Adelaide Showgrounds, 28 Jul to 30 Jul 17
Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t mind the occasional glass of beer or six, and I’ve had an affinity for craft brews for many years, long before it became popular with the bearded set. Some would even go so far as to call me a beer snob, but then what would that kind of riff-raff know!
Beer and brewing has undoubtedly come a long way in recent times. The revolution really started in the US, where home brewing has been gathering momentum since the ’80s, and now there are craft brews and brew pubs in just about every small town in every state. People often say the US makes terrible beer, which is true if you consider the commercial stuff, but they definitely make the best when it comes to the not-so-commercial. The craft brewing scene has similarly been gathering momentum around the rest of the world too, and Australia joined in quite some time ago, with a few local brew houses and national brewers making amber liquids that strayed from the mainstream chilled lagers we’re famous for.
We may be a few years behind the US, but we’re a long way ahead of many other countries, and we’ve got no shortage of sensational brews on offer which are becoming more and more popular. In fact, the brewing sensation is doing so well that we now need a festival to celebrate the immense variety on offer.
Now in its third year, the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival has grown to quite a sizable event, such that it’s now the pinnacle of Rad Beer Week (which I guess is akin to Melbourne’s Good Beer Week). Despite being a true beer nut, I hadn’t been to any of the previous Beer & BBQ Festivals, figuring they’re a bit like a wine vintage weekend, and would be full of non-beer people jumping on the bandwagon. Being convinced to go this year by a fellow beer nut, I was pleasantly proven quite wrong… the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival really is a celebration of all things brewing, and was packed with like-minded beer aficionados.
With something like 70 brewers showcasing their wares at small stands lined up in the cattle sheds at the Showgrounds – all offering a variety of different beers – you could taste for a tiny $2.50 or have a proper sample for a bit more. Both price points offered great value, and allowed for quite a lot of guzzling to be done; I’m pretty sure I drank a fair bit more than my 318 V8 Valiant does on a highway cruise! Thankfully, I do recall most of what I tried, which is a bonus for stocking the home fridge for my own personal Beer Festival!
Of course, it’s not just about beer: there’s cider too (including a warm one, perfect for a cold wet night), and of course the BBQ component of the Festival’s name. There was plenty of food options, many with an American bent, but all with varying degrees of grilling and smoking and the like – the perfect accompaniment to a good brew; as were the fires located throughout the venue. There was entertainment aplenty too, culminating with Regurgitator (not sure if that’s an appropriate band for a beer drinking festival or not) on the main stage! They played a great cross section of tunes from their illustrious career, including some of my high-school favourites like Polyester Girl and ! (Song Formerly Known As). Interestingly missing was I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff, which would maybe have been appropriate if I was aware of any of their new stuff! Nonetheless, the band was on the money, and every bit as cool as I remember from my late high school and early uni days. They still have it, though I must say the vocals were a little quiet. But perhaps that was the beer…
So, after being initially reluctant, I must say that the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival was a definite winner. While beer appreciation is decidedly growing, it thankfully hasn’t reached the snobbery of the wine industry, but is no less impressive. The festival was expensive to get in to, but the beer prices were reasonable, perhaps to offset that. Overall, a very enjoyable experience, followed by a rather mellow morning after…
Luke Balzan
Where: Adelaide Showgrounds
When: 28 to 20 Jul
Bookings: Closed
Main Street & Various Wineries, 2 Apr 2017
The pairing of an alcoholic beverage and motoring seems somewhat unusual, particularly given the efforts of the Motor Accident Commission! However, despite how unlikely it may seem, the McLaren Vale wine region has had great success in teaming up with the Adelaide motoring community to produce a sensational event that celebrates the best of both types of ‘vintage’! The McLaren Vale Vintage & Classic is a motoring event that showcases the regions wineries and the cities car clubs in beautiful harmony with a real grass-roots flavour, having the individual clubs and cellar doors at the centre of the celebration.
