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South Australia

I have a strong affiliation with this state since it is where I spent a great deal of time during the vintage of 2000, picking, pressing, pumping over and even blending Shiraz and Grenache grapes as well as many other Barossa varietals, at Craneford vineyard in Truro. To me its not the most picturesque of states but it is very important in terms of wine for Australia. It contains 42% of the nations  vineyards, is responsible for 46 per cent of the annual crush and makes more than 50% of the annual wine output. I love the varied regions, Barossa valley the home of great Shiraz, Clare valley, great Rieslings and then the Adelaide hills further south, great cool climate Pinot and Sauvignon country, McLaren Vale, hot Shiraz country and then the up and coming southerly region of Langhorne Creek.

I work with three vineyards presently. Please click on the links below.

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Lillypilly Shiraz 2007

Mr Whirly says:

“Like the tactful 2003 Shiraz this wine does not suggest it’s in any way Aussie Shiraz at almost 10 pounds a bottle. Not as much toffee as the very popular 2003 vintage yet a wonderful example of a lighter, fresh Shiraz from Australia which is a welcome relief from the majority of bigger styles of this grape that we are normally use to. This is quite a feminine Shiraz from Australia, not at all “ big and brash and manly.”  Still holds some lovely sticky toffee pudding and caramel essences and more proof of how clever the winemaker is here at Lillypilly.”

Alcohol: 14.5 %

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Lillypilly 1998 VP

Mr Whirly says:

“ The 1995 vintage of this wine created quite a storm in the UK and this 1998 vintage, made from Chambourcin and Cabernet ( not Shiraz as in the 1995) is a little softer and rounder than the previous vintage, still with a rich caramel intensity but also with some Mocha coffee and dark Chocolate. Match this with Chocolate puddings, Plum pudding at Christmas and Rich Blue Cheese. I tasted this wine again a few days ago with Jason Atherton’s sommelier at his new restaurant that opens in April 2011 and its really come on well. Incredibly complex and layered now.”

Alcohol: 18.0%

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Lillypilly Tramillon 2008

Mr Whirly says

”  This exciting blend that has now been in the UK top end “ on-trade” and private client market for six years. Lychee, floral and spicy with a stronger hint of elderflower this year.”

75% Gewurtztraminer and 25% Semillon. Floral, limes and elderflower on the nose, with extra depth given by the Semillon. This wine looks after the “ off Dry” crowd that are sometimes so hard to look after ( that means there is very little of quality to look after you!). Great pouring wine for all year round, especially the summer and a wonderful alternative to Champagne.

Press article:

” The 2005 Tramillon is a great partner on the table with Indian food, its perfumed bouquet, fruitiness, slight sweetness and crisp finish making it an ideal match for this and other Asian dishes”

David Ellis, Melbourne Observer, March 29th 2006

Alcohol: 10.5%

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Lillypilly Noble Harvest 2006

2006 Noble Harvest

Please see the 2002 notes on the website for this wine. However,this year, the 2006 is made from a slightly different makeup of grapes, with Chardonnay replacing the Muscat and there’s a little more Semillon and Riesling in this wine and a little less Sauvignon blanc:

35% Semillon

25% Sauvignon Blanc

30% Riesling

10% Chardonnay

Robert Fiumara, winemaker:

“Even at 10% the Chardonnay definitely builds complexity in the wine, adding stone fruits to the bouquet and an extra dimension to palate texture, The aromatic varieties give real lift to the bouquet and there is plenty of zestiness and freshness on the palate.”

Mr Whirly says

“Its very similar to the 2002, a little fresher and not quite so rich but still the tropical fruits shine through like Mango, Kumquat and passion fruit. The alcohol is low at 12.5% and the wine is still a great match with more acidic puddings like Tarte Tatin and Lemon tart.”

Alcohol: 12.5%

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Lillypilly Noble Blend 2002

2002 Noble Blend:

See www.Lillypilly.com to see awards. 80% Sauvignon, 10% Semillon, 5% Muscat of Alexandria, 5% Riesling. Beautifully structured, more Coteaux de Layon than Sauterne, rich honey middle with passion fruit finish that goes on and on. Classic Tarte Tatin wine, multi faceted and talented and would match also summer fruit puddings, lemon tarts, mango sorbet and most tropical fruits.

Mr whirly says:

“This wine has received many accolades over the last 3 years and this has meant that the wine has sold very easily. The stock of this wine has now been reserved as a Museum wine here in the UK since there  is only a very small amount still available.”

Alcohol: 12.5 %

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New South Wales: Lillypilly!

The roads to The Riverina and LILLYPILLY the home of some of the best stickies in Australia!

I discovered Lillypilly in May 2000 after a thrilling drive through the most amazing lightening storm, which given there was only one road north, I had no choice but to head straight into the middle of this wonderful freak of nature. It was a scary moment since I shall always remember seeing a lightening bolt take off just to my right as I closed my eyes and went through! I had spent the last week traveling slowly east from The Macedon ranges, just north of Melbourne discovering wine regions as I went along: Chateau Tahbilk’s wonderful old cellar contrasted so dramatically with Mitchelton’s modern structure. I cut across country via Langwood, where there were lambs everywhere and discovered a lovely little pub called The White Hart. Then up to Euroa and then Mansfield and Delatite vineyards high up on the plateau below the great divide; the next day across country to King valley via the Tower lookout and Tolmie a little commune in the middle of nowhere, Scottish this time. There are no red gums up here just windy hilly little roads. I wondered as I sat in the lookout, looking down the valley what it must have been like holding out up here with Ned Kelly the famous robber. I remember the place had such a great view down the valley. From here I headed north to Milawa which is Brown Brothers wine country in a wide green valley. Close by is the King valley (where they are pioneering Italian varietals which is exciting but the wines are still a little young so now in 2013, ten years later, this would be an interesting place to re-visit). From here I headed north to Beechworth, contrasting so markedly with the green of The King valley. Beechworth is brown and arid. I had heard about the wonderful wines being made at Giaconda (these wines were on the list at Bibendum Restaurant) and I relished sitting down in Rick Kinzbrunner’s little tasting room and tasting some amazing Chardonnay out of the barrel.  This is great wine country. The wonderfully named Pennyweight has history and beauty behind it and it was here I tasted my first Gamay ( in OZ) and very good it was too. Oak tree’s dominate the landscape here, full and bright, reminding me a little of my teenage years in the delightful countryside around Cowfold in West Sussex. Triple J radio springs to life again here, being so close to the NSW border, and the music is so good it makes one want to traverse the NSW border forever.

