Wine with Meg + Mel
The fun + frank podcast which helps you navigate the world of wine. Hosted by Australia's first female Master of Wine Meg Brodtmann, and self-titled Master of Sabrage Mel Gilcrist.
Wine with Meg + Mel
Australian Icons Part 1
We taste a line-up of Australian icons. From Tasmanian bubbles to Hunter Semillon, Canberra Shiraz Viognier, and Yarra Cabernet blends, we map style, site, and ageability with unashamed love for homegrown greatness.
• Arras Late Disgorged 2009
• Tyrrell’s Vat 1 2019
• Tolpuddle Chardonnay 2004
• Clonakilla’s Shiraz Viognier 2024
• Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 2021
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Hi, and welcome to Wine with Meg and Mel. We are here to help you navigate the world of wine. I'm Mel Gil Cruster and Bay Master of Wine, Meg Protman, and our friend Austin, producer, is back. Finally, he went to Europe really selfishly and had a wonderful holiday and got engaged. Congratulations. Congratulations, Austin.
unknown:Yay!
SPEAKER_01:Is that your fiancee? Congratulations, Twila!
SPEAKER_02:Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_03:Well done. Um we got in this around Disgorged 2009 just for you, just to celebrate your engagement. Yeah. Um, but no, it's lovely to have you back, Austin. Meg's with us. Meg, how are you? I'm well.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, end of the year, so it's all just very nuts, but we've got a good day today because we're tasting some amazing wines, and then we've been invited.
SPEAKER_04:Who invited us? Um, so it's Chateau Margot, but it's kind of in partnership with Langdon's.
SPEAKER_01:So we're going to a Chateau Margot tasting today, which will be fantastic.
SPEAKER_03:Have you had Chateau Margot before? Never, I never never. I've never had a first growth before. Oh my god, that's exciting. I know. It's the Shandon um Christmas party today. And I sent my apologies to um like my boss and HR and everything, and um said, Oh, I'm really sorry. Like I genuinely, and I think people who don't who don't go to Christmas parties are seen as kind of like not team players and stuff. But I so I said, like, I genuine disappointment. Um I really wish I could have gone. If it wasn't something so significant that I pre-had planned on my day off, then then I would have loved to be there. And so then my boss is just like in the kitchen with me and suss me out and goes, um, so what uh what what do you got on then? And I was like, um, I've been playing through Chateau Margot Chasing. He basically spat out his coffee and was like, it's a reason to miss the Christmas party.
SPEAKER_01:Fair enough, fair enough. That sounds fair enough. So thank you to Langtons and thank you to Chateau Margot for inviting us. I'm just wondering how many vintages. It's very exciting.
SPEAKER_03:It sounds like there's a lot of different stuff. And the reason that we're going and the reason this is like a deal is because Langton's has the widest selection, like the biggest selection of Chateau Margot in the country.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. Yeah. Is that because they sell it for the through the auction house?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, they sell it through the auctions and stuff. And so um, I guess they're trying to get the word out that if you want the good shit, it's at Langton's.
SPEAKER_01:Well, all the good shits at Langton's if you go to the auction, I mean you can go at Langton. Although you can get some good stuff for good prices as well. I mean, it's not not all super iconic high-priced wine. There's some really good, good wines at at normal human prices as well.
SPEAKER_03:We got for Jess, Philippi, you know Jess, for her 30th, she asked for a bottle that was from her birth year, which was nice. Oh, yeah. And so we got her um a Cabsa from Tabilk from 92, 30-year-old. I think it might have been a magnamels and a gift box. It was beautiful. It was 150 bucks or something. Yeah. Well, no, she knows. We all put in the same amount. We got her a saber as well, as all these things. But I'm just saying, like, that's amazing that I could source a 30-year-old bottle. It's good if you're looking for something special. Something like that. Anyway, we're being super treated today because not only do we have that this afternoon, but we are doing the episode that I've wanted to do for four years at four years, four seasons of podcasting, and that is the icon words on Australia. Yeah, and when you say icon, what do you mean? We Oh my god, what a nice tie-in. I didn't even think of that. Um, so we have defined icons by the Langton's classifications.
SPEAKER_01:Um, for those of you who haven't listened to our Who Can You Trust episodes, Langton's classification is based on pretty much sale price at at auction and and volume. So it's a little bit similar to the way the original Bordeaux classification happened in 1855, which was based on how off what the price of the wine was and how often the well the volume of wine that was sold. And Langton's classify the wines, I guess, from first down. There's there's various layers, sort of tiers.
SPEAKER_04:And Mel has worked, I've got to say, Mel's done all of this, has worked actively hard to I'm like, hey, master of mine, use your contacts. Well, I know. I just like odds do bring it, Mag. Nothing.
SPEAKER_01:Because I just know you're such a powerhouse. Anyway, you need to have those contacts now. Um so we are very, very, very spoiled.