This year’s event took place on a day of particular importance for me, since it was my birthday, but the pull of the event was enough to make me get out of bed early and drive my classic Chrysler down south for a day of motoring fun! Like many of the participating car clubs, my Chrysler Car Club of SA have a pre-meet in a specified location in McLaren Vale before the day begins, and then cruise together to Serafino Wines’ ample acreage to join the rest of the South Australian Motoring community.
All of the cars lined up in their various club allegiances make for a pretty spectacular start to the day. Drivers then have a chance to grab a bit of brekky and chat to fellow motorists and motoring fans, with plenty of new friendships kindled whilst strolling amongst the shining metal. It’s a unique event, as pretty much anything can take part, from really ancient vintage vehicles that would have been vying for road space with horse-and-carts, to classy British and European exotica, or American muscle, to Aussie classics or unusual and eccentric moderns – and everything in between. It’s rare to see such a wide variety of cars lined up and being friendly with each other, which adds to the excellent community feel of the event. Best of all, it’s a mandate of the event that all vehicles are driven, so there are no trailer queens here!
Following a few hours in the paddock, official proceedings begin with a parade down Main Street McLaren Vale, where loads of people line the streets to catch a glimpse of the amazing machines as they cruise by. Old and young alike, locals and folks down from the city gather and wave, with the kids getting particularly excited as I tooted my air horns (as if my bright orange car wasn’t attention-seeking enough!).
At the end of the parade, the clubs all split up and embark on a pre-determined mini-cruise, which allows traffic to flow well and ensures that the parade goes off without a hitch. Each club ultimately ends up at a winery, with most cellar doors playing host to one or two car clubs. This year, we ended up at Angoves, where we set up a little display in the grounds by the cellar door, and were able to participate in the other aspects of the day including tasting a few of the Vale’s finest offerings!
The pairing of classic cars and wine is definitely a fine match, allowing for a real celebration of these two cultures that have more in common than one may think! The whole event ran smoothly with a peaceful day enjoyed by all! We even got to have a bit of cake to celebrate my latest journey around the sun!
If you haven’t had a chance to see this event yet, make sure you give it a go next year, and wave to the ’70s-looking curly-haired dude in a bright orange Chrysler!
Luke Balzan
When: 2 Apr
Where: McLaren Vale
Bookings: Closed
Below, two reviews; one for a pair of Howard Park wines from Western Australian, the other for a pair of wines from Heartland in South Australia.
These two wines are both from Howard Park in Western Australia, both Shiraz, and both 2011 vintage. The difference being one is Howard Park ‘Scotsdale’ Great Southern Shiraz 2011, the other Howard Park ‘Leston’ Margaret River Shiraz 2011: In short south vs. north. Both are at a recommended retail of $46 and both have the pedigree to justify the pricing. It was interesting playing around with two fine examples of WA shiraz but in my mind without doubt the Leston won the day, so 94 points for it, with a couple more to come, and 93 for the Scotsdale, but I’m not sure it’s going as far.
Heartland Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2012 ($20) and Heartland ‘Director’s Cut’ Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2012 ($33): The reason these two Heartland wines are reviewed together is because, put simply, I rated the cheaper wine higher than the ‘Directors Cut.’ Returning to the wines to work out why, it’s not because of alcohol content (as both are high at 14.8%) but because the Cut was just too rich for me. It coated the mouth with ripe flavours and it dominated my taste buds rather than entertain and pleasure them. So, 93 points for the shiraz and 91 points for the Director’s Cut. I’m sure you will know where I would spend my money.
Tony Keys
The Eileen Hardy wine range is the top end of the ‘Accolade Wines’ ladder. To quote the Hardy's Wines’ website, “Eileen Hardy was [the] family matriarch, an indomitable spirit and the first lady of Australian wine. Since taking over at the helm from her late husband Tom Mayfield Hardy, Eileen continued to build the Hardys brand and was recognised with an OBE for her outstanding contribution to the Australian wine industry”.
