When in Rhone...Tour Blog Stage 13

We're back on the flat tonight, for a 215km burn down from the Rhone valley, scooting around Montpellier and onto the Mediterranean coast road down to Le Cap-D'Agde.

It's been a super few days up in the Alps, but tonight will be either one for the sprinters, or we think, ripe for a breakaway pack. It's Bastille Day, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine one or two of the Frenchies wanting to get themselves (and their sponsors' logos) out in front for much of the race. A stiff sea breeze for the last 50km will still keep the pressure on the GC contenders, but they'll probably stick together again.

OUR PICK: After getting stung 30 points for getting a little wobbly in front of Sagan, we'll go for Gossy to want to regain some pride with a sprint finish.

DRINKING MATCH: Find yourself a Chateauneuf du Pape to drink on this wintry Bastille Night down under.

AUSSIE MATCH: Time to try our little Rhoney-style number: The Mitchell Harris 2011 Mataro Grenache Shiraz fits the bill with spicy, fresh, lively Pyrenees fruit to watch Le tour by...

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That's right...a tasty 6 pack for only $120!! 2 x Sangiovese, 2 x Cabernet Sauvignon and 2 x Mataro Grenache Shiraz (new release).

Just email us on info@mitchellharris.com.au to get your hands on this ripper 6 pack offer.

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Go West! Stage 12 Tour Blog

Absolute cracker of a stage last night as the peloton pounded their way over some massive climbs in the Alps. Cadel had to make a move, and so he did, but didn't quite have the legs to carry it off last night. Fellow Aussies Richie Porte and Michael Rogers did a brilliant job of leading the SKY team out, and Froome pulled Wiggins up the hill (with a big nod to looking out for himself in the years to come!) As for Cadel, it starting to look like it won't be his year. But you can count nothing out with a big heart like his!

So, onto tonight...

A couple of big Category 1 climbs as the peloton leaves the Alps, then a gentle descent toward Annonay, where they'll then climb up to the arrivée.

Profile c/o letour.fr

Certainly the GC contenders will take it easy and spin a bit of the lactic acid out of the legs, but how will the rest of the race pan out? We're thinking if the sprinters can remain with the peloton through til the end they'll have crack up to the finish, it which case Gossy could be in with a chance, but it's likely, with nothing to lose, we'll see one of the others have a crack. You could pick pretty much anyone tonight, so.... for:

OUR PICK: Ummm..... Luis Leon Sanchez

DRINK MATCH: We're into the Cotes du Vivarais North of the Rhone here, territory of the light, spicy Rhone red blends. The Gallety ‘Recolte’ Cotes du Vivarais is a spicy, peppery Syrah from just south of the arrivée at Annonay.


AUSSIE MATCH: How about one from just up the road. Our mates at Dog Rock make the delicious Degraves Road Pyrenees Shiraz Grenache Tempranillo. We know, we know, the tempranillo doesn't strictly fit the Rhone blend, but seriously folks, this is one delicious, spicy red. Get on it!


 

You're on your own... Tour Blog Stage 9 Preview

A flying finish to last night's medium mountain stage into Porrentruy, with a Pinot just ahead of the pack (a bit of Pinot out in front whilst I pen this too!.)

Evans showed some pure grit, but failed to make up any time on the yellow mutton-chop wearer, Wiggins. This will be where the action is tonight, too. After an outburst last night against twitter critics insinuating dopage, he'll be hoping for a clear head tonight to take a firm grip on the yellow jersey into the final two weeks. It's the 40km time-trial into Besançon tonight, so expect a rocking 50 minutes or so of solo energy.

OUR PICK: Wiggins will be looking to extend his lead, but expect Evans to peg back few seconds and perhaps even just snatch the maillot jaune tonight with a flying stage. For the stage win though, it'll be (once again) Fabian Cancellara with his Spartacus act over Tony Martin.

WHAT TO DRINK: Once again in the heart of natural wine country, the Jura, tonight it's time for a funky Jura red: the light and slightly 'meaty' Domaine Rolet Arbois Poulsard.

AUSSIE MATCH: A funky, natural red? Try our Mitchell Harris 2011 Sauvage Shiraz as your light and spicy little drop for the night. Cool-vintage grapes, tossed into the fermenter, and left largely to nature's whims. Unfined and unfiltered, it's a zingy, peppery Pyrenees Shiraz as nature intended.

(Email and soon-to-be-urban-cellar-door only folks!)

Sauvage: wild, untamed.

Stomping the Mitchell Harris Shiraz

Getting in the whole-bunch spirit, Johnno gets right into stomping our 2012 Pyrenees Shiraz.

Warning: may contain scenes of whole-body pigeage!!!

Mitchell Harris Wines at Spring Graze Ballarat

A few pictures from a great night at Lydiard Wine Bar this week. Spring Graze was a satellite event of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and showcased the best of fresh spring produce along with the range of Mitchell Harris wines.

We hand-disgorged a dozen bottles of our new sparkling, Sabre, which was served with fresh plump oysters. The dry, aperitif style was a brilliant match for this seafood canapé.

A Thai salad of spanner crab showed off chef Damien Jones' heritage in Thai cuisine brilliantly, and was matched with our 2011 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé, and our 2011 Rosé.

Through the night we patched in Johnno from his wine-show judging in Canberra, to introduce the sneak preview of Sabre. A great way to bring him in as a part of the evening, but obviously he would have preferred to indulge....

An incredible main of a rare rolled roast of Goldfields Spring Lamb was some of the best lamb I've ever tasted, and a brilliant centrepiece with our reds, 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Shiraz.