SPEAKER_03:We are spoiled. Now it's it's not necessarily everything that's at the top of the list or something. This is just a selection from some of the top wines in Australia. As ranked by Langdon's. We did think about uh if if we went through our own what we perceive as iconic, it would have just gotten messy. So we're like, let's just choose a system and we chose to go off Langdon's.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Mel did, she did this four years ago.
SPEAKER_03:What I want to do is taste these grandma. I know I know it's been going on there. Okay, we can't. You have a run. Um, so thank you so much to every single winery who sent us these wines. Thank you so much to uh the PR people who hustled for me. Um, we have some exceptional wines that we can't wait to taste. Um think about these wines as in other countries and and Soms and people doing Wessard and stuff when they learn about what are the top wines from each country, like this is the stuff that is perceived to be the best of the best in Australia.
SPEAKER_01:Well, the thing that I I think about is, you know, we we always hold European wines up to this great light. You know, we're just talking about Chateau Margot. But we have wines of equal quality and standard in the world. Absolutely. And we should really celebrate them. And I think this is great that we're actually elevating to ultra premium and iconic level the wines that are made in this country.
SPEAKER_04:I love it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, okay. I'm feeling very, very, very patriotic for Australian wine at the moment.
SPEAKER_03:Me too. Yeah. Me too. Um, okay, let's kick off. Our first wine is Arras. Arras's sparkling wine from Tasmania. This is the Ed Carr Late Disgorged 2009. It comes in at a few hundred bucks.
SPEAKER_01:Meg, what can you tell us about Arras? So Arras was originally part of the Hardy group, and it's Ed Carr's been a sparkling winemaker that's been around for m many, many years. I remember in the 90s working with Ed Carr in the Yarra Valley. He was doing some sparkling base, I think, for Yellow Glen back then. It was like a long time. And one of the reasons I went to do a vintage at Domain Shandom was because I was working at Yarrow Ridge and the aim was to someone could get some sparkling base experience and then come back. Yeah. Because th they were going to be making sparkling base. I can't really remember, but it was like in the 90s. Anyway, Ekart, amazing winemaker, Australia's greatest sparkling winemaker, but obviously with a team. About what, two years ago now, Handpicked actually bought the brand. Oh my gosh, I forgot. Yes. I literally forgot about it. So it is now owned by Hanpick. Handpicked is a company.
SPEAKER_03:But Ed Car still with the Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That you I don't think you can separate the two. No, no. Um so they come hand in hand. But this wine is obviously before Handpicked were the owners. This is a 2009 wine, vintage wine, which was disgorged. When was it disgorged? It's released on the market just recently. So it's been, I think, about nine. So it disgorged in 2023. So it's 2016, seven years on Lee's. Now I had this blind at the Brother Glenn wine show, and we no one picked that it had been on Lees for that long because it's still quite fresh. And no one picked that it was a 2009 wine, particularly since 2009. This is Tasmanian fruit. Since 2009 was a really warm year, it was during the drought. We had that sort of 10-year drought time. Um and it is an amazing, amazing wine. I've just tasted it. I haven't tasted it yet, and it is extraordinary. So it smells like this sort of brioche character, obviously, but I kind of get a kind of um almost like apricot delight, which is a bit weird. Or even that apricot kernel you talk about. Well, that might be the shardy in there. Yeah. But it's the palette that for me just really stood out. So when we did this um blind, it was one of the wine show extraordinary dinners, and most of us picked it as Australian, not French, but it was so hard to find like what it was and how old it was. And who brought it? I can't remember who brought it. Um, but yeah, it's an extraordinary wine. It is so smooth. How much is it? 250.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, it's it is their top wine. It's soft like a pillow. It is soft. I just I can't describe it. It's this, it's got this softness that doesn't stop it and it dissolves in your mouth really, really, really gently, and then it just oh my god.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's got extraordinary length. The thing is with something like this, it's$250. I tend with champagne to just to drink it. Do you know what I mean? Like this is something to sit down and actually savour, to think about. Don't just sort of pop it in someone's glass and and guzzle away. Yeah, and high-end wine. I'm struggling to spit this.
SPEAKER_03:I have to say. I know. I know that I have to spit today because we have such a big day of drinking, but I I am struggling to spit this too. Um it's bubbles, whatever. We'll spit the other stuff. Bubbles doesn't cut. Um, but I actually think this is quite an Australian expression. Like champagne is amazing and fantastic and stuff, but they do rely really, really heavily on that yeasty brioche character. And what I love about great Australian wine is that the fruit still sings.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, and I think that in wine shows we have a tendency to go for that lazy, brioche, vegemite character. Yeah, and whereas I agree with you, we shouldn't be looking at actually the fruit in the wine because that's what's going to give it longevity and freshness. Yeah. And also, you know, a reflection of place because champagne is a reflection of place or should be. Oh, by the way, I watched that terrible movie, but anyway, we'll talk about that later. Um so yeah, I agree with you, and I think um Shandon, too, they tend to have fruit forward wines rather than relying on winemaking to make the wine interesting. But I still, that said, I still love those house styles from champagne that are a little bit bready and I still love them.
