Stage Door 2015 The Green Room Riesling - Eden Valley

HERE'S a great partner for crab
cakes and other seafoods.

FLEDGLING LABEL A STERLING PERFORMER

David Ellis

THE unusually named Stage Door Wine Co in South Australia's Eden Valley was given the moniker by owner Graeme Thredgold who founded the exceptional little family-owned business just three years ago.

And he so-named it for not only having a long history himself in the brewing and wine games but in the music industry as well, and like any good stage hoofer his wine company is already putting on a sterling performance despite its youth.

A 2015 The Green Room Riesling is a particularly good example of what can come out of such small family shows, and was thankfully helped along by a growing season that started with above average winter rains, a stint of dry weather followed by some extreme heat, 30mm of rain in early January, and then near-perfect ripening conditions that lead to an earlier than usual harvest.

The whole Thredgold extended family then pitched-in to handpick the fruit, that was crafted into a drop that in true Stage Door tradition almost belts out "look at me."

With a palate of full-on citrus flavours – lemon, lime, mandarin and orange – this is a great Riesling at $25 to enjoy with seafoods (crab cakes immediately spring to mind,) roast chicken, or simply chilled on its own on a warm autumn day.

Eden Hall 2015 Gruner Veltliner - Eden Valley

ONE to match up with a Wiener Schnitzel,
the national dish of its homeland Austria.

JUST THE DROP WITH WIENER SCHNITZEL

David Ellis

EDEN Valley in the Barossa may be one of our smaller winemaking regions, but even so is home to some exceptional makers, and at the same time some equally exceptional histories to many of their properties.

Among them is Eden Hall that dates back to the 1840s, was planted to wine grapes in the early 1900s, saw these ripped out 70 years later in favour of sheep grazing, and went back to winemaking again in the 1990s (while still keeping some sheep.)

And now it's released what's believed to be the Valley's first-ever Gruner Veltliner, a wine whose homeland is Austria, is made to a lesser degree in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and is fast becoming popular in the USA and here in Australia.

And Eden Hall had a trump card up their sleeve when it came to making their pioneering drop: one of their winemakers, Christa Deans spent time in Austria working in wineries there and getting to learn all she could about Gruner Veltliner.

Hers is a ripper drop with a rich palate of nectarine and white peach fruit flavours and back notes of citrus and grapefruit and a mineral finish. A naturally food-friendly wine with anything from chicken dishes to seafoods, vegetarian and even light red meats, it's a perfect match with Wiener Schnitzel… which after all is the national dish of Austria from which this variety originated. Eden Hall's Gruner Veltliner is $35 a bottle online with discounts for six or more: check out www.edenhall.com.au

for week beginning 31 August 2015

2013 Block 4 Eden Valley Shiraz

SHARE this now with grilled beef ribs, duck or game dishes,
or enjoy even more- so up to 20 years down the track

ONE TO NOTE

David Ellis

EDEN HALL did the right thing with their 2013 Block 4 Eden Valley Shiraz that they released only late last year, giving the wine nearly two years in French oak and more than another year in bottle before that release.

That cellaring's made it a very rewarding drop with a subtle nose of spice, white pepper and chocolate, and out of the glass fills the mouth with nicely fleshy red and black fruit flavours, lovely balance and velvety tannins.

One to enjoy now with grilled beef ribs, duck or game dishes, it is well worth the $40rrp. And it would also make for a good investment at that price, too, to put one, two or even more away in the cellar for special-occasion enjoyment anything up to 20 years down the track…


for week beginning 13 July 2015

WHITE AGE REALLY IS IMPORTANT

Wc05May08

YOUR WEEKLY WINE COLUMN for week beginning 5 May 2008

wine with david ellis

WHAT do you do when you've a great winemaking team with all the skills to go that one step forward, you've access to the very best of fruit, but you don't have a label that you think a resultant wine can sit comfortably with?

You create a totally new label, just as Wolf Blass did in 2001 with its White Label series to embrace specially crafted, iconic aged white wines.

This month it released only the second vintage of premium, aged whites under this White Label series, a fresh, modern-style Adelaide Hills 2003 Chardonnay and an Eden Valley 2002 Riesling.

The Chardonnay is an absolute stunner: while five years old now and drinking beautifully, it has all the signs of plenty of cellaring potential to get even more from it in three to five years. On first taste it's quite delicate, but powerful fruit comes through on the mid plate and there's nice toasty oak.

Blass has certainly achieved what it set out to do with this aged white, and at $40 you'd wonder if they've under-priced this exceptional Chardonnay: match it with your favourite seafood dish – or treat yourself to a lobster thermidor – and you'll have no regrets.

ONE FOR LUNCH: ONE of our most remote winegrowing regions is Tumbarumba in the NSW Snowy Mountains, a region that at 700-metres enjoy a cool climate coupled with extended sunshine hours – resulting in excitingly new and almost unique-in-Australia Sauvignon Blancs.

Barwang is one maker that's proving the untapped potential of this region, its 2007 Sauvignon Blanc coming from three Tumbarumba vineyards, and result-ing in wonderfully rich passionfruit, lemon, kiwifruit and mineral flavours. Just $19.99, you'll find it great with asparagus quiche, salad and a crusty baguette.

WINE OF THE WEEK: Ed and David Swift's Printhie Mountain Range Shiraz Cabernet from the NSW Orange region: generous with plum and blackberry flavours and supple tannins. Enjoy at $17 with hearty beef bangers and mash.

……………….

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] TREAT yourself to this stunner with lobster thermidor.

[] EXCITING 'new find' from NSW's Snowy Mountains.

[] WINE of the week for hearty bangers 'n mash.