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It is finally time to catch our breath as the previous months have been exceptionally busy. The good news is that our new labels are due to be printed this week so our 2008 Eden Valley Riesling and 2006 Shiraz Cabernet will be on the shelves adorned with the revamped labels sometime in July. It has been a long process but finally we came up with a design that kept in line with our original branding but smartened it up somewhat. I cannot wait to see them on the bottles!
Another exciting event for the week was a rating and short review of our 2008 Riesling (rated 4 and a half glasses and 92 points) from James Halliday so keep an eye out for the 2010 James Halliday Wine Companion to read James' full review. It normally hits the retail shelves in August.
Our Barossa At Home weekend was a success despite the last-minute cancellation of our dinner. We simply didn't sell enough tickets to make it a viable proposition but on speaking with other participants, we were not alone. That did not dampen our spirits for the weekend's wine tastings and it certainly proved to be successful in sales and in meeting new faces who ventured out in the chilly weather. All going well, we may try to arrange a similar event (a tasting and dinner) with our Collective counterparts in the warmer months.
The art display by the Bethany Art Group brought extra 
people out to visit us and it was terrific to see some of the artists attend. Their works were stunning and certainly brought the old stable to life. Many thanks to Tony and Phyl for all the work they did to get the display up in time.James is getting organised to go to Brisbane for the Purple Palate events, and pruning in between. We have had lots of rain this winter so far and he has done well to keep on top of it. Not an easy task when he also has a full-time job elsewhere. It won't be long til I am up on the hill as well tying the vines on and before we know it, harvest will be here again.
As for now though, it is perfect weather for enjoying a glass of red at night by the fire. Winter is my favourite time of year and it is lovely to hear the squelching of the soil underfoot again. The vineyard is looking happy with itself and no doubt will do us well again this coming year after such good winter conditions.
The Barossa Wine and Tourism Association have just released the new brochure promoting their latest event - Barossa At Home. I have briefly mentioned this event in my earlier blog post: http://karrayertawines.blogspot.com/2009/03/winter-wine-event-watch-this-space.html It is a very different event and we are looking forward to participating in it. In fact, of the 48 wineries taking part, we are the only ones to have multiple wineries at the one dinner (Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards).
The purpose of the weekend event is to allow you to meet the winemakers behind the wines. On Saturday 27th June and Sunday 28th June between 11am and 3pm our rustic old stable will be open for wine tastings. Then at 6pm on Saturday evening our special wine dinner will begin. Both the tastings and the dinner will feature delicious home-cooked food and the wines of Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards. The sumptuous food will be prepared by our good friend Leanne Tidmus (one of the Barossa's best cooks of country-style dishes) and Karra Yerta's Marie Linke. The three winemakers, James Linke (Karra Yerta), Mark Mader (Gumpara) and Steve Kurtz (Kurtz Family Vineyards) will be dining with guests on the night in our rustic old red gum stable.
Wines complementing the four courses for the night include:
- Karra Yerta 2006 Eden Valley Riesling (Soup: Yabbie Bisque OR Cream of Chicken and Corn Soup)
- Karra Yerta 2008 Eden Valley Riesling (Entree: Mushroom Strudel with Cream Sauce OR Salmon Salad with Creamy Caesar Dressing)
- Karra Yerta 2006 Shiraz Cabernet (Main: Grilled Lamb Cutlets with Red-Currant and Rosemary Glaze) OR
- Kurtz Family Vineyard 2004 Lunar Block Shiraz (Main: Beef and Red Wine Casserole with Parsley Dumplings) OR
- Gumpara 2008 Barossa Semillon (Main: Baked Spatchcock with a Nectarine and Honey Sauce)
- Gumpara Liqueur Frontignac (Dessert: Glazed Peach Tart) OR
- Gumpara Tawny Grenache (Dessert: Individual Black Forest Cakes) OR
- Kurtz Family Vineyard 2005 Boundary Road GSM (Dessert: Fruit and Cheese Platter for one)
Coffee, tea and home-made liqueur chocolate truffles plus other wines available for tasting on the night.
We have 25 tickets available at $100 each. Please email us at karrayertawines@gmail.com to make a booking or any enquiries, or phone Marie on 0438870178. We can then post you out our brochure with the menu choices, map and other information on it. As we are all such small wineries and will be doing most of the work ourselves we would appreciate knowing in advance what your menu choices will be (if possible). This makes preparation easier and also saves us costs (so that we can spend more on our wine-making:)
Please note that although the menu above is 99.9% certain sometimes things happen beyond our control so in that event you will be contacted and advised of any changes. I doubt that will happen but it is always good to have a contingency plan. We really hope that you can join us on this very special night featuring three of the Collective wineries at the one location. Our fourth Collective winery, SmallFry, will be having their own tastings and dinner at their cellar door in Angaston. As you can see from the photo below of the bar in our rare old stable, it is a very rustic old building. The floor is made of gum rounds sawn from logs so please wear flat shoes as the floor can be uneven in parts from the old draught horses that used to drag their hooves when eating from the mangers in the early 1900's.
We are also looking at having (free) courtesy drivers so if you are interested in using this service, please let us know when making your booking. Finally, the weekend will also provide us with an opportunity to show off some of the fabulous artwork from the Bethany Art Group which will be displayed in the stable. A lesser known group of Barossa artists, the display is sure to be stunning and provide our guests with yet another aspect of the creative talent that flourishes in our beautiful and diverse area. A selection of the artwork will be on sale at very reasonable prices.
For a map showing our location for these events please go to this link: Barossa At Home map
It is finally time to catch our breath as the previous months have been exceptionally busy. The good news is that our new labels are due to be printed this week so our 2008 Eden Valley Riesling and 2006 Shiraz Cabernet will be on the shelves adorned with the revamped labels sometime in July. It has been a long process but finally we came up with a design that kept in line with our original branding but smartened it up somewhat. I cannot wait to see them on the bottles! 
people out to visit us and it was terrific to see some of the artists attend. Their works were stunning and certainly brought the old stable to life. Many thanks to Tony and Phyl for all the work they did to get the display up in time.
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