Beechworth, Bottled: The Deep Dive on Our Smallest GI

Beechworth may be Australia’s smallest GI, but we taste why it’s become one of the most talked about premium wine regions in Australia. We dig into the price reality, the Beechworth Chardonnay obsession, and what makes the whites and reds feel so textured yet fresh.

• Schatz Sylvaner 2023 - https://www.vsandb.com.au/shop2/2023-schatz-sylvaner
• Willem Kurt Beechworth Chardonnay 2024 - https://www.willemkurtwines.com.au/wine/2024-chardonnay
• Fighting Gully Road Sangiovese 2024 - https://fightinggullyroadwines.com.au/shop/2024-Sangiovese-Beechworth-p720528942
• Unfortunately the Shiraz is no longer available but check out Castagna's catalog! - https://castagna.com.au/order-wine/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Hi, and welcome to Wine with Megan Malwake here to help you navigate the world of wine. I'm Mel Gil, who's run by Master of Wine, Meg Brotman. We have Austin here, our producer from Clear Productions. Today we are doing Beechworth because I'm just Beechworth is the hottest thing, and I'll say not necessarily temperature, but Meg will go into that. But it I'm seeing it everywhere. I went and, you know, had like a little girls' dinner last year with someone from Halliday and and and and Cara wine rider. But like first thing we ordered was like, oh, we've got to get that Beechworth wine. So I'm like, Beechworth is hot. We love it. And so I'm like, how have we never done a deep dive into it? So, Meg, that's what I've requested from you this week. And I've delivered.

Beechworth Climate And Price Reality

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Yay! So we'll set some context. Beechworth is in Northeast Victoria, and I found out in doing my little research, the smallest GI in Australia. That's cute. Isn't it cute? It is cute. I actually thought it was geographic. Because remember, we were having a chat. You mean location size? Size.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

So not in terms of like winemakers.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Because with GIs, geographical indications, it's not just the area planted, it's the actual geographical space because it can take in hills and dams and lakes and whatever. So yeah, Beechworth is the smallest GI in Australia. Who knew? Cool continental climate, quite dry. They probably uh were best known for Chardonnay because of Giaconda.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Giaconda. Geoconda wines. You know, uh stratospheric pricing there within the Langton's classification. Yes. Now Rick Kinsbrunner. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful mineral wines. And so there's a range of producers up there, mostly small, but the pricing is certainly getting up there. So Castaña, which I used to buy just it seems like a few years ago, is now 80 bucks and it was like$45.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Was it ever? Yes, yeah. Like because it's in your region and they started small and stuff, like I feel like it's never been that cheap to buy from Beachwork.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

No, it's never cheap because it because it is a lot of it, uh they have some water, but uh they have very low-yielding vines because it's so cool, and because they are a quality-minded region. They yeah, they just want to produce great quality. The wines you're not getting out for anything under 45 dollars.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Establish that from the start, which is just like gold star regional marketing.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

And it's interesting because when I I was I was actually online and Adrian Santelin walked in and said, Oh, are you buying some wines? Because I was searching and I had like Nick's and Dan's and Prince Wine store open. I said, Yeah, we're doing Beechworth. And he said, Oh, you're gonna do a rotter. So A Rotter's uh Adrian Rotterd is a winemaker that mostly known for the Yarrow Valley, but he buys from fruit from Beechworth. And I said, No, I'm actually gonna do people who are living and breeding and growing in Beechworth. So awesome. I got a range of wines. I got a Chardonnay, I didn't get a Giaconda. I do apologise. Our budget didn't really do that. But I've got a range of wines just to represent the diversity of what's going on. The first one is uh Schmolzer and Brown. Now can I we just Austin? Just show Mel the label and say, how would you pronounce that Schwartz?

SPEAKER_02 3:45

I said Schatz. Okay, either no. Well, the way you say it sounds like pooper. So you added a W.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

You added a W.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Is that a W. Schatz? This is Jeremy Schmolzer and Tessa Brown.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

So we've done Schmolzer and Brown wines. Well, I've I've I drink a lot of their wines. They have, I think, one of the highest vineyards in Beechworth, but this isn't where this is from.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Wait, as a region, is Beechworth known to be high?

