ItalyAdventure. . . Getting some Euros to Go.

Please Sir, can we ave some more......

How hard should it be to get your hands on some Euros in the USA to take to on your holiday? We were of the thought that in this modern day it should be easy and inexpensive. Where would one start, who to call and how much will it, should it cost?  We were about to find out. We really did not want to go to the airport exchange booth in Rome and really get dinged for fees.  One stop seemed obvious. We had to go there anyway to get our international drivers permit, AAA. We checked online with this Agency / Club, Member serving outfit only to find a rate that seemed better suited to the desperate tourist service Money Exchange at the airport. With an exchange rate of US$4000 = €2,836 (as reference the flat exchange rate on MSN is $4,000 = €3,040 used for exchanges over $1mil) and then we got this quote! Travelex was $4,000 = €2,750. Getting a queasy feeling with all this lost money we decided that next up some checking with our banks.

Chase $4,000 = €2,880 and BofA $4000 = €2,901. Neither BofA nor Chase charge an actual fee but their buy/sell rates allow for a little profit. All money ordered is available in about 24 to 48 hours. As you can see it is worth checking with your bank before just going for it from some travel related service. If you like a bit of a gamble you should be watching the rise and fall of your soon to be purchased currency on the money market and try to decide when to purchase to get the most money for your money, keeping in mind that the drop will show up slower than the rise on your exchange. Funny how that happens.

Well, there you have it.  With just a few common sources used we went from €2,750 - €2,901 which is quite a difference for all doing the exact same thing. The amount of money we chose to use as a comparison was random and not based on any actual allowance proposed or presumed and was, well, it just was. We plan on using our credit cards for the big stuff but know we would need cash for the stuff, well for the stuff you need cash for. The rates were also taken within an hour of each other on one day as the rates can change quickly. 

While keeping in mind that the rates are in constant flux the process could make you go bananas like a Queenslander during summer but hopefully we have at least covered the base line to start, to help you move ahead.

Happy Adventures,

Cheers,

Kiwi & Koala

WineWalkabout, Naracoorte Caves

For those of you who travel with someone not into wine as much as you are, and need to have some travel balance, we are sorry to hear that. Ok, that all sounds good and well but seeing a bit of whatever else is of interest in any area you visit can be fun. Yeah, even if it cuts into the wine time a bit. Recently, while in the Limestone Coast area of South Australia such an opportunity presented itself and a trip to the Naracoorte CavesNational Park was experienced. This park is South Australia's only World Heritage site. The site was officially recognized in 1994 because of the importance of the fossils in the caves.

The Naracoorte Caves National Park is located on Hynam-Caves Road, 10 kilometers south of the main township of Naracoorte. One thing to keep in mind is there are only so many tours a day and if you miss your time slot you will wait a few hours for the next one, assuming there is room for you. There are a few choices and purely by chance we ended up on the tour in the Victoria Cave. The Victoria Cave is the most studied cave and as such makes for an interesting tour with lots of information and history. The tour takes you through a series of decorated chambers on the way to the Fossil Chamber where a fair amount of time is spent discussing the accumulation of bones in the caves, excavation techniques, as well as research. While there you'll also get the chance to get a close up look at a couple complete skeletons of mega fauna species.

The Fossil Chamber talk is suitable for all ages and is very informative, but does run a good 30 minutes or thereabouts, so may not be suitable for some young energetic children (reduce the kids sugar content and make them run from the Center to the tour start, please). It is an easy and enjoyable walking tour with some steps going in and a relatively easy slope coming out. There are about six different cave tours to be enjoyed along with the Fossil Center.

There is also a camp ground for those so inclined and a series of walking trails where all kinds of nature can be seen. Rumor has it that you may see western grey kangaroos, echidnas, wombats and sugar gliders that also live there. In the evening you may be lucky enough to see brushtail possums in the trees going about their nocturnal business. The park's walking trails are also a bird watcher's paradise with thornbills, rosellas and honeyeaters in large numbers.

A great spot to go check out if you are in the Limestone Coast area. If you like this sort of adventure this is a ‘Recommended’ spot to check out. If perhaps this type of thing is not your cup of tea, it is “Good, would go back’ so either way check it out.

Happy Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Balnaves, Coonawarra South Australia.

