We release the our top Shiraz - The Hanisch - from the magnificent 2005 vintage plus two huge Shiraz from Magpie Estate - the Very Rare 'Malcolm' Shiraz 2005 and 'The Election' Shiraz 2005. Download Now
Meet Megan and Martin, proprietors of L'Ecole No 41, a winery in Walla Walla Washington, famous for its Merlot, Cabernet and Semillon.
They paid me a visit today to come and see how Veritas Winery runs, and to taste some of the Rolf Binder range of wines.
I visited Megan and Martin in Walla Walla last year when I was on my annual visit to the States, and it was interesting to see the similarities between the two equally sized wineries.
For instance, we both allow the vineyard to express itself in the wine, ensuring the tannins are not too hard, the balance of oak, tannins and acidity is just right, and the authentic fruit flavour shines through.
The wine begins in the vineyard and it is here that the philosophy of the two wineries also meet, with the winemaker having much influence in the management of the vineyard; reducing the number of buds to allow those few remaining to be truly enhanced in quality; and only picking when the fruit is actually ripe, and not because of any calendar date.
It was Megan's parents who started the winery, just as mine and Christa's parents started Veritas Winery in 1955. This means that the knowledge has been instilled in us from an early age until it is almost an innate sense, and that we have long-standing relationships and friendships with the people who help us make the wine, and those who help us drink the wine.
It also means that we can see the development of the wine style, both through fine-tuning the process of wine-making, but also in the way that the wine ages in the barrel and the bottle, to gain even more understanding of the dynamic life of wine.
It is my turn to visit the States next, so I might just make some time to drop by Walla Walla Washington for a taste of some fine wines.
The big day arrived. Transporting all the bulk wine from the old winery
to the new winery which is about three kilometres away. This happened in
March, 1999.
Red Wines