SPEAKER_01 4:22

No, it's not, but it's it's it's aligned, it's the edge of the Alpine Valley, basically. So it's there, there are pockets where there's it's not not it's not the defining factor about what they are. They're continental and cool because of their location.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Sorry, I think I think Austin just poured himself a taste in that big pot. That's all right.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Mel's face, Mel's face had a terrible look on it. I was like, oh, am I really am I really saying something that bad?

SPEAKER_02 4:50

That video is gonna be funny to watch back, actually, the way my face slowly turns to disgust. I thought I was talking shit. No, but but what I'm wondering is what is there something geographical about Beechworth? Is it the soil or like is there something that makes it super special?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah, well, I mean, they're quite granitic soils through there. I mean, like everywhere else, it's informed by different soil profiles. But it's the the coolness, the climate, the I just think the mentality. You know, they've they have had vines there since the 1800s, but like everywhere in Australia, that was a different winemaking style. I think Giaconda just set the stage, and you can't visit Giaconda, you know, sell it all, you have to make an appointment to go in. It's only open a couple of days a year from memory. So I just think they set the stage for this premium quality wine, and it is in if anyone's been to Beachworth, it is a beautiful, quite touristy town. Yeah, great restaurants.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Something with a Ned Cali. There's something about Ned Cali.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Yeah, all around that area, it's Kelly country.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Yeah.

Sylvaner Surprise And Acid Talk

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Uh you've got the Beechworth Bakery with their famous bees steamers whatever. It's bloody disgusting thing. I think it's overrated, but there's some seriously good places to eat. There's lots of honey in Beechworth. Yeah, there is. Anyway, I digress. We have a Schmolzer and bound charts, Sylvaner. Oh, Sylvanar. So Sylvanar, German great variety, workhorse. A lot of it in New Zealand is.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

I didn't know that there was any being made. I'd never heard of it in Australia until then.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Yeah. There is some. We oh the in the central Victoria.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

So around Evoka way, there's a lot. It's been uh because there were a lot of Swiss people that moved there, so there's On Dink and Sylvanar. I don't know where these plants are from, possibly charmers or something. But Sylvanar for me, we were talking about Ali Gotte last week. Sylvanor is one of those great varieties that is a little bit neutral, needs a little bit of help, a bit of texture. I have not tried this yet, but I just thought, yay, you know, and also it for me it aligns with that cool continental German climate. Why not do things like this? Like them, to my knowledge, there's not any reasoning up there. It'd be interesting to see why not.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

I feel like you are picking and choosing which workhorse grapes get to stand on their own feet.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

No, no, Maggie. You got everyone's got me wrong about Aligot. I think it's fine. This wine is a lovely, fresh, dry, white wine. But I'm not saying that this is the next big thing. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Yeah, it's lovely. And I'm saying the same about aligot.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

It's produces some lovely, fresh, delicious, drinkable wines, but it's not the next big thing. And do we need a next big thing? But I digress. Let's focus on beachworth and be careful. It's not wine use.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Let's focus on beach worth. Yummy, that acid.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

That's the thing I love about beach worth.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Acid plus body.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Texture.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Texture, when texture and acid work together really well, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

And that lovely floralness. Like, have you ever had banana flour Thai salad? Where they cut up the banana flour?