What is one to do when finding oneself in the magic kingdom of Coonawarra. Among other things, go and have a taste and a glass or three at Balnaves of Coonawarra. Better yet try to get some time with winemaker Peter Bissell. But don’t forget to taste the wares. Peter had been expecting us and upon arrival had us jump in the car and off for a whirlwind historical tour of Coonawarra. Peter’s knowledge and passion for the area was very apparent as he drove us all over the area sharing the history and explaining the unique terroir and the intricacies of each and every vineyard we passed. It was a varied tour with Peter even pointing out with pride the original railroad station, RSL hall, the local Coonawarra store and the park (with its own tribute to local wine dignitaries). Once done with the tour around the area it was back to Balnaves to check out their award winning winery and wines.

The winery started the construction process in 1995 and was operational for the 2006 vintage. To quote Balnaves on their winery “To build an expandable winery and barrel storage facility, designed to be in harmony with the surrounding Viticulture envelope through seasonal change. The winery was to complement the cellar door and had to be a striking visual element of deliberate form and colour as an enhancement to the landscape. The "bell tower" acts as a local beacon for visitors as well as offering an unprecedented panorama over the Coonawarra Vineyards. What we achieved was all of that and more, and as a result a number of awards have been won for the winery design.” 
The facility is very impressive in its use of space, with a very efficient design and the inclusion of a number of round open top fermenters.

Peter has quite a history and to make sure the facts are straight this is an excerpt from his bio “Pete was appointed Wynns winemaker in 1989 working at Wynns Coonawarra Estate with Peter Douglas until 1995. Peter did vintages as a flying winemaker for Penfolds in Russia (1993), for the Laperouse project in the South of France (1994), worked in the Coteaux de Languedoc and visited Bordeaux in 2000. Pete visited Tuscany and in particular Bolgheri in 2006. Pete joined Balnaves in 1995 to design and oversee construction of the winery and take over wine making. In 2005 Pete was named the Qantas / Gourmet traveller Winemaker of the Year.”

Coonawarra has developed an enviable reputation as a producer of premium table wines, particularly Cabernet, and Balnaves is up there with the best. Check this validation of their efforts. (http://www.balnaves.com.au/our-wines/awards/ )Then there is this small accolade. (http://www.balnaves.com.au/assets/assets/James-Halliday-Results-2013.pdf )

We purchased and took back to California a bottle of the Talley as he believes not only is it great now, but give it a few years rest and it could/should be amazing. In the meantime we are working on perfecting our Rack-O-lamb so we are ready with a worthy meal to pair it with. This brings us to an interesting thing about the Balnaves wine making philosophy. They make their wines to show complex fruit, oak and tannin aromas, rich yet fine structures, with noticeable texture as well as flavour on the finish. They do this so their wines accompany food and highlight the mouth feel qualities their wines produce. Now we love to have a drink at just about any time but great wine with great food enjoyed with great company is what makes it all, well, just magic!


Balnaves has a great selection of wines with more diversity than we have discussed. So do yourself a huge favor and go on by and check their wines in their very comfortable cellar door, we give it a ‘Recommend’. Say high to Peter from WineWalkabout and enjoy a wine tasting like few others.

Happy Tasting Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Bellisima wines in Lodi, California

Finding himself with a little free time Koala decided to call in on and have a taste with a winery that had connected with WineWalkabout a few weeks earlier.

The winery and tasting room are located on the the Historic property of The Dodge Estate built in 1866. The Sorelle Winery (Sorelle meaning sisters) is built in the style of this historic house, and makes for a beautiful relaxing setting, with a 'soul' comforting link to the the past. The gardens on the property are immaculately groomed, and only add to the class of the setting. The tasting room has a patio outside, with a lovely water feature and of course those wonderful gardens. It would be just wonderful to sit and enjoy an afternoon with friends and what better way to enjoy that setting than some lovely wine.

Sisters Kim and Melissa Scott and their family open the doors in late 2010. Sorelle, in Italian, translates into sisters. Why the Italian name? Their mother was Italian , and this is also the prompt to focus on Italian varietals.
How appropriate, with the boys off to Italy on an #ItalianAdventure in a few weeks that three lovely Italian style wines were to be offered. Tara greeted Koala and set up the first taste which was a very nice Barbera. Being such a new winery big expectations of the wines Koala did not have. As he took his first taste, you know that noise they make on TV when they back something up. You know that RrrrRrrup, well that noise happened.

The Barbera was delightful. A medium bodied wine with lovely fruit qualities with red cherry as the most prominent fruit note. With some toasty vanilla detected, bright acidity and nice delicate tannins on the finnish. An excellent wine and the take home bottle of the day. Koala rates it a 7 and at **** a great price as well. Next up the 2010 Sangiovese and the Primitivo. Two more wonderful expressions if these varieties. Very impressive wines that are a sheer delight to drink at very good prices.

