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Dave & Diana Palmer, Skillogalee, Clare Valley

Skillogalee is a boutique winery, owned and run by the Palmer Family, set amongst wooded hills in one of the most picturesque parts of the Clare Valley, in South Australia. We welcomed Dave and Diana Palmer, Skillogalee to Ballymaloe for a winemaker dinner on Friday 16th September.

Skillogalee has won great acclaim – “Our favourite South Australian winery” Lonely Planet; ‘Australian Top 100’ – Matthew Jukes; and ‘5 star wines; delicious, complex, and multi-dimensional’ – Decanter, September 2011 (The Skillogalee Clare Valley Riesling 2010 came top in a Decanter tasting of Australian and New Zealand Riesling’s – and also was the highest scored wine in the entire September 2011 issue of Decanter magazine)

Dave Palmer
Dave at Ballymaloe House

Over a matching dinner, we served the following wines, starting with the Skillogalee Sparkling Riesling (also see Billy Lyons ‘Restaurants and Food in Cork’ wonderful blog here on Dave and Di’s visit to Ballymaloe)

Skillogalee Sparkling Riesling

Skillogalee Riesling 2010
Skillogalee Gewürztraminer 2011
Skillogalee Trevarrick Riesling 2008
Skillogalee Cabernet Malbec Rosé 2010
Skillogalee The Cabernets 2006
Skillogalee Shiraz 2007
Skillogalee Liquer Muscat

Dave and Di also finished the evening with a little quiz – with some great bottles of Skillogalee for the winners – rounding off a superb evening. We very much look forward to their return to Cork.

at Skillogalee
Colm with Dave Palmer out in the vineyards at Skillogalee in The Clare Valley, South Australia
Diana and Dave Palmer
Diana & Dave Palmer, with Colm, at Skillogalee

Dave Palmer also co-hosted a Wine Australia Sommelier Masterclass in Dublin before his journey down south to Ballymaloe, with John McDonnell, Wine Australia Ireland (and regular guest wine lecturer at Ballymaloe Cookery School), and John Wilson, well known wine writer, all pictured below during the Riesling Masterclass

Riesling Australia

 Wine Australia Ireland Sommelier Course

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Pip Austin, Sileni Wines, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

Pip Austin, SileniSileni Estates vineyard and winery is located in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand’s oldest established vineyard area. Sileni Estates is named after the Sileni who featured in Roman mythology alongside Bacchus, the god of wine. They celebrated good wine, good food and good company.

Sileni boasts a state of the art winery, and the winemaking team have honed their winemaking skills in wineries around the world and strive to maintain high standards in environmentally sustainable viticultural and winemaking practices. Sileni Estates produce hand crafted wines that reflect the unique characteristics of the vineyards.

Pip is pictured among the tomatoes in the glasshouses at Ballymaloe Cookery School, during her recent visit. Our thanks to Mark O’Connor, www.dalcassianwines.com for arranging this visit.

 

 

 

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Outstanding In The Field

A great event – one long table for 100 people  ‘outstanding in the field’ in the Ballymaloe Cookery School gardens glasshouse- as close as possible to the source of the food, along with great company – and of course great wine to match.

Albarino amoung the tomato plants in the glasshouse

 

Pictured, is the Albarino amoung the tomato plants in the glasshouse – read on, to see why, at Colm’s blog about the event, menu and matching wines, on the Irish Country Houses and Restaurants Association ‘The Blue Book’ website

Also a great article on the event on Ms Marmite Lovers blog

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Willunga 100, McLaren Vale with Ian Wigham

 We were delighted to welcome Ian Wigham, representing Willunga 100, McLaren Vale, South Australia www.willunga100.com
 
Willunga 100 is located in the picturesque McLaren Vale region, south of Adelaide in Australia. The wines come from a range of premium vineyards, including some over 50 years old which can produce a magnificent array of aromas and flavours. In the 100 year old winery, modern equipment is used alongside traditional winemaking techniques, including open-top fermenters. With over 100 years of winemaking experience, Willunga 100 produces unique and distinct wines, capturing the essence of the region.
Ian Whigham
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John McDonnell, Wine Australia

 We were delighted to welcome back John McDonnell, manager, Wine Australia Ireland – John gave another of his fantastic Wine Australia presentations and tastings to the students – much enjoyed and appreciated by all. John covered the wine regions of Australia, and the many different wine styles, in a broad ranging and engaging informative talk and wine tasting with the students. For further information on Wine Australia, please visit www.wineaustralia.com/ireland
 
Florence Bowe and John McDonnell

 

 
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Anne-Claude Leflaive, Domaine Leflaive, Puligny-Montrachet, Burgundy

We were delighted to welcome Anne-Claude Leflaive, and her husband Christian, and out thanks to Paddy Moore, Moores’ Wine, Dublin, for arranging this visit. Domaine Leflaive has been described as Burgundy’s greatest white wine domaine, a flagship domaine in the Côte de Beaune, and biodynamic since 1997. It is a family estate that was initially created by Anne-Claude’s grandfather Joseph, and is now managed by Anne-Claude Leflaive. Decanter Wine Magazine, in their Top 10 White Winemakers of the World, rated Anne-Claude Leflaive, Domaine Leflaive as the Number1. All her wines, from Village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru, have all been critically acclaimed by the world’s leading wine writers. www.leflaive.fr

Anne-Claude Leflaive and her husband Christian
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Wines of Veneto, with Gerry Gunnigan

Gerry Gunnigan, of Libertry Wines Ireland – European Wine Merchant of the Year 2011 www.libertywines.ie , gave a masterclass on Wines of Veneto, Italy, to the students. The students tasted the wines of two of the iconic producers of this area, Pieropan and Allegrini, including Pieropan Soave and Allegrini Valpolicella, Allegrini Palazzo della Torre, Corte Giara Amarone della Valpolicella, and the amazing sweet red, Recioto della Valpolicella.
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Christie Schulz, Turkey Flat Vineyards, Barossa Valley, South Australia

Christie Schulz, Turkey Flat Vineyards, Barossa Valley, South Australia Turkey Flat is more than just a vineyard and home of the best Barossa wines, it is a family business that forms a vital part of the region’s rich cultural history and heritage

It was here, on the banks of Tanunda Creek where bush turkeys once roamed, that pioneer Silesian settler Johann Friedrich August Fiedler planted the first Shiraz vines in 1847. His vines flourished and the land – Section One, in the Hundred of Moorooroo – was bought in 1865 by Gottlieb Ernst Schulz, a successful butcher who established a thriving retail business among the vines

Christie Schulz, Eileen O'Donovan, Suzie O'Connor

Butchering developed into dairying, but the vineyards were always kept, and eventually transformed the historic bluestone butchers shop into the cellar door and heart of their Turkey Flat wine business, and made sure that the vines that Fiedler planted so long ago, now gnarled and twisted, are still a vital part of the process

And with good reason, for it is the intense, concentrated fruit from these ancient vines that set Turkey Flat wines apart and have made them sought after the world over. With thanks to Susie O’Connor, Classic Drinks for arranging this visit www.classicdrinks.ie

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Cristobel Socias, Santa Alicia, Chile

Santa Alicia have been producing wines in the heart of Maipo Valley since 1954. With grapes from three select communes, a state of the art winery, and judicious use of the finest American and French oak barrels, the wines represent  good price/quality ratio.

In 2007, they were named Chilean Wine Producer of the Year for “best overall results from a Chilean winery” in the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition in London.

Cristobel Socias, Santa Alicia, Chile, pictured with Michael Kane, Curious Wines, Cork www.curiouswines.ie