Melbourne Food and Wine Festival - Home Page

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival - Home Page

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival will be held over a couple of weeks in March, Starting on Friday 11 March. There are literally hundreds of events, Both in Melbourne and in many regional areas. One which you may enjoy is the Ultimate cellar door, held on the promenade at Southbank. You can taste wines from the following list of participants.

B'Darra Estate, Blue Pyrenees Estate, Boggy Creek Vineyard, Brown Brothers, Buller Views Wines, Campbells Wines, Cold Stream Hills, Curly Flat Vineyard, D'Angelo Estate Winery, Darling Park Winery, Delatite Winery, Downing Estate, Dromana Estate, Gapstead Wines, Hanging Rock Winery, Hochkirch Wines, Jindalee Estate, Kinloch Estate, Milvine Estate Wines, Mitchelton Wines, Morning Sun Vineyard, Mount Avoca, Mt Langi Ghiran, Oakridge Vineyards, Outlook Hill, Samson Hill Estate, Scotchmans Hill, Seppelt Great Western, Seville Hill, Shadowfax Wines, Shelmerdine Vineyard, Snobs Creek Estate Wine, Sugar Loaf Creek Estate, Sutton Grange Winery, Tallis Wine, Tuck's Ridge, Yering Station

The Wine Century Club

I'm sure you would like to join the happy folk frolicking above. But perhaps you enjoy more cerebral pleasures. So I have a suggestion.

Our friends at Delong's Wine info have started the Wine Century Club for those who have tried wines from over 100 varieties. They have even devised a checklist to help you keep count.

Membership is free, but only open to those who can honestly say that they have tried 100 varietals. So use the link below to download your checklist. While you are there, why not check out the Wine Variety Table and Index that they have for sale. It's a great resource for learning about wine.

The Wine Century Club

Victorian Wines travel to Sydney

50 Victorain wineries and 300 wines will be on show in Sydney on 2-4 Feb. Most wine regions will be represented, and quite a few wineries will be showing some alternative varieties.

VWIA - Sydney, dont miss a drop

Coming soon! THE wine club

Not another wine club. Well yes, this one is different.

It will be the only club dedicated solely to alternative variety wines. You will get access to many of the hard to find wines in the one store, so you can mix your own dozen of varietal wines, or try some of our special premixed samplers.

Only available to Vinodiversity News subscibers. (But hey! Subscription is free)

So sign on to Vinodiversity News and you will be the first to know when the club is launched.

Vinodiversity Australian Wine Club details

Moving Story

Sometimes in our life we encounter a moving story which galvinizes us into action. Here is one that I hope has that effect on you!

Our affiliated merchant WineMakersChoice are moving their warehouse. So they need your help to lighten thier load. Until next Tuesday 18th of Jan they have some great specials, so check them out via this link to wine bargains

Closures : the debate continues

Closing the lid on closures, a Yarra Valley Wine Masterclass will be held to compare wines under different closures. Date Saturday 16th Jan, at Chateau Yering Historic House.

Further details: Yarra Valley Wine Network - Yarra Valley - Wine - Wineries

Wine of the Year: Viognier

My friend Martin Field is a wine writer and educator par excellence. He writes an email newsletter called Evine, but hasn't got a website.

I have always thought Martin was a meat and three veg man who enjoys a Shiraz, but the December issue of Evine, which I have recently found under a pile of Xmas cards and empty bottles, contains a surprise. He has nominated the 2004 Yalumba Y Series Viognier as his wine of the year. The times are a changin'.

Evine is full of interesting and opinionated stuff about wine, food and philosophy. It is distributed by email. You can get onto Martin's mailing list by emailing a request to him at vitivinivino@hotmail.com
There is a sort of voluntary subscription, but it is well worth the money.

Did you hear the one about....

...the Italian, the American and the horse in the glass of Aussie Barbera? All the ingredients for a collision of cultures. This story is enough to make a wombat weep.

So check it out.

Italian varieties in Australia, an outsiders' view

Rising star - Pinot Grigio Article in the Age Epicure

In The Age Epicure of 4 January there is an article on Pinot grigio/gris.

The French call it pinot gris, the Italians call it pinot grigio, and in Australia it’s called either pinot gris or pinot grigio, depending on the winemaker’s preference...
writes Felicity Carter

Read the Epicure article

Vinodiversity information about Pinot Grigio including a list of Australian producers