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| I follow instructions very well. |
In September 2009, The Husband and I took the vacation of a lifetime to Australia to 1) visit a college friend of mine, 2) attend the wedding of one of my former co-workers and 3) celebrate our first anniversary together. We flew from Phoenix to San Francisco and then to Sydney and spent a few days hanging out and touring the city (where I purchased a beer on the street corner and was instructed by the store owner that I must drink it in the bag on the street corner) and were so determined to beat jetlag that we took a ferry out to explore Manly Beach on our first day.
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| Clockwise you silly Americans! |
We "hired" (rented) a car which looked like a marshmallow with wheels and drove south on the LEFT side of the road towards Melbourne. This was one of the best decisions we made while we were down under. We had no agenda and no timeline so we hopped on and off the main highway as we pleased, periodically using our windshield wipers as turn signals. This wasn't always easy or relaxing though as every highway exit seemed to involve going clockwise around a roundabout which, I'm not going to lie, was terrifying for me as a passenger riding in the American drivers seat.
After we got outside Sydney, I realized that our scenic drive felt very familiar to me. Having spend the majority of my life living in the Maryland/Virginia area, I quickly realized that it felt like I was driving along I-64 between Charlottesville and Harrisonburg. It was beautiful. The hills were rolling and green and much to our delight, sprinkled with small wineries. We spent the night in Wagga-Wagga and paid way too much for the worst attempt at Mexican food either one of us has ever had and then hit the road again in the morning. After a few hours and a brewery stop in Beechworth (
to be blogged about someday), we stumbled across the Sam Miranda King Valley Winery in Oxley, Victoria.
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| Our first tasting in 2009. |
There were very few people in the winery for tastings so we were lucky enough to have the one employee all to ourselves. She was incredibly friendly and very fun. After tasting a few various red wines, she asked if we liked champagne. Duh. So then she offered to open a bottle she wasn't supposed to (
I figure 3 years later no one at Sam Miranda will care if they somehow stumble across this and acutally read it) and share the magic of it with us. The bottle she corked was a 2008 Sparkling Sam Miranda Shiraz Durif. HOLY CRAP. A sparkling red wine? Sounded like crazy talk to me but count me in.
According to their website, the Shiraz Durif is "
a classic blend of two wonderful red varieties; Shiraz for its savory
spice and vibrant texture, and Durif for its mulberry characteristics
and ripe tannin structure. Both the Shiraz and the Durif where sourced
from the cool upper King Valley region and grown on a double wire
trellising system, which allows maximum light penetration so the fruit
can ripen at an earlier stage of its development. The wine was fermented in bottle and left on lees for 12 months prior to
disgorging, which has resulted in a wine with a soft fine bead and
wonderful complexity. The wine is deep crimson in colour with rich fruit flavours. These two varietals
offer robust fruit balanced on the palate by savory spice and fine
tannins."
I vividly remember describing it as velvet. The Husband liked it too. So we bought 2 bottles and gave one to the happily married couple on their wedding night and kept the other for ourselves for an unknown occasion. It has resided in our fridge since we returned from our trip ... waiting for the right occasion.
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| Cheers to 30. |
Tonight we finally popped the cork to celebrate my 30th birthday. I am thankful to be able to celebrate this occasion with my two wonderful kids, my amazing husband, my best friend of a sister, a plate full of perfectly grilled steak and salmon and a velvety smooth wine from down under.
Rating: out of this world. If you ever come across it, order/buy it.
