Not today, but over the last month or so while I was in Australia I had a drink or two...

So seeing my wife's relatives is always good, in particular when they live not far from here:



So we make our travels up and down the roads where all the wineries are, and as a result end up with this:



This is too much to drink while were are there (despite our best efforts!), and too much to take back, so each time we visit we put a few bottles down at some relative's house, and let it age so we have some nice wines when we come back the next trip. For a while we had lost track of where our bottles from last trip were stored, and we had initially thought the had been consumed by relatives, but then my wife's mother said "Al I have those wines you left behind in a closet" and my eyes lit up! Here's the bag they were in:



As you can see my wife made sure to label the bag well, and in fact she also wrote on every bottle too...all were consumed while we were there, and all were very good:



This one could have used even more time actually:



This one was my favourite of the three:



In addition to the Coonawarra region, we also spent time in Adelaide so McClaren Vale wines were also sampled and some bought/consumed. One example from d'Arenberg:



This is the Cube where the above winery has tastings - part art display, part restaurant, and part wine tasting venue, it was unusual to say the least. The bathrooms were certainly an odd experience:



This is a Borossa Valley wine I liked quite a bit:



So we brought back 4 bottles of wine to Canada, and we again have some stored for aging with relatives in preparation for our next visit back:



Of course wine was not the only beverage on the hit list for me, but another post on that later.

Cheers, Al

 

Lost of good stuff there, the Hollick Ravenswood is a killer...

Love the hamilton stuff too, which we stock and we will have Penley in stock in a couple of months too

Amd how good is the Leconfield Rose...

 

Opened this up this afternoon.

 

Yes, lots of great wines. Anyway, too bad your schedule didn't permit a meet up, but maybe next time I'm there.

 

Indeed, woill be good

 

So in addition to the wine, I had a beer or two while down under. My go to in the past has been Redback, a wheat beer, but I went to several Dan Murphy's, Cole's, and a bunch of bottle shops and came up empty every time as no one seemed to stock it where I was. I remember having this problem the last time I was there and we did manage to find a store with it last time, but that store didn't have it this time, so I had to try a few others!

My wife really likes Beez Neez, which is a wheat beer with a touch of honey added to it, and made by the same company that makes Redback - it wasn't hard to find, so I drank quite a few of these:



This was just horrible...drank it at the Australian Open because I was desperate for a drink and couldn't find a beer I wanted, so I thought I'd give it a try...



One evening after a long session at the tennis, we had some beer and snacks back at the hotel. Jacqui said the Mountain Goat she had on the left was really good, and I regretted having the Boag's...



Back in Ballarat we managed to hit the right timing to be there for a beerfest:



Lots of micros there, but as is the case here the big trend is almost nothing but IPA's that are so overly hopped that's all you taste, so although I sampled a few I wasn't too interested in most of them. I don't mind a good hoppy beer, but I don't want the overwhelming hops that seem to be the big thing right now. So instead we tried a few ciders, and this one was very good from Flying Brick Cider House:



The other thing I really enjoyed was the ginger beer made by Tumut River Brewing Co., called Ginja Nija:



Jacqui really liked it too, so we went back for seconds...thirds...etc.:



Some other beers and ciders we tried:







Probably my favourite of this trip was from a small brewery in McLaren Vale called Goodieson, and they make a cracking wheat beer, which was good for nice hot days we had - Adelaide set a new record of 46.6 C one day we were there:



Cheers, Al

 

Reeds ginger ale and Jameson's

 

Single-variety malt American whiskey. It’s delicious, much more subtle flavors than their excellent regular single malt, which is itself getting better and better with each release.

 

Not the best picture, but the dram is very good in my opinion

 

one local Pils after a two-hour self guided walking tour of the city of Luxembourg..

 

Couple nights ago.

 

Been away from this lovely thread for a while. Scored the last bottle of this from a friend at Binnys :caramel, vanilla, candy corn, wood, and just a bit of alcohol bite, nice finish. This one is for sipping. Water brings a bit of baking spice notes.

 

This was hiding in the back of my cabinet for special occasions, but it just happened to catch my eye tonight. I guess it's a special occasion.

 

Sry for double post today, but had to share a bottle I just purchased. It’s a peated Irish. I’m like @alam and don’t really like Islay Scotch. This though, this is a pour I enjoy. I’m actually hoping it can be a nice gateway into being able to enjoy the Ardbeg, Laphroaig, etc peated Scotch.

The nose is straight up medicinal (just like a bandaid). I was thinking it would be relegated to the bottom shelf, but surprisingly the taste is fantastic for me.

 

Been using this Knob Creek for the first time as a variation to my Old Fashion making venture...it turned out pretty good too.

 

Was at Goodiesons yesterday stocking up for a pizza night with friends ... as you said the wheat is excellent, as is the raspberry wheat and the black pilsener, maibock was good, the IPA was metallic and the christmas ales (bottle fermented and barrel aged were ok) ... the wheats and pils for the win!

 

I’m not a fan of raspberry so I wasn’t keen on that one. Foe me the wheat was the clear winner. Glad you liked them!

 

Japanese Belgian style ale with the best can design ever.

 

Missing the vintage stuff I was buying in France but this will do.