Wine and more wine from Clare Valley!

Greetings!

 

Yesterday’s trip was full of wine! And sun, it was a glorious day in Clare Valley, much sunnier and nicer than Adelaide. And with Sea and Vines ongoing in McClaren Vale, it is perfect to visit other regions.

Taylors..oh yes. Long weekend sale, so we arrived early and immdiately laid our hot hands on a box of museum release Jaraman Chardonnay. The find was the Riesling thoughEden Valley grown from 2004 for 75 dollars for six bottles. Smooth, elegant Mosel style, wonderful, no tongue curdling Watervale ‘mild corrosive for cleaning reluctant teeth’. Our friends who asked us to buy Gewurztraminer if they had any on sale will be thrilled! If not, that box is MINE!

Then there were TWP Montepulciano, and a nice Merlot, and then we got three kinds of Cab sav, 2010 Jaraman, 2009 and 2010 Taylor’s own brand Cab sav. The Jaraman is made from Coonawarra grapes, and is absolutely fabulous! Oh and there were quite a few people there 😋 and no, we did not buy any Shiraz. We did buy a bit for friends and colleagues, I am sure that they will be thrilled too.

After that…phew….we went to Eldredge and sampled their beautiful Malbec and checked in to see how their Blue Chip Shiraz was going. We were joking about the fact that we have their 2015 vintage of Blue Chip at home, the bottles are hoarded, and then we go to their cellar door during the year to sample and find out how the wine develops. We did have a long nice conversation about the next edition of their Gilt Edge Shiraz, one of the best Shirazes out there. A year away, le sigh. We do have some 2007 left.

Then Skillogalee for a late lunch, and wow, they have released a 2015 Gewurztraminer, which achieved a whopping 95 points from James Halliday, and whilst I may not always agree with the rating but this time, this is hands down one of the best and most powerful fragrant aromatic Gewurztraminer here in Oz. Get it before it is too late. Who cares if it is Winter! It took on pasta, anchovies, capers, tomato…..without batting an eyelid ( we had the roasted garlic and anchovy dip with Cabernet soaked toast as a starter, then a wonderful Vitelli tonnato with capers-fried, recipe and then a small pasta dish …..with the Gewurztramner, what else?).

Whilst in Clare, we did what we almost aleays try to do…visit a new winery, so this time we went to Jeanneret. I did a double take because their tasting list was very similar to Eldredge, but ( didn’t sample the Rieslings)…..too much sugar, everywhere. The poor Malbec! The Grenache blend..vojne. But Jeanneret is also the home of the Clare Valley brewing company, ♥️ so not all lost.

A long wine inspired day. And smashing food at Skillogalee. It is June so middle of Winter in the Southern Hemisphere, which means it gets dark at six. And it is cold.

Tags: Clare valley, cooking, food, Skillogalee, taylor, wine