SPEAKER_03:No, but but I still no, but I love that Australia has established its own distinct style of excellent sparkling wine that isn't imitating champagne. No, we can pat ourselves on the back for that.
SPEAKER_01:And that wine would be a few. And I have a funny feeling that Edcar got voted International Sparkling Winemaker of the Year.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, yeah. He did get something really good. So he beat all the French?
unknown:Ha.
SPEAKER_01:Good. Okay. Except for those ones in that stupid movie. Nice start.
SPEAKER_03:Good start, good start, good start. Um, Meg, would you like to go to that one or toll puddle? Well, that one I think we go semi-ong. How old is it? Uh, it's 19. Yeah, go for that and then the toll puddle, I think. Okay, look, we have tasted this before, not that long ago, but we couldn't do an icons episode without that one. Um I did a do you know the Sydney there's uh shit, what is it? Sydney Wine School or something. Yep. Has a whole course about mastering Australian wine. And Oh, yeah, I did it. It's like an online course. I did it when I was at with Pinot. And it there's some sort of reference in it. They talk about this, and I remember listening to a podcast as well, and they spoke about Tyrell's that one, and they say that it is the equivalent of Grange in White. Like it is that's the level that it has. Austin, I oh, you're using the wine glasses. Okay, I was gonna say I got you a wine glass, you don't need to put it in the sparkling glass, but you're using it as a microphone holder, so we're very DIY today because it's we're it's it's nearly Christmas.
SPEAKER_01:We're in the baby's nursery.
SPEAKER_03:We are and there's you can tell a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff toys. But it's good because it's actually very good for sound absorption. Anyway, that one, we've covered it already this year, but uh Meg, if you want to do a little bit of a wrap.
SPEAKER_01:There's no one in the world making this style of wine. No one. Think uh where in the world are they making a hundred percent semiong wine that is iconic, that ages for 20, 30, 40 years, that has been around for decades now and hasn't really changed its style. It's just refined itself, it's just got better and better and better and better and better. It is Tyrrell's fat one is an iconic wine. You often see it appearing in Master of Wine exams, um, in tastings around the world, showing what and it shouldn't be. Semillong is not a yeah, it's not what we consider a noble great variety. Um, it's a bit of a workhorse in most countries. Whereas in Australia and in the Hunter Valley, they have said, look, we've got a climate that suits it, we're we know how to make it, let's do the very best that we can. And the thing that I love about the Hunter is we're seeing more and more of these really high-end semillons coming on the market, single vineyard. Um, no oak, it's just here it is, and when you first taste them, you're just like, oh my god, I opened the Tyrrell's um, is it the Brookdale Semillon the other night? And Pete got home and went, oi. He bought it to lay it down. I went, Oh, I just really felt like a semillon. We were having pork belly, he was in Tassie. Yeah, I know. Well, you know, life is short. Um, it is I I I just cannot say enough people buy Australian. It was Hunter Valley Semillon. It is one of the greatest joys in life.
SPEAKER_03:And if I can add go to Tyrol's, go to the Salador because you can taste Semillon in all its different forms. They have different uh vineyards and they take they take it from different vineyards, and there's this I will I I look that one is the the icon, yes, clearly, but I will actually have to say that my favorite is the HVD. The HVD vineyard, it ages quicker, right? It it has this um there's something about the vineyard or the grapes they get from there. It ages quicker.
SPEAKER_01:The soil, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03:I think we've talked about this. Yeah, but I just that one is so oh my god, it's the best. So I just recommend going actually trying to get yourself to the hunter and doing a tasting with them because the the different expressions are semi-awesome. And shout out to Kate Bedwell, who is um with Tyrells, and helped help get us these wines. We love Kate.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, these are wines that you you gift to your wine lovers. And in fact, people that don't know wine, you should, because just tasting it. There's a little bit of lemon meringue pie on the the palette. It has that beautiful acidity that I expect from Hunter Valley's semi-ong. These usually come in around 10.5, 11% alcohol, they're low in alcohol. Yeah, but it's starting to get that creamy, honeyed, nougary kind of palette structure that as they age, it's still really, really young, but it's just it's actually in a really good drinking phase at the moment. How much would this cost if I was to buy it now? Because I'm tempted. The kids asked me what I wanted for Christmas.
SPEAKER_03:Tyrils. Let's check out this specific vintage. I think this is the kind of thing that um the price probably depends on the vintage. This one looks like it's around that$100 mark. It's$115 from Tyrils. Okay. Yeah. What I would say. Personally, I want it aged more. I like I love it there, but I want that like yeah, you'd like for I like age. I'm like, I'm like, get me that puppy in another like 15 years.