SPEAKER_02 7:56

No, I haven't.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

There's a I see it as a pink floralness in there, and you see it in banana flour, and I just think that is, isn't that beautiful? Okay, where's my bag, Austin? Because I've got the I actually bought the pricing. That is so good.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

And do you know what? To tease one of our upcoming episodes, we are gonna do an episode on pairing KFC with wine. Yes. And we that's like a battle that we're gonna have. We've each brought in two wines and we're gonna battle. But but this would work well for that. Oh my god, you didn't. We brought a packing list. You brought a packing list without prices. Do you have any vibe on what it was around about?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Four of the wine the all four wines cost me$200 and something dollars,$230.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

So it can't have been No, it's not cheap.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

It's probably 40, 45.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

So we're looking at an average of 50 bucks of these wines. Yeah. Give or take. Alright. That that acid hits different. It hits different than a Riesling. And I'm gonna try and explain why. Yes. A good Riesling acid, I feel travels linearly down your palate, and it's like a sort. It's like a big long linear line. There's something about this acid that hits and and it's like a zigzag of acid. Yeah, zigzag of acid.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

It it fills your mouth, but not in a bad way, in like a really because you get the acid hit, and then you get the sort of texture, and then the floral puff comes out, sort of in the mid-palate, and then it sort of zigzags back to the it's plenty of yummy. It's like the acid goes horizontally. Ordering more of that, Tessa.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

And vertically. It spreads out and then goes like a wave, like whoop.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Can I just have a look at the back label? Does she give us any indication of how they've made it?

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Can I ask something? You said that this is like a workhorse, like it mixes with another grape. What does this grape variety normally get paired with in terms of good question?

SPEAKER_01 9:56

So Moulaturg, it's a I've fucked up here because this is actually from the King Valley. I've just read on the back of the book. But we'll do it anyway, because you know they're they're close. That's so thing is it came up as Beechworth on my. Everyone, scratch that. It's still good, but it's not from Beechworth. No, but the this is what I find so frustrating. Like, I Googled Beechworth. These are all from different drops. No, the others are from.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Alright, let's start. We'll chop it all at once, yeah. Well, this was a nice little extra that we got to taste. So good on your King Valley, anyway. I mean, it's very similar. Like, King Valley is quite close, is it not? It's not that far. No. It's just over some hills. Austin. I am Austin is like, why did I sign up to produce these people? Sorry. This is the least professional setup.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Well, I could have lied, and someone could have caught us out. No, that's better. Yeah, so at least some at least someone's my fault. But Schmolzen are based in Beechworth. That's where they work out of. And they own vineyard. All right. Oh cat.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Oh right.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Beechworth producers, but the grapes are from King Valley.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Okay. Just well, we've still got that. We've still got that Beechworth mentality of quality. That's right.

Chardonnay Benchmark And Serving Temperature

SPEAKER_01 11:21

That's right. There we go. We've brought it back. Next one is Willem Kurt Chardonnay. Now I will be, yes please. I will be 100% honest. Never heard of this producer. Willem Kurt neither. Did a bit of a deep dive. Very well regarded. This was, I think, 65.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

When I think of Beechworth, I think of Chardonnay. That to me is the lack. And I don't know whether that's a Giachondra effect or whether it's truly representative of what they do best, but it it seems to be.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

For me, it's traditionally it's been Syrah, Shiraz, and Chardonnay. Okay. They're the two. Uh the thing that I notice first is the colour. I would not what year is it? 24. Okay. So it's got a few years on it. I wouldn't normally, when I see a darker colour in a Chardonnay, I automatically think that there's a lot of quite toasty oak or oak aging, or it's got some age on it. Whereas, and that I don't I always associate Beachworth with that very restrained oak with minerality. Okay, Mel's getting excited.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

I've only smelt it. I haven't even tasted it. That's beautiful. Holy crap, this is gonna taste good. You can just add the nose. It's it's it's oaky, but it it's like this honey. I feel like Beachworth has a honeyed thing to it.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

So this is from Beechworth. Crafted 600 metres from grapes grown, 600 metres above sea level, just south of the township of Beechworth. With an unwavering focus on quality achieved through attentive, respectful viticulture and low intervention winemaking. That is pretty nice.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

I think pretty rice is nice as an understatement.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

It's really weird. I see this apricot kernel character. Have you ever made jam? Apricot jam?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

No.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

So if you can't to to get it to set, if you can't buy pectum, which I couldn't in chili, you smash open the scene and it got the little white thing inside. It's very specific tasting, but that has the smell of that apricot kernel. Not the not the woody bit, but the bit inside. Smells speechless. Awesome. Now we know what to serve if we want to shut her up.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

