Wine

Before any Strines reading this proclaim: "Typical Pom, always
whining" I am of course talking about matters vinous.
When I came to Australia, I set myself the objective of only drinking
Australian wine, more specifically Barossan Shiraz. I certainly took
to this task with zeal and was able to pursue this objective further with
a trip to the Barossa in Feb '09, along with the good lady and some
dear friends.
However, over 2009 I think it fair to say that I probably learnt more
about Australian wine than I had over the previous years. This was
largely thanks to extensive research for my aforementioned trip with
such resources as Taste by Messrs Jukes and Stelzer, James Halliday's
Wine Companion and latterly WineFront run by Gary Walsh and Campbell
Mattinson.
Now, this for me has only served to confuse further. Whereas with
drinking Barossan, I knew what I was getting, opening myself up to all
these other delights from across the country has led to my poor
palate being confused. Quite simply, I cannot get enough of the
stuff. I even developed vinsomnia (a self created term for the lack of
sleep caused by constant thought about wine) - it could get quite
unhealthy.
I have gotten to the point where I don't know what my 'style' is: do I
explore all these other wonderful regions? Do I go back to my first
love, the Barossa? Do I need an answer now? Or do I just enjoy the
journey and work out the destination when I get to it?
I feel a bit like the characters in Jack Kerouac's On The Road. To
me, in this book, they seem to spend the time zig-zagging across the
country, back and forth, back and forth. This is how I feel about my
desires for wine. I want to drink some from WA, maybe a Chardonnay;
then a pinot from Mornington Peninsula; a traditional jammy Shiraz
from the Barossa; a Riesling from Clare; a Semillon from the Hunter.
End result=confused boy!
So there is only one thing for it. Research. Thus the wine regions
that I would like to visit are:
1) Hunter Valley: semillons from lovely sandy/ loamy soils; hunter
Shiraz to see what that is all about.
2) Canberra: home of Australia's best Shiraz Viognier; cool climate
Shiraz; and some Riesling.
3) Orange: cooler climate region, home to some good Chardonnay, Sav
Blanc and even some cider.
4) Mornington Peninsula: Pinot Noir for me!
5) Victoria: too many regions to contemplate: Beechworth, Heathcote
and Bendigo, Yarra Valley.
6) Margaret River: Australia's answer to Bordeaux?
7) Barossa Valley: a return to my first true love!
So there's plenty to keep me occupied there, just hope the nipper
likes road trips!