News

Stand out performance from musical legend Keith Potger at Hollick Wines

Hollick Wines successfully hosted two sold out performances from Keith Potger, formerly of the 'Seekers'. After 15 years of Ian Hollick trying to get Keith to Coonawarra, his plans finally came to fruition during the Cabernet Celebrations in October, where Keith performed two shows in the intimate surrounds of "Upstairs at Hollick".

Friday evening was a casual affair with the chefs producing a delicious range of tapas plates to choose from, such as zucchini and manchego fritters and grain mustard rubbed prawns in prosciutto, along with aged Cabernet Merlot and Ravenswood by the glass. On Saturday evening a more lavish 3-course meal was on offer, including prawn and scallop sausage and twice cooked duckling in Shiraz jus.

With a wide repertoire at hand, the music was varied and fun, interspersed with anecdotes from his travels with the Seekers. Keith held the audience captive with a heart-rending version of 'Hallelujah' followed by 'Where have all the flowers gone?'. He then livened things up with classics such as 'Morning Town Ride' and 'Georgie Girl' which brought the crowd to their feet. Demonstrating his versatility on Saturday evening, Keith performed a special 'Neil Diamond' request for the Hollick staff, during which much dancing and singing occurred behind the bar. Many lucky fans were able to purchase an autographed copy of his CD as well, with one or two lining up for photos.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of good food, fine wine and exceptional music, with Keith promising to return for a repeat performance in the future.

Events

Hot Summer Night Goes Glam

Hot Summer Night 2007 at Hollick will feature Australia's hottest tribute band 'BABBA' who will be certain to bring some glamour and 80s attitude to the winery. The evening will commence with a superb three course dinner and some fine Hollick wines, although no spritzers, 'hock, lime and lemons' or Sparkling Rhinegold will be found.

'BABBA' will hit the stage after dinner and take the audience on a musical journey of greatest hits from the Swedish super group that promises to have the entire audience on the dance floor gyrating uncontrollably.

So all you dancing queens and kings, we invite you to dust off your pant suits, platforms and 'big hair' and make your way to Coonawarra for what promises to be our Hottest Summer Night yet.

February 17th, 2007 from 6.30pm Tickets $120 per person, $1100 per table of 10 Bookings to the winery on (08) 8737 2318

For all your accommodation needs check www.penola.org, www.coonawarradiscovery.com or or call Penola Visitor Centre on (08) 8737 2855.

Hollick Wines / Prince of Wales Golf Classic

It is on again, the ultimate fine wine meets golf weekend for hackers and low handicappers alike. The picturesque 'Royal' Penola Golf Club forms the backdrop for two days of serious and not so serious competition. Saturday's event is a pairs Stableford with a twist, in that the partners' scores for a hole are multiplied. On Sunday an Ambrose event will be played, which is always great fun for all standards. Coopers beer and an on-course BBQ will keep the players nourished during their round.

An official "Classic" dinner will be held "Upstairs" on Saturday night while the post tournament wind down moves to the Prince of Wales Hotel in Penola after the game on Sunday.

When: November 11th and 12th, 2006
Cost: $100 – 2 rounds of golf + 3 course dinner at "Upstairs"
Contact: cellardoor@hollick.com for more details or call TJ Smith on (08) 8737 2318

News

Upstairs Happenings

Sean Emery and Ian Perry have penned a fresh menu for Spring with new items such as rabbit and veal terrine with nectar poached prunes and toasted brioche, or crispy skin pork belly, fennel confit and kipfler potatoes with orange jus.

There are also a couple of old favourites back by popular demand such as the prawn and scallop sausage with wilted spinach and saffron cream sauce.

The wine list has also been revised with the addition of some stunning wines from Spain, including an excellent white Albarino from Valminor and a gorgeous red wine from the indigenous Spanish variety of Mencia from Descendientes de J. Palacios.

Special Member offers

As part of our commitment to add value to our mail order customers, we will be contacting you all directly by telephone in late October with some once off special offers to reward you, and we would also like to take this opportunity to update our records.

Out and about in Coonawarra

If you've thought about coming to visit us in Coonawarra, then we can send you some great new publications to tempt you. Coonawarra is part of the Limestone Coast Tourism region and they have compiled a golf guide highlighting the 17 courses in our area. They have also put together an "offroad" guide for those of you with 4WD vehicles – it is still possible to drive through the coastal dunes and along the breathtaking beaches of the Limestone Coast. So give us a call and we can also include the accommodation and sightseeing guide so that you can plan your trip.

