Thanks for joining us for another episode of Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast. Barb, I work in wine marketing and events. I'm Pat, Specialty Spirits Buyer. I'm Greg, I do communications. And with us today is our good friend, Mike Bach, one of the first employees at Binny's I met on my first day at Binny's like what, like 11 and a half years ago or something. Wow, way to make it about you, Pat. Yeah, I know. Hey, hey, it's relevant, okay? But Mike Bach taught me everything I know about wine. Mike is our wine manager at the Lincoln Wood Binny's. Thank you for having me today, guys. Just want to make one note, Pat and I did have a beard growing contest, which did last for approximately 18 months, and nobody knew who each other was. We both looked the exact same, two very tall, dark, red-headed bearded men. That was back when you guys both looked super gross. Yeah. No, actually, during that beard growing contest, Richard Dent told Mike to shave his beard off. You look like a fool. You need to shave your beard. And the next day, the contest was over. Next time I see you, you better have that beard shaved off. That's great. So yeah, it's where we get to welcome two Gingers into the podcast recording room. Welcome, Mike. And it's true that you visited Australia not that long ago, right? Yep. Back in May, I spent 23 hours on a plane. Gross. It was brutal. If you leave Chicago on a Tuesday at 1130 in the morning, you get into Australia at 2:40 p.m. the following day, Wednesday. Mike, can you tell our friends in the room and our great listening audience what day of the year you actually missed? I left the 5th of May, arrived on the 7th of May. Subsequently, I had no birthday. The 6th of May did not exist. You missed your whole birthday. But the captain of the plane felt bad and came out and brought me a bunch of free poos. So it made up for things. Sweet. He's like, here's 50 milliliters of Finlandia. Happy birthday. That's great. It's my favorite. That's awesome. So we wanted to bring you here today and we wanted to talk about Australian wine just because we've found a little lapse in sales of it over the last five or six years, and we want to give it some love because there's some fantastic wines out of all parts of Australia. What was your favorite part of visiting? I think petting the kangaroo. That was pretty cool. Yes. Petting, not eating. Petting, not eating. Kangaroo did eat several kangaroos as well. Did you really? Yeah. Tell me what kangaroo tasted like. It was a little bit gamey. It was kind of like a cross between venison and duck. How do you say that? Venison and duck. How do you pet an animal and then eat another one of the same animal, you monster? How do you sleep at night? Very well, actually. Then the next day, he got all drunk on Foster's and boxed one. Needless to say, I lost. You ever pet a lobster? Yeah. Then I ate it. I don't know. Listen, you wouldn't understand because you don't eat meat, but I'm genuinely curious about kangaroo meat. How different kinds of animals? I bet there's that place down in Orland Park or Tinley Park or somewhere that has all the exotic meats. I bet you can get kangaroo there. Yeah, of course. All right. Cool. I didn't know eating kangaroo was a thing. That's awesome. Cool. Podcast over. So besides eating the kangaroo meat, what was your favorite part of Australia as far as wine goes? As far as wine, I think just the sheer change that's happening. It should be noted in the Barasa was particularly interesting because you can still buy an acre of 150-year-old vines for $50,000. Let's go. Pack your bags. They said there's plenty of it out there. If you want to come down under, we'll sell you some 150-year-old vines. Plenty of kangaroo to eat. Plenty of roos hopping around. They are nasty, nasty animals. Very angry. That's why we got to eat them all. I'd also have to say probably the innovation that's happening. They're finally realizing they're not trying to chase Robert Parker scores. They're not trying to be somebody who they're not. And finally embracing themselves and creating their own identity is really key. They're very humble in terms of people. And my vote or my suggestion was, hey, stand up, be proud of your wines. Don't say, hey, I've got good wine. Don't say, hey, I've got fantastic wine and I'm going to tell the world about it. Yeah. That's a great message for sure. And I think the other takeaway that I heard from you and I've heard from other folks who visited and know from being in the industry is that Shiraz is the thing they're all known for, especially in the Barassa, right? But they're doing so many other wonderful things with other great varietals, not the least of which is Grenache. Some also, also some great Cabernet throughout the country. And the first one I'm passing around is a Vionier, which comes in at the Bergen price of $9.99 on our shows. That's a cheap Vionier. Yeah. It's not easy to do. So it is a surprise. It is a diamond in the rough and always one of my go-to for people is an introduction to this grape. And it should be noted the pronunciation is Vionier, not Viognar. Viognar. Awesome. So is Australia still kind of synonymous with bringing out Rome wines? Like this is Vionier as a grape is pretty heavily tied to Rome. There is a lot of emphasis on the Rome grapes, the GSM, the Grenache, Syrah, Mouved. Along with that, you have the Vionier, Marcon, Rouson, which all play well together. But it's interesting now with innovation, they're starting to expand and move into a lot of Mediterranean Italian varietals. Oh, cool. So you've got a lot of Vermintino, there's some Permitivo being planted, a