No, okay, okay, okay. You've you've got I've I've I was I was speechless, but I've I've got it now. Mine is when you've made when you've got popcorn and you get to the end of the popcorn and there's just the kernels left, and the kernels have butter on them and a little bit of salt on them.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Well, we don't eat those because they break our teeth.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Oh, I eat them, I like them.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

You do have beautiful teeth, too.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

And I do. That's the trick. Everyone go eat kernels and don't switch me. Yeah. But like a that a like a buttery, slightly salty kernel is what I'm tasting. But the the finish on that for me, it's like it's like the start is a bit more precise, but then it opens up in your mouth and it's so rounded and creamy and full, and then the finish just goes.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

And these guys have been there for a while. It's not like they're like newcomers on the block. They're very established. I just think that is I really need to know how much this is. That is what I expect from Beachworth.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

That's what I want. That's what I want from Chardonnay. Not enough. Chardonnay is giving me that now. It's annoying.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah, but the it's the your your oak is definitely not leading the charge, but very evident on the wine. But it's a beautiful oak, and it's creamy, and that acid is just next level. God, these glasses are beautiful. They're great. I love the swirl on them.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Do you know what not everyone can do the swirl? Like holding it by the stem and doing this. At a hen's nut, at a hen's party the other day, I was like trying to teach people how to do it. Oh my god, Meg, can you not do a nice swirl?

unknown 15:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

I was just saying what people do when they do you know what I mean? They do this back and forth well. Yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

I didn't realise that was a skill. Everyone practice it at home. That's oh my god, everyone go buy it, everyone go buy it. Who was what's the producer called again?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Willem W-I-L-L-E-M-Kurt K-U-R-T. Interestingly, I struggled to find these wines locally.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

Really?

SPEAKER_01 15:51

And I didn't want to go because I was buying four of them, I didn't want to go for each producer because it was going to cost us a fortune in postage. So I went, I did go to a different job. They led me astray on the first one, but that's okay. Schmolls are about uh Beachworth producers.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

What would you eat with this?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

You know what? I would just sit with that. And then I would have then I would eat something. You have never in five years of us doing this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Well, you're fucking over with that popcorn analogy. You but you've always got something to eat. You have never found a wine that you said I just want to drink it and not eat with it.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

No, I didn't say I want to drink drink it. I said I want to sit with it. I need some time, it needs to open up. Scollops would be my you know the scallops where they do the burnt butter. And they do at Scopri they do it like on a little bit of just creamy polenta. Yes, a mouthful of that would be delicious. It's it's it is quite big in style, but it's refined. Like it has a lot of is that meaning you want more?

SPEAKER_02 17:12

No, well, no, no, I shouldn't control myself. Well, we're we are we gonna no no no we I love it too much. I I would just keep drinking it. But question is this a big Chardonnay? Like it's if we were gonna be black and white about it, would you categorize this as a big Chardonnay?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

The aromas and flavours lead me to think this is a bit of a buttery popcorn y bomb, but the palette is mineral and fine-lined. So I I think for someone who wants this is the perfect for you and I. I you love the big buttery shoddies. Yep. I like more of the minerality. So this is this would please both of us. And I think I will say, I think it's a tad cold. I know you this is a woman that ordered a Chardonnay fridge for the Salador.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

I did. I think it's a tad cold.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

I think if it headed up just a degree or two, it would be agree, agree. Yeah, so for everyone listening, not warm, but just knock the frost off the bottle.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

