Wine Tasting with Yalumba @ First Glass

My first wine tasting experience with one of Elliot's favourite Australian wineries, Yalumba and it was definitely a good one!

We arrived fairly early (for once!)as Ell got the time wrong - the tasting started at 7 but he thought it was at 6. But as we are in good ol' New Zealand, we got a glass of bubbly while we waited for everyone else to arrive.

Wine tasting is serious business here, we were given a clipboard  and a wine tasting form to put our thoughts down of each wine we taste that night.

Taking us on this wine tasting journey was Jane Ferrari, Winemaker, Communications. Friendly, unpretentious, fuss-free and approachable were my first impressions of Jane. She was everything that I thought a winemaker was not (I've not met many winemakers but I always thought they would be quite wanky and pretentious due to the industry). 

She starts the tastings by giving us a history of Yalumba and who Yalumba really is. Well, actually she walked into the room and started talking about her bunions being cut off and how she had new funky cowboy boots that actually fit! Also,the tattoos that went right up her thighs *okay, it really was much funnier when she said it, you had to be there* (See this is why I thought, wow, this is definitely gonna be a fun night!)

True to form, the 12 wines that were on tasting was of exceptional quality but the ones that really sparked my tastebuds were Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2007, Shiraz Viognier 2008, Patchwork Shiraz 2008, The Scribbler Cab Shiraz 2008, The Signature Cab Shiraz 2005, The Menzies Cab Sauv 2006 and last but not least The Octavius 2005. That's 7 out of 12 wines that I liked! Let's put it this way, at the end of the night, I had trouble deciding what I wanted and we ended up with a whole box of goodies 'cos we just couldn't decide *winks*

Jane definitely has a big personality that matches her wine passion. I wanted to sum up Jane as a wine from the tasting but decided she is a blend of all the wines we tasted and no one style can define her.

Peppered with Jane's comedic persona and her Sam Neil story - it was a very good night. 

Other scenes from the tasting:

Deciding which wine(s) to purchase...

With Jane and hopefully our Jeroboam wins! *fingers crossed* Even if we didn't get that, I hope we'll still get our Yalumba beanies! Right, Jane? :)

Elliot making sure he's got his years right to drink his 1998s

If you ever get a chance to go for a tasting with Jane, go for it! It's like going for a good night out with amazing wines and a very good stand-up comedienne with many stories and experiences to share (bonus!). 

Read about Jane Ferrari's trip to Auckland here.

You know it's a good night when everyone is happy like this and everyone is a friend...

Here's to more wine tastings in the future! Cheers! xxx