Also on offer were a Sparking Almond and a mulled wine. Neither of these were tasted, as some driving was necessary.

A welcoming tasting room with a great patio, in a beautiful setting on an awesome property, with some great expressions of these Italian wines at very good prices.
Koala 'Recommends' you go by and check em out and experience their fabulous facility and wine. Don't forget to tell em we sent you!

Happy Taste Adventures,

Cheers,

Kiwi & Koala

Chapel Hill, McLaren Vale

Situated in the acclaimed McLaren Vale wine area is one of the more beautiful and classy cellar doors you can visit. Chapel Hill, a winery that takes its name from the historic ironstone chapel built on the property in 1865.

The chapel closed in its centenary year (1965) and fell into disrepair until its restoration in the 1970s. Tom Nelson then established a winery and the Chapel Hill brand in 1973.

A new winery was constructed in 1994 with a capacity of 1000 tonnes the equivalent of around 80,000 cases of wine. In 2000 Chapel Hill was acquired by the Swiss based family of Thomas Schmidheiny. Ok enough with the history. If you’re interested in learning more visit the website.

Now on to the most important thing, the wine and the tasting experience. Chapel Hill is a great facility for having a taste with friends or with that just special one. The remodeled and refurbished church has been tastefully put together and makes for a great setting. Heck they even have art work there for the cultured among us to have a good Captain Cook (kiwi recons the only culture Koala has needs medication).

McLaren Vale is a favorite South Australian wine region for many people and has more than 60 cellar doors. The region’s warm climate means it produces great Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay as well as varietals that include Tempranillo, Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne, Barbera, Sangiovese, and we are sure we are missing some. 

Getting to Chapel Hill is an easy drive that takes less than an hour from Adelaide city. 

At Chapel Hill the focus in the vineyard is on sustainable viticulture and they apply some biodynamic principles to improve vineyard health and to reduce their reliance on chemicals.

Chapel Hill produces more than eighteen different wines and hard as it is to believe, Koala tried talking the tasting room attendant into pouring them all. She was smart enough not to fall for his sweet talking. 

The wines were all very good, and some were excellent. Koala’s favorite and bottle purchase was The Vicar. The Vicar is Chapel Hill’s flagship wine and it is a blend of the best vineyard selection of Chapel Hill’s most outstanding parcels of McLaren Vale Shiraz. One nice drop! The Vicar rates an 8 and ** on our Official scale.

Go down to McLaren Vale and stop on in to Chapel Hill for a taste of some great wines in a beautiful setting. Koala ‘recommends’ it!

Happy Wine Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

The cellar door is open from 11am-5pm daily, closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Harney Lane, Lodi Ca.

One of the best ways to find a great place to taste wine is to find out where the staff of one winery go to taste at another and buy their wine. While in the Lodi area of California tasting, well wine, what else, I asked one tasting room attendant about where she would go for a good drop if it wasn't where she worked and she recommended Harney Lane.

Never one to hesitate to check out a new tasting room I was off like a bucket of prawns in the sun. Arriving at Harney Lane I  noticed how new the facility looked. Come to discover the tasting room is only a few years old. A nice roomy well laid out tasting room with a nice outside area with a fire pit. The selection of wines to taste are good and definitely worth a stop.

The heritage of Harney Lane goes back to the turn of the century when vines were planted in 1907 along Harney Lane. They have been at this for five generations crafting the vineyards and methods over time to produce some lovely wines. This is validated by loyal following and numerous awards for all their wines.

One of my favorites and the bottle purchase of the visit was the Tempranillo and in writing this discovered it is also well regarded. I give them a 'Recommend' you go have a taste. 

Tempranillo  2007 

GOLD 2010 Grand Harvest Wine Competition

GOLD, Best of Class, 2010 Consumer Wine Awards

So if you find yourself in the Lodi are go on by and check em out and tell em we sent you!

Happy tastin Adventures

WineWalkabout

Kiwi and Koala

Walkabout 2012 Hahndorf Hill Winery

What’s better than a good wine tasting? How about if you added a selection of the world’s best chocolates? How about if you get to choose from a pre-selected group of expert pairings or maybe you prefer to make some pairings of your own. Yeah that would be great you say! Then gather up your drinking partner and head on up to Hahndorf Hill Winery in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.

With a nice selection of wine s for tasting including some Austrian varieties for your drinking pleasure, it is a unique tasting experience. With Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, White Mischief , generally a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Rosé (described as a Rosé for blokes), Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch and a lovely Cool style Shiraz to choose from.

