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Rather than write about individual wineries, I thought I’d switch this up just a bit and talk about the entire region of Canberra- Well, mostly the Murrumbateman village region, where I spent most of Sunday Morning. Many wine aficionados like to preach that its not about the wine, but the winemakers who give character to their wine that makes a good wine truly good. So in a region of great wines, how do you pick a winner among four wineries? Simply, the four winemakers who best help you experience their wine.

I visited several wineries, but four stand out in quality. Yass Valley Winery, McKellar Ridge Winery, Dionysus Winery and Clonakilla Winery.

Clonakilla winery is hailed by experts as one of the best wineries in the region. In fact, it was based on this recommendation that I went to the Murrembateman village to begin my winery tour. But the first winery I encountered was the Dionysus Winery. Like many wineries in the region, they specialized in Rieslings and Sauvignon Blancs, but to me what really stood out was their fantastic Shiraz, a bright purple wine with smells of smoke, harvest berries and spice. It was aged in oak, helping to provide a complex, smooth, yet bold flavor to a familiar grape. I took a bottle of their Shiraz back to the hotel to enjoy it during the upcoming week.

Clonakilla, was sadly, lacking in any kind of personal touch, and upon tasting their wines, I honestly had to ask what all the hubbub was about. It was staffed by a young, indifferent man who offered tastings of overpriced wines. His best wine was a Shiraz made from another estate’s grape. While that is not anything to hold against any vineyard, considering some of the local competition who grew local varietals, and grew them better, this caused me to bypass his offering for other regional bottles.

Next on my visit trail was the fantastic Yass Valley Winery, up the street from Clonakilla. This winery was spectacular, mostly because of the winemaker who ran the place. I was welcomed into their bright roomy tasting room, where I helped to remove the reds that were warming(!) over the floor heater because they were too chilly. The winemaker was Mick Withers, a retiree who sank his last years of his life into a beautiful winery making fantastic wines. He playfully guided me through their varieties. Most of their whites were to die for. The Traminer was great, as was the Verdelho, but I ended up settling on the Barbera, a red wine originally from Italy that has a fantastic flavor. I enjoyed a glass of the wine while Withers’ retiree wife made me a beautiful plate of bruscetta with local tomatos and fresh feta cheese. Maybe it was seeing this older couple run their business with pride that made this wine taste so well, but it is most likely the fact that the opposite is true: good wine comes from good, hardworking folk, and this is the clear winner of the wines I enjoyed today.

Last but not least, I stopped by McKellar Ridge Winery, run by Brian Johnston and his talented artist wife, Janet. Janet’s great watercolors, what were left after last week’s wine festival, adorn the tasting room’s walls. The Johnstons are trying to corner the local market on Bordeaux style wines by combining local varieties of Cab Franc, Merlot and Cab Sav together. The wines I tasted that they had to offer were exquisite. And they have won many local awards too. I think they will be successful with their blends. But the Bordeaux style wines were nothing fantastically new to me, coming from Northern Virginia where so many similar blends also tried to capture that French essence. Their whites, however, were what stood out to me. A crisp Sav Blanc and an equally tasty Riesling made for a great sipping wine on a warm rainy Sunday morning as I enjoyed the Johnston’s company.

It really is true. The best wines are not about the chemical makeup of the vintage. Its about the winemakers and their passions- and in my case, their ability to suffer a visiting Yank touring a wet region of outstanding wines.

Oh an that last photo of Kangaroo Prosciutto? I had to try Roo meat while I was here. It goes great with the Barbera!

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