And a sublime way to finish the night was a dessert of blue cheese, pear and apple, matched with the fruit richness of our Special Release Muscat.

Make sure if you get a chance to drop into Lydiard Wine Bar in Ballarat

Special thanks to Alicia's sister Sally for the gorgeous images...

 www.sallymckay.com.au 

Mitchell Harris Success at the Ballarat Wine Show

This week saw the annual Ballarat Wine Show take place at Bray Raceway.

The competition sees entries from Ballarat and the surrounding wine regions: Grampians, Pyrenees, Bendigo, Heathcote, Macedon and Geelong.

A great chance for us to benchmark some of our new releases and see what some of the other great producers in our area our doing.

And, of course, a bit of love for some of our babies. This even included a silver (rare for a pinkie) for our 2011 Rosé. A great lid-dipping to Johnno for his great work in crafting our current range, which is finding its way onto wine-lists around the country.

Mitchell Harris Shiraz features on Offspring!

Ok, so not exactly features, but it was cool to see a bottle of our shiraz sitting in the background of a scene of Channel Ten's Offspring last week.


The scene was set the very cool bar of our mates at St Judes Cellars in Brunswick St, Fitzroy.


For any of you who missed it, we think the script went a little something like this....

Vintage 2011...Bringing in the Mitchell Harris Shiraz

As we lift the cover off the open- fermenter, it's a delicious wave of fruit aroma that wafts out. Like a berry compote dessert and a hint of white pepper to spice it up.


Yep, our 2011 Shiraz is picked, and fermenting away....

In a beautiful little valley in the Moonambel hills there's a patch of Shiraz in a corner of the vineyard, that we noticed last year had some terrific plump bunches of spicy grapes hanging. So for this vintage we thought... "let's have a bit of that!"



Picked last week, the fruit gave us everything we were hoping for... Yummy redcurrant fruit with that zing of pepper on the nose and palate.

A few hundred kilos of Viognier grapes from a few adjacent rows has been tossed in to give just a little lift to those fruit



So, from here, it's a real "Hands-off" approach. Wild ferment, then into a combination of our new and old French oak hogsheads for about 18 months.
And not much else...!




We hope we can leave the fruit to do the talking, and perhaps come up with a delicious, spicy, ever-so-slightly-funky Pyrenees Shiraz true to that little corner of the little vineyard in the little valley up past Moonambel...

Burns Night: Haggis wrapped in Butterflied Leg of Lamb

Last night we gathered the Scots, the ex-pats, the pipers, and all and sundry together for an early Burns night supper. Hanging about in kilts in 30°C late sun certainly contrasted with the frosty nights we remember in Scotland.

We tried a bit of an experiment in combining the two meats here, the beaut haggis spices infiltrating the lamb, with the juicy lamb keeping the haggis nice and moist.

The haggis: Here in Australia we prefer our haggis wild and freshly shot, keeps that nice gamely flavour compared with those flabby barley-fed specimens raised on the big haggis farms out here and in Scotland...

Haggis...a couple of tasty specimens.

What we used:

850g Haggis
1.5kg Leg of Lamb, butterflied. (your butcher can do this, or there are plenty of you-tube vids on how-to, if you fancy a good boning yourself!)

We marinated the lamb in:
Red wine
Garlic
Rosemary
Thyme
Mint
Salt & Pepper
Marinated for a few hours or overnight if possible.





Then in a big pot of salted water we boiled the haggis for about an hour.
Purely boiling the haggis, you'd probably want about 75 mins, but we pulled it up short as it would still cook when in the roasting lamb.





Then we took it out, peeled the haggis skin, and set the "haggis water" aside for reducing into a sauce.

Lay the haggis in the open butterflied lamb, then wrap it into a roll, and truss it up with butcher's string.

Just wait, it WILL look OK soon...

Fire the oven up to 200°C, and fire up a big pan on the stove on high heat.
Sear the outside of your lamb/haggis roll , then it's into the preheated oven.

25 minutes at 200°C then rest the meat for 10-15 minutes.

We sliced it in half-inch slices, then served with roasted tatties (spuds) and neeps (turnips in UK, we call 'em swedes here in Oz) boiled, mashed with a bit of salt, pepper and cream.

Succulent roast lamb leg, stuffed with haggis.

Pour the reduction of "haggis-juice" and the pan juices over the top...





A cool climate Shiraz has just the right balance of spices and fruit here, we think. We drank Dalwhinnie 2007 Moonambel Shiraz (nice Scots-flavoured name too!), absolutely stunning with this dish. The Mitchell Harris Pyrenees Shiraz would be a sublime little match too, we reckon ;-).

Of course then it's time for a wee bit ay Burns verse...we'll leave it to you to pick your own...(and translate!)

Richard delivers the Burns verse...

*pure-deid-brilliant Haggis actually obtained from the remarkable John Harbour the Butcher, in Ballarat.

Gills Diner ...a very hip new city home for Mitchell Harris Shiraz

Just a note to let you know the flagship Mitchell Harris Shiraz 2008 is now on the wine list at the über-funky city eatery, Gills Diner. This great spot is tucked away in Gills Lane, behind the Commercial Bakery in Little Collins St.

Get yourself down there for some terrific food (amazing breakfast and coffee too!) and hop into some Pyrenees goodness whilst you take in the tastes and the groovy vinyl spinning of the decks.

It's a fantastic find, and we're glad to have the Mitchell Harris Shiraz on the shelves...