Friday, August 25th- Wild Duck Creek, Whistling Eagle, Red Edge

We depart the hotel at 8 AM for a two hour drive to Heathcote for a couple visits, beginning with David “Duck” Anderson at Wild Duck Creek. Heathcote has a slightly cooler climate than Barossa or McLaren and is known for its red Cambrian volcanic soils.
At Wild Duck we tasted the following for breakfast…

2004 Wild Duck Creek Cabernet Reserve
2004 Wild Duck Creek Malbec (blending sample)
2004 Wild Duck Creek Shiraz-Malbec (formally known as Yellowhammer Hill)
2004 Wild Duck Creek Springflat Shiraz
2004 Wild Duck Creek Springflat Shiraz Reserve
2004 Wild Duck Creek Springflat Duck Muck Shiraz
2004 Wild Duck Creek Fortified Shiraz

We moved on down the road to Whistling Eagle to for a tasting, vineyard tour and a home-cooked lunch with Lynn and Ian Rathjen. Ian’s ancestors settled the Heathcote region in the late 1850’s. The Whistling Eagle vineyards are located on the side of Mt. Camel, an extinct volcano that make us part of Heathcote. The Whistling Eagle wines are powerful but very balanced- the cabernet was one of my favorites of the trip. Lunch was amazing and so was the view from the top of the hill.
Tasted were…

2005 Whistling Eagle Sangiovesse (barrel sample)
2005 Whistling Eagle Shiraz (barrel sample)
2005 Whistling Eagle Cabernet (barrel sample)
New Release and Back Vintages of the Shiraz

Back down the hill was rolled to the small vineyard owned by Peter Drudge of Red Edge. Peter makes shiraz and cabernet from his estate-grown fruit. The wines are classic Heathcote- powerful but with plenty of acid to create very balanced wines.
We tasted the following wines with Peter…

2005 Red Edge Shiraz Old Vines
2005 Red Edge Cabernet
2005 Red Edge Degree Shiraz
2001 Red Edge Cabernet
1997 Red Edge Shiraz Old Vines

We headed back to Melbourne to meet David Hickinbotham at the Telstra Dome to watch a professional fotty match between the St. Kilda Saints and the Western Bulldogs. We had a great time at the game and then walked to Melbourne’s Chinatown for a late night supper at the Shark Fin Inn. Plenty of BYOB wine was about as well a lazy-susan’s full of mud crab, peking duck, etc. to snack on.