New Releases

2004 Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2004 vintage receives some fresh new livery and a screw cap closure and as if to celebrate the new packaging this is a cracker of a vintage. This Coonawarra/ Wrattonbully blend combines 65% Shiraz, sourced in the main from our Red Ridge vineyard at Wrattonbully and 35% Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. A long growing season has produced a most attractive wine displaying very deep and vibrant fruit flavours and aromas that linger on the palate.

This is certainly a wine that is quite friendly and delectable as a youngster but will also benefit from medium term cellaring.

2005 Reserve Chardonnay

If you have not tried the Reserve Chardonnay previously, then we implore you to take a peak at the 2005 vintage of this wine, sealed for the first time under screwcap. The Reserve Chardonnay is a real "winemaker's wine", and displays the benefits of varied winemaking techniques to maximise the complexity and texture of the wine. Having said that, as with all wines the raw material is of paramount importance and the 2005 vintage conditions delivered great fruit.

As with previous vintages the wine has undergone barrel fermentation and partial malo-lactic fermentation, but the winemaking for the 2005 vintage features more regular lees stirring to build mid-palate richness and texture. A variety of yeasts were also employed to increase the wine's complexity.

A wine to drink now or within the next three years, it delivers a compote of fresh stone fruits, nutty nuances and creamy overtones from malo-lactic fermentation built around a taut acid spine.

2003 Wilgha Shiraz

The gangly old vines at the eastern boundary of the Wilgha vineyard again struggled to deliver "normal" crop levels in 2003, following the restricted yields of 2002. This wine is again made in limited quantities as yields from these dry grown vines was only around 1 tonne/acre, which is no more than 70 cases per acre. It is a wine of concentrated flavours, yet with an elegant structure. Loaded with dark plum fruits and attractive "Asian spice" aromas of cloves and cardamom, the wine saturates the palate with dark fruits, but is not "heavy" or over ripe. It will certainly cellar for a decade or more, and cries out for some good Aussie lamb.

2005 Pinot Noir

The Hollick Pinot Noir is going "gangbusters" in the UK market and as a result, contra to the current trend in Coonawarra we have just commenced planting an additional four acres of Pinot Noir at the Wilgha vineyard. The 2005 vintage again combines Pinot Noir from the Neilson's Block with fruit from the cooler Mount Gambier region.

The fruit from both regions was picked around 13.0 baumé and following a light crushing was then fermented in open tanks, where it was hand plunged and left 'on skins' for seven days. The wine then matured in mainly second use French oak barrels for nine months to enable the fruit flavours to come to the fore.

The resulting wine is a generously flavoured and coloured Pinot Noir showing dark fruits, dried flowers and a hint of spice. It displays a silky texture and excellent length of flavour and begs for duck of any persuasion.

Vale Len Evans

It is with great sadness that we note the recent passing of the god father of the Australian wine industry, Len Evans. We believe that his theory of capacity should be embraced by all.

The Len Evans Theory of Wine Capacity

There is an awful lot of wine in the world, but there is also a lot of awful wine.
No sensible person drinks to excess. Therefore any one person can drink only a certain predictable amount.
There are countless flavours, nuances, shades of wine; endless varieties, regions, styles. You have neither the time nor the capacity to try them all.
To make the most of the time left to you, you must start by calculating your total future capacity. One bottle of wine a day is 365 bottles a year. If your life expectancy is another thirty years, there are only 10,000-odd bottles ahead of you.
People who say, "You can't drink the good stuff all the time" are talking rubbish. You must drink good stuff all the time. Every time you drink a bottle of inferior wine it's like smashing a superior bottle against the wall. The pleasure is lost forever. You can't get that bottle back.
There are people who build up huge cellars, most of which they have no hope of drinking. They are foolish in overestimating their capacity, but they err on the right side and their friends love them.
There are also people who don't want to drink good wine and are happy with the cheapies. I forgive them. There are others who are content with beer and spirits. I can't worry about everybody.
Wine is not meant to be enjoyed merely for its own sake; it is the key to love and laughter with friends, to the enjoyment of food and beauty and humour and art and music. It rewards us far beyond its cost.
What part is wine of your life? Ten percent? Then ten percent of your income should be spent on wine.
The principles of this theory should be applied to other parts of life. A disciple of the theory kissed a beautiful young lady, who demurred. He was aghast and said, "Don't get the wrong idea. I've worked out that I can make love only another 1,343 times... and I'm bloody sure I'm not wasting one on you!"