A big year for Oliver's Taranga

Media Release

Oliver's Taranga achieves a rare milestone this year - racking up 170 years of grape growing in South Australia's McLaren Vale.

The third oldest known family business in Australia including present day vigneron Don Oliver (fifth generation), winemaker Corrina Wright (sixth generation) and Cellar Door Manager Brioni Oliver (sixth generation) is planning to make it a big one, honouring a tradition started by their "great, great, great, great grandfather".

"170 years of continuous family ownership - with a few small hiccups and many more triumphs along the way - is something worth celebrating," said Corrina. "There are stories to be told and parties to be had," she said.

"2011 not only marks 170 years for Oliver's Taranga, it will also be the year that we begin the conversion of our vineyards to certified organic and when we release our first McLaren Vale Vermentino," said Corrina.

Oliver's Taranga began in 1841 when Scottish migrants William and Elizabeth Oliver settled in McLaren Vale immediately planting orchards and vineyards. William and Elizabeth prospered on the property, located in the "Seaview" sub-region of McLaren Vale.

The Oliver family are renowned grape growers. Oliver's Shiraz has been supplied to make Penfold's Grange consistently over the years and Don Oliver was awarded the inaugural Viticulturist of the Year by the McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association in 2005.

In 1875, the Adelaide Chronicles wrote, referring to Don's great-great-grandfather: "Although Mr Oliver's farm operations are large scale, it is evident from the quality of his wine that he has not neglected his vineyard and cellar" (July 10, 1875).

Since 1994, when Corrina convinced her uncles and grandfather to let her have some fruit from the vineyard to make wine from, the Oliver's Taranga vineyards have been producing wines under their own label, welcoming Corrina back officially as the winemaker in 2000.

A limited museum commemorative wine from the revered 2002 vintage will be released this year and a celebration for 170 people to take place at the Oliver's Taranga property is also planned for October this year.

Stay tuned for more news about Oliver's Taranga's 170th year.
www.oliverstaranga.com.au
Twitter @oliverstaranga
facebook.com/oliverstaranga

Sydney Cellar Door - Saturday Gallery

photos: Roderick Eime

Just a small section of the Saturday crowd.

Audrey Wilkinson brand manager, Georgia Lea, all excited about the winery's 2009 Tempranillo

Graeme & Ann Shaw kept busy keeping glasses full with their multi-award winning wines. Graeme was particularly enthusiastic about his new Estate Riscato, a lower alcohol wine made from Semillon, Riesling & Shiraz and perfect for the warm weather and alfresco dining.

Glandore winemaker, Duane Roy, didn't have to sell his 08 Estate Chardonnay very hard. "Next please!"

James Kirby doesn't need to brag about his Tumbarumba-grown Hungerford Hill Chardonnay, but he was pleased with the acceptance of winemaker, Michael Hatcher's, new Fishcage range of four contemporary varietals.

NSW Wine Celebrates Year on Year Growth, Again | NSW Wine Festival

More and more the people of New South Wales are discovering the joys of their home-state wine, with seven out of ten bottles of wine produced in New South Wales sold in New South Wales, according to figures newly released from Nielsen.

Sales of NSW bottled wine in NSW retail outlets are experiencing continued year on year growth, reaching yet another record high of $82.1 million for 2010, up an outstanding 18.3% or $12.7 million from the previous year.  Impressively, over half the growth achieved falls within the super-premium $20+ bottle category, confirming NSW wine drinkers' growing appreciation for the quality of their State's product.

Chair of the NSW Wine Strategy James Agnew says, '"The wine drinkers of this State have heard and embraced the message that NSW winemakers deliver top quality wines. More than ever they are seeking out new regions and wine styles and purchasing NSW wines. It delights me that people are discovering the quality and diversity that NSW Wineries offer."

In February 2008 when the NSW Wine Strategy was launched, NSW Wines sales within our home State were $52.4 million, today they are $82 million, showing a staggering sales growth of $29.6 million in less than 4 years.

The breadth of wine produced in NSW will be on show at the Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Cellar Door this weekend at Hyde Park South where locals and visitors alike can meet the winemakers, tour the Wine Regions of NSW, taste the wines and savour sumptuous meals and  regional produce while enjoying outstanding live entertainment.

The NSW Wine Festival kicks off with Sydney Cellar Door this weekend.  For the full program or to pre-purchase tickets please visit www.nswwinefestival.com.au

·         The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Cellar Door: Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 February (11am-6pm)

Set in one of Sydney's most beautiful alfresco venues, Hyde Park South, it is free to enter, with wine tasting packages starting at just $25.

·         Dine with NSW Wine

Throughout March, participating restaurants will offer a special lunch or dinner meal matched with a glass of premium NSW Wine for under $50.  Participants include: Azuma, Number One Wine Bar, Catalina Rose Bay, Golden Century, Bathers' Pavilion, Ormeggio, and a number of regional NSW restaurants such as Silo in Newcastle, Eschalot in Berry and Arnott's Bakehouse in the Hunter.

·         NSW Wine ~ Tour of the Regions Dinners

Four of Sydney's leading hatted restaurants (Marque, Buon Ricordo, Restaurant Arras and Pilu at Freshwater) will host unique Tour of the Regions dinner experiences.