SPEAKER_01:I like it when it's got that that there's a little bit of everything in there. It's a real mix. There's it's just starting to turn, and this is the thing, it's six years old now. It's still got decades to go. I mean, I've had these wines that are really, you know, when they're really, really old, they're 40 years old and they are just fantastic. And the thing I like about them, the label hasn't really changed over the years. They just continue to do they never no, they're there on a winner, yeah and they're unapologetically saying this is what we're making.
SPEAKER_03:Do you know what has something nice that I like? Um, I like kind of bringing up because I like in myself supporting good wineries with good people. Kate, I was talking to Kate the other day who works there, and I've got a bit of history of Kate. We were like wine ambassadors together, and um, she just said that they're really good people. They're like it's still the family, and they take care of their stuff, and she's this like a mother of two now, and she's really, really happy there. And I'm like, that makes me like them even more, just knowing that they're good people and good employers and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01:And they're family-owned business, and they continue to wave a flag for independent, yeah, you know, family winemakers um that have supported the industry, and yeah, like I said, just unapologetic. This is what we do, yeah. I like it or not. Okay, uh they're being rewarded for it.
SPEAKER_03:Oh well, yeah. Okay, I am so excited about toll paddle. I love toll paddle so much.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. So toll paddle. Toll paddle, this is a Tasmanian Chardonnay. This was planted in the 90s by I think I'm correcting saying Tony Jordan. And yeah, I forgot that little. And when I was working at Domain Shandon in the 90s, we took this fruit for sparkling base.
SPEAKER_03:That is the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life.
SPEAKER_01:This is because I remember, I was just a seller hand, but I remember thinking, what a stupid name for a vineyard. Oh my god. And it had to come over on the ferry from Tassie in like 500 kilobins, hand picked. Oh my god. Um, and yeah, it was made into sparkling base. Now I can't tell you who when Hill Smith acquired it. It wasn't that long ago. No, no, no, no, it wasn't that long ago. But in a 30-year period since it's first been planted. Yeah. So it was probably 94 or 95 when I worked at Domain Chandon, um, and this was made into sparkling base. It has grown to one of the greatest wines. Is it made in Tassia? I'd love to know if they transport the fruit on the ferry again. Oh, I don't know. Do they send someone over there to make it? That would be interesting to know. So the Hillsmith family of Hillsmiths. They um they also do Sh Shore and Smith. Shore and Smith. So that's well, it is the same family. I was just reading an article about the Hill Smith.
SPEAKER_03:Shore and Smith, that's the um uh Adelaide Hills, they're the Adelaide Hills excellent, excellent Adelaide Hills um wines. Okay. Okay, so we've got the 2004 here. Um, I think this is my favorite Chardonnay in Australia. Okay. Do you have a favourite Chardonnay in Australia out of interest?
SPEAKER_01:Um it would have to be something in the Yarrowley, I'm sorry. Oh, you're so loyal. So loyal. And I'm just loving giant steps at the moment. But no, look, it's a very good Tassie Chardonnay. Yeah. Um definitely the best out of Tasmania. Older vineyard, it's you know, 30 years old at least. Now probably older than that. Um, if we were taking fruit in 1995-ish. It's just got that beautiful acidity. They age really well. It's got actually this one, the 24, has got more oak on it than I've remembered in the past. That's what I love.
SPEAKER_02:That's what I love.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Your what's your Richmond what's that one in another one in Napier that you love? I don't know. I love oak. Church Road. Oh, I love church road. Yeah. It's got I I don't remember it having this much oak, but it actually has um more oak. It's got again, maybe it's me. I'm seeing that apricot kernel character again. Yum.
SPEAKER_03:I think I said on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:It's a bit sulfide as well, which is what, you know, cool sulfide.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Flinty sulfide.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, um, yeah. We need to be kind of clear that like um sulfite can be seen as like a bad thing, or it can be seen as like um like a cool element to the wine. It's almost like there's this thing at the moment of like um pushing boundaries to what you know what I mean? Like it, yeah, we're pushing boundaries, aren't we? It's not being seen as just like completely bad if there's something like a sulfite character.
SPEAKER_01:No, no, true. Although I've had some in New Zealand seems to just tip the scale into that's not great. Oh, really? Um it's just for me. I put brand in mine as well. Yeah, I winemaking over fruit. And the beauty about this is while there's winemaking in there, you can still see that provenance of the fruit. And that's what I want. I just don't want to see winemaking. I I just don't want it to be from anywhere. If it's toll puddle on the um, if it's tall puddle on the vineyard, on the bottle, I want it to taste like toll puddle.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, but you and me differ because while I like fruit, I love that creaminess. I love that kind of like melt in your mouth, the oily, the oh. Give me the winemaking. Give me the winemaking. Um awesome, love this. Um, this is I can't believe I got some sort of accolade recently. I can't remember, but everyone is very aware of toll paddle. It's known as one of the best vineyards in Australia, really. This bottle will set you back about 115. And I am using that number off other websites because from the actual toll puddle website, it's all sold out. So Wow 2004 vintage is sold out.
