Tag Archives: Australia

Wines with Soul – Soul Growers

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In March, we visited Soul Growers in Australia’s Barossa Valley and discovered two things. First, Soul Growers wines are fantastic. Second, the guys behind Soul Growers are as hilarious as they are dedicated to making fine wine. Soul Growers has a unique concept, with winemaking revolving around the growers who create the fruit. It all began in 1998 when four friends in the corporate world — Stu, Paul, Tom and Leigh — decided to join forces and create wines and a brand that spoke to the Barossa.

Stu hosted our visit, which was simultaneously fun and educational. And wow, we love Soul Growers wines. We are not surprised that renowned Australian wine critic James Halliday gave Soul Growers five stars. And the good news – their wines are available in the U.S. and Canada.
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Henschke Wines – Part 2

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This is the inside of the beautiful Cellar Door of Henschke, a 157-year-old family-owned winery located in Keyneton, South Australia. We visited last month, and discovered amazing family history, lovely people and exceptional wines.

This post focuses on some of the outstanding wines we tasted. Our previous post, Part 1, features Henschke’s history. And the third post highlights more stellar Henschke wines.
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Henschke Wines – Part 1

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Henschke is a 157-year-old family-owned winery located in Keyneton, South Australia, in the Eden Valley wine region of the Barossa.

Our visit to Henschke’s Cellar Door was one of the highlights of our trip to Australia and New Zealand last month. Indeed, the experience and the wines were both exceptional. This post focuses on Henschke’s history, while the second and third posts focus on the beautiful wines. Continue reading →

Australian & Californian Winemaking Merge into Two Lands

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Two LandsEarlier this month, we were invited to a virtual tasting of a new wine brand, Two Lands by Jacob’s Creek – a winemaking collaboration between Jacob’s Creek chief winemaker Bernard Hickin and award-winning Napa winemaker Ehren Jordan.

The branding of this new line of wines, launched exclusively in the U.S., says it all: “Two Lands: California craftsmanship meets Australian character. Harnessing the power of collaboration to bring together the best of both worlds”

This new venture merges Australian and Californian winemaking into four satisfying bottles of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our favorites were the Pinot Grigio and the Shiraz, both sourced with South Australia fruit.

2014 Two Lands Pinot Grigio
This refreshing, crisp summer sipper makes us think of lazy days on the deck. With beautiful flavors of apple, peach and citrus, this wine is rich, smooth and very rounded; it would pair well with icy prawns or some good cheddar. Jacob’s Creek recommends it with seafood chowder.

2013 Two Lands Shiraz
We became super fans of Shiraz after wine tasting in Adelaide during our trip to Australia a year ago. Two Lands Shiraz is medium-bodied and flavorful, with big ripe fruit, a lovely mouthfeel and a long, dry finish. It’s still young, so be sure to decant it for a few hours. This is definitely a food wine – think of BBQ ribs or a savory stew.

Each bottle is priced at $13.99, a testament to the notion that wine does not have to be expensive to be good.

Many thanks to Jacob’s Creek for the samples and including us in this digital tasting.

Cheers!
Margot and Dave