Volume 2, Issue 3
April, 2004
Circulation 6,564

Victoria, Australia

pat@pinotnoirs.com
www.pinotnoirs.com

Food  Living in the outback of Australia for a short time in the early 1970's, left me with the opinion that the only thing worth eating in Australia was a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. I was surprised that you can still get this sandwich, even at McDonald's. The food today is as good and exciting as I've had anywhere in the world. We encountered a few unusual dishes such as kangaroo, Balmain Bugs (crayfish in US), and Barramundi (a lovely fish) – and enjoyed them immensely. Australians love semi-oven roasted Roma tomatoes with breakfast and in their salads, especially with rocket (arugula to us in the US).

Restaurants  Our first evening in Australia we dined at ARIA in Sydney where I enjoyed Crisp Chinese Skin Barramundi with Shaved Abalone, Choy Sum and Duck Broth. We shared a bottle of Carlei Estate 2000 Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley – we couldn't believe it, we'd found our first really good Victorian pinot noir of the trip.

The second night we stayed at LindenWarrah Country House in Miliwa, Kings Valley and ate at their ‘Restaurant Merlot'. I enjoyed a roast loin of lamb on an olive potato fritter, semi dried tomato, rocket salad, crisp fried onion and a basil oil emulsion. Jud loved his duck breast tossed with nashi pear, baby bok choy and pomegranate molasses jus and creme fraiche.

Our most memorable dining experience occurred at Lake House in Daylesford - Macedon Ranges (Spa Region). Here we enjoyed the attention of Hayden Winch who helped us with wine and food selections. I had a wonderful main course with duck prepared four different ways.

Being a Peter Weir fan I had to make a pilgrimage to Hanging Rock in the Macedon Range region for a picnic. After lunch I climbed up to Hanging Rock in the fog and mist and experienced that eerie beautiful film again.

Near the end of our time in Victoria we stayed at Marylands Country House near Yarra Valley. Here I enjoyed a very good grilled kangaroo with the Bannockburn Pinot Noir made by Gary Farr. A Pinot Noir available in the US and worth finding.

Many wineries are opening cafes adjoining their cellar door (tasting room). These cafes often have beautiful views looking out over the vineyards. Domaine Chandon in Yarra Valley and Paringa Estate in Morington Peninsula are two worth mentioning.

Lake House Restaurant

Paringa Estate Restaurant in Mornington Peninsula

Recipes  Caesar Cardini invented Caesar Salads in the 1920's at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico (across the US border at San Diego). According to Julia Child, who ate there as a child, Caesar originally used only the smallest inner leaves of Romaine and the salad was eaten with the fingers. The Australians have taken the Caesar Salad to a whole new level. They add bacon, parmesan curls, cheesy croutons, and top with a poached egg. Click here for my version of Australian Caesar Salad.

Australia's Caesar Salad

1.  Alpine Valleys.  After a beautiful drive through this sub-alpine valley we found Bill Tynan's Bogong Estate. He advertises "Pinot Noir is all we do" and yes, they make 5 pinot noirs – a pinot rose, Le Jour, Le Nuit, Le Soir, and a fortified pinot noir. Their alluvial soils, sub-alpine climate, and high altitude make for some nice pinot noirs.

2.  Beechworth.  Here we also found a sub-alpine climate and soils varying from alluvial to reddish brown older soils. Grapes were first planted in these areas in the 1970's. Guy Darling from the King Valley, one of the first people to plant grape vines in this region, steered us to Richard Kinzbrunner's Giaconda Vineyard and Winery. The Giaconda Winery was built of stone and beautifully set on a hill overlooking the vineyards. One vineyard below us was planted in a circle. I'd never seen that before. Rick poured us his 2002 Pinot Noir and we instantly knew why Guy Darling had sent us to Giaconda. It was wonderful! The kind of pinot you search for. We talked with Rick for quite a while and then went into the barrel room to look at the barrels. He was using a new technique that he had devised where the barrels can each be rolled over to get the wine against the bung hole. The bung holes are also new in that they have a screw holding them in. We talked about French barrels and his were the top of the line with wooden twigs set around them as decoration. He said he uses barrels with a three level toast. We stayed about an hour and at the end certainly knew why Rick had been named Australian Winemaker for 2003.

Second we visited the regions around Melbourne. They contain the five viticultural regions of Geelong, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula, Sunbury, and Yarra Valley. I found good pinot noirs in all of these areas. Our wine tasting route took us on a circle going to Macedon Ranges, then Geelong. Next a ferry across the bay to Mornington Peninsula and on to Yarra Valley and back to Melbourne.

3.  Macedon Ranges.  Located north of Melbourne in the Spa area of Victoria. The soils vary from deep loam to sandy granite based loams. Here you'll also find Hanging Rock where you must go for a picnic and the Lake House, possibly Australia's best restaurant. They produce sparkling wines, including some Pinot Noir sparkling wine, in the Macedon Ranges. Here we found Phillip & Jeni Moraghan's Curly Flat Vineyard with the help of a sheep herder herding his sheep down the road on a motorcycle. We tasted Curley Flat pinot at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon. This was the reason we had come on our quest to find more Australian pinot noirs. We enjoyed a tasting of different clones from the barrels in their beautiful new winery. We also got a taste of their Curley Flat 2002 Pinot Noir - an absolutely wonderful wine that won't be released until March 2005.

4.  Geelong.  Located to the west of Port Philip Bay, Geelong has more than 19 wineries. This region has a very dry maritime climate. Swiss immigrants first planted grapes in the 1850's, but they were soon torn out due to phylloxera. Grape vine planting began again in the 1960's. The soils range from deep loam to sandy gravel loam. Here we found Gary Farr and his two pinot noirs, Bannockburn Vineyards and Bannockburn by Farr. His son, Nicholas Farr, is now making his own pinot noir called Farr Rising. Look for all three – they are wonderful, especially the Bannockburn Vineyards Pinot Noir. It was easy to see why Gary Farr was Australian Winemaker for 2002.

5.  Mornington Peninsula.  Located south-east of Melbourne this area has a definite maritime climate with red volcanic soils. Serious commercial wine grape growing began in the 1970's. Here we saw some very interesting trellising which I believe is called Tatura trellis. This Australian developed system consists of two inclined canopies at 60 degrees meeting in the middle of the row. A wonderful pinot noir from this area that is well worth finding is Silverwood Estate owned by Paul and Denise Dennis.

6.  Yarra Valley.  Located north-east of Melbourne with loams in the southern part and red volcanic in the north east. Grape growing flourished during the 1800's but died out during the depression. In the 1960's commercial grape growing started again and in the 1980's James Halliday established his Coldstream Hills Winery. Moet & Chandon established their Domaine Chandon Australia Green Point property in 1986. Here you can enjoy a light lunch in their beautiful Green Point Room along with both sparkling and still pinot noir. Tim Ambrose of Berringer Blass met us at St Huberts for a tasting and then accompanied us to Yarra Ridge where Diana took us on a tour of the winery and vineyards. Each year they invite Olympic stars to make their Yarra Ridge Achilles Pinot Noir. The athletes don bathing suits and jump in a large oak barrel and stomp the grapes. Yarra Ridge donates the wine to charities of the athlets choosing.