On the morning of Friday, May 6, we headed to the Eden Valley. Louisa Rose, the Chief Winemaker from Yalumba, was our host.
Our first stop was Pewsey Vale Vineyard.
We knew there was going to be a Riesling tasting, but we weren’t expecting this.
We felt like we were walking into an episode of Top Chef, seeing the tasting table set up in the vineyard.
We tasted through a flight of 8 Eden Valley Rieslings. Eden Valley is within the Mount Lofty high country, overlooking the Barossa Valley. It’s comprised of river valleys and undulating hills. That being said, I learned on this trip that to an Australian, a “river” could be a dry creek bed and “high country” or a “hill” requires little elevation.
Louisa walked us through the tasting. My favorites were the 2010 Thorn-Clarke Mt. Crawford Single Vineyard, the 2010 Dandelion Vineyards Wonderland and the 2010 Pewsey Vale Vineyard.
Another standout was the 2005 Pewsey Vale Vineyard The Contours. Eden Valley Rieslings, while intensely citrus and acidic in their youth, have a unique ability to age, picking up toasty, marmalade qualities. Turns out we were standing in The Contours block, which was planted in 1962. I’m sure that didn’t hurt.
See where The Contours gets its name? This wouldn't be considered efficient planting these days, but Louisa loves the quality of the fruit from this vineyard.
After the tasting, we headed to Heggies Vineyard Dam for lunch.
This was the view from our lunch table. Australians tend to be pretty straightforward when it comes to naming things.
Luckily, it was one of the nicest weather days we had on the trip.
The lunch setting was very fitting for a place named Eden Valley. We didn't really want to leave.
Jane Ferrari, another member of the Yalumba family, joined us for lunch. She has got to be one of the most entertaining storytellers I’ve ever met. The best tales will not be printed here, though it’s worth asking me sometime about the “slick nickel”.
She does a lot of traveling for Yalumba, and chronicles it on her blog.
Stay tuned for Hill of Grace and Magill Estate.
A Thirsty Spirit 