Text 9410, 110 rader
Skriven 2006-12-28 21:18:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: adelaide hills 1 773
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Picked Leonore up early, and as we got to the Hills in
record time, hot-footed it to Gumeracha to see the largest
rocking horse in the world (you can climb up to the top,
60 feet up, for $2, honor system) and wasted many minutes
at the accompanying toy store (which of course had made the
rocking horse as an advertisement) before the wineries
opened. We skedaddled as a busload of tourists arrived.

Chain of Ponds has in a relatively short time become a
well-known winery, so we headed there ahead of a massive
cold front: as soon as we went in the door, the heavens
opened up, and we were trapped there, poor us, for the
rest of the morning by thunder and heavy rain, not
exactly what I expect from South Australia in the summer.
I tried to orchestrate a tasting of the highlights of
the line -

Netherhill unwooded Chardonnay 04 - rather candylike, lemon
droppy but with a nice apple finish

The Red Semillon 05 - surprising chiles on the nose, quite
acid, lemon, green and red peppers on the palate; a bit of
grass from an admixture of Sauvignon Blanc

Pinot Grigio 05 - quite acid, a little milkiness on the
palate; shortish, rather uninspired I thought

Purple Path Riesling 06 - tropical fruit, nice finish, I
liked this one

Viognier 05 - honey, loquat, medium finish, not so flowery
as other Viogniers, but I enjoyed it 

Corkscrew Road Chardonnay 02 - oak, estery, oak, lemon,
oak, berries, quite California in a not quite complimentary
sense

Morning Star Chardonnay 01 - moderate oak, good fruit, long
finish, my favorite.

Reds:

Sangiovese 04 - cherries, acid, moderate tannin, chocolate
on the finish, a pretty enjoyable wine

Nebbiolo 03 - honey, plums, long plummy finish; both of
these were more "Australian" than "Italian varietal" wines.

Graves Gate Shiraz 04 - plums and mint, not too complex, a
bit too acid but would go with hearty meat dishes

Ledge Shiraz 03 - more suave, vanilla, raspberries,
honeycomb, a nice wine

Cabernet Sauvignon 02 - pencil shavings, menthol, cherries,
pretty classic but on the light side.

The band of severe weather passed, but not before we'd
exhausted the patience of the girl at the counter. (No,
actually, she was very nice, and the only big issue we had
was Glen's alone as he watched sadly when she poured the
remainder of yesterday's tasting bottles down the drain.)

[By the way, this winery is next to Talunga, which we'd
visited many years ago, and where we'd made the acquaintance
of Vince Scaffidi, the winemaker, and had had a great time.
I was looking forward to visiting again and perhaps to
lunching at the restaurant, but as it was during the week
the place was closed. Talunga owns or co-owns or something
Chain of Ponds - the wines, though, are very different in
style, the former more rough and ready Italianate offerings
and the latter more in the polished new style.]

We were unclear on where to go next so found a brochure for
the appropriately named Deviation Road, which was down the
way and over thataway, and so we went.

Big old closed sign, but I reconnoitered to see when the
hours were before walking away toward the car, whereupon
someone popped out and asked if I'd like to taste some wine.

It was Hamish the owner, who was having a meeting with his
marketer, and so we did a quick little tasting before lunch.

Sauvignon Blanc 06 - pinapple, a bit of that grassiness but
not too much, a bit of residual sugar, not unpleasant

Pinot Grigio 06 - tropical fruit all too soon turning into
Bazooka bubble gum, medium finish

Pinot Noir 02 - we didn't taste this, but I got a bottle of
it, figuring we'd have it later; but the opportunity never
came up, and I left it at a friend's house.

Pinot Noir 04 - honey, pineapple, mint, extremely light in
color and on the palate, pretty nice

Cabernet Sauvignon 02 - spicy peppery nose, disappointing
on the palate

Shiraz 03 - medium body, cherries and berries, persistent
finish of black fruit, enjoyed this.

As we were peckish, we asked for recommendations for lunch;
for whatever reason, these two suggested the Bird in Hand
Winery, which, they assured us, put on a nice spread.

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