lot of these other warm climate, high sand component grape varietals do well here. Plus a bunch of Cabernet. I mean, their Cabernet is pretty world class. Yes. Yes, I agree 100%. It's done a little bit more in kind of like a Paso Robles kind of style. The tannins tend to be a little bit softer and be a little bit more plush. How's that compared to a more familiar Napa style? We're going to get to one. You can find out. Oh, yeah. No, no, I mean like Paso. You say Paso style cab versus like I've had a lot of Napa cab. Like what would I expect differently in that kind of style cab? Kind of softer tannin structure to them. They don't have quite the longevity. They don't have the acid component either. You often find drink them fresh. Mountain fruit. Yeah, drink them young. Unscrew the top and enjoy Paso's landlocked. Right. So it doesn't have the coastal diurnal shift from the fogs and the cool air coming up out of the bay. So you end up with more ripening longer into the season but less fresh acidity. So you end up with like drink them now fresh and ready to play kind of wines. What more do we need to talk about this vignette though? This is pretty excellent. It smells delicious, right? Do you guys like it? It's got a grassiness to it that I'm not totally in love with. It does, but it's not like Sauvignon Blanc. It's not like lean grassiness. It's like a vegetable note on top of this like orange creamsicle kind of flavor. Orange creamsicle, you get a little bit of kind of like underripe white peach. You know, you bite into that peach and it's not gooey. It's kind of crunchy. It's interesting also that this winery, Yolumba, is one of the oldest wineries in the Barasa. They're also the only winery that has their own cuprage on the entire continent of Australia, not island continent. No s**t. And if you think about it, the continent of Australia is almost the exact same size as the entire United States. Now, Australian wine's always kind of been a value proposition, right? Historically speaking, yes. And they don't have a cuprage on the continent? That is correct. Like, how are the wines that cheap if they're flying in all the barrels? That's crazy. The Aussies were, are, and continue to be major innovators doing whatever they can with the resources that they have. They're the first ones to develop mechanical harvesting, first ones to really introduce oak staves, as well as the Stelvin enclosures. They're some of the first to use those as well, just due to using what they have on hand versus shipping stuff halfway around the world. Yeah, plus they're probably not flying them. They're probably in boats. Oh yeah, but still. How do you think this would pair with kangaroo? I joke because the Y series from Yolumba is vegan-friendly. A lot of people don't realize that even though wines don't contain animal products, sometimes animal products such as egg whites or isinglass, which is from a fish, can be used as finding agents. So they're chemically put through the wines and then they combine with other things and fall out as a sediment. So if you're concerned about the treatment of animals, you know, this is vegan-friendly. All their wines are sustainable. They do take pride that they are all vegan-friendly as well. Cool. And the other interesting thing to note about, again, this is Yolumba. This is still a privately owned winery, which on the content of Australia is very much the rarity for a large production house. So if you think of some of the other giant name, we won't name them with animals on the labels. Those are corporately... What's the word I'm looking for? Own? Corporate dominance. There's statistics somewhere that's like 80% of the wine exported from Australia is actually owned by one corporation or another. Treasury Wine Estates, probably. Treasury Wine Estates, the other one. Technically, the numbers that I have in terms of consolidation are 90% of the total production is controlled by five companies. I don't have the number on... That's like Scotch whiskey. Yeah. Right. Totally. Interesting. With Treasury being the biggest one, Treasury being Beringer, Penfolds, 19 Crimes, which has now become one of the biggest labels. And then Constellations in the mix. Constellations, Pinot Ricard and Australian Vintage, which is the Magellan wines, which are on the shelves, I think. So to bring it back to family and employee owned and operated winery for as much wine as they make, we want to support projects like that especially. I had no idea Yolumba was like small family owned in that sea of huge big brand Australian wine. Family and employee owned and operated. That's cool. Vegan Vionnay, Vegan Vionnay. So what are we trying next? Or do you want to shift to another topic while you're poor? I've got this Alpha Box and Dice, Grenache, 2018. This is kind of a cool, funky new project. So we've moved to the McLaren Vale right outside of Adelaide. 