A few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting the Barossa Valley in South Australia which, for me, is like going home as I was born and raised in as a small town in the region.
It's close to where I live, is stunningly beautiful in any season and is full of friendly people and businesses that value locally produced foods and products and their easy-going way of life. There's many great places to eat, things to do and oh yeah, it's also one of the worlds most renowned wine regions.
I go there a lot, but still use the word privileged because that's how it feels to have this incredible location right in my back yard, and the ability to go there whenever I like.
I'm not a wine person; I mean, I drink it now and then, but the finer points of the beverage are rather lost on me mostly. I'm certainly not a wine snob, nor do I wish to be; I'll leave that to my sister. Having said that, I appreciate what goes into crafting wine and certainly respect the traditions and history behind some of the Barossa Vineyards and wine-makers.
Barossa was settled around 1840 drawing its name from the Barossa Range as named by Colonel William Light (named for the Battle of Barrosa in which the British defeated the French in 1811. Colonel had himself fought in the battle.) You may note the different spelling; a clerical error misspelled the name on registration of the mountain range back in 1837 and it was decided not to change it...The region used the same spelling.
I visited one of the best wineries in the region, St Hugo, in which someone I know works. He runs the restaurant at the cellar door complex and I was lucky to spend a couple hours with him talking about the wines, history, process and, of course, his food and kitchen garden; I toured the latter, tasted some of the excellent produce which is picked in the morning and on the plate at lunch time, and generally had access all areas, which was very cool.
A little tangent
When I researched the winery prior to arriving I realised that they produce an exclusive wine in conjunction with Australian Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo who drives for Mclaren Racing in the Formula One World Championship. So...as a very keen Formula One fan, (been watching it for forty three years), it was a very cool thing and no matter what it tasted like I was keen to own a bottle...I bought three.
Here's a short video about the wine with Daniel Ricciardo himself doing the talking.
Whilst doing the wine tasting, in the very cool VIP tasting room, we spoke about the history of the vineyards which date back to founder and vigneron, Johann Gramp, of Gramp & Sons winery, founded in 1847. His grandson, legendary winemaker Hugo Gramp, is honoured each year. As St Hugo say on their website: "We show deep respect for the grapes grown on our sites by turning them into wines with structure, power and elegance." All in Hugo's name.
This is the VIP wine tasting room which is where we did the wine tasting as guests of my friend. It was very cool...although they didn't crack a bottle of Daniel Ricciardo's wine.
As I said above, I'm not a wine person however as a Formula One fan I couldn't resist getting a bottle of this wine which will probably sit gathering dust for some time. In fact, that's probably not a bad thing as I've been told it will reach it's full...umm...I don't know the word, it's full legitness(?) in about six to ten years. That's ok by me, I'll probably never drink it myself anyway.
I ended up with three bottles as I thought it might make a decent gift for someone down the track considering it will eventually sell out completely and be rather exclusive. It wasn't cheap but I guess, as far as wines go, it wasn't that expensive either, at $65AUD a bottle. My friend got me his forty percent off everything deal, except the limited edition DR3, but that's ok, I was happy to pay full price. I actually didn't buy anything else anyway.
The bottles come boxed up nicely and are printed with the signature of Daniel Ricciardo on bottle and box. Each is also numbered individually as you'd expect with a limited edition. They look really cool and I like the connection to motor racing they have which is the only reason I bought them in the first place.
For me, the best part of the day was the tour of the kitchen garden which takes three people working full time to maintain. They work on sustainable methods of growing and are organic as well. It's a very impressive garden full of some amazing fresh produce.
It's really great how they work the menu in the restaurant around what's available also, what's in season. They have to buy produce in as well, however the percentage of purchased produce is very low as most comes from the garden. Also, if they buy something they cannot produce themselves they buy locally from responsibly-farmed produce and generally process it themselves. (They want sausages, they buy the whole animal and make them on-site for instance. Nothing goes to waste.)
As I wandered with the chef we spoke about some of their methods, what's planted with what and how they fertilise and keep pests away, and I came to the understanding that he is completely connected to the foods he produces, and is passionate about cooking with foods grown in the grounds around the restaurant. Of course, he doesn't do much cooking these days as he has a team, but he has a deep connection to the land (lives locally) and to delivering food that can be traced from the table all the way back to the source. It's very cool and, as a vegetable gardener myself, I enjoyed that part of the afternoon the most.
Overall I had a great visit and spending time with my friend was great too. He sometimes does one-on-one cooking classes in a small area off the kitchen garden and I'm considering having a go at it. $250/per person is a bit steep, but maybe he'll throw me that forty percent discount again?
A few weeks ago I wrote a post you can see here about this particular day but hadn't mentioned much about St Hugo's figuring I'd do a post just on the DR3 wine at some later date. On that post someone I know well made a comment, which he has done before, about how much he likes the Barossa wines. There it is below.
We swapped a few comments and I said I'd send him one because he couldn't get here to get his own. Boomy lives in Scotland you see, and whilst it would be cool to show him around my back yard it's not possible at this stage although in the future maybe...Come on Hive and BTC.
Being the class act he is, Boomy declined because he knows it will cost a lot to send but...I don't care. The offer was made and it stands. I told him so. I'm wearing him down though, his resistance is futile.
Anyway, this post is to further entice the chap and influence his decision in respect of accepting a bottle of DR3 from me. Of course, he'll have to give me his address and risk me dropping around unannounced for a visit in which I'll eat him out of house and home, steal any Lego and Scotch whiskey I can find and generally outstay my welcome then leave him to do the cleaning up...but otherwise it's all good.
Seriously though 
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
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