·         NSW Wine at The Sydney Morning Herald Growers' Market

Wine writers Huon Hooke and Nick Stock will appear at the monthly Growers' Market on Saturday March 5, to take marketgoers through a series of guided NSW wine tastings, matched with fabulous food from market producers.

31 December 2010 MAT Nielsen figures:

·       69.4% of bottled wine indicated to be from NSW is sold in NSW (MAT)

·       NSW accounts for 37.8% ($980m) of Australian Bottled Wine Sales with NSW experiencing 3.1% growth.

·       NSW Wine sales in the domestic market are predominantly in NSW with 69.4% ($82.1million) of NSW Wine sold in our home state, followed by 13.5% VIC, 12.6% QLD, 2.8% WA and 1% SA.

·       NSW Wine now represents 8.4% ($82.1 million) of the total bottled wine sold in NSW having grown18.3%

·       In $AUD dollar terms bottled wines sales in NSW indicated from NSW Wine have grown by $12.7 million on last year.

·       NOTE: All data prepared by Nielsen is based on wine sold in NSW that is indicated to be from NSW.

Sydney Cellar Door | A Tantalising Line Up | 26 & 27 Feb

Media Release

A Tantalising Line-Up at Sydney Cellar Door!

NSW Wine Festival ~ February 26 – March 31, 2011

Top New South Wales wines, hip Australian musos and the coolest local restaurateurs and regional food producers see this year's jam-packed Sydney Cellar Door set to tantalise your tastebuds, thrill your ears and sooth your soul. Kicking off in Hyde Park on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th February, Sydney Cellar Door opens the month-long NSW Wine Festival and is destined to be even more delicious and entertaining than ever.

Matching the 400 NSW wines on taste is a mouth-watering line up of food and produce stalls including the groovy dudes from Bodega and Porteño (Sydney's hottest new restaurant) manning their first ever outdoor event with empanadas and seriously succulent roast pork.  They'll be joined by the likes of Jared Ingersoll from Cotton Duck, and Morgan McGlone from Young Alfred serving up his Wollongong royal red prawns and roast pineapple, coconut, sago and mint salad.

NSW regional produce will be celebrated with fabulous smoked meats from Poachers' Pantry, a chic charcuterie platter from Baroque Bistro and award-winning cheeses from Bangalow Cheese Company.  The delicious tastes continue with Syrian specialties from Almond Bar, spicy bites from Chat Thai, rice paper rolls from Snakebean and luscious duck pies from Sweet Infinity.  There will be dessert treats from Sweetness the Patisserie and The Restaurant at the Art Gallery of NSW who'll pair Araluen stone fruit with buttermilk pannacotta.

And live music all weekend will provide the perfect atmosphere.   The Cellar Door Stage opens with the high octane sounds of The John Field Band before moving over to the breathtaking vocals of 'Jazz Vocalist of the Year' Emma Pask.  Saturday afternoon will wrap up with Australia's own godfather of soul Doug Williams with old school funk, soul and R&B for the whole family.

Sunday starts out easy with Dixieland trad jazz from Robbers Dogs, before the pace hots up with The Strides's own brand of hip-hop-Afrobeat-reggae fusion. This dynamic ten-piece features the easy musings of reggae master Ras Roni from Trinidad and MC Lil Gzeus.  Slide into Sunday afternoon with Kinetic Method, an eclectic mix of acoustic guitar, keyboard and percussion with elements of funk, dance and R&B.

With a world-class festival vibe Sydney Cellar Door is expected to attract over 20,000 attendees as for the first time visitors will have two full days to enjoy the state's largest outdoor wine experience. Around 100 winemakers will be presenting more than 400 wines to discover.  Leading NSW wineries attending include the likes of Audrey Wilkinson, Bimbadgen, Brokenwood, Cumulus Estate Wines, Glandore, Logan, Nugan Estate, Scarborough Wine Company and Tyrrells.

The NSW Wine Festival program continues with restaurants featuring NSW Wine matches and exclusive degustation dinners in Sydney's best restaurants.

·         The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Cellar Door: Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 February (11am-6pm)

Set in one of Sydney's most beautiful alfresco venues, Hyde Park South, it is free to enter, with wine tasting packages starting at just $25. Purchase from www.nswwinefestival.com.au

·         Dine with NSW Wine
Throughout March, participating restaurants will offer a special lunch or dinner meal matched with a glass of premium NSW Wine for under $50.  Participants include: Azuma, Number One Wine Bar, Catalina Rose Bay, Golden Century, Bathers' Pavilion, Ormeggio, and  a number of regional NSW restaurants such as Silo in Newcastle, Eschalot in Berry and Arnott's Bakehouse in the Hunter.

·         NSW Wine ~ Tour of the Regions Dinners

Four of Sydney's leading hatted restaurants (Marque, Buon Ricordo, Restaurant Arras and Pilu at Freshwater) will host unique Tour of the Regions dinner experiences.

To pre-purchase tickets and for further details please visit www.nswwinefestival.com.au

MOSCATO’s OUR NEW ITALIAN LOVE-CONNECTION

LOVING it: Italian-origin Moscato ideal
with chocolate desserts or cheesecake.

