Adelaide Hills – Ashton Hills

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Adelaide Hills – Ashton Hills

Recently I was back in Adelaide for Christmas and had the chance to visit a few wineries in the Adelaide Hills. The first winery we visited was the one I selected, Ashton Hills.

The Winery

“Ashton Hills is a three hectare, dry-grown vineyard that lies in the Piccadilly Valley sub region of the Adelaide Hills on a ridge just below the summit of Mount Lofty. The estate was founded by Stephen George in 1982 and since that time it has built a reputation as one of Australia’s finest proponents of Pinot Noir and cool climate whites.”

Ashton Hills was established by Stephen George in 1982. Stephen’s goal was to produce the best Pinot Noir in Australia. The first vineyard Stephen planted was in Piccadilly at an altitude of 570m that looks to the South towards the highest point in the Mount Loft Ranges, Mount Lofty (which is more of a hill than a mountain).

Ashton Hills

From a wine making principles perspective, Stephen George has always adhered to Burgundian principals, as James Halliday states “an organic process based on fact, not a glitzy PR campaign.” For more

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Adelaide Hills Grüner Veltliner

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Adelaide Hills Grüner Veltliner

When trying to decide what to write about for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge, MMWC#30, I was trying to find an “Obscure” wine topic and decided that maybe I need to review the definition of obscure. Thanks to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition I chose the “relatively unknown” definition of the word:

  • Relatively unknown: such as
    • Remote, secluded <an obscure village>
    • Not prominent or famous <an obscure poet>

Then linked a few obscure wine topics

  • An obscure Australian Wine Region
  • An obscure Varietal
  • A wine from a lesser known winery

Obscure Wine Region – The Adelaide Hills South Australia

The Adelaide Hills is probably the least known wine district in South Australia, even though it is one of the largest geographical wine regions in the country. It is also a region where a number of wine makers have experimented with a number of varietals that are relatively unknown to Australia.

Even though it is relatively unknown, the Adelaide Hills are, IMHO, one of Australia’s best wine regions. The Adelaide Hills produces some great Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, cool climate Shiraz, as well as Arneis, Grüner Veltliner, Nero d’Avola, Malbec and Saperavi to name a few of the more obscure varietals. For more

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Gaggan Nov 2016

OzsTravels 2016, Bangkok, Food, Food & Wine, Thailand, Wine , , , , , , 2 Comments
Gaggan Nov 2016

I was recently lucky enough to dine at Gaggan again, this time in the newly opened “Lab”. Chef Gaggan added to the existing plantation house restaurant a 2 level atrium, the top level of which is “The Lab”.

I like the new addition, it enhances the existing structure with minimal impact. What do you think?

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Oct 2016 RACV City Club Melbourne Members Dining Room

OzsTravels 2016, Food & Wine , , , , , , 6 Comments
Oct 2016 RACV City Club Melbourne Members Dining Room

One of my favourite places to dine in Melbourne is the Members Dining Room of the RACV City Club and, as I was in Melbourne recently, I had dinner there yet again.

The RACV Club has one of the best Australian wine lists in Melbourne, probably Australia, maybe that is why I like the place, they have a great selection of wines from all over Australia and usually a few vintages of each wine. The Club has been the Winner of Best Club Restaurant Wine List – Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2009 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame 2016. For more

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2016 October Brown Bag

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2016 October Brown Bag

It has been a while since my last post, work keeps on getting in the way of life. The October Brown Bag was a different format to our usual Brown Bags.

As the Tower Club was hosting one of the leading Chefs from Mexico City, Chef Arturo Fernandez, we had a larger attendance than usual. As there were around 15 people the Dictator of Brown Bag, Robert Rees of Wine Exchange Asia, demanded either a magnum per 2 people or 2 bottles of the same wine per two people. This meant that everyone could get a decent pour, and due to the larger attendance the wines were not poured blind as usual.

The Food

Chef Arturo Fernandez’s home restaurant is Restaurante Raíz in Mexico City, which sounds like an interesting place to visit. According to Restaurantes.com it is a good choice, this is what they say (via google translate)

In the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, in Schiller Street 331, chefs, Arturo Fernandez, Alfredo Chavez, and Israel Montero, present us with a restaurant offering Mexican cuisine with products called Root Polanco.

His concept is called cooking stations, this means that every four months the concept is changed by variations of the seasons; In addition, the content of the letter is changed every 2 days, the objective of the menu is that everything is fresh, seasonal and can enjoy food from the sea and earth, different vegetables and more. So let yourself be surprised by going to this place.

Will have to check it out when I visit Mexico City.

Chef Arturo Fernandez and the Dictator of Brown Bag

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2016 Singapore Grand Prix

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2016 Singapore Grand Prix

This year I was not lucky enough to attend the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix, I had to watch on TV and from my balcony whilst waiting leave for the airport for a business trip. Disappointing as Daniel Ricciardo was started second fastest and looked likely to have a good race, which he did.

Unfortunately Daniel did not win, but he made it an exciting finish. Thanks to the wonders of the technology I was able to watch the final laps live in the cab on the way to the airport.

I have a great view of the area around the start / finish straight, so took a few random pics. My view would be better if they remove the Benjamin Sheares Bridge.

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