SPEAKER_01:That is crazy. So, just so people know, this is going to be done over two episodes, otherwise, we're gonna be absolutely legless. So, we're gonna do five wines in this episode, which is um the two, the sparkling and two whites. So, we've just done and we're about to do two reds, and then next episode we're going to do some more reds and a lovely little sweetie number, which I'm guessing all guess. Hey, did you know where the term podcast comes from? No. From iPod and broadcast. Oh my! It's a portable, just so you know.
SPEAKER_03:That was a fun. I told you you couldn't do a fun fact. Told you you can do on this episode, you just lift one in anyway.
SPEAKER_01:Can't help myself. Just while we're setting up for the red. It's just so fun. So next we are on to Clona Killer Sheraz, is it? What happened? Yeah, 2023. So this is a Sherraz Vionnier. Um, clonaquilla is in Murray and Bateman in Canberra. Continental, continental climate.
SPEAKER_03:I think some people would still be surprised that Canberra is home to one of the most famous wines in Australia.
SPEAKER_01:Well, yeah, what happened was in the 1970s, a whole heap of CSL, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, as it was called then, doesn't exist anymore, which was our big research arm scientists, clearly lovely wine, decided to plant some vineyards. So there's quite a few out in Murray and Bateman. They planted them out there. Just hugely continental climate. We were there a few years ago, Clonekilla, and they'd been wiped out by frost the year before. Because it's a very frosty region. Um so, but they've always been amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing wines. From memory, this is one of the first. When this started hitting my radar probably in the mid-90s, um, it was one of the first wines, red wines, that was blended with viognier. And I I I'm gonna say the first that I was aware of. And I was just like, I mean I was a winemaking student, so we were aware of they did what they did that in the Rhone. But for someone to be doing it in Australia, what the Viognet does is it adds a little bit of perfume. The thing I love about these clonicilla wines is they aren't big Aussie charazes. Yeah, they are elegant and refined. Even I'm just looking at it, I can almost see through it. The colour's quite light. Um, they tend to have these beautiful, super plush but almost granitic kind of tannins. There's a there's a stoniness that I love about clonicilla, and you only get it for me in in Canberra. And this is one of the things for people learning about regional differences, look at tannin structure, don't look at fruit profiles. It's uh it's really perfumed. I love cloniciller. I was buying this back in the 90s when it wasn't trendy, and now it's way out of my reach.
SPEAKER_03:I still remember the first time I went and tried this because I was so mystified to learn that it was from Canberra, that like, yeah, one of these amazing wines of the world is from Canberra. And we went, and I just it I think this might have been the first Australian like Shiraz-based wine that I tasted that made me go, Shiraz doesn't have to be that Barossa style.
SPEAKER_01:Like, I can't believe Shiraz can be it leads you back to the Rhone because you can see that provenance. Like this has got, I can't smell or taste pepper, but I get this sort of green peppercorn character. Um, and this has definitely got that, which is cool climate, but it's got that um I think there's a bit of whole bunch in here as well, so there's some stemminess to it, which is what they do in the Northern Rhone. It's just got this it's just put together so well. It's got lots of little layers to it that work beautifully together. I mean, it's an extraordinarily expensive wine, though.
SPEAKER_03:It's like a contemporary dance performance. Like it's like got the elegance of a ballerina, but it's got just that tiny bit on the finish, like a little bit of that uh tiny bit of gritty Shiraz tannin, like it's the one art form that I really dislike. Contemporary?
SPEAKER_01:Both.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, a ballet.
SPEAKER_01:I hate the sound of their feet.
SPEAKER_03:That is such a big thing. So you got the beautiful music, and then you got this thing. Does my head not like?
SPEAKER_01:Anyway, sorry.
SPEAKER_03:I find it boring, but I appreciate the art. Like I appreciate that it's beautiful. All I hear is. Oh. I know. Are you okay? That is a really weird thing. You have problems with such random things. I know. Yeah. You always, when you say something, I'm like, Really? It's not the thing I would have picked about. Anyway.
SPEAKER_01:We digress as usual.
SPEAKER_03:As usual. Uh Dan Bacle, the um previous head winemaker at Shandon, once said to me, Um, the the great wines of the world, you don't feel like you have to sit there and call out the main characters and what you taste and stuff, because to do it service to do a proper tasting note, it could go for three pages. And that's the kind of thing I get from this wine. I taste it, and I'm I'm not inclined to just sit here and go raspberry, blah blah blah. I just enjoy it. Like I'm just really uh soaking in this journey and this experience of this wine. God, I hate myself when I use the word journey.
SPEAKER_01:I remember when we we went to the Salador and we tasted the wines, and we pay I hate paying for tastings, but anyway, we paid for the tastings. And then I just said to Pete, let's just sit here and have a glass each and don't even think about it, just enjoy it. And it was it was quite expensive by the glass, but it was worth every cent. My sister, obviously being an ex-federal member for Canberra, is a great supporter of this wine, so you go to her house and it's there, and they they don't seem to notice how expensive it is. I think they just, you know, buy it. So it's Is this the um an aethetist husband? No, this is the politician and journalist.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Couple. Not very high-achieving family. So um 128, we're talking for a bottle of this. Oh. Absolutely. Hey, question would you age it? Yeah. Because this is one I don't feel like I want to age it. I I like that so much. I don't think I want tertiary in the city.