Mention Hardy’s in the UK and the first thought that comes to mind is oceans of competitively priced South Eastern Australian wine available in huge volumes. The Hardy’s brand sits in the ‘Accolade Wine’ portfolio the largest producer of wine in Australia. Also in the portfolio are the brands Banrock Station, Berri Estates, Omni, Houghton and several others not just from here but the USA and South Africa as well. These are large brands making millions of litres of wine and satisfying the thirst of millions of wine drinkers all over the world daily.
It’s heartening to think that amongst all the hustle of mass production there is a quiet corner where fine wine is being crafted; wine we can all be proud of no matter where it is poured on the planet. The prices appear steep but in global terms are not, so splash out buy a bottle or two and share with the one you love. There is no need to put on a fancy dinner party - simple but good food will do - go on you know you deserve it.
Hardy's Eileen Hardy McLaren Vale Shiraz 2007: It’s rapier-like on the tongue, unlike many shirazes that are akin to a broadsword slashing away at the flavour points. It dances across the palate, the top notes showing the pleasure to come. The aftertaste and return journey is very beautiful, with all the flavours merging and creating a whole. It’s pricy at $90 but if you’re into wine it is well worth it and in my opinion scores 97 points.
Hardy's Eileen Hardy Tasmania Pinot Noir 2007: Carefully constructed, with the result being a very smooth wine of good character. There’s no doubting the quality of the fruit or of the wine making. It’s an easy 94 points and for this level of Pinot Noir about $70 is the price to pay. From a purely personal view I would have liked more feral character.
Hardy's Eileen Hardy Tasmania Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2012: Not only a beautiful lady, but also gracious and elegant. It’s not fully developed but all parts are in place. Perhaps it’s better described as a young lady in early teenage years; the beauty can be seen but more time is needed for it to develop fully. 93 points now but more to come. $73 is a fair price to pay in global terms.
Tony Keys
The big often get a bashing, recently a small family wine producer (Crittenden) based in the Victorian region of Mornington Peninsular started a campaign against Woolworths regarding their brand Crittenden & Co. The patriarch of the family, Garry Crittenden, said he was getting calls and e-mails because consumers were confusing his wines, $20 and above, with the Woolworths under $5 brand.
The media, especially the wine scribes, came out on mass with Garry’s hard-luck story and berated Woolworths as the bully.
Woolworths had full right to use the Crittenden name - in fact they had use of it before Garry registered his Crittenden name. Woolworths very generously said they would withdraw the brand as soon as stock was sold through but this would take several months as it’s a big brand for them.
Wine scribes and journalists became outraged at Woolworths, delighting in the little guy taking on the bully story. Few considered the right and wrong of the issue and that Woolworths was technically in the right. To my knowledge no one wrote a follow up story of how well the giant behaved.
Hence this one wine review, made by a giant (Pernod Ricard) and sold by another (Dan Murphy’s) for around $8. Only two such large companies could combine to bring a wine of this quality to the total Australian population. Either accept these bargains or pay closer to $20 for a Riesling of no better quality.
Jacob's Creek South Eastern Australia Riesling 2013: The 2012 JC Riesling was a super star and I, and many others in the wine scribing business, rated it very highly. I even picked it as the best value/quality wine of the year. This was not based on points but on the fact that the few times I had to make recommendations to friends or buy a white wine for myself, JC riesling 2012 was the choice. It really says something when someone such as me, who gets a lot of free wine, puts his hand in his pocket to buy everyday drinking wine.
The question for the 2013 is, will it match this very high benchmark the 2012 set? Overall yes, although I think it is not as defined but, hell, why nitpick, it is a wine that knocks many pissy NZ Sauvignon Blancs into the preverbal cocked hat. 93 points and very good value at under $10 and I will buy it for large gatherings where wine is needed and put up with the sneer of, “oh Jacob's Creek”.
Tony Keys