SENIOR PROJECT QUESTIONS!!

So we know it's a little later than we planned, but it has also been a lot harder than we thought to gather information from the various winemakers across South Australia.  So anyways, here are our 5 questions we asked to various winemakers and owners:

1. What do you think about Australia's current wine market?

2. How many cases do you produce annually?
3. About what percentage of your wine is exported?
4. What countries do you choose to export to, and why?
5. How would you compare Australia's wine market to California?

Australia Day!!

Ok, so this is a little late, BUT I had to make sure we put it in here, because it was SO fun!  Some students in the program left for Melbourne for our 4-day weekend, but for those of us that stayed here, we had just as much fun!!

During the day we went to one of the huge cricket matches against India.  While cricket might possibly be one of the most boring sports out there, it was awesome to see!  The game itself goes for 5 DAYS, but of course one was enough for us.  All the Australian's get really into the game and the atmosphere is crazy!

A lot of people also went to the Glenelg for the day to have fun at the beach, which I heard was a blast.  I would for sure recommend going to a cricket game, though if you get the chance.  You really feel like your in Australia, with all the pride around the place.  

At night a group of us headed out to the river across the street from us.  They were having an Aussie Day celebration there with live music and fireworks.  

The Barossa!

So we decided to pay the 65 bucks and go on a guided tour of the Barossa...and it was totally worth it!

The Barossa Valley is actually one of the most visited regions in Australia.  Started up in the 1840's by German settlers...and now responsible for 9% of Australia's wine industry. The wine styles are pretty diverse in this region, but the most popular varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon (over 20% of all the red grown here), Grenache, Semillon, and Shiraz (responsible for > 40% of ALL grapes grown here!).

We were picked up at 8:30 in the morning right out front of UniLodge (a really good selling point...figuring out transportation here can be a mess).  Our driver, who also owns the business (Barossa Valley Scenic Wine Tour, in case anyone wants to do it in the future) was super nice and knew a lot about the area.  The first place he took us to was Chateau Tanunda.  this place is AMAZING. the grounds are gorgeous, the building has amazing history, and most importantly, the wines are delicious.  Their 2010 Shiraz was one of the best I've tasted here.  It's no wonder they have won awards for their wine.  Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we ran into the winemaker Ross who poured us his own label Grapes of Ross.  He was awesome! His wines were outstanding, and I have to say, I even really enjoyed his rose.  We wanted to talk to him longer, but the bus driver made us load back on the bus so that we could make it to our second winery.

Seppeltsfield, famous for their fortified wines (sherry and ports), was our next stop.  The tasting room that we were in was actually restored from the original wine-making room back in 1851.  A lot of what we drank here wasn't exactly my favorite, since I'm not a huge port fan, but it was definitely fun to taste what so many people love.   They also have a 100-year-old Para Liqueur Port that they release every year that we got to try.  I don't know how they don't cheat and try it out before the 100 years are up, but regardless, it was an awesome experience.

Yalumba was our last winery for the day.  Yalumba is a family owned winery and also the 12th largest wine company in Australia.  I have to admit, we got a little distracted from tasting by looking around the BEAUTIFUL grounds.  If you ever go to the Barossa, go here.  The wine is good too!  They poured us a lot of different wines too...

The rest of the day included stopping for lunch, visiting a cheese and chocolate factory, and walking around the streets of Handorf.  I would highly recommend that you take a wine tour like this if you ever come to south Adelaide! it was so much fun, and an awesome experience to taste some of the more popular wines of Australia.

Kangaroo Island

One of the trips that is included with CalPoly's study abroad program is an overnight expedition to Kangaroo Island.  We all hopped on the ferry over the island and were greeted with some of the best scenery that South Australia has to offer. It was absolutely breathtaking! The beaches were filled with soft, white sand and the water was the perfect shade of aqua-blue.  Every beach was visited was empty and almost looked untouched.

Bay of Seals

Stokes Beach

Next stop on the trip: Sandboarding! I had never heard of it either.... With the huge amount of silky sand on the island, it feels only natural to grab a wooden board and slide down the slopes. The group had a great time racing, surfing, and tandem-boarding down this bad boy.

Warning: You will eat sand and find it somewhere on your body in the following days!

We also got to mingle around "The Remarkable Rocks" which were a group of large, oddly shaped rocks that were quite entertaining.  Everyone had a lot of fun climbing around and squeezing through the unique gaps that formed in-between them.

The last stop we made was to the wildlife park. We couldn't leave Kangaroo Island without seeing some  kangaroos, right? 

McLaren Vale

McLaren Vale is one of South Australia's top wine producing regions. It is known for producing top notch Rhone varietals, particularly Grenache, which had me very excited! We arrived at Ryecroft Winery where we did our first tasting of the day with 8 different Rosemount wines. Then we had to put on hard hats and orange vests to do a tour of the winery.  It was really interesting getting to see all of the behind-the-scenes activities that unfold throughout a typical day at the winery, and the staff that worked with us were all very knowledgeable about their wines/winemaking process. 

Next stop was Chapel Hill Winery, which had some gorgeous scenery and great views. After getting a winery tour from the winemakers we were able to enjoy some of their amazing wine with our picnic lunch.  It was the perfect afternoon: good wine, friends,  food and sun!

                                                               Rosemount Tasting

Chapel Hill Winery

Then we stopped by Molly Dooker, which became the highlight of our day! We broke up into groups and took an extensive tour of the vineyards and winery. The staff was really accommodating and even let us try some of their best wines, including the Velvet Glove Shiraz (which runs around $200 in the U.S.) They let us take home the extra bottles, which will make great souvenirs with their fun labels.

Molly Dooker Tasting

We finished the day off at the beautiful vineyards of Coriole. We tasted some lovely wines in there barrel room and then headed back on the bus to Adelaide. It was a great trip!

Classes

We should probably fill you in on the classes that we are taking here in Adelaide so we can update you with interesting info:
  1. Sensory Analysis (wine tasting)
  2. Special Topics (learning about Australia's wine industry)
  3. Wine and Religion (we'll have to see where that goes...)
  4. Religions of Asia (although we probably won't update you on this)

First Day of Class

Met at the Wine Center of Australia...this place is AWESOME!

...did you know South Australia is responsible for 60 % of Australia's wine? Or that Australia has a 1.6 billion export market?? Just thought we'd throw some fun facts your way...