We started off with an alarm so that we could go do a Crossfit workout and gauge what we've lost skill-wise so far. I'm down from 21 straight pull-ups to 7 already. Yuck! After a quick shower, we were off to McLaren Vale - a bit cooler climate wine region that Barossa but fully capable of ripening the big reds that I enjoy.
We started the tour at Molly Dooker - Aussie for left hander. Sparky the winemaker went to university with Mike Z - our winemaker. We were given a great tour and history by Sparky's dad, Leigh. He's the one that came up with the name when they were desperate to name, print labels, and begin selling wine. He suggested it at a meeting and brought the house down. After everyone calmed down, they took a poll of attendees in the room that were left handed and 7 out of 12 were - so it was fate.
The tour was a great experience about how they treat the vines during the growing season and their vine management philosophy. We tasted several great wines and learned the "Mollydooker shake" for young bottles. In a nutshell, because wines are packaged with nitrogen gas, you empty a little wine out and then close it up and shake it to help release the gas. This is only recommended for young wines that are not sparkling.
After that great tour and lunch in town, we checked out other recommendations we've been given. Some odd things happened when we arrived at Samuel's Gorge. First, we ran into the same couple we had tasted with at Penfolds a couple days back in another valley. Next, the winemaker showed up and gave us a sample of the just about to be bottled 2011 Shiraz that no one outside of him/assistants have tasted yet - not even the tasting room manager who was there. He talked to us for a LONG time (and could have been longer but he had a private appt) and even though I'm not sure that we said anything impressive to him, he gave us a bottle of Sparkling Shiraz to evaluate and send him our thoughts. Wild!
We went back to the cottage we are staying at and cooked up some dinner and enjoyed both bottles we were given at Mollydooker during the tour. What a great day.