John Duval Wines Entity Shiraz 2022
John Duval Wines is a prestigious family-run winery based in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, founded by renowned winemaker John Duval in 2003.
Duval Entity Shiraz
Hardys Tintara Shiraz
Hardys Tintara Reserve Shiraz 2019
Nestled within the picturesque McLaren Vale wine region in South Australia, Hardys Tintara winery stands as a testament to the rich history and enduring legacy of Australian winemaking. Established in 1861 by the visionary Dr. Alexander Charles Kelly, Tintara has weathered the test of time, producing wines that have not only earned global acclaim but have also become an integral part of Australia’s winemaking narrative.
Bondar Winery
Bondar Winery
McLaren Vale is a wine region in south Australia about 20 miles from “Australia’s Wine City,” Adelaide. Vines were first planted here in 1838, but things didn’t really get going until about 40 years later. By the turn of the twentieth century, McLaren Vale was established as one of Australia’s premier wine regions, a position it holds until this day, with over 80 wineries and 13,000 acres under vine. This coastal zone sits between the Mount Lofty Ranges and the tempering sea. The growing season is long and warm, and features good air drainage to prevent frosts.
Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz
Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz 2018
Until Yellow Tail precipitated the boom in “critter wines” in 2000, it can be argued that Penfolds was just about synonymous with Australian wine in the U.S. The label is ubiquitous here, in both grocery stores and fine wine shops. Prices range from about $12 per bottle for the Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet, to $850 for the legendary Grange, and everything in between. (That $850 is doubly amazing, because just five or six years ago Grange was “only” about $200.) The selections are mostly reds plus a few whites and even a tawny Port.
Carmel Winery
Carmel Winery Private Collection
The first mention of wine in the Bible appears in Genesis, chapter 9, verse 20, “And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard.” The story goes on to recount some unpleasantness after Noah over imbibes, but there is no reason to go into that here. The point is, wine is as old as history itself, with some of its earliest beginnings in the Middle East. Indeed, references to wine appear hundreds of times in Scripture, through both the Old and New Testaments.
Continue reading “Carmel Winery”
Linchpin Shiraz and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Linchpin McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004
This award-winning Shiraz hails from McLaren Vale on Australia’s southern coast. The complex soil types here combine with the St. Vincent’s Gulf breezes to make for ideal vineyard conditions.
Continue reading “Linchpin Shiraz and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc”
Cockfighter’s Ghost Shiraz and Tapestry Chardonnay
Cockfighter’s Ghost Shiraz and Tapestry Chardonnay
In this post I sample two uncommon wines that only have one thing in common: they both come from Australia’s McLaren Vale.
Continue reading “Cockfighter’s Ghost Shiraz and Tapestry Chardonnay”