Special occasion wine

In September 2009, Scott and I went to Australia.  We stayed in Sydney for a few days and then "hired" (i.e. rented) a car and drove south to Melbourne, via Wagga Wagga and numerous other small towns.

At the end of our first day driving, we were heading to Wagga Wagga to look for some food and a place to stay.  We passed a sign for the Borambola Winery (www.borambola.com), flipped a quick u-turn and turned into a beautiful farmstead.  No one was there so we turned around in the parking lot and began to leave.  I noticed a man walking out of the house towards us waving his arms and inviting us in.  So we parked and got out.  The man waving his arms was the owner of the winery.  He said they were closed but that dinner wasn't ready yet so he'd be more than happy to let us sample some of his wine (and chat our ears off).

Accoroding to their website, the farmstead dates back to the 1880s. It is located on a hill looking out over the rolling and extremely lush/green Snowy Mountain foothills and the plains of the Murrumbidgee in the other. The Borambola estate was originally built by George Macleay, son of Alexander Macleay, the then Colonial Secretary who built Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney. It was host to King Edward VIII when he visited Australia in 1920 (as Prince of Wales).

Borambola then passed through several hands and was finally purchased by F.W. Hughes who used the property to breed horses.  Among the horses bred at this site include Hiraji, the 1947 Melbourne Cup Winner.

The farmstead at sunset

In 1992 Borambola became the McMullen family home.  Encouraged by the success of their first vintage of Chardonnay, the family and winery moved on to stage two: red wines. In 1998, the vineyard was expanded as an additional 25 acres of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were planted.


We learned from the owner man that this Borambola sells their "less than desirable" grapes to a wine producer known as Yellow Tail.  Hmmm.  Interesting.  We now both smile every time we see a bottle of Yellow Tail because we know the secret thanks to our last minute impulse detour.

Picnic tables in the tasting area overlooking the vineyard

As the sun began to set and the wonderful man's wife called him in for dinner, we carefully selected our favourite (Queen's English) one and purchased it as a wine we would save for a special occasion.

So after nearly 3 years in our booze cellar (i.e. coat closet), we decided that tonight was a special occasion.  Special enough to drink our sacred bottle of 2006 Hiraji's Spell Shiraz that we carefully carried home from our whirlwind 17 day trip to Australia for our first anniversary.  After reading through their website this morning to learn the history of the Borambola farmstead and winery, I learned that the 2006 Hiraji's Spell Shiraz is sold out and can never be made again.  That makes it taste even better.

The special occasion?  Not waiting for special occasions.