Wc21Feb11


David Ellis


AUSSIE wine drinkers are developing a passionate new love-affair with Italian-origin Moscato.

And it could be for any number of reasons: our growing ethnic community bringing with it their own personal wine-loves, Australians themselves looking beyond the norm to wines best-suited to our growing appreciation of international cuisines, or maybe growing numbers of female wine-drinkers who enjoy softer and sweeter whites.

Whatever, sales of Moscato have jumped 87% here in the past two years and are now worth $49m a year to importers and local makers. One of the newest on the shelves is Margaret River's Amberley Wines Kiss & Tell 2010 Moscato that at 7% is a lighter alcohol wine that's also light on the palate with sweet tropical and melon fruit flavours, and has a slight effervescence to it.

TROPHY for Best Wine Under $20
– great with Moroccan lamb pie.

Pay just $14.99 and enjoy with light appetisers, or if you are a sweet-tooth, share it well-chilled with rich chocolate or creamy desserts, or cheesecake.

ONE FOR LUNCH: Picking up seven trophies for just five wines in three competitions in one day was a pretty good day at the office for Penfolds' winemaking team just before Christmas.

And while there were the usual top-shelf wines amongst those trophy winners at the National Wine Show in Canberra, the Adelaide Hills Wine Show and the Great Australian Red Challenge, we were impressed with the 2009 Koonunga Hill Seventy Six Shiraz Cabernet's trophy for Best Wine Under $20.

So if you're conscious of the budget on a night out, pay just $19.99 and match this one that's full-bodied with loads of dark berry flavours with Moroccan lamb pie or meaty Mediterranean dishes. It's a perfect combination.

(NEED A FOOD/DRINK IDEA? Check out  http://www.vintnews.com )

Watch out Australia..."Not Your Usual Caravan of Courage" coming to a town near you!

Media release

It is time to get your surfboards waxed, sunscreen packed and wine glasses polished as the New Generation Hunter Valley winemakers are getting ready to embark on an epic two-week, east coast Austalia road trip they're calling "Not Your Usual Caravan of Courage".

With six top Hunter Valley winemakers, 10 locations, 20 events and dinners, 2000 kms covered and a whole lot of fun and frivolity, this road-trip is set to be a once in a life time experience. If this little 'surfari' doesnt bring Hunter Valley wines into the top of minds and onto the palates of the Australian consumer, who knows what will!

If you didn't already know, the New Generation Hunter Valley are group of six like-minded Hunter Valley Winemakers who decided to form and alliance with a difference over a beer at their local pub. David Hook (David Hook Wines), Andrew Thomas (Thomas Wines), Rhys Eather (Meerea Park), Nick Paterson (Mistletoe Wines), Mike De Iuliis (De Iuliis Wines) and Andrew Margan (Margan Family Wines) are all as fun loving larikans as they are passionate winemakers - all wanting to make a splash in the Australian wine industry and make drinking Hunter Valley wines, particularly Semillon and Shiraz, sexy.

But this time, they are packing their budgy smugglers (well, boardies!) and taking their wines to the masses. Kicking off in Melbourne on May 4th 2011, they'll be travelling north bound and stopping off at major coastal towns and cities such as Sydney, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Brisbane and finally culminating at the Audi Noosa Food and Wine Festival on May 13th-May 15th where they are featured celebrities in the international lineup.

Consumers, trade and media will have the opportunity to follow the "Not Your Usual Caravan of Courage" adventure online through Facebook as well as on their soon to be launched website, and by attending a whole bunch of 'Not your Usual...' Wine Tastings and Wine Dinners in beach-side venues along the way.

More information on dates, event venues and where to buy tickets to the "Not Your Usual..." events are soon to be released via www.facebook.com/newgenerationhuntervalley - become a fan today as tickets are limited.

The Rochford Files

2008 Yarra Valley
Reserve Chardonnay

Attending the AIME conference in Melbourne last week, I was delighted to meet John Bright from Rochford - Yarra Valley.

Rochford's 08 Cab-Sav impressed
some finicky palates*

Eager delegates were jostling for glasses of the superb 2008 Cab-Sav and the chilled Sauvignon Blanc and sparkling. John saw me wince at the Sav-Blanc without even trying it (call me a snob) and suggested a sample of the 06 Reserve Chardonnay. My goodness, chardonnay doesn't get much better than that! It reads 'crisp and seamless with beautifully integrated stone fruit and citrus' on the label and I think that's on the money.

2008 Macedon Ranges
Pinot Noir

Thinking he couldn't possibly improve on that, John poured me a 2008 Macedon Ranges Pinot Noir. Now, I'm a sucker for a good Pinto Noir and this was definately a superior drop. Spicy cherry and a hint of oak, it's a cracker.

For anyone who's never been to Rochford (like me) it's way more than just a winery. It's a full wine, food and entertainment destination with everything from balloon flights to open air concerts.

Check out: www.rochfordwines.com

from Roderick Eime at AIME
* Matt Preston impersonator Ben Price appeared with the Cheeky Food Group