SPEAKER_01:So that's 2023, but it's still all primary, primary, primary fruit, and a little bit of winemaking with a bunch of STEMy character. Yeah. But I would definitely, these wines, I've had some older wines of this, probably at about the five to eight year mark, and they they hold their fruit for a long period of time, and they start to get this kind of leather character. Not so much barbecue meat, but more of a leather character. They are.
SPEAKER_03:I feel like I wouldn't mind like a bit of softness and a bit of savouriness, but I don't want tertiary to over that perfume. That's that perfume for me is what I absolutely love about it. Okay, we have one wine left for this episode. It is the Yara Yarring Dry Red number one. Which I think we had last season.
SPEAKER_01:No, I think it was earlier this year. No, last year we interviewed Sarah, and I think we did it over two episodes. Yeah, you had just had a baby. And you were going away for the weekend, weren't you? Tom was sitting outside with Billy, and yeah, it was a long I think it was last year, it was winter. Anyway, Yarra Yarring Dried Reed number one, Sarah Crow, um, Yarra Yearring Bailey Caradice Vineyard that's been planted. It's uh 50 years old, over 50 years old now. Um it is a Cabernet-based. It is Caplay. Yeah. So this is what I'm saying, Yarrow Valley, built off the back of Cabernet. People, you know, go they it's a pilgrimage to get these wines. Vintage 2021, extraordinary year. Um why everything was just perfect. We covered.
SPEAKER_04:What do you mean?
SPEAKER_03:Okay, so we have this joke. Uh me and Dad have this joke that every vintage is an exceptional vintage. No, 2020 was only exceptional. Like what specifically.
SPEAKER_04:2020 was shit.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Um, it was cold, it was London yet, it was COVID. We had the the perfect storm. In in tw the spring of 2020, which is the start of the growing season for 2021. We had plenty of, we had our soils full of water. Fruit set was perfect, so we got quantity. We had a dry, long, extended classic Yarrow Valley from the 1990s growing season where we didn't have any major rain, um, none of those massive heat that we usually get in February, you know, when it's 37 and it holds for five days. Out in the Yarrow, when you get that, the nights tend to dip a little bit because it is a set sort of semi-continental climate. Um, so it's just one of those years where everything aligned. We've got quality and quantity from the start. So fruit set went well, ripening went well, harvest, everything came in. There was no um congestion on the harvest, so you didn't have sort of Chardonnay leading into Shiraz, it went Chardonnay, Pinot, Shiraz, Cabernet. As it used to. It was almost like the climate change hadn't happened. It was a perfect year.
SPEAKER_03:There seems to be this um there's an interesting thing for me in that what constitutes a good year for when growers is often high yield because you get good because they sell their grapes. And so the more grapes you have, the more you can sell. But for a consumer, we're always saying, you know, the great the the less yield, the better each grape will be.
SPEAKER_01:And so I feel like it's sometimes conflicting when we're like when we prune, we prune to a certain yield that we know that that vineyard can support so that we get the right balance of quality and quantity. So if you're making a wine that's$30, you can't crop at two tonnes to the hectare. You're not gonna make any money because your fruit costs are gonna be really high. So you know you've got to lift, you've got to have more fruit per hectare to make a$30 wine. If you're making a wine like Gary Erring Dry Red Number One, Sarah would be cropping low anyway, but she wants to hit that crop level. So she needs, she she prunes for it, uh-huh, and then she does everything viticulturally in the w in the vineyard to attain that. Now, nature can come in and fuck you over.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So frosts, um, so you don't get that crop level. Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, frost is a great example. I'm trying to think of an example that could end to less that could make less yields without impacting the grapes that do grow. So say there's like an early frost, less grapes grow. Could a winemaker or a viticulture chiller say this has been a bad season for us, but the consumers still win because such small quantities have come out that it has been a really, really good wine.
SPEAKER_01:Frost is a bad example. What's a good example is um find a better example. You know what I'm saying. Well, if you've got uneven fruit set or or or lower, lower fruit set, smaller bunches. Smaller bunches, smaller bunches. That's a great example. So with Pinot, you get smaller bunches. Normally a Pinot bunch weighs about 90 grams. In 2020, it was weighing about 45 to 50 grams. Yeah. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so it is possible that we would call it a bad year, but unfortunately, but it's a win for the consumer.
SPEAKER_01:The producer can't charge you double.
