Wednesday, August 23- Henry's Drive, Majella

Checked out of the wine-soaked and stained room #7 and boarded the bus for the four hour ride to Padthaway- home of Henry’s Drive. Of course we stopped on the way for pasties and iced coffee. The Longbottom’s had recently finished construction of their new tasting room/office/cellar door and hosted us for a lunch and tasting. We dined on Australian Waygu beef and other delicious items while we drank the new releases.

2005 Pillar Box Red
2005 Pillar Box White
2004 Henry’s Drive Shiraz
2004 Henry’s Drive Shiraz Reserve
2004 Parson’s Flat Shiraz-Cabernet
2004 Dead Letter Office Shiraz (blend of 55% Padthaway and 45% McLaren Vale Shiraz- Kim Johnston is the winemaker for Henry’s Drive and Shirvington it that tells you anything about this wine)

We finished the lunch with an aged vertical of Henry’s Drive Cabernets from 1999 to 2004.

We then traveled a short hour to Coonawarra, the Cabernet capital of Australia, for a tasting, bbq and bush tour with the boys at Majella. We tasted through the whole lineup of Majella wines, including my favorite, the 2005 Musician Shiraz Cabernet. We capped off the night with plenty of Cooper’s and a bush tour. A Coonawarra bush tour consists of riding in the backs of utes (that’s a pickup truck to you a me), drinking beer and spotlighting kangaroo’s. It felt like back home in the Black Belt.