McLaren Vale Australia--Wits End

One of my favorite wineries in McLaren is Chalk Hill--called Wits End here in the USA.  Jock Harvey's parents founded it and he and his brother Tom are now in charge; Jock made a name for himself as a fantastic vineyard manager and takes care of most of the prize vines in the valley.  They don't have a tasting room, and the cellar door is by appointment only (it pays to know the family!)

Wits End has had enormous success here at Shiraz.   Our best sellers are Procrastinator and Sidetrack, shown here with the Australian labels.  Hard to forget the name Procrastinator, though!  Wits End changed importers and I'm pleased to say they are now with Little Peacock.  I'm working with that company to bring the wines into the state of Georgia.

 Here are some of the other wines in the lineup--I'm in love with the Vermentino almost out of range on the left.  Yummy stuff with some serious pedigree.  Some of the oldest vines in the area belong to this small family winery.

 

a night out in McLaren... all the food here is so fresh!

 And here is the McLaren Farmer's Market.  It's one of the busiest places in town, and the options are wonderful, varied, and used by all the restaurants in the area.  I did major souvenir shopping here...

Jock's family was visited by a magpie and they have basically adopted it.  It is a talkative little guy,  

and hangs around waiting to be fed and petted!  I got 3 different videos, it chatted so much!

 I visited Angove's, sitting on the edge of some of the
Chalk Hill property.  Like d'Arenberg, they are big
proponents of the Grenache grape.  They have an
Enomatic machine (like we have at Shiraz)--they were
the first to get one in McLaren.  They are slated to add
another this year.  The view is tremendous!!

 Jock and I visited Samuel's Gorge  (winemaker Justin is right behind Jock--he is the one with the awesome hair).  This was a new winery for me, but everything they make is fantastic. Grenache, Tempranillo, Mourvedre, GSM... you name it, it was delicioius.  I look forward to seeing a lot more
from them in the future (and their greeter is precious).

Beautiful view at Samuel's Gorge... and beautiful Rose of GSM

 Two of my favorite treats from the visit:  delicious local lamb cooked by my dear friend Jock for a grand finale and a meat pie with a flat white--a sad meal because it was my last in Australia.