This episode’s a pretty big one. The topic for a start is a belter – Torbreck is one winery everyone should be familiar with (even if it’s just with their entry level wines). This relatively young Barossa label is certainly a defining force for Australian Shiraz on the world stage. The audio for this show was recorded at North Sydney Cellars a few months ago when Dave Powell (winemaker) from Torbreck went through most of his line-up in some detail. I’ve got some time markers outlined below for later review when you are drinking the wines or to skip ahead to now if you can’t wait.

Also, there’s a giveaway for this show! Up for grabs is one bottle of The Steading 2004 which has been SIGNED BY DAVE POWELL. All you have to do to be eligible is email me (hugo@ozwineshow.com) with “Torbreck Giveaway” as the email title and put in the body of the email your name, country and city by midnight 6th December 2007 (2 weeks away). I’ll be selecting a winner at random from anywhere in the world. Tell your friends too.

Dave Powell and I (Hugo Sharp) with the signed giveaway bottle.

Show Notes:

• 1:17 = Torbreck Giveaway announcement.
• 2:20 = Invitation to Project Vino launch party in Sydney.
• 5:00 = Introduction to Torbreck by Dave Powell
• 6.30 = Woodcutters Semillon
• 9:05 = A note on acid in wine.
• 9:40 = Roussanne/Marsanne
• 13:14 = Cuvee Juveniles
• 19:34 = Viognier (untasted)
• 20:58 = Woodcutters Shiraz
• 24:45 = The Steading 2004
• 27:52 = The Struie 2005
• 31:30 = The Gask
• 36:45 = The Descendant
• 42:12 = Runrig 2004
• 46:02 = A quick note on when to drink your Runrig.

Finally, as per the audio intro in this episode, there’s going to be a launch party for Project Vino (www.projectvino.com.au) which is a new Australian and New Zealand wine website that will help you track your wine adventures and experiences and then recommend new ones. It’s a free event, details below;

• What: Three winemakers from the Hunter presenting 4 wines each, an introduction to Project Vino and a presentation of donations from attendees at the door and Project Vino to the MND Association
• When: 6pm – 9pm Thursday 6th December, 2007.
• Where: “The East Village” 234 Palmer St, East Sydney, NSW 2010
• Email me (hugo@ozwineshow.com) to attend.

That’s all for now,

Hugo

Episode 14 is an interview i did this week with Tim Kirk from Clonakilla (www.clonakilla.com.au). Tim is the person responsible for sparking the cult that is Shiraz-Viognier in Australia. He not only created the market for Australian made SV both here and internationally, he set the benchmark against which it must be measured. I know if i think of Australian SV, I immediately think of quality and wouldn’t hesitate spending over $30-40 a bottle on. Hopefully that lasts (it will if Tim has anything to do with it).

The interview is short so we can all ease back into it but let me know what you think of it in the comments and post any additional questions you may have for Tim and i’ll try to get him to respond.

Do grab a bottle of their Shiraz Viognier, Hilltops Shiraz, Riesling or straight Viognier to see what the fuss is about. Check here for outlets.

(Tim Kirk on the Right, his father John on the left – photo: clonakilla.com.au)

Next show is a run-down of the Torbreck range and The Oz Wine Show’s first giveaway so be sure to subscribe to the feed to get all the updates (or check back soon).

Cheers,

Hugo

"Ernst Loosen doesn’t mince words. Passionate, irrepressibly irreverent, ironic and outraged – all within the same sentence – he is a fascinating conversationalist and an erudite lecturer. He has been called Germany’s winemaker rock star and its best wine ambassador. Sandra Shoji, The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), April 12, 2003"

The interview was done at the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting by Dave Brookes – Sydney wine blogger and all-round good guy. Dave contributes to WineFront and has his own blog at www.vinosense.com. The interview is a bit hardcore but is a great insight into many topics surrounding Riesling, Germany, Australia, Washington State and matching grapes to production methods and food pairing.

For more info, here's two documents from the drloosen.com site;

• Guide to German Wine which may help with all the quality levels mentioned in the show,
• Guide to pairing Loosen wines with food . (the rights of both pdf's remain with drloosen.com)

If the interview sparked an interest in Ernst, try his entry level "Dr Loosen" Riesling 2004 or 2005. Cam Wheeler from Appellation Australia has a review of it here . There's a review of the more pricey "J L Wolf Jesuitengarten Riesling 2004" at winorama .

If you're having trouble with your local wine stores, click here to try the Oz Wine Show wine search feature , type in "loosen" and click "go".

Don't forget to comment on this, or any other post, by clicking the "comments" button next to the date on the left. Feel free to respond to other comments as well.