Adelaide Hill’s Shiraz are often times described as typically delicate and complex, but as was discovered here should not be assumed to be delicate as these are silky and composed of a medley of red berries, earthy dark chocolate and with excellent structure.

The Adelaide Hill’s Shiraz are often described as ‘Feminine’ but the Hahndorf Hill 2007 Shiraz has been described as ‘Metrosexual’ due the influence of a very hot summer. So the wines are great but it's time to up the ante, now for some Chocolate!

Go ahead, dive into the ChocoVino experience. You'll get to explore exciting new taste sensations all the while enjoying some great view’s of the Adelaide Hills. You will experience how the concept of terroir links both chocolate and wine. In this video from HahndorfHill’s website you will meet Larry and Marc who will 'talk and walk' you through the Hahndorf Hill experience with Grant talking about the specific chocolates.

ChocoVino is presented seven days a week (excluding public holidays) from 11am to 5pm at the cellar door. Bookings are essential. If you wish to book for ChocoVino, or you would like further information, contact the cellar door.

Koala gives the Hahndorf Hill experience a ‘Must Do’ if you are in Adelaide. Whether it’s just to taste the wonderful wines or to experience what has recently been listed on CNN's prestigious '10 global adventures for chocoholics.' The choice is yours, just do it!

While there if you see Larry, tell him Koala says g’day!

Happy Tasting Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

WineWalkabout Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills

Simple elegance. Yeah that’s it! Simple elegance. That is how Koala would describe his experience at Shaw & Smith in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. Set in some rolling lawn areas with vineyards to one side, some gum trees to the other and a small lake for that added touch. It is just visual elegance. The tasting room is also very simple yet elegant. Two sides of floor to ceiling glass to be able to enjoy the view and a series of tables set to help achieve that. It’s a classy setting with a well put together pairing of some lovely Adelaide Hills wine, cheese and crackers for your enjoyment.

All the while, a knowledgeable individual will guide you through the experience with as little or as much input as you need.

If you are on a date and wish to impress? Take them here! Head on up to the Adelaide Hills and enjoy this elegant experience, rain or shine it’s worth it.

If the date goes well, and you get married there is no need for an invite, a nice bottle of something from Shaw & Smith will do nicely. Oh, do remember there are two of us.

Happy Wine Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Kiwi and Koalas WW_12

So with mouths still going mmmmmm the bottle is empty. This week’s WW standout is a J. Lohr Vineyards 2006 Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep dark-colored with a red-purple hue. Ripe fruit aromas of black plum and a hint of raspberry infused with a hint of chocolate and hazelnut from long maturation in French oak barrels. The rich tannin structure of this wine activates the palate and welcomes pairing of a great week night dinner. Maybe it was the pairing of good BBQ steak but this tasted like a 7 and is ***. So get you some of this and enjoy with dinner.

Go on!

Two tasting rooms to visit; one at 6169 Airport Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446 and the other at 1000 Lenzen Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126.

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Daily.
(closed New Years Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day)

Happy Tasting Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Mobile (mind) blogging; Does it work? Testing Testing!

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Yep, as little tackers we saw it happen on July 21st 1969 at 4;30pm Koala time and 7pm Kiwi time on black and white TV's. We grew up in a time when 45s and 33's were what you listen to music on. Reel to reel was out, 8 track was going out and cassette tapes ruled the cool kids cars. CD's did not exist yet. The transistor radio on 'am' was still the place to get your tunes and an older mates or your older brothers drivers license (no photo ID back in the day) was how you got beer at the drive thru bottle'o.
The gang had a predetermined meeting place to start the weekend routine so everyone knew where to be to plan the next gathering. You had to plan to be spontaneous. Now this may give you the sweats, we had no mobile phones.

Yeah you let that sink in a bit. Once we left the house there was no way to communicate! There were also no message machines other than mum or dad writing a note and sticky taping it to the fridge. We all met at the predetermined location (pub) every Friday at between 5-7pm to plan the weekend activity unless one had been planned at an earlier gathering for that time slot. It seems to us that this commitment to some basic schedule, to be connected to the group, made us more reliable. We could not just change plans at a whim. In order to be a part of the group you had to be respectful of others time and participate or move on. Now people moved on from time to time and that was fine but for those that stayed life long friendships that bind across long periods of time and different continents were formed. The type where even decades later you can just slip back into hanging out like no time has passed.
Where are we going with this you ask? Down a wombat warren it seems, as this started out as a test of mobile blogging. While there are some editing features that are very difficult without a mouse a basic post with some pictures is very doable.