I don't, I'm not like a super crazy person about every wine, but about Chardonnay, like so yeah, okay. Sparkling wine, ideally, you want to serve eight to ten degrees. Chardonnay, you want to serve around 13, 14 degrees. And I was serving this beautiful like white label, like$40 Chardonnay at eight degrees, and I was like, you're not getting the complexities of this, you're not getting everything this wine could give. So yeah, I ordered a brand new fridge so I could set it at 13 degrees so that the Chardonnay could be in a separate fridge. Sometimes I'm the wanker of us.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Go out and get a bit of a few. I would say at this time of the year with autumn, Beechworth is the most beautiful place to visit with the autumn leaves. In New Hampshire, in America, they call them Falies or Leafies, the people that go up and take photos. And I think we should start a festival of it somewhere in the northeast of Victoria. Because it is so beautiful. Go up there, visit by direct, and don't stuff around, buy half a dozen, just invest.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Yep. Oh, that'll age too. Oh my god, imagine that.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

I mean, it's 2024, it's got no age on it at all.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

So next we have Fighting Gully.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Better check the uh GI on it. Have I got beachworth? Yes. So Fighting Gully, more of a traditional producer. They Yeah, I feel like I know. Yeah, you know, probably know their Shiraz. But this is their Sangiovese. Ooh!

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Yes, yes, North Do a bit of Sangiovese. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

North, yeah. North. I mean, we know that the King Valley and Alpine Valley uh had a lot of Italian, well, European migration because of the miners, because of the part they they came down from the snowy river mountain scheme. Beechworth got some of that as well. This Sangiovese, I have no idea, but I, you know, I was thinking about it. I was thinking, Tuscany, Beechworth, are they similar? I don't know. But I think it could be a good region for it. So this is 2024.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Yeah, if I was doing this blind and I I've only smelt it, if I was doing this blind, I'd say that's a Grenache. It's so fruity. It's um is a whole bunch.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

13.5% alcohol. Uh eagle saw across the escarpment of fighting gully road.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

No, it's super grenache on the nose.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

This is Mark Walpole. A bit of a famous Australian winemaker. I think Mark was the one who did the Chaputier project when it first came to Heathcote. He was the winemaker there. Correct, I might be wrong there. But yeah, it is more confected cherry fruit than I would expect from a Sangiovese. Taste it though. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

It's yeah, you think it's going to be one thing on the nose, but on the palate it develops into something else.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Tannins are right. I don't feel like there's a lot of oak in there.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Tannin, that tannin's perfect, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

I mean, sangiovese cherry is a real descriptor for sandgivase, but I always see it more as that sour cherry, that sort of Chinese cherry.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Totally sour cherry on the palate, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

But on the nose, it's very, I think it's a bit confected, so it's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

I wonder if that'll blow off.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

But there's still some of that minerality, like that tarry road something in there. No, it's not Nebbiolo, but it's just there's something really earthy.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

That is it. That is such a good autumn wine, isn't it? Oh, we have this deck, my new house. We moved, and my new deck has like plastic blinds that come down, and I know, right? And I've gone to the burbs, so the things we get I pay a hundred dollars less a week. And my house is so much better. You spend that in petrol, though. Well, no, it's the same to get some winery, but anyway. We'll do it for you, yeah. So we put down the blinds and we have like a little gas heater and we stay nice and cozy and this is the exactly it that I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

It's just you know heated rivalry where they wear that that cardigan thing when it's at the cottage. Yeah. Yeah. It's that around the open pit having sausages. But not when it's cold, cold, when it's like autumn. Yeah, so you've still got a singlet underneath, but you've sort of put the woolly cardigan over the top, and I don't know, you've got a little nanny blanket over your knees. Oh, like like when it's and just beautiful fennel pork sausages.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

You know what I like when it's cold, the the when it feels kind of cold outside, but the you've got the direct sun, so you're like kind of warm.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Especially at the moment, the nights like if you go out for your prandules at around you know 5 36, the sun's down, prandials means your pre-dinner drinks. Oh, beechworth.

unknown 23:04

Oh, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Beachworth, that's that is Beechworth is delivering. And I would honestly, people, if you if you want a weekend away, this is where my sisters and I meet in November. Go comes from Canberra. We drove up from Melbourne and just have an indulgent weekend, which we haven't done for a while, actually. We need to do. It is a beautiful part of the world, and there's loads of wineries and support the local wineries. And just buy half a D of each because half a D. Half a Dow's y'all.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Yeah, yeah, you sound real Vogan.

