McLaren Vale Meet Your Maker 2014
16 June 2014
Last month I attended the annual Meet Your Maker trip to McLaren Vale.
It proved very informative, not only to meet the makers and taste their wares but an insight into the history, the geography and the terroir of the area.
Before I go any further I must preface this article with the fact that there were spectacular wines on tasting made by a multitude of passionate people, too many people to name and far too many wines to individually go through. Therefore I will not mention, vineyards names or makers, this is an overview of a very enlightening journey.
All the makers, vignerons and vineyard managers whom I met were generous in sharing their knowledge with all the retailers and restaurateurs in attendance. Nobody was pushing their ‘own barrow’, this was a group of people passionate about their area and their craft, united in educating us about what is the essence of McLaren Vale and what it offers.
There was a great deal packed into only three days. An alternative varietal tasting, vineyard tours, shiraz masterclass, grenache masterclass, cabernet tasting, shiraz and Rhonal reds tasting, plus whites, pinks and sparkling. All interspersed with some wonderful food.
I do like my food and know a bit about it having for twenty three years up to December 2012 run a catering business as well as being a wine retailer. The food offerings while in McLaren Vale where sensational and both the front and back of house teams at all the places where we dined need to complimented on a wonderful job, the food and the service were both simply outstanding.
And what is wine without food? A quick death!
The McLaren Vale area does produce some of the best of the best wine in the country due to the climate and the terroir, and let us not forget this area is Australia’s red wine mid palate. The percentage of shiraz from this area that goes into other wines is huge.
The important thing about the place is not only the shiraz grown but the diversity of what it produces besides shiraz and the amazing old vine grenache. The other varieties, nebbiolo, barbera, graciano, gamay, fiano, tempranillo, touriga, sangiovese, rousanne, vermentino and yes there is more.... nearly an A to Z of grape varieties.
McLaren Vale shiraz is as we all know outstanding, however it was the quality of the grenache tasted that blew me away. I did not expect such quality. Along with grenache the most interesting wines for me on the trip were the old world varietals and some of the blends of them. The gsm’s, sangiovese, and with primitivo and nebbiolo, tempranillo with granacha and souzao, fiano with vermentino - there is some amazingly exciting stuff going on in this part of the world!
And oh yes, McLaren Vale do produce excellent cabernet - oop’s and I love cabernet and whites and pinks and sparkling things, but I think I had my blinkers on. Blinded by the presence of the aromatic, the savoury, the spicy, the earthy and complexity of the interesting others.
A fantastic event, interesting, thought provoking, informative and a great deal of knowledge was gleaned from the experience.
Michael Davey @ Wineseek
It proved very informative, not only to meet the makers and taste their wares but an insight into the history, the geography and the terroir of the area.
Before I go any further I must preface this article with the fact that there were spectacular wines on tasting made by a multitude of passionate people, too many people to name and far too many wines to individually go through. Therefore I will not mention, vineyards names or makers, this is an overview of a very enlightening journey.
All the makers, vignerons and vineyard managers whom I met were generous in sharing their knowledge with all the retailers and restaurateurs in attendance. Nobody was pushing their ‘own barrow’, this was a group of people passionate about their area and their craft, united in educating us about what is the essence of McLaren Vale and what it offers.
There was a great deal packed into only three days. An alternative varietal tasting, vineyard tours, shiraz masterclass, grenache masterclass, cabernet tasting, shiraz and Rhonal reds tasting, plus whites, pinks and sparkling. All interspersed with some wonderful food.
I do like my food and know a bit about it having for twenty three years up to December 2012 run a catering business as well as being a wine retailer. The food offerings while in McLaren Vale where sensational and both the front and back of house teams at all the places where we dined need to complimented on a wonderful job, the food and the service were both simply outstanding.
And what is wine without food? A quick death!
The McLaren Vale area does produce some of the best of the best wine in the country due to the climate and the terroir, and let us not forget this area is Australia’s red wine mid palate. The percentage of shiraz from this area that goes into other wines is huge.
The important thing about the place is not only the shiraz grown but the diversity of what it produces besides shiraz and the amazing old vine grenache. The other varieties, nebbiolo, barbera, graciano, gamay, fiano, tempranillo, touriga, sangiovese, rousanne, vermentino and yes there is more.... nearly an A to Z of grape varieties.
McLaren Vale shiraz is as we all know outstanding, however it was the quality of the grenache tasted that blew me away. I did not expect such quality. Along with grenache the most interesting wines for me on the trip were the old world varietals and some of the blends of them. The gsm’s, sangiovese, and with primitivo and nebbiolo, tempranillo with granacha and souzao, fiano with vermentino - there is some amazingly exciting stuff going on in this part of the world!
And oh yes, McLaren Vale do produce excellent cabernet - oop’s and I love cabernet and whites and pinks and sparkling things, but I think I had my blinkers on. Blinded by the presence of the aromatic, the savoury, the spicy, the earthy and complexity of the interesting others.
A fantastic event, interesting, thought provoking, informative and a great deal of knowledge was gleaned from the experience.
Michael Davey @ Wineseek