Warehouse Wine Fair OCT 9, 2010

October 2010 - New Zealand Wine Month

Please join us at this unique event, Wine Directions will be there and we will be pouring wines from Mt. Beautiful and Fairhall Downs, see you on October 16, 2010.

There will be another Warehouse Wine Fair on Saturday October 9, 2010 and the New Zealand wines will have a prominent position at the fair as well and at very attractive prices, so come down and stock up. Check your email for more details!

Western Australian Wine Trip AUG 2010

Welcome to Fermoy Estate, Margaret River, Western Australia. Well known for their Semillon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The winery, with left the winery building, the cellardoor is located in the yellow entrance. On the right you'll find the offices and the storage facilities.

The Merlot vineyard that brings you that beautiful Merlot, it all starts here!

Close-up of the Merlot vine

A Semillon vineyard, one of the oldest in Margaret River

These Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards are located behind the winery, one of the first planted when the winery was set-up.

The winery of Fermoy Estate, not much activities as its winter, just cleaning out some barrels and preparing for the upcoming season.

French Oak barrel, customized with Fermoy Estate's logo, nice touch!

The barrel storage, where the wine is maturing before getting bottled

Liz Dawson the winemaker at Fermoy Estate

Tasting some new wines straight from the barrel, this is a Chardonnay 2010 still on leese, this wine has a great future ahead.

The pavilion located next to the dam in the heart of the estate

The pavilion in a close up, great for VIP functions or a corporate wine & food experience.

The Cottage of Fermoy Estate in the middle of their Vineyards, the cottage is available for rent, just contact the winery for more information.

Fermoy Estate is in excellent company!

After Margaret River, I drove to the Great Southern region where I visited the wine regions of Pemberton, DenMark, Mount Barker and Albany. First stop was Denmark and here a sideview of the beautiful winery and restaurant of Forrest Hill in Denmark, worth the ride!

A view from the Forrest Hill Winery on the beautiful Denmark region

Rolling hills and vineyards at the Mount Barker area, a beautiful drive!

I was invited to join in at a blending tasting for a small winery called Montefalco, creating a preservative free Sangiovese Merlot blend. An unique opportunity as this gives a rare view in the process of wine blending.

setting up the different concoctions of the blend, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%

The final tasting, the result was 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot, all good to go for bottling!

So True!

What has been happening in the last few months?

Wine Directions paricipated in 'Grandeur of the Wines', an wine event on the "World Gourmet Summit' Calendar. Wine writer and friend Jeremy Oliver enjoyed the wines we had to offer!

A typical office wine tasting & buying session, great for teambuilding on the Friday afternoon and an opportunity to sample and buy wine at 'below retail' prices.

Whilst Stephen Black was in town, he hosted a private dinner for the clients of the Australian bank Westpac, at the Hidden Host. We can organize a private dinner for your clients as well!

A wine training for a group of relation managers of an investment bank in Singapore. Giving them enough knowledge to talk about wine with their clients and deal with wines in restaurants.

The Small Gully wine selection served at the Hyde Event

Stephen Black of the Small Gully winery talks about his wines at a wine talk session at Hyde, a great place at Boat Quay, best view on the Singapore river and Singapore's skyline.