Beechworth Shiraz And Style Debate

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Buy half a D. That's beautiful. Okay, next. Going back to Dominica. Now Dominica, we've done a bit, I think we've done the Nebbiolo. So I didn't want to get, I wanted to go the more Shiraz because uh Dominica Castagna, Fighting Galley Road are really known for their Shirazes from up here. Interestingly, they do use the term Shiraz rather than Syrah.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

You're gonna make me drink Shiraz. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

We you should you were away. We had a great episode, didn't we? Yeah, I don't. It made me like Shiraz more.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

But uh because I love Sarah. Like I do. And that's it. Yeah, but we had some and then we were able to actually taste it.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Anyway, don't be pre don't be prejudicial. Not all Shiraz is Baross and Big Sheraz, you know. I can't I can't smell pepper, so I don't get that, you know, that lovely joy that a lot of you guys will get out of these. You know, I was I was googling spicy grape varieties and Shiraz kept coming up with syrah because it's black pepper, black pepper, and I'm like well, that doesn't help me at all.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

I'm not getting black pepper in this one. This is more like a paprika.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

It is with paprika, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

You know, when you put chilies in a pan, but you prick them, and so they're just there to sort of give the flavour, and then you pull them out. Very ottoling-y. That's what it smells like.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Actually, no. I love otterling. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Have you done the butter beans? No, with with oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

I've got a I've got a big autaling book that was gifted.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

No, it's the MT the test kitchen one. I'll send you the recipe. These butter beans.

SPEAKER_02 25:19

This is why we need Austin, because he's here to food. Mel Mel ate for like McDonald's. But like, so you have someone to talk about food with, and I have someone that gets my like millennial and pop culture references. Yeah. That's right. It does smell good. I have to say that.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

13.9%.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Yeah, I mean, look, we've seen worse, have we not?

SPEAKER_01 25:39

On yeah, I was actually expecting something more Sirari. My experience with Shraz from Beachworth is really castagna, I remember blew my mind. I was at a restaurant, something to do with rabbits in Beachworth, and we had it because my sister's really into uh Umu. Is that the name of that uh big branded Shiraz?

SPEAKER_02 26:03

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Does it exist anymore? Anyway, she's into these big things. So we needed something that would meet in the middle, and we ended up getting castagna, and it was much more Syrah-y. This for me is a little bit more Shiraz-y. This wasn't cherry.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Yes, but it's yeah, it it's uh big and Shirazy in its uh intensity and its power, but I find it less fruity than like a brother and more earthy.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Yeah, there's definitely an earthiness. There's a a burnt cinders kind of uh uh taste to it, which may be the the oak. Um I think this was like 60 o'clock. It would definitely, this is your kind of your middle road.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

Um I think for people who like bigger, richer styles of red would love this.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

I just and it is 11 o'clock in the morning for us. Famously like a medium, like I but also this is something I I would actually chill this down. I'm finding the alcohol, which is possibly big just I just need to knock off that alcohol, I can see it in the glass. Um, I need food with this, but this isn't for me very much a one-glass kind of wine. Whereas the Sangiovesi, I would happily just agree.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Oh, totally, just sit there with poor fatty sausages. We would annihilate a bottle of that around a fire in autumn at the cottage.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Just I mean, it's it's a good wine, it's just the cottage. That's right. The cottage with the handsome it's on Airbnb.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

As long it's on Airbnb. You can go to the cottage. I know. Do they come with?

SPEAKER_01 27:47

I don't know. We'll ask, we'll inquire. I just want the Russian. He's so entertaining. Yeah, he's cute, but he's also just a lot of you are. No, he is so boring and the fake freckles. Anyway.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

No, but in real life, the actor's awesome. Anyway, sorry, we we digress as usual.

Travel Tips Next Week Teaser

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Catching up. Uh Beachworth, what's that take-home message?

