I will be attending this trade/media tasting next Tuesday and would welcome suggestions on what to taste. I have not been a fan thus far of the rather sweet and extracted style of Shiraz although I have enjoyed Starvedog from the Adelaide Hills area. I am familar with many of the big brands- I will also need to check out some whites. Any thoughts? The following is provided by the Austalian Wine Bureau.

"Come and say G’day to these winemakers and visitors from Australia…

Graeme Ray - Boggy Creek Vineyards; Ross Lougoon – Connor Park; Brad Rey – Coriole; Frank DiGiorgio - DiGiorgio; Mike and Allison Kelly - Fermoy Estate; Ian Hollick – Hollick Wines; Liz and John Hugo - Hugo Estate; Scott McWilliam – McWilliam’s; Philip Laffer – Orlando Wyndham Peter Rumball - Rumball Sparkling; John Innes - Rymill Coonawarra; John Edwards - Starvedog Lane; Peter Schulz and William Schulz - Turkey Flat; Adam Palmer - Voyager Estate; Bob Baker - Vasse Felix; Chris Hatcher - Wolf Blass; John Soutter – Yellowtail; Gordon Gebbie – Yering Station / Mt Langi Ghiran

Taste from these great Australian wine brands and more!

1164, Aldinga Bay, Allendale, Amberley Estate, Andrew Garrett Group, Annie's Lane, Aquila Estate, Ballast Stone, Banrock Station, Barossa Valley Estate, Bear Crossing, Bimbadgen Estate, Bird in Hand, Black Opal, Bleasdale, Blewitt Springs, Blue Tongue, Brookland Valley, Boggy Creek Vineyards, Brown Brothers, Browns of Padthaway, Brumby Canyon, Buckeley's, Bushmans Gully, Campbells, Cape Mentelle, Callanans Road, Carlyle, Chain of Ponds Wines, Chateau Reynella, Chateau Tanunda, Cockatoo Ridge, Connor Park, Cookoothama, Coriole, Craneford, d'Arenberg, De Bortoli, Deakin Estate, Devil's Marbles, DiGiorgio, Dominique Portet, Evans & Tate, Fermoy Estate, Firefly, Flying Fish Cove, Four Sisters, Fox Creek, Gemtree, Ghost Gum, Giant Steps, Grant Burge, Hamelin Bay, Harbord, Hardys Wines, Hartz Barn, Hillsview, Hollick, Hope Estate, Howard Park, Hugo Estate, III Associates, JackaRoo, Jacob's Creek, Jim Barry, Kangarilla Road, Kanga's Leap, Katnook Estate, Kirralaa, Knappstein-Lenswood, Koala Valley, Koltz, Lake Breeze, Lawrence Victor Estate, Leasingham, Leeuwin Estate, Limb Vineyards, Lindemans, Lizard Ridge, Logan, Lombard Station, Macaw Creek, MadFish, Mak, Margan, Maygars Hill, McPherson, McWilliams, Mitchell, Mitchelton, Miranda, Morgan Simpson, Mt Langi Ghiran, Nepenthe, Ninth Island, Nugan, Padthaway Estate, Palandri, Parker Coonawarra Estate, Penfolds, Penley Estate, Petaluma, Penna Lane, Peter Lehmann Wines, Peter Rumball, Pipers Brook, Plantagenet, Pretty Sally Estate Wine, Punters Corner, Rafferty’s Rules, Redbank, Reynolds Vineyards, Riddoch, Ripe, Riverina Estate, R.L. Buller, Rockbare, Rosemount Estate, Ross Estate, Rymill Coonawarra, Salena Estate, Sarnia Farm, Saviours Rock, Schild Estate, Shallow Creek, Simon Hackett, Sixth Edition, Skillogalee, Sons of Adam, Starvedog Lane, St Hallett, Sticks, Tapestry, Tatachilla, The Edge, Three Corners, Temple Bruer, Tim Adams, Tim Gramp, Torbreck, Tucks Ridge, Turkey Flat Vineyards, Tyrrell's Wines, Vasse Felix, Virgin Hills, Voyager Estate, Wally's Hut, Wandin Valley, Warburn Gold, Warburn Silver, Water Wheel, Willow Bridge, Wirra Wirra, Wolf Blass, Wyndham Estate, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Yalumba, Yangarra Estate Vineyard, Yarra Burn, yellowtail, Yering Station, Yunbar, Zilzie"

The people on that list that I would walk over cut glass to speak to are:
Scott McWilliam of McWilliams *
Philip Laffer or Orlando
Peter and William Schulz of Turkey Flat
Adam Palmer of Voyager Estate **
Bob Baker of Vasse Felix **, and
Gordon Grebbie Yering Station/Mt Langhi Ghiran ***

The asterixes are for cooler climate, the more asterixes the cooler. I'm assuming that Scott McWilliam is from the Hunter Valley operations of McWilliams, not the South Australian branch of the business.

Of this list the best white wine makers, IMO, are Philip Laffer, Adam Palmer and Bob Baker.

Of my troll through the list wineries on show, the following is my recommendations for ten low profile/relatively small makers to check out.
Chain of Ponds
Howard Park/Madfish (Madfish is the 2nd label of Howard Park)
Mitchell
Mitchelton
Mt Langi Ghiran
Ninth Island
Tyrells
Vasse Felix
Voyager Estate
Yering Station

BTW, I've aimed for labels that I don't recall seeing much discussion on these boards, so it's a bit of a grab bag. All of the makers I've suggested are very good with white and red, except maybe Yering Station, because I've never had a Yering Station white so I don't want to comment.
Very disappointing, but no Peter Howland Wines listed.

------------------------------
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer

I recently attended an OZ tasting and the WOTN for me was Kay Bros.

quote:

---

Originally posted by bigred_seeker:
I recently attended an OZ tasting and the WOTN for me was Kay Bros.

---

Yep,

I love Kays wines too but according to SD "I have not been a fan thus far of the rather sweet and extracted style of Shiraz" so that sort of wine will not appeal to him. (I have answered his request elsewhere.)

Cheers
Ric
torbwine.com

Torb & Pauly,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses- this is precisely, in my book,the beauty of a Wine Forum such as this. What I was going to do was basically check out the Wine Advocate's
highest scorers- which of course would get me the highly extracted,etc,etc.

<bump>
SD,

How did you go?

------------------------------
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer