The Journey

As I’ve been in the middle of exams, with a cold, i haven't been able to taste anything for a while which got me thinking about how i arrived at this point in my life.  The love for wine, and now for creating wine, has been building inside me for a rather long time.  It was at my 20th birthday that my father, proudly pulled out a bottle of 72 Grange for my 4 friends and myself to sink our teeth into.  It was a beautiful moment as the first drop of Grange danced effortlessly on my tongue.  Next in the journey I was in France for work over a 12 week period, having to change towns every 2 - 4 days, which meant that everyone was joyous to meet us.  They told us tales of their region and introduced us to the food and wine delicacies which included old treasurers of wines where ever we went.  The 1990 Chateau Lafite still reverberates in my head and I’ve been trying to experience that feeling again ever since.

Back in Adelaide I worked down at West Lakes Cellars for a while and undertook a show judge’s course at Hamilton College.  It was a 10 week course of tasting samples and submitting 250 - 500 word essays each week on the up-coming types or styles of wine we would be looking at.  Now I’ve moved up to the Adelaide Hills as a Sommelier at Maximilians Restaurant, where I have had the privilege to attend Sommelier Australia and Trade events.  Over the past three years I’ve learnt more about wine and educated my palate than any other year, but I am still trying to reach the highest of the Lafite!  I've decided that to further my education I need to step into the shoes of a winemaker.  Under the guidance of a close friend of mine I am making a Chardonnay and Sangiovese (the two grape varieties that i am passionate about).  I've found that it is easy to critically evaluate a wine after it has been finished but when you have to make decisions that impact on the taste in the future, it is so much harder.