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_01:I'm just saying it's an interesting phenomenon. That's all I have no other points to make. 2021 was when the stars aligned. Okay. And a I can never remember the bl breakdown of this wine. I guess it changes every year. So it's Cabstaff, Merlot, Malbic, and Petti Verdeaux. So these are all planted within the vineyard. And one of the things that I think that um vintage is this? 2021. The team at Yarra Yearing have done is because Sarah Crow has a horticulturalist background, it's all made in the vineyards. She will she will say that. And her job is just basically not to fuck it up. Um, this is like a hundred and fifty.
SPEAKER_04:And everyone says that, but I feel like it's really very true at Yarra Yearing.
SPEAKER_01:The thing I love about this wine is smell it, it has that classic Yarrow Valley bay leaf and blueberry character.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Why can't we sell more cabernet?
SPEAKER_03:Because no one it's got a little bit of this is an indicative. I'm sorry, this is a$160 blend from one of the best vineyards, one of the best winemakers in the Yarrow Valley. I don't think this is indicative of all Yarrow Valley Cabernet. Okay, if you smelt that, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Would you go, oh, that's Yarrow Yearing, or would you go, oh god, that smells like Yarrow Valley Cabernet?
SPEAKER_03:I it does smell like Yarrow Valley Cabernet, but it's more like light and perfumed and fragrant than most Yarrow Valley Cabines.
SPEAKER_01:The thing that I find interesting about this is I see that real graphite lead pencil character. You're probably too young to use pencils and um 2B. Yeah, 2B and H. HB. HB. Yeah. Well, 2B was one nice. You know, pencils still exist, right? It's not like Yeah, but that's when you still like dial up internet. We still use pencils. You um sharpen. Sharpen, thank you. Shave, I was gonna say. When you sharpen, then that smell, that sort of graphite smell, um, I get in this one. And that's something that you really see in Poyak in Bordeaux. Poyak. So it's just this this I love it. That is beautiful. Oh my god, it's so good!
SPEAKER_04:It smells like Yarry Cabernet, we are about it.
SPEAKER_03:I'm such fangirls of Yari Yarring, hey. Like, I mean, I just feel like we talk about them all the time. But your mates for Sarah Crow, I talk to Kate all the time. I feel like it just happens, but also I do talk to Sarah Crow probably three times a week. Independently, they are verified through like all of the holiday winemaker of the year, holiday wine of the year. Um Real Review gives them, scores out the wazoo lag.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes. I mean, in all transparency, you know, Sarah is my VP and we do talk three times a week. But I would feel comfortable say I'm not your best. Do you know what I mean? Oh god, you would. Yeah. I believe that you would. But this is Sarah was probably the first to say that this is a reflection of the the vineyard, but I have to say that she, as a winemaker, has modern not modernised, reset what the Yarra yearring style is like. She's brought more fruit to the party.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, without taking it too far. Like she's really done well with it, hasn't she? She's done a good balance.
SPEAKER_01:And everyone says that, we just don't say that.
SPEAKER_03:Well done, Croy. Yeah, well, okay, so that is um the icons that we are tasting today. Next week, we um are going to be back with another few hard hitters, including Pamfold's Grange. But before we finish up today, um we mentioned that we had all these Aldi wines that we didn't get to mention in the Jason episode, which so glad you all loved it. The amount of messages that I've gotten saying it, people are saying it was our best episode yet.
SPEAKER_01:It's it's just fascinating.
SPEAKER_03:It's fascinating, yeah. You don't realise that much work.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I think people thought Aldi wines were a little bit like the weird shit in the centre of the store, but they're not. That's the thing I I that fascinates me. I every time I go, the only thing is I have to go through the checkout to buy the wine that's I can't self-check out. But you know.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, you can in some stores now.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no, do you want to self-checkout?
SPEAKER_03:Ugh, I hate self-checkout. Anyway.
SPEAKER_01:That feels no, but apart from that, I always go in and have a look and have a look at what words it's got.
SPEAKER_04:And the number of people that have told about that premier crew champagne. Yeah, a lot of people went out and bought it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um actually, before we transition to Aldi Austin, as our man of the people, uh, do you have a favourite from today or or any comments? Did anything blow your mind? I think you'll lean in. I'm leaving. Yeah, Lee.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you're loud. The which one was it? Tyrell's? Tyrells? Tyrell. Tyrells. That was phenomenal. As someone who's not necessarily super into white wine or it's something I'm getting into this year, that stood out as just something.
SPEAKER_01:Semi-ong.
SPEAKER_00:It's awesome. Upsettingly too easy to drink. That was phenomenal.
SPEAKER_04:I really like a hundred and something.
SPEAKER_00:Upsettingly upset. That's so funny.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's a really good point. There's something about Tyrrell's that even people who don't know it, not Tyrrells, there's something about semi on age semi on, but particularly the really good ones like this, that even people who don't know wine can taste it and they can't put their finger on it, but they go, That's special.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you can tell it, you could just. Go, people who don't get wine and taste that and go, oh my god, even though it's it's an unfriendly wine to taste often.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, um, we're going back, and you are going to tell us about one of the wines that we didn't have time for in our episode with Jason. So, Meg, what is the Elde wine that you wanted to bring up? It's not a wine, it's a spritz.
