Meet the Winemaker Tasting

• Mandy Jones from Jones of Rutherglen poured her Marsanne ‘08 and Shiraz ‘08.
• Dudley Brown from Inkwell McLaren Vale poured his Primivito ‘09 and Shiraz ‘08.
• Daniel Wilson from the Wilson vineyard in the Clare Valley poured his DJW Riesling ‘10, Rose ‘10, Handplunged Shiraz ‘06, Tonic Estate Barossa Shiraz ’08 and his NV Zinfandel. Daniel also brought along a bottle of his new ’09 Tempranillo.
• Last but not least we had Wendy Allan and Marianne Braunack from Pindarie wines in the Barossa. Wendy and Marianne poured their “La Femme” Savagnin ‘10, Shiraz ‘08 and the new 2010 Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Shiraz blend.

Dudley Brown from Inkwell

Marianne Braunack from Pindarie

Daniel Wilson from Wilsons

Mandy Jones from Jones

We had some wonderful food to complement the wines, due to the cold weather all tasters were greeted with a cup of hearty homemade minestrone soup. We had assorted filo parcels of spinach and ricotta and chicken and mushroom to go with the white wines. Then we followed with a rich chicken braise with creamy mashed potato to accompany the reds. We finished with a selection of cheeses and to go with the Wilson NV Zinfandel we had some dark chocolate to finish.

I thought that due to the these factors the whites were overlooked, the DJW Riesling is a cracker from a great vintage – and we have over past few months sold a lot of this wine. The “La Femme” is a lighter style wine displaying lovely fruit and a crisp finish - a great warmer weather drink. The Jones Marsanne is a full bodied wine that will develop beautifully over the next few years.

The eye opening wines of the night were the Inkwell Primivito - wow - it is wild on the palate with sour cherry and cranberry flavours and this wine really divided our tasters. The other "out there" wine was the Wilsons NV Zinfandel, this wine is a blend of ’04 and ’05 fruit fermented until the yeast would go no further and the wine retains a lot of natural grape sugar, possibly the only type of this wine made anywhere. Imbibed with a strong cheese or some dark chocolate – a sensation.

Thanks to all those who participated, good food, a fantastic and interesting range of wines and a great bunch of people made it a terrific evening.

Cheers, Michael@wineseek