It's not everyday you get to meet owners wineries. I've met three in July, alone. First was Joel Gott as Greg Versch mentioned, here. Then I met David Clark of Milton Park and Thorn Clark in Australia. This past week I met Gunther Schlink, as well. It is really exciting to meet down to Earth wine makers and vineyard owners.

First off, if you have not tried any Thorn Clark wines, I would suggest doing so. Even their entry level label, Milton Park produce great $10 bottles of Shiraz and Chardonnay. Before meeting David, the Thorn Clark Shotfire Shiraz is my favorite Shiraz under $25. I told him this and have gave me a big smile and thanked me. Here are the notes from what I tasted.

2008 Thorn Clark Terra Barossa- They are starting to make these liter sized bottles for economic purposes. I think it is a great idea. Bright and fruity nose, with blackberries and pepper dominating. Bright and refreshing in the mouth. Very solid QPR.

2007 Thorn Clark Shotfire Shiraz- Nose of vanilla, tart blueberries, plums and licorice. Medium to full bodied, huge amounts of fruit and a long balanced finish.

2008 Thorn Clark Shotfire Shiraz- Wow! David said the 2008 was one of the best Shotfire's they have ever made. It was bottle 3 weeks before I tasted it. Ripe nose of Chambord, vanilla and baking spice. Full bodied, young, mouth coating tannins and almost sweet in the mouth. Fantastic.

It was great to meet David and talk with him about his wines. 

I was alone in the wine department last week, and a distributor representative, said, “I have someone for you to meet. This is Gunther Schlink.”

I was quite surprised.  Binny's has recently received a few lower production wines from Gunther Schlink. They include a Dry Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Dornfelder and a great Pinot Noir. The beautiful thing about these wines is you can drink them any time of year, they are food friendly and most of them are around $10 per bottle.  Here is more information, here. 

In these harsh economic times, a lot of people in the wine industry are out and about promoting their wines.  It's a good thing to see.