How does one start a modern day memoir (let’s face it, that’s exactly what a blog is). I’ll strive to make mine more interesting than 99% of all memoirs, and I promise that the first entry will be the longest. At some point, I’ll probably disappoint you with an unwelcome plethora of information or detail, or conversely, with not enough. I welcome you to exert your free will and promise not to be disappointed by your decision. As I know some of you are only going to click the link to see what wine thoughts I have to share from the Southern Hemisphere, I’ll post those at the bottom of each entry and I’ll try to keep a running list for you, as well.
And so, we commence.
I am in transit from hemisphere to hemisphere. Country to country. Megalopolis to city to small town. From winter to summer. And back, perhaps? I am in transition from corporate cog to cellar hand. I am in transition from content, stressed, depleted, to excited, whole and joyful. From winter to summer (yes, figuratively, too). And that is just the beginning of what I am hoping for from this transit(ion)… But for now, I’m pleased to begin with a ripening, or shall we call it a veraison?
I arrived in Australia on Wednesday. The only aspect of my journey to get “here” from “there” that felt brief/short/effortless/easy was the 13 hour plane ride from LAX to Brisbane. It’s not nearly as miserable as everyone thinks it is.
With my first career as a meeting planner, which regularly had me put up in plush resorts, behind me in the states, I headed from the airport to a 6-bunk YHA Youth Hostel room in Adelaide. With the exchange rate at AUD .97 to USD 1.01 ish, and an Australian minimum wage of $15/hour (meaning everything here is exorbitantly expensive), there was no way I would be checking into a Hyatt. (Oh, and in case any of you plan to hostel it up anytime soon, just a friendly reminder that they don’t supply towels and you generally have to make your own bed. Riiiigght. Check.)
At the YHA, Erica, Chelsea and I met up and got to know one another through trips to the beach, exploring the nearby botanical garden and by checking out a few hotels (which is what they call pubs – not confusing at all). Erica is from LA and has worked in the largest single location wine shop there for the past couple of years. The girl knows her vino. Chelsea hails from Napa royalty (clue: Bottle Shock). This one has been living and breathing wine likely since she was in the womb and is a recent graduate of the UC Davis Enology program. I’ll be working harvest at Two Hands alongside these two gals, several other Americans who rotate between Northern and Southern Hemisphere harvests and some assistant winemakers in training. Needless to say, my 7+ years of devotion to fermented grape juice and all its trappings, leaves me vastly less-experienced and far less qualified for this position than my 24 and 22yo counterparts and our other company. Should be an interesting few months! Fortunately, it shouldn't take too much skill to clean and haul hoses to start, and forklift training is mandatory for everyone. Yippeee!
Regardless of any nerves I have about starting vintage tomorrow, I am still enjoying my “pinch me” moments. No, I still cannot believe I’m here. Several times throughout the day I stop and question whether or not this is actually happening. And when I decide that it is actually happening, a nervous quiver of excitement runs through me and I find myself grinning. If you’ve never done something that terrifies you and exhilarates you all at the same time, I strongly encourage you to get to it.
Anyway, “here” is now a small town in the Barossa Valley (henceforth to be referred to as “the Barossa”): Nuriootpa. Nuri for short. Population 5030. Lonely Planet calls it the commercial center of the Barossa. There is a hardware store, a grocery store, a pet shop, bakery and second hand store. What more could one need?
We’ve made good use of our time here thus far, making Two Hands our first stop in the Valley on Friday, and tasting through all of their open bottles. After a little grocery shopping at the local farmers market and second hand store furniture shopping for our sparsely furnished rooms, our triumvirate footed it to Penfolds cellar door (as tasting rooms are called here) Saturday. Today we took it upon ourselves to venture out on foot to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop (she’s like the Australian Martha Stewart). Google Maps is proving to be a bit unreliable here as we wound up trespassing through several acres of vineyards and a few horse farms to get there. Between the swarms of locusts, (literally) zillions of ants, vine line posts that ended in barbed wire lined dead ends and slippery mud, it felt like we were trapped in a video game. Fortunately, just like in video games, there was a handsome reward awaiting us at the end: a lunch of mixed greens, freshly-baked bread and mushroom pate, complete with a chilly glass of Voignier… all to be enjoyed on a sun-bathed deck aside a turtle-filled pond. Nice finish to my first weekend in Oz.
Tomorrow will begin the real wine-making adventure, but just a few notes on tastes thus-far:
Two Hands (8 wines tasted)
We’ll be barrel tasting on Thursday, so I’m going to withhold the majority of my thoughts on Two Hands until then, but for now:
From the Single Vineyard Series, I loved the Zippy’s Block Shiraz. This was a lovely medium- to full-bodied wine which was complex enough to intrigue me and then left my palate with a comforting sense of cocoa.
Sally, our Cellar Door hostess mentioned that the 2009 Bella’s Garden Shiraz was a better vintage than the 2008 which was recently recognized at #2 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 of 2010. I have nothing to compare the 2009 to as I didn’t have a chance to taste 2008’s Bella’s Garden, but it was a scrumptious wine. If you see it out there, I highly recommend buying more than one bottle.
Penfolds (12 wines tasted)
Beautiful Cellar Door here, but definitely far removed from where the actual action happens. HUGE producer.
I’ll preface this recommendation, and all other chard recommendations I make, with the caveat that I prefer a BIG oaky, buttery chard. Penfolds 2010 Thomas Hyland Chardonnay was quite nice along these lines.
Their 2008 Cellar Reserve Tempranillo was interesting… chewy with lots of tobacco on the nose and some nice blackberry notes, too.
I’ve never been a huge fan of tawnies, but I will be purchasing a bottle of the Bluestone Grand Tawny. Sipping this took me to sitting in a sugar house in Vermont with hot maple syrup being passed around for a taste. There was also some butterscotch in there somewhere and then it rounded out with a nice candied walnut finish. Delish.
I hope those of you who do not make a habit of actually tasting the wine you're drinking got a nice laugh out of the last couple of paragraphs : )
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