Every other year I like to go to a couple of the major wine fairs in the World. Unlike those that we see here such the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, these are huge productions. Thousands of wineries presenting their wares. Some are a part of a regional group of booths, while others like E&J Gallo, Yellow Tail, and Kendall-Jackson, have huge, multi-thousand square foot booths that often feature multiple tasting bars, cooking stations and break out offices.
Each trip I take I first go with a plan as to what to look for. For the London International Wine Fair it was 2005 Bordeaux and Australian wines. My criteria was simple- best glass of wine for the price and not currently available in B.C.
I happened upon and very nice fellow Warren Slattery from Australian Vintage. Australian Vintage is one of the largest Australian wine companies and produces wines like Nepenthe, McGuigan and Tempus Two. Given the pedigree of these brands I was a little hesitant as I was looking for wines that could beat or meet Yellow Tail in terms of price and quality. This was no small feat given the economies of scale that Yellow Tail enjoys.
Warren invited me to sit down and we started chatting about the weather, quality, drought, you know, basic cork dork small talk. We eventually turned to a discussion about why I had travelled all the way to London. I told him what I was looking for and a grin appeared upon his face as he asked to follow him. We left the area with the big posters of McGuigan and Nepenthe and went to a side office. Behind the desk he had a few bottles ready to open. He grabbed a couple and said "I have been waiting to show someone these wines as I believe they will overtake Yellow Tail in 2 years." A bold statement that I took with a grain of salt as his goal was to get an order from me.
The first wines we tried you are likely now familiar with, Billyrock Station. The Billyrock Station Shiraz is now our best selling Shiraz and outsells Yellow Tail 4 to 1. The 2006 Shiraz was tremendous and much to my glee it later became, and still is, the highest rated wine under $10 ($13 in BC) in the Wine Spectator over the last 12 months. They gave it an 89 points, and trust me it is well deserved.
The other wines we tried were from Redhill Creek, and I must say that I thought that they were not only better than Yellow Tail, but better than wines such as Wolf Blass and Rosemount which in our market are priced in the high teens.
Both wines are sourced from South Eastern Australia which means that they can come from South Australia, New South Wales, or the state of Victoria. In this case most of the fruit comes from South Australia's Riverland and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.
The Redhill Creek Chardonnay ($9.99) is a classic Australian Chardonnay in the sense that it is filled with tropical fruit flavours with undertones of dried coconut and hints of vanilla. Serve just chilled and it is killer... especially for the price.
The Redhill Creek Shiraz ($9.99). Wow, Wow, Wow. Gobs of succulent black plums, black fruits and juicy cherries with opulent undertones of savoury and baking spices. It is not often that I can wax this poetically on a $10 wine, but this one deserves it.After I tasted the wine with Warren I asked about the price and volume discounts. When it comes down to price my goal is to shave off the price $.25 at a time as for $.25 taken off at the winery means saving $1.00 here in B.C. Well when he told me the price I nearly fell off my stool. Without trying to talk him down any further I signed a purchase order for 1100 cases on the proviso that it is a Liquor Plus exclusive.
I am very happy to say that he agreed and the wine will finally be in stores in the afternoon of August 17, 2009.
Please let me know your thoughts on the wine and this blog. You can reach me at rphillips@liquorplus.ca or on twitter at www.twitter.com/Rod_Phillips.
Trust your Taste and Drink Responsibly
Cheers
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