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Wine, wine and heated rivalry with Megan Mell. We'll have to rename the podcast. Take home message about Beechworth. Is Chardonnay lives up? I would like to do an episode on just like a bunch of different Chardonnays from Beechworth to see if all of them actually hit that. Because every time I've had a Chardonnay from Beachworth, I'm like, This is what I want.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

We will buy a Giaconda to put that in.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

How much is a Giaconda? Like 200 bucks?

SPEAKER_01 28:30

Yeah, 180.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Yeah, okay. Yeah, let's just do it. Hey. We'll just buy one. We deserve it. Yeah. Sorry if anyone listening is from Giaconda or from like a retailer.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

No atlets.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Any whole who's the distributor for Giaconda? Contact us. Someone wants us to gift us it. We'll do the best shout out. But yeah, I would really like to do an episode because I'm just so hyped up about Beachworth Chardonnay, and I want to see if it is consistent across a whole range of them. And so look, my take-home message about Beachworth is that the Chardonnay is good and that I'm really excited about like the Italian. Like the the but like the more alternative type reds. And support the Beachworth producer from Fruit Grown Somewhere Else. Yeah, well, that was it was really good as well. That first time. I love the chats one. Awesome. Do you know much about visiting like are their salad doors tourism friendly?

SPEAKER_03 29:25

Can you take a bus?

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Yeah, yeah. For a small can you take a bus?

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Yeah, open on weekends. Your best bet is usually weekends where it's a public holiday weekend. So King's Birthday would be a good time.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Because sometimes their smaller regions aren't really.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Yeah, I would always check before you go and plan accordingly. Any time of year. This time of year is beautiful, but also around October, November when it's just starting to become springy sprung. Um you get over that the great divide, but just the warmth and it's beautiful. So visit and buy online from the producers or just buy the wines. Oh buy Chardonnay. Willem Kirk, never heard of them.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

Next week, we are going to. Oh, this is fun. Meg's gonna get mad. We're doing unpopular opinions. We are going to just talk about what our unpopular opinions are in wine. We expect plenty of outrage, to be honest, because we are not short of opinions. That are unpopular. That are unpopular. And you know what? I'm gonna pour myself a glass of that Chardonnay while we do it and just like settle in while Meg rants about biodynamics. So that'll be fine.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Food.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

What's your middle name again?

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Enid.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Enid. I need to write that down. What's yours? Oh, mine's cute. I'm Melanie Mae.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Melanie's cute.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Right? Like Maggie Mae. Yeah. Yes, like Maggie Mae. Yes. If you use mine, it just sounds cute. It doesn't sound like I'm in trouble, but Meg Enid May. I know.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

And gay, my sister's gay Marie, and my mum's name is actually Marie. Well, she hates, so she calls herself Faye. So why she named her Enid? But I do have this amazing brooch from my mum's brother who was in the war, and it's Mother of Pearl, and it's got Enid in gold letters, like gold, thick gold, and then a tiny heart and the Lord's Prayers written on it. You need a microscope to read it. That's kind of cool. Would never wear it, but yeah, it's a is it like E-N-I-D?

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Enid Lighton.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

It's a shock.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

That's how you spell it. E-N-I-D. Yeah. Enid as my Egggy Enid is what my sisters call me. Going back to how cute I am, though. I'm Melanie May and my daughter is Billie May.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Oh, I never named, I would never name my child. Well, I didn't.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

Like after your own name. Well, Tom got the surname. And so I was like, also, May comes from was one of my like great-grandmothers or something. Oh, fair. So I was like, I I want the middle name to come back to my family because you guys get the surname.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

Our kids got both because they were born in Chile. So they have to.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

Alright. We are so far digressed. We can cuddle that out. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. It's at the end of the episode, so they can leave if they want. In fact, it'll be fun to leave it in and have a look at the stats and see how many people actually stuck around. Uh so uh follow us on social media, make sure you're actually following. I think some people don't realize that like hitting the follow button on Spotify or Apple. So that's all. Enjoy your next class of wine. We'll drink well.