It's off to Pau we Go! Stage 15 Samatan to Pau

Well folks, you wanted attacks, and all we got were tacks & lots of them. Bad puns aside, what a night of high drama! Stage 14 captured some of both the highs & lows that make this a truly remarkable sporting event.

The peleton lead by the yellow Wiggle showed great sportsmanship free-wheeling down Mur de Péguere to allow Cadel Evens & a dozen or so other punctured riders back to the main group. Pierre Rolland tried a bit of the 'I no speaker de English', and enjoyed his uncontested and short lived breakaway before toeing the line & getting swallowed up by the peleton. And unfortunately for Kiserlovski the tacks took him off to hospital & out of the race!

But what about that breakaway? Over 15 minutes clear of the peloton when the tack drama unfolded, it was Luis Leon Sanchez who broke away from the breakaway to get a well deserved victory.

So what does Stage 15 have in store for us?

It's back to Pau we go, & tonight it's one for the sprinters. This will probably sort out who's got their eye on the prize in Paris, or who's thinking of London.

Sagan is well clear in the battle for the green guersey, but will he have enough gas in the tank after his brilliant effort to cross the line in 2nd place in the hils last night?

Is Gossy gone? Griepel 'The Gorilla' loves to win, but watch out for the Manx Missile! I reckon Cav will want this win to make a statement to his rivals before London.

After yesterdays shenanigans, the GC boys will take it easy, as there is plenty more action in them there hills to come!

Our Pick: The Missile - Cavendish to show them who's the boss!

Drink match: After last night we need a drink - a real drink. We're in Armagnac country tonight! If that's a bit strong for you then there are plenty of interesting Vin-de-Pays in this part of France plus other small lesser know (but no less remarkable) appelations - try a Malbec from Cahors or a Tannat from the Madiran that'll be sure to add a few extra hairs to your chest.

Local Match: Try an Aussie Brandy such as the St Agnes 7 Star XO, a Malbec from Bleasdale or Ferngrove, or any other odd aussies you have lurking in your cellar!

Into the Pyrenees... MH Tour Blog Stage 14

Tonight we head from Limoux to Foix, in the foothills of the magnificent Pyrenees. It's only 40km from one to another, but the peloton are taking a bit of a 191km detour into the Haute Pyrenees with a couple of massive Category 1 climbs in the last half of the day's ride.

The final climb is still over 40km from the finish, so I doubt we'll see the GC contenders have a real crack, instead aiming not to lose any time. We'll most likely see one of the out-of-contention climbers have a major dip at a breakaway.

OUR PICK: Whilst Schleck and Gesink have the climbing pedigree, we fancy someone like Jurgen Van den Broeck, who looked pretty strong in the Alps a few nights ago.

DRINK MATCH: In the foothills of the Pyrenees, Limoux was actually the first place in France to produce sparkling wine, and they still make some excellent bubbles, particularly Crémant de Limoux. One of the biggest producers is fairly easy to find in Oz, so try a Sieur d'Arques Aimery Crémant de Limoux 1531.

AUSSIE MATCH: Hmmm....what could we Mitchell Harris boys suggest as a great bubbles made in the foothills of the Pyrenees here in Australia???....

That's right, another plug for our new bubbles, SABRE by MITCHELL HARRIS Vintage 2008!

Drop us an email at: info@mitchellharris.com.au if we can interest you in trying it out bottle or two...

Atop the Sabre Tanker Truck: another Vintage 2012 panorama

Today we brought our Chardonnay base from the Macedon Ranges up to our Pyrenees winery where it will embark on a journey toward becoming our Sabre sparkling.
The Pinot base is already fermenting well, and it looks like a good vintage for sparkling wines this year...

Click on the image for a closer look....

Mitchell Harris Macedon Vineyard Panorama

Another little panorama, this time our Macedon vineyard with it's nicely laden Chardonnay vines, which we'll be picking tomorrow for our flagship sparkling, Sabre by Mitchell Harris.

Click on the image for a larger view...

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 

SABRE by Mitchell Harris...the sneak preview!

With our newest sparkling release, Sabre by Mitchell Harris, only weeks from fruition, we decided it was time to knock the top off one. Johnno did the honours, with, you guessed it... a Sabre!

Stay tuned...won't be long now!!!

Picking the Pinot... Vintage 2011 gets underway

After our 2011 summer of discontent, it's finally come time to start on Vintage 2011! First off the rank is our sparkling fruit, which, after surviving a season of floods and humidity, has benefited from a nice slow ripening period.

The (finally) ripe bunches of Pinot Noir.

As you can see, our Macedon Pinot Noir fruit looks terrific, thanks to some hard work in the vineyard, nestled in the northern foothills of the Macedon Ranges.

Mitchell Harris gathers its Pinot Noir near Kyneton in the north of the Macedon Ranges.

Pressed and processed, it's then back up to the Pyrenees for fermentation and to have Johnno work his magic on it over the next few months.

John Harris surveying the 2011 crop

At that stage, the Pinot will be blended with our Chardonnay fruit, and tiraged into bottle to spend the next three or more years on lees, after which it can be disgorged to make our "Sabre by Mitchell Harris" sparkling.

Those with less patience will see the Pinot Noir pressings blended with our Pyrenees Sangiovese to create our second Rosé release, later in 2011.

Happy New 2011!

A quick note to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR from the Mitchell Harris Crew.

Thanks for a terrific year in 2010, a year where:

• We were lucky to have a brilliant vintage in the Pyrenees, truly one to remember for our red wine. 
• We discovered a great blend of fruit zing and savoury tannins in our 2010 Pinot Noir/Sangiovese Rosé.
• The addition of a terrific aged Muscat to the Mitchell Harris Wines portfolio
• Mitchell Harris Wines moved into even more of Melbourne and Victoria's best restaurants and bars.
• We continued to gain some great reviews in the press and blogs, and achieved James Halliday's Wine Companion 5-star status in only our second year.

The fun won't stop this year, with plans ahead for:

• A promising Pyrenees vintage, with our fruit in the Moonambel Hills surviving our spring deluges without wet feet or any other problems.
• Mitchell Harris Footy Tipping, bigger and better than ever!
• Sabre by Mitchell Harris, the release of our long-awaited sparkling wine.
• Plenty of events and great drinking ahead.

For now, Cheers to you all , and happy drinking!