take our word for it about Caroline's talent, check out this Gourmet Traveller Wine profile on Caroline.

Palate Cleanser

Melbourne Gin Company, Gin & Tonic

Bracket 1 - Chardonay

A) 2010 BOAW Chardonnay

B) 2010 Mount Mary Chardonnay

C) 2011 BOAW Chardonnay

D) 2012 BOAW Chardonnay

Bracket 2 - Marsanne

A) 2010 BOAW Marsanne

B) 2011 Tellurian Marsanne, Heathcote

C) 2011 BOAW Marsanne

D) 2012 BOAW Marsanne

Bracket 3 - Syrah

A) 2010 BOAW Syrah

B) 2011 BOAW Syrah

C) 2011 Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 60

D) 2012 BOAW Syrah

Session 26 - Lavora Italiano

Silvio Berlusconi, Enzo Ferarri, Donatella Versace, Roberto Baggio - Italy has given the world many cultural and style icons, it has also given many a taste for ‘la dolce vita' through an image of a cosmopolitan lifestyle projected around the world, along with its cuisine and wine.

Cuisine is a rather limiting way of referring to what in reality are a diverse range of regional and sub-regional cuisines, and closely associated with that are regional wine styles, with grape varieties often intrinsically linked to a region and associated produce and dishes.

Swirl, Sniff, Spit is opting to look at a range of varieties of Italian origin that have settled here in Australia. Predominantly the examples we have selected are sourced from McLaren Vale, a region with a strong links to Italian migration and settlement. By no means is this an exhaustive look of 'Italian' varieties, but it's a damn good start.

Bracket 1 – Crisp Whites
Beach Road Greco 2011 Twitter n/a
Primo & Co The Venetian Garganega 2012 @PrimoEstate

Bracket 2 – Textural Feeling
Oliver's Taranga Small Batch Fiano 2013 @OliversTaranga
Oliver's Taranga Small Batch Vermentino 2013 @OliversTaranga
Dowie Doole Vermentino 2013 @DowieDooleWines

Bracket 3 – A Little Sweet One
Coriole Barbera 2012 @Coriole
Vigna Bottin Barbera 2006 Twitter n/a

Bracket 4 – “Forgive me Father, for I have Zinned’
Coriole Sangiovese 2010 @Coriole
La Curio 'Original Zin' Primitivo 2010 Twitter n/a

Bracket 5 – Not Quite the Full ‘Monty’
Waywood Wines Montepulciano 2012 @WaywoodWines
Hand Crafted by Geoff Hardy Aglianico 2011 @HCByGeoffHardy

Bracket 6 – Tannic beauts that end in ‘o’ and probably “Oooooh…”
Oliver's Taranga Sagrantino 2010 @OliversTaranga
Kangarilla Road Terzetto 2010 @Kangarilla