A+ Australian Wine Celebration Launch & A+ Wine Fair at Ivy

The A+ Australian Wine Celebration launched in Sydney on Wednesday 4 April in the Ivy Room at Merivale, with over 50 wineries represented and over 700 people attending the A+ Australian Wine Fair event.

A+ Australian Wine at Ivy Room

A+ Australian Wine Celebration is an opportunity to celebrate great wines from every state with nearly 100 events, tastings and parties taking place across the country from April 12 to April 29. With over 2,500 wineries in 65 wine regions around Australia, and approximately 30,000 wines produced from more than 100 varieties, A+ Australian Wine is about boosting the profile of Australian wine to Australians.

At the media launch, Aaron Brasher, Regional Director of Wine Australia, led one of two VIP tastings around the Ivy Room before the doors opened to the public. Dubbed as a “speed dating wine tasting”, six stops were made across five states with an opportunity to taste and meet the winemakers and their representatives.

Aaron Brasher (Wine Australia) and Jeffrey Grosset (Grosset)

First stop was at South Australia with Jeffrey Grosset for a tasting of the 2010 Grosset Springvale Clare Valley Riesling, a crisp wine with a soft acidity and lemon and lime blossom characters.

Chris Tyrrell and Alice MacGillivray

Next was a jaunt to NSW for the 2005 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Hunter Valley Semillon with Chris Tyrrell, 5^th generation winemaker. The wine had good length and citrus fruit flavours with a little complexity. The 2006 Semillon will be rolled out in the next couple of weeks.

Tina Boquest, Yabby Lake

Over at the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, it was the 2010 Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir, a medium bodied Pinot with an intense and complex aroma, red and dark fruits; a wine with great character.

Stuart Blackwell, St Hallett

Back to South Australia with Stuart Blackwell, Senior Winemaker at St Hallett, and it was the 2009 St Hallett Blackwell Barossa Valley Shiraz. With dark berry fruit aromas, this a big and bold Shiraz with a concentration of fruit flavour, a wine best savoured with a meal.

Jason Rengger, Cherubino

From the Margaret River in Western Australia, the 2009 Cherubino Cabernet Sauvignon is a full bodied wine that has spent 10 months in new and old oak. The tannins are ripe yet it is a gentled and measured wine with great length – a stunning Cabernet Sauvignon with a RRP of $80.

David Milne of Josef Chromy Wines

Last stop was at Josef Chromy wines from Tasmania for the 2010 Josef Chromy Pinot Noir, with cherry-plum and light spice characters balanced by fine tannins.

Cheese Table

The ticketed event ($25) was a huge success and guests received a copy of Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine, a Riedel glass and calendar of A+ Australian Wine Celebration listing all the events around the country. More information on how to join the festivities from the official website below.

A+ Australian Wine
http://www.apluswines.com/

Gourmantic attended the VIP Tasting followed by the A+ Australian Wine fair as media guests. More photos of the events on the Gourmantic Facebook page.