Also, get automatic updates to the show and the blog via the RSS feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/ozwineshow ). More info on using RSS here .

All the best, Hugo 

I probably should have split it into three smaller chunks and released them more regularly. What do people think?

1:30 First up is James Halliday, a prolific Australian wine writer and nice chap to boot.
11:20 Secondly was an interview with Matthew Jukes who seems to have a toe in most forms of wine media in the UK. Check out his site at www.matthewjukes.com.
14:30 The last interview is with Lindsay McCall of Paringa Estate Wines situated on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Very nice guy who, along with his wife Margaret, produces some great wines. Check out their website at www.paringaestate.com.au.
22:30 Tastings include the Thorn-Clarke 2004 Shotfire Ridge Shiraz and Houghton’s 2001 Pemberton Chardonnay Pinot Noir.

Cheers

Hugo and Mick

This podcast includes two speeches given on the presentation day by Matthew Jukes and James Halliday about the show’s results and Australian wine in general.

2:45 – Guest international judge Matthew Jukes gives his views on the state of Australian wine in 2006.
9:00 – Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon 1994 won the trophy for “best white table wine”. A legendary bottle well worth familiarising yourself with as a benchmark Hunter Semillon.
11:30 – McWilliams’ 1998 Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon won “best white table wine (in previous vintages)”.

13:35 – Head judge of the show, and well respected critic, James Halliday gives a short speech regarding his conclusions on the winners.
16:50 – Leasingham’s Classic Clare Riesling 2005 won “best young white wine”. The link only gives notes to the 1995 release for some reason.

Hope you enjoy the podcast.

This podcast includes three separate interviews Mick and Hugo conducted on the second night of proceedings. They are as follows;

5:30 – George Mihaly of Paradigm Hill Wines shares some insights into the role of tannins in structure and the need for good structure when pairing wine and food. Paradigm Hill is a family run vineyard and winery located in the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Their website details all the facts and figures anyone would ever need to know about the wines they produce and the grapes they grow. Fantastic reading over tea and biscuits. Click here for the Paradigm Hill website.
14:55 – David Dungan, Marketing Manager of Punt Road Wines shares some of the history of Punt Road and describes some of the logistical problems a boutique winery may face when exporting to the US. Click here for the Punt Road website.
26:55 – Lastly, I spoke to Stephen Thompson of The Wine Society about the benefits you might find from joining a wine club. Click here for their website.

Hope you enjoy the podcast.

The interviews this episode include Roy Moorfield, who founded the event 27 years ago and Keppell Smith, owner and winemaker at Savaterre. These guys were most accommodating with being interviewed on the spur of the moment and both are clearly very passionate about what they do. Keppell produces some fantastic wine and I highly recommend adding yourself to his mailing list. Savaterre’s production and distribution are limited but the mailing list is a direct way to access the coming releases.

Murray from Winetastic has more detailed notes of the event on his blog, so check them out.

That’s it for this episode. To ask us a question, or leave feedback, use the comments button bellow.

Hugo

With over 150 different wine glasses in their range, you might be surprised to hear Mark say that you can cover most variety bases with just 3 or 4 glasses. This was very comforting to me (as well as my bank balance) but it’s still nice to know that you can go the extra mile if so desired.

We used three glasses from Riedel’s Vinum Series which would cover most varietal needs on a day to day basis, they were the Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon (Bordeaux) and Burgundy glasses.

The wines are both from Kim Crawford Wines of New Zealand;

That’s it for this episode.

All the best

Hugo & Mick

We thought Peter Lehmann’s 2003 Merlot ($18) would be a good starting point. A great label and a decent price, so if you’d like to join us in a tasting, pick one up before you play the next show.

Also, why not pin a photo on The Oz Wine Show Frappr map. Click here.

Hugo

We crack a bottle of Matt’s superb 2003 Faith Shiraz and found out some philosophies behind it.

All the best

Hugo & Mick

Intro:

News:

Features:

All the best

Hugo & Mick

OWS#1 includes a label review of Moutadam Winery and we talk about a fortified wine tasting night Mick attended recently.

Intro:

News:

Special Note:

We are going to attempt to engage more of your senses. Whenever we plan to review a region, variety, label or bottle in the next show, we’ll let you know of one example bottle you might like to pick up during the week. You can then either have it during the week and form some opinions yourself, or open it up when you’re listening to the review. We won’t expect everyone to be able to pick up each bottle, but we’ll try to pick ones that are in most stores. This concept will hopefully help in your understanding of what we’re talking about (we may even start to sound better…).

We’re reviewing the Hunter Valley next show, and as such, have suggested you pick up a bottle of Brokenwood’s 2005 Semillon.

Features:

All the best

Hugo & Mick

Hugo