SPEAKER_04:Spritzer wine? It's spritz's wine.
SPEAKER_01:Spritz's wine, it's from sparkling wine.
SPEAKER_03:So I'm just I love that Austin just sits here and he doesn't have a mic, but he is so in the conversation with all of his facial expressions.
SPEAKER_01:It's the Frisato Blood Orange Spritz. Now, I I we ta tasted all the spritzes. And yeah, you got the spritz. My thing with them is they're often too sweet. And I am a great lover of Aperol Spritz, and I know how I like it, and I use Prosecco that well, I usually use Australian sparkling wine, but I don't want a high dosage in that. I want it to be dry and bitter. And this is what I liked about all the spritzes. While there is still sugar there, it was that it was drier and less sweet. Yeah. And it had some of that bitterness. Because for me, was it yummy? Yeah. That look that there was a watermelon one. No, my least favourite. Um, and you know I don't really like the lemon flavours, but they were all good. Yep. But this is one that I would go back.
SPEAKER_04:How much is it?
SPEAKER_01:Do you know? Can you see it there?
SPEAKER_04:I mean, it's Ali, it's probably like 10 bucks.
SPEAKER_01:$14.99. There you go.$15. Yeah, okay. And most spritzes that you're buying are around the$25 mark. So this is. And I actually I think that they're from what Jason said, they're working with Sophie or Sophie, S O F I. Yeah, they sent us.
SPEAKER_03:Did I I sent you a picture? They sent us. No. I didn't know. I love that you think I get the gifts. I just do have a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01:I said the Grange Hermitage.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I don't think half empty. Okay, well, but I did drink half the Grange, but but when I get sent the stock and I keep it for the podcast, I don't just like drink. Drink it.
SPEAKER_01:You do all the hard work.
SPEAKER_03:But just so you know, everything I get said is in our podcast stock. No, I know. Anyway, I have to do that. Anyway, we I sent you a picture. Anyway, they sent us three bottles, Sophie Spritz. So because you said that you wanted to try their the just the the cure. Oh. And so the three of each of us are gonna go home with a bottle today. Okay. Um, and maybe you'll have to put it on your Instagram or something what you think of it because all things go well. Oh my god, I s yeah, I did. Okay, we do. We are not gonna settle this on the podcast, but I do kind of want to put it wrong. Okay. Um, so that is it for today. We are back next week. Um, please, please, please make sure that you follow us on Instagram, rate us on the whatever platform you're listening on. Oh my god, our sorry, I do have to say this. Our Spotify raps came out today. What's that?
SPEAKER_04:Um, it is um people W-R-I-P-N. Sorry. Oh my god. Well, you know how you get those memories and they put those songs to it and everything. Okay, I thought it was a Spotify. No, no, no. So this is our um You know what? Let's do it.
SPEAKER_03:Let's retro tune. I'm going to talk about some of the stats that came through. Um, so most of our audience is actually from Apple. So this is a smaller, yeah, this is weird. Do you know most people listen to us through Apple Podcasts, not through Spotify? Yeah, that's it. I listen entirely through. I listen entirely through Spotify. I didn't know anyone, but anyway. Yeah, I know. People listen to Apple podcast. Anyway. So Well, it's already on my phone. But on Spotify, um, our new listeners is up th super high. Our total followers is up 24%. Okay, listening time. This is fun. Um 41 weeks worth of listening, which equates to nine months of lit worth of listening happened to us through Spotify. We've reached 58 countries. The top one was Australia, then UK, United States, Canada, then New Zealand. For 970 people, we were in their top 10 shows. For about 200 people, we were their number one show for the year. Um our top fans listened to our episode about three times each. Episodes about three times each. Um, other things that our um, so our people who listen to us also listen to Taylor Swift. Yeah, that makes sense. Bad bunny, that's fun. The Wiggles, so there must be some mums following us. That'd be you. The I don't listen to us. Okay. Okay, um, audiobooks that our listeners listen to. This is so funny because our listeners are into fairy smart. Don't worry, I've read it too. A Court of Thorns and Roses is the top audiobook. Do you know what fairy smart is? I do not want to smoke. Yeah, okay. Well, you're just looking at me like you don't know what it is. Are you trying not to say anything mean to our listeners right now? Is that what it is? Okay. You're just not saying anything. I've never heard you not say anything. Um, she told me to shut up all the time. I do not. They also listen to wine. Old Clark's story of wine, wine made simple, that all makes sense. Um, other podcasts they listen to, The Rest is History. The Geeks. I love that. The rest is history. It's a history podcast. They listen to Diary of a CEO and they listen to Shameless. Uh fans listen to you for longer than 97% of other shows, and you receive more shares than 97% of other shows. So, you legends out there are sending us to your friends, and we appreciate it. So, thank you so much. We'll be back with you next week. Enjoy your next glass of wine. Drew
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