45 minutes from the airport, so people who fly in from Sydney or Melbourne can just hop in a cab or rent a car, and in 30 minutes you are in the McLaren. A lot of money has been put forth here. It's no longer like the Barassa, which is steeped in tradition, that you've got the same people that have owned these wineries since they came to the country in the 1860s. Here, if you're going to pay for the vines, they're going to sell them to you. This is really where they're pushing the Italian varietals, your Vermintinos, your Aglianicos, your Permitivos. They're all for trying new stuff. The McLaren's hallmark is their soil map. Every time you go to a winery, they pull out this giant map and they show you why wine's great because it comes from this plot of land, which has got 72 percent sand versus its neighbor, which has got 71 percent sand, and that's why my Grenache is Yeah, that makes sense. The Alpha Box tarot is interesting because it's got the tarot card on it. It's a card of death, which could potentially symbolize the death of the old school Grenache, which was big, massive, cotton candy laden style. Super overripe, sweet. Yeah. They've really pulled back here, really no new oak to it, keep it bright, keep it fresh, a little bit more reminiscent of a high-quality Coke de Rhone in terms of styling. How much does this cost? About 18 bucks. I'd take the Rhone. No, you need to leave the Rhone. It's lighter and fresher than most Coke de Rhone. It is very light on its feet. I'd say it's a little hot, and I never say that. It's only 14.9 percent, and I do definitely get a little bit of that octane on the finish, but I think the lift is there, the freshness. I like that it's not weighed down by a lot of oak. It reminds me of some of those higher elevation Spanish garnachas out there, but there's a little bit of Rhone influence too. But I like that. Yeah, compared to what you think of from Spain, this is like light raspberry versus heavy raspberry syrup. This is much more fresh. Yeah. I like this one. I think as someone who doesn't drink a lot of this style of wine, I like how accessible this is, how fresh it is. I like the alcohol content to it too. I get the hotness a little bit, but it's not that bad. Imagine if they put some quinoa and bonol and gentian bark. Yeah. If only they fortified it and aromatized it, then it would be a wine I actually want to drink. But yeah. You got me on that train. It's bad. Yeah. I've been doing lower alcohol cocktails because I've just been drinking aromatized wine on ice instead of a Manhattanite. Because it's the best thing to drink. It's horrific and you feel good. Yeah. And then you wake up and you're like, Oh, I'm happy to see the sun shining. Stop talking about wine. All right. We're talking about wine. Wine. Come on. Yeah. Anyway, Taro, what's the Simpsons quote? He goes, The death card. Oh, no. Oh, that's good. The fuzzy bunny card. No, that's bad. This wine really does represent kind of the new guard. So the winemaker here, he's young, he's in his 40s. He's got an apprentice with him who's like 28 years old. Really cool guys. The whole thing is they don't want to make the wines of their fathers. The food that they consume is way different than what they did, you know, 50, 60 years ago. There's much less kangaroo being put on people's tables. They're lending a little bit more toward modern cuisine, smaller plates, more delicate flavors to them. And the wines are beginning to reflect that style too. And that's why they will be good for your table as well. It's not just about big, massive, burly wines that are 60% alcohol, that after you drink a glass, you want to go to sleep. This, you can actually sit down, have a bottle of, or share the bottle with someone else, and still be able to walk away from the dinner table. Fewer wedge salads. Iceberg wedge salads with blue cheese. Yeah. Wow, I really like the nose on this next one. So next one I passed around is from D'Arenberg. This is the High Trellis. This is Cabernet Sauvignon. Still in McLaren Vale. And we really like D'Arenberg projects. They go anywhere from entry level bottles, around 10, 12 bucks, all the way up to a few hundred dollar bottles, specialty Shiraz. But Australian Cab is kind of its own entity, so we're passing it around. So we mentioned earlier, we think Australian Cab is akin to Paso Robles for the ripeness. It's warm, it's a richer style, softer, not as intensely tannic. I think we're finding that a little bit here with the ripeness of fruit. Yeah, it's got a kind of a nice mineral vein that runs through it as well, kind of this fresh black fruit to it, that almost kind of drips down your face sometimes. He's making fun of me because I can't spit without filling my beard with red wine. Getting out of practice. This is head and shoulders above that last one. I think the fresh fruit is broad and right up front, like Bing Jerry. There's definitely a hallmark note to Australian, and I'd say specifically McLaren Vale Cabernet that has like a green herbaceousness like tomato leaf or your hands after you've just come out of a garden when you're working with vegetables. But it's not overpowering. I think it's integrated, but it is sort of a note for blind tasting nerds. McLaren Vale's coastal, right? It is more, it has more of a Mediterranean influence. The ocean does come all the way up from the south into the McLaren. If you go in like another two hours still along the same mountain ridge, then you find yourself in the Barasa, which would be more of an continental, almost extreme continental climate. But there is a Mediterranean, distinct Mediterranean influence in the McLaren. This seems a lot more like Napa, you know? There's probably more of a diurnal shift, but I don't know for sure. Yep, there is. There is. A lot of sunshine and a lot of coastal influence. And less extremes. I mean, you're not, you're Barasa, you're 110 degrees in the summer. You're only treading here in the 80s, 90s. Right. And speaking of treading, probably the most interesting thing about D'Arenberg wines is they are all tread by foot. We were wondering how often that actually happened. That doesn't believe me that it exists. A la Gare. So generally most people do not tread by foot. Really the most famous place where they tread by foot is for Vintage Port. Elsewhere in the world, nobody really does it. These guys do it. Everything's in small concrete fermenters