Robert Whale of the Robert Whale Selections Cold-Climate/Food-Wine Aussie selections came by the other day to taste Chris Barker and me on some of his current releases from CORIOLE, Victoria, South Australia; SEIFRIED ( Nelson, New Zealand ), RAFFERTY'S RULES ( South Australia ): and YARRAMAN'S Southeastern Australia.
We have bought some of all that he samples us on and he will be here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits shortly to taste some of these wines with our rep Arielle Monaco ( Country Vintners ) that buys the wines from Robert and sells them to us.
They will be here today, Saturday May 8th, 2010 from 3-7 pouring a selection of each of these vineyards.
The Saturday tasting two days ago went really well but Robert you unfortunately did not show up and we did miss you.
The wines showed well and Arielle Monaco of Country Vintners did a great job with us getting people to try the wines a day before Mother's Day. I would bot be surprised that many of them were consumed yesterday with their mothers in celebration of all that mothers do for us? It's whole lot and there should be more than one day to celebrate that if not more.
The CORIOLE Sangiovese blend with some Shiraz was delicious, bright, fruit-forward and a crowd-pleaser at $16.49 a bottle. I really just enjoyed sipping it and was not thinking of food or worrying that there was none around. I like that. It would have been wonderful to drink that Saturday evening or on Sunday ? Mother's Day as it was so blustery and bright and the Sangiovese without bite and burn and just ripened-nicely red fruit flavors would have kept everyone warm even if they were still outside as I was soaking up the light and glory of the day as gust after gust after gust of wined brushed past and tried to blow through me ...
The YARRAMAN'S Sauvignon Blanc/ Semillon Blanc was clean and crisp and tart and tangy and zippy 'n zesty and fresh and brisk and lively and would have been great with a summer's salad with some goat's cheese and some vinaigrette and lemon squeezed over it. Mouth-watering combination and so easy with some fresh and juicy cherry tomatoes, some avocado, some Belgian endives, perhaps some walnuts for accent, too? Maybe some boiled eggs, even deviled eggs? I can go on and on here. It would have been perfect on Mother's Day for those of you out there that want something more than another Chardonnay.
And then the RAFFERTY'S RULES Shiraz ( $16.49 ) that was and is dry and dusty and earthy and sinewy/pithy/dried fruit and spice and warmed Aussie sunshine baked into the grapes and now finally released to us onto our palates like the exciting bubbles of a good sparkling wine - ahhhh, I can just taste the magic combination of this with some red and white meats, sausages, vegetables and mushrooms grilled and steaming-hot from my barbie outside on our deck out back. Hey, sounds like a great idea - lets' all have one big party and Robert Whale can make an appearance and we can discuss and enjoy anecdotes and stories of these wines and the years since 1985 when he and another importer sold around five thousand wines here in the United States for the very first time ever. That's how it all started : with Robert's help. Who was the other importer Robert?
Robert also tasted me here on the SEIFRIED Nelson New Zealand Pinot Gris I believe and we were supposed to taste that on Saturday as well. That did not work out so we tasted instead the SEIFRIED " sticky " half bottle ( around $30 a bottle ) and that was a great way to bring this Saturday tasting to a close for all of our customers lucky enough to have been in the store at this time.
Stay-tuned for more on all of this when I get back to the store. In the meantime enjoy these pictures and stories : especially the last one here that shows that at times I bring out the worst in Robert or the most relaxed and playful. I like it, do you Robert? Cheers old mate and buddy, TONY
The Saturday tasting two days ago went really well but Robert you unfortunately did not show up and we did miss you.
The wines showed well and Arielle Monaco of Country Vintners did a great job with us getting people to try the wines a day before Mother's Day. I would bot be surprised that many of them were consumed yesterday with their mothers in celebration of all that mothers do for us? It's whole lot and there should be more than one day to celebrate that if not more.
The CORIOLE Sangiovese blend with some Shiraz was delicious, bright, fruit-forward and a crowd-pleaser at $16.49 a bottle. I really just enjoyed sipping it and was not thinking of food or worrying that there was none around. I like that. It would have been wonderful to drink that Saturday evening or on Sunday ? Mother's Day as it was so blustery and bright and the Sangiovese without bite and burn and just ripened-nicely red fruit flavors would have kept everyone warm even if they were still outside as I was soaking up the light and glory of the day as gust after gust after gust of wined brushed past and tried to blow through me ...
The YARRAMAN'S Sauvignon Blanc/ Semillon Blanc was clean and crisp and tart and tangy and zippy 'n zesty and fresh and brisk and lively and would have been great with a summer's salad with some goat's cheese and some vinaigrette and lemon squeezed over it. Mouth-watering combination and so easy with some fresh and juicy cherry tomatoes, some avocado, some Belgian endives, perhaps some walnuts for accent, too? Maybe some boiled eggs, even deviled eggs? I can go on and on here. It would have been perfect on Mother's Day for those of you out there that want something more than another Chardonnay.
And then the RAFFERTY'S RULES Shiraz ( $16.49 ) that was and is dry and dusty and earthy and sinewy/pithy/dried fruit and spice and warmed Aussie sunshine baked into the grapes and now finally released to us onto our palates like the exciting bubbles of a good sparkling wine - ahhhh, I can just taste the magic combination of this with some red and white meats, sausages, vegetables and mushrooms grilled and steaming-hot from my barbie outside on our deck out back. Hey, sounds like a great idea - lets' all have one big party and Robert Whale can make an appearance and we can discuss and enjoy anecdotes and stories of these wines and the years since 1985 when he and another importer sold around five thousand wines here in the United States for the very first time ever. That's how it all started : with Robert's help. Who was the other importer Robert?
Robert also tasted me here on the SEIFRIED Nelson New Zealand Pinot Gris I believe and we were supposed to taste that on Saturday as well. That did not work out so we tasted instead the SEIFRIED " sticky " half bottle ( around $30 a bottle ) and that was a great way to bring this Saturday tasting to a close for all of our customers lucky enough to have been in the store at this time.
Stay-tuned for more on all of this when I get back to the store. In the meantime enjoy these pictures and stories : especially the last one here that shows that at times I bring out the worst in Robert or the most relaxed and playful. I like it, do you Robert? Cheers old mate and buddy, TONY
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