From here I drove further north to Rutherglen, where wineries like Chamber’s and Campbell’s have made their names famous throughout the world for producing bench mark Muscat and Tokay fortified wines.

This country is River Murray dominated and this river divides Victoria and NSW. It’s flat yet fascinating. The power of the Murray! Such an influential force it is creating these wonderful communities along the way, like Albury, Carowa and Yarrawonga. It was here that I encountered the most amazing lightening storms along the flat long roads heading north from the aforementioned Carowa, through the sweetly named towns of Sangar, Urana and Narrandera; it felt as though the lightening and thunder were following me along the road into the Domesday world ( of course it wasn’t but this is what I wrote in my journal at the time) with dark field mushroom shaped clouds penetrating the skyline and the rain spraying onto the windscreen in a ferocious circular motion as my face touched the windscreen in an anxious lookout for the bolt of lightening that was about to strike a few seconds later a few yards from my faithful falcon. This was the night I entered Leeton and Lillypilly vineyard. It was a turbulent and exciting night and I arrived late and crashed out on the bench seat of my Ford Falcon, which had become my second home by now, given that I had been traversing with her across South Australia, Victoria and NSW since Christmas.

Leeton and the Riverina wine region

I awoke the next morning to a hot sticky day and spent the next two days here tasting mainly sticky wines. This wine region, although part of the Riverina, should not be confused in anyway with it, since it is in no way like it in terms of the type of wines it produces. “Riverina” or “Sunraysia”, as some like to call it, is further west along the Sturt highway towards Adelaide (a road I travelled in February 2006 from Sydney to Adelaide and it took me 26 hours to cross) and it plays a vital part in the economic’s of the Australian wine production: they crush 100 tons of grapes an hour during their busiest times of vintage and this wine region produces three quarters of Australia’s annual crush. Leeton is located 300 miles to the east of Banrock station, for example, so its not close by really, but in Australia that’s pretty close. And the wines here cannot be compared with the area to the east where they make wines for the box rather than the bottle. Yes there is a large amount of farmland taken over by grapes here in Leeton and Griffith but this in no way compares to the lines and lines of vines that go on for miles and miles and miles that produce the wine box wines to the east. In fact this day at the end of April 2000 showed how the botrytised wines that this region is famous for, wines that are so full of finesse and class, are indeed produced: hot, humid and misty mornings that create the potential environment for this most special of diseases to start its life. I visited 4-5 wineries on this first day. I only tasted stickies for these first few days but at West End winery I tasted Cabernet sauvignon and Shiraz too and although a little mirky and brown in colour there were immense coffee flavours pouring out from the wine. How narrow minded of me to think that this region could only produce stickies, these wines have a characteristic all of their own, a good lesson for life ahead.

Lillypilly Estate, Leeton, NSW

Lillypilly  Estate wine, Leeton– “ The home of quality noble (botrytis) wines in Australia as well as some exciting table wines. Lillypilly, which is an indigenous tree in this part of Australia as well as an endearing name, produce hand crafted wines, famous especially for their sticky wines, pudding wines to us Pom’s. Leeton just south of Griffith is the centre of the sticky wine revolution, irrigated for the first time from the waters of the Murrumbidgee river in 1912.”

Robert Fiumara produces top quality wines at a sensible price level and specialise’s in Noble wines of benchmark quality.

Please click on the wines below to see notes on each wine from Lillypilly.

Lillypilly Noble Blend 2002

Lillypilly Noble Harvest 2006

Lillypilly Tramillon 2008

Lillypilly VP 1995

Lillypilly VP 1998

Lillypilly Shiraz 2007

Lillypilly Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Australia

Australia, oh ! Australia

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I first visited Australia in 1999 after a wonderful trip through India and Asia, by land and when I arrived I almost did not realise the full potential of this amazing country because I was going to spend much of my time in Sydney since I thought this city was so amazing. However a city is like any other city to be honest and the crux and heart of a country cannot be realised until you head off into the wilds and feel the fresh air on your face. I had the best 6 months of my life, travelling from vineyard to vineyard, wine region to wine region from east to west and back again, sleeping underneath the stars in my little tent with just the occasional Kangaroo ,Wallaby  or spider for company, apart from BBC world service that I listened to on my little Sony shortwave radio. This is how Whirly wine’s was born.

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I ended up working in vineyards, picking grapes and even blending grapes for a winemaker in Barossa. It was without doubt one very exceptional time in my life. I look forward to my next trip there with much enthusiasm. The wine world in Australia is fun: it can be serious of course but this is mostly hidden. Australian winemakers like to have fun with their wines which is why they muck around with blending grapes that in most wine countries such action would be frowned on.

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There were many highlights. Western Australia and the discovery of great Cabernet, Clare valley, its English beauty and style. Victoria and the varied types of wines found in the smallest state of this country and driving and driving and never seeming to get anywhere!

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For more stories and wines available from each State please click on the State below.

New South Wales

South Australia

Western Australia

Victoria

Tasmania