Heathcote

6 Aug 2007

Heathcote Wine and Food Festival 2007

The Heathcote "Class In a Glass" Wine and Food Festival is on again this year, 6th and 7th October, at the Showgrounds in Heathcote. This event has grown since it's first years, and is now an iconic, not-to-be-missed wine festival.

We will have a stand there as usual, and will be releasing our new 2005 Big Reds - Shiraz, Merlot and the popular Mad Uncle Jack's Petit Verdot. We will also release the 2007 Viognier, and of course, we will have the 2005 Tempranillo (rated one of the top wines in the Heathcote Region by The Wine Magazine), the 2005 Sangiovese and the 2005 Gamay.

Watch this space for further details!

New Release Picnic: Sunday April 23rd

18 Oct 2006

Well it's almost time to launch our new vintage upon you. And how better to do that than with a picnic. Full details are available in the PDF file here.

You might also note we've updated our web site, including some our new wines, a new page of Raves and Reviews, and a page detailing the specs of the Winery and Vineyard.

Also you can finally order our wine by downloading the Order Form from our Online Cellar.

We woke up to a cold, windy, overcast day on the day of the New Release Picnic. However, quite a few fans, stalwarts, true wine nuts and true friends, not to mention the faithful family, turned out to welcome and try the new wines. It was the official release of the 2004 Shiraz, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, and they were accompanied by the 2003 Shiraz and 2003 "Old Soolum" Merlot. (For more information on these wines, click here).
Kristian Eskola managed the girls doing the tastings, and everyone who came was able to enjoy the new wines with Spanish food from Rare Bites, or with from Nick the Lamb Man. Our gardening wizard, Faye Bird, had the winery gardens looking absolutely magnificent. Our old friends from Ballarat, Marie and Des, provided their own brand of blues, which everyone appreciated. Muso Dave Austen was a last minute cancellation, thanks to a dodgy back, but sent along a terrific replacement. Guests enjoyed the vertical Shiraz tasting in the winery with winemaker, Cathy Branson, and their children busied themselves with face painting, petanque, and racing up and down the hay bales we had stacked in the winery paddock!
So although the weather kept people away (a note to you Melbourne people - it might rain in Melbourne, but, hey, this is a drought! It NEVER rains up here!), we still had a great day, and of course, what better wines to enjoy on a cooler day than the 2004 reds. They were greatly enjoyed by all there, and quite a few went home with our visitors, for further cellaring (and I suspect, quite a bit of drinking now!)
We hope that next year the weather is kinder, and already have some ideas for the New Release Picnic 2007 - perhaps some wine stomping? Bring old clothes... See you next year!

2006 European Trip

18 Oct 2006

June 2006 saw us make the long haul to Europe, to catch up with Matilda, our middle daughter, working and travelling in the UK and Europe, with friend, Andrew Tolley. (Those of you who have joined us for meals at the winery will have had the pleasure of being looked after by these two.)
We met up with them, and then spent some time in a rented Gascon farmhouse in the South-West of France, not far from the Pyrenees.
Naturally, wine had to be on the agenda somewhere, and it wasn't by accident that we were right in the middle of a wine region completely unknown to me. The Madiran Wine Region is famed for two styles of wines - the big, tannic red Madiran, made from the grape variety Tannat, and the white Pacherenc-du-vic-Bilh, made from white grapes I have only ever read about!
The red Madiran was a wine that took years to soften and develope from a tannic high alcohol monster, to a robust and rustic red. A long way from Heathcote, and perhaps "elegance" was not a word that sprung to mind here, but partnered with the regional cuisine - beans, foie gras and terrines, as well as some fantastic fresh and dried sausages - really came into it's own.
And because it was hot (and sometimes you just want rose!), we had some lovely evenings drinking a Merlot rose, made by our friend Chantal Seguillon at Chateau Maine-Renaud, of St Emilion. (Obviously, Chantal's main wines are elegant Merlots and Merlot blends, but the rose was just good fun!)
The white Pacherenc-du-vic-Bilh was quite different; made in three styles, Doux, Demi-Sec and Sec, the Doux style was magnificent with crusty bread and foie gras.
So naturally, we came home considerably fatter, but had a very mellow time, shopping for delicacies every day in the local town of Maubourget, eating, drinking, swimming, sleeping, eating, drinking, swimming, sleeping, eating, drinking.... you get the idea!

Heathcote Wine and Food Festival

10 Oct 2006

The Class In a Glass festival 2006 was a huge success.

Ably assisted by Kristian, his Swedish mate, Matz, our buddy Michelle, and Michael the Marketing Guru, our stand was kept almost flat out for all of the Saturday, and most of the Sunday. Thanks so much to those friends for helping us out. The general word around the festival was that our stand was one of the most enjoyable to go to, probably because a) we are all very passionate about the wine and b) can't take ourselves too seriously, and teased each other constantly! Lots of nonsense going on...
Crowds were larger than last year, and they were pretty much three deep out the front of our stand all day!
We met up with lots of old friends, who have been on the mailing list for ages, and seen our winery grow from the early days, as well as lots of new Burrumboot enthusiasts.
As well as our 2004 Shiraz, Merlot and Petit Verdot, everyone was delighted with the new range of 2005 reds - my "Weirdo" collection of 2005 Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Gamay and the 2006 Marsanne/Viognier and 2006 "Elle Rougit" Rose. (For more information on these wines, click here.)These are great wines for summer and spring, although I suspect that the 2005 Tempranillo next year will be really hitting it's stride, with some great spice starting to show through the fruit.
It was a really fun weekend for the public (and for us!), with live bands, wine tasting tutorials from the "Wine Whitch", and heaps of food stalls - Turkish, Spanish, Thai, cheese, hampers, yabbies, coffee, ice cream, olive oil, to name a few - and of course, around 35 Heathcote Wineries strutting their stuff. An absolute credit to the organising committee of the Heathcote Wine Growers , and so much fun... for those of you who missed out, we'll see you next year!