Not for the first time I’m looking at some wines from Tahbilk Winery from Nagambie in Victoria. The three varietal wines are all from the 2017 vintage, and are all very important to Tahbilk. For those interested to find out more about the Tahbilk story, listen to my interview with Alister Purbrick on The Vincast here.
Wines tasted;
Tahbilk Marsanne 2017 – RRP $19.50
Tahbilk Riesling 2017 – RRP $19.50
Tahbilk Viognier 2017 – RRP $20.60
In a way, Ben Ranken’s wine career has come full circle. He grew up on a vineyard in Tumbarumba, a region in New South Wales famed for the quality of its chardonnay. Recently he and his wife purchased the Wilimee Vineyard in Macedon, another cool-climate region ideal for chardonnay. In the intervening years he gained considerable vintage experience in Australia and the northern hemisphere, and since 2007 has been making wine at Galli Estate, an incredible Sunbury-based producer that also has a vineyard in Heathcote. We chatted about his winemaking journey, his many influences, and also how important the Lorenzo Galli Scholarship is for educating the wine industry on the nuances of Italian grapes that they work extensively with.
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Ben Ranken from Galli Estate
Filed under Podcasts
I was thrilled to host the first ever edition of The Vincast Live in conjunction with the Ear Buds Podcast Network. Joining me as co-host was wine enthusiast, activist and fellow podcaster (Quickie) Nevena Spirovska (who is also the person that invited to me to be a member of the network).
For the first edition of this new and exciting concept, we discussed the topic – “What are the ‘right’ grape varieties for Australian wine?” Not only is the Australian wine industry rapidly evolving with new grape varieties and alternative techniques, but so are the tastes of Australian wine consumers. With so many different options for planting in a multitude of different regions, what are the right choices to keep up with developments and trends when it comes to vitis vinifera?
Joining us were winemakers and former guests of The Vincast; Dan Buckle from Chandon Australia and Circe Wines and guest on Episode 67 (and Episode 117) of The Vincast; and Ben Ranken from Galli Estate and Wilimee Wines, guest on this week’s episode of the podcast. There were wines for tasting relevant to the topic to fuel further discussion. I’m thrilled that we held this event at Noisy Ritual in Brunswick East, owned and operated by another former guest – Alex Byrne from Episode 80 – where I also made my first Vino Intrepido wine.
The Facebook Live video can be seen here https://www.facebook.com/IntrepidWino/videos/1933081903375167/ and the episode will be available on The Vincast soon!
Filed under Wine Events
Hill-Smith Family Vineyards is one of Australia’s largest family owned wine business, incorporating some legendary historic brands and many new ones as well. Oxford Landing is an entry-level brand that has a sustainable focus, and I was interested to look at these samples submitted by the company to see what they could do with wine for people on a budget. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Wines tasted;
Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc 2017 – RRP $8.99
Oxford Landing Merlot 2017 – RRP $8.99
Recently I was in Geelong and paid a visit to the amiable Andy and Lewis at Union Street Wine. While showing my now available Vino Intrepido wines, we chatted about the incredible work being down by Ricca Terra Farms in the Riverland region. The mentioned that they had bought some montepulciano fruit in the 2016 vintage, and offered me a bottle of the wine they made. Here are my impressions!
Monte by Bodega Montepulciano 2016 – $23.00 at Union Street Wine
I was super thrilled to recently sit down for my wine podcast The Vincast with Matt Holmes, winemaker for Bannockburn Vineyards.When I mentioned that I hadn’t tasted any wine from Bannockburn that he’d made, he very generously brought along a few bottles for me to taste. Here are my impressions!
Wines tasted;
Bannockburn Riesling 2017 – RRP $30.00
Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2016 – RRP $60.00
Matt Holmes’ winemaking career has come full circle. His first short experience as a chief winemaker was at Bannockburn Vineyards, stepping into a role that was vacated just before vintage, but in effect was a caretaker position until the new winemaker was appointed. Following that he gained experience all over the world, before recently returning to Bannockburn to become the permanent chief winemaker. We spoke on this episode about his amazing journey, and what excited him about the new opportunities that Bannockburn and Melbourne offer.
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Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, PlayerFM or Podbean, and don’t forget to rate and review!
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Matt Holmes from Bannockburn Vineyards
If you haven’t listened to it already, on Episode 123 of The Vincast podcast I chatted with winemaker Mac Forbes, who has been working for over 10 years to change perceptions of sub-regional Yarra Valley. He generously gave me a bottle of his 2015 Coldstream Pinot Noir and I was thrilled to share my impressions of the wine here on Let’s Taste. I was particularly thrilled to share the experience with my six-month-old son Ollie!
Mac Forbes Coldstream Pinot Noir 2015 – RRP $50.00
A podcast about wine, wine culture and wine people. Every week a different guest from the wine industry joins host The Intrepid Wino (aka James Scarcebrook) for a casual chat about the world of wine.
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