We kicked off our first day in the Barossa on May 5 by being split into small groups for personalized vineyard and winery tours.
My host was Stuart Bourne, winemaker from Barossa Valley Estate. I have never met a man who could talk so much or so quickly and include so many expletives in my life. It was fantastic. Most of what we discussed on our visit will not be posted here, though I will tell you that if an Australian describes something to you as “fucking Mickey Mouse”, it means clean.
South Australia received an inordinate amount of rain this past vintage, making it challenging for many producers. Stuart was quite pleased with the quality of the fruit that came in for him, though, and is showing it off to us here.
BVE was one of the largest facilities I have ever visited. It seems to run like a well-oiled machine.
Note the press that runs along tracks so it can moved under any tank.
All of their tanks can be temperature-controlled remotely.
Stuart admonishing that this system is a babysitter and not a nanny - it should not be used to raise the kids, but rather just to watch the kids so mom and dad can hit the town.
We tried several tank samples – Chardonnay, Sangiovese and one of their more famous wines.
Barrel sample of E & E Black Pepper Shiraz on the right and the current release (2006) on the left. It was fun to see how the wine will evolve.
A Thirsty Spirit 