Amazed at what was about to happen it seemed appropriate to give some basis of perspective of who we are and what we grew up with, to where we are now. Sending words out into the world using a small hand held device with no wires that can be read instantly globally. An impossible fantasy that even the best sci-fy had not dream't of yet, and here it is a reality. We now live in a world of instant global communication with pictures and video that can splash one's latest achievement or failure or most embarrassing moment to tens of milions of people in a matter of seconds. Given our colourful youth we are grateful this did not exist while we were growing up. A lesson from those who know very little, but see what might have been if things had been different when we were young. For your own good.

Don't drink without pants!

(this was posted by computer)

Happy Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

It seems that you can come back and edit the drunken posts as well. Nice!

WineWalkabout visits Smith & Hooper in Wrattonbully

Koala was wondering how many folks out there are familiar with a place called Wrattonbully? This is on everybody’s list of wine areas to try right? No, well it should be! Wrattonbully? Where the hail (told not to use the word hell. What the hell!) is Wrattonbully you ask? Wrattonbully is a secluded area of World Heritage-listed ancient geology, originally settled by hardworking farming pioneers, and more recently chosen for its ideal viticultural attributes and just up the road from Padthaway. Padthaway, yeah that helps heaps you say. The Wrattonbully wine region is located in the Northern end of the Limestone Coast area in the south eastern part of South Australia. See the map. 

Basically behind the Famous Naracoorte Caves. Wrattonbully contains similar soil types to its more famous neighbor Coonawarra, with large areas of the famous terra rossa soil over limestone ridges. These ridges are found throughout the region often on quite high well drained ground. In the early 1990s these soils attracted the interest of winemakers from both Coonawarra and Padthaway where the terra rossa ridges had largely all been planted. Many of the ridges in Wrattonbully showed very similar characteristics to the best vineyard sites in Coonawarra and Padthaway. This combined with the availability of good quality underground water, and available licenses for irrigation, together with a similar climate to Coonawarra, led to a remarkable large scale planting program. Wrattonbully has almost 50 grapegrowers, and close to 20 wine producers in the region. One of these growers / producers is Smith& Hooper.

The potential promised by the large tracts of outstanding terra rossa soils over limestone is now beginning to be realized in wine quality. As the vineyards mature and winemakers begin to understand the unique characteristics of Wrattonbully and its fruit the quality just continues to get better. Over a six year period 1994 to 1999 saw a planting boom in Wrattonbully with over 1800 hectares of vineyard established. The varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot and Chardonnay represented 95% of the planting area with others like Tempranillo also being planted. Koala was lucky enough to meet and drink with the Smith & Hooper vineyard manager James and then visit the vineyards and get a fabulous (possibly soon to be famous) tour from Dan the Viticulturist. As validation of the fact that this area is starting to hit its stride is that even pitted against the finest wines from the region (and they are incredibly fine), these Wrattonbully gems came through!  Double Gold was awarded to the Smith & Hooper (part of the Yalumba family vineyards) 2009 Cabernet Merlot and Gold to the Smith & Hooper 2010 Reserve Merlot. Koala had a taste and agrees that these are some fine wines.

Dan was full of information and took Koala on a fantastic tour that was very enlightening. Now Yalumba /Smith & Hooper is no small business albeit family owned, but it could do business almost anyway it chose, and sell it through big marketing spin. You know using flashy ads touting their great caring and the such with windblown long blonde haired busty sheilas and ripped blokes in budgie smugglers. While visually engaging that is not necessary. You see as Dan toured Koala around the area he pointed out the massive old beautiful River Red Gums. These majestic trees were spared when the old time sheep farmers cleared the area for grazing but they would leave one every few hundred meters or so for some shade. Now there are vineyards all around and when they planted they chose to leave these beautiful trees. Not only that but they have created a natural habitat buffer around these trees to help keep them healthy. Those that are dying of old age have replacement trees planted and are cared for as significant habitat for local critters. They have even removed vines from areas that are not up to their standards (they could still sell the grapes for profit but choose not to) and are creating native flora and forna reserves. Some of significant size!

The area is an exciting one that is really starting to show its stuff and Koala can’t wait to go back and check the next offerings and to taste the good things to come as well as revisit some current favorites  Look so here’s the thing, if you find any wine with Wrattonbully on the label, particularly Smith & Hooper, give it a shot. This area is destined to be one of the great wine regions just as its neighbor. Keep an eye out for these wines, you may be very pleasantly surprised! Koala 'recommends' you do!

Happy Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala

Wrattonbully Wine Region

Great video on the region