and everybody hops in and has a good old time. Do they put on silly short pants and jam out to some music? Unfortunately, did not ask for photographs. But I would assume that that is true. I've told you before, it's a lot less of the I Love Lucy and more restrained. Everything they make is crushed by foot. Everything is crushed by foot. They make lakes and lakes of wine. What's the stump chump? Stump chump. They make that with feet. That's with feet. And hermit crab and the dead arm. What? You have to be like a marathon runner who's willing to stand around knee deep in a tank of wine. Yeah, they've got, you essentially hold on to a board and you just stand there and stomp up and down. And they take shifts and it moves through the small concrete. This is tremendous. Fascinating. I imagine everything is to the beats per minute of another one bites the dust and or staying alive. No, it's men at work. Wow, that's amazing. All treads by foot. So ridiculous. That human labor is that much cheaper than the single purchase of a balloon press every two decades. Right. I mean, it can't be efficient. I don't know, I just assume that's out of practice because we've learned better and that it's not efficient and it's not good for the wine. I mean, did they say why? It's how they do it. It's gentler for the wine. Really? Depending, although it's time-consuming, you're not pulverizing the skins, the stems and such. You're extracting less tannins from all that stuff. You're extracting a softer tannin profile. Because the more you pummel something, the more angry tannin comes out in the wine. Just like with your balloon press, your free run is the best, then your first press is better juice. Then once you go further down, the juice is of less quality and when you press to 80 percent, you've just got a giant ball of bitter tannin. What if Chester is just really in defeat? It's quite possible he's a very interesting fellow. The person to which Greg is referring is Chester Osborne, who is certainly one of the most celebrity wine people in the world. Very interesting character. I've had the pleasure of meeting him only a couple of times briefly. I did not have an opportunity to speak with him, but we did go to his museum which featured a multi-story kind of avant-garde museum of which it does contain a Michelin star restaurant, but really what people go to look for is to go to the bathroom. You walk into the men's room, their giant faces with their mouths open for you to use as a urinal. Like target practice? Yeah, pretty much. If you go to the fair or something, you've got the squirt gun and you're trying to shoot it into the clown's mouth. So feet is the least freaky thing, just kidding. Yeah, pretty much. He does collect a lot of really weird things and he dresses very eclectically. He's really well-known in the wine community and a super nice guy, obviously one of the highest wine intellects there are. I love telling the story about people we meet in the industry because there's so many names and faces and he is one of the darlings. Oh yeah, it's easy to forget when you're looking at this wall of labels and it just seems like brands and it just seems like reputations. But there are human beings who are, this is their lives. That's terrific. Yeah. And that's the beautiful thing about wine, you know, is you can look at something from a static point as to what's in the glass, but in all reality it's a story and it's the people that are behind them that truly make the products unique and more And I think with touching very briefly on the climate at hand without getting political, that's one of the reasons we love to talk about people that we meet in the industry because these are real names and faces and stories with homes and children How timely. You know that is one of the reasons why we should drink Australian. I was out to dinner on New Year's Eve and we went through four or five bottles of wine at dinner. Needless to say, I did not drive home, but everything that I ordered was Australian. That's great. And the waiter noticed and the people that I was with also laid mark about it and I said they're having a really tough time. They just finished the driest year ever in history. When I was there last May, it had rained for the first time in 365 days. And that has led to a lot of problems in Australia. They are banding together and they want us, they want the global wine community. The number one thing you can do is drink Australian. Visit the country. They want you to know despite the fact really bad things are going on in the country. They are still open for business. They want you to come and the Aussies are some of the most hospitable people that are out there. Speaking of vegan-friendly wines, when you think of vegan-friendly wines, you don't usually think of big bruisers that are overly ripe and powerful powerhouse wines. We have one on the table right now. I selected and passed this one around because it really is one of the labels that started this re-revolution for Australian wines, and specifically Shiraz following their 2005 vintage. A lot of high scores from The Wine Advocate, other reviewers followed. But I think Mollydooker, and specifically the Boxer Shiraz is the bottle that started turning heads for everybody, myself included. It is definitely the style to which we become accustomed for Barraza Shiraz. Very big, very rich, opulent. Big Shiraz. Yeah, a lot of Shiraz. I think every wine has a place. That's damning with praise, what you're doing right now. You know, this is like extracting it, extracted and vanilla and I don't know about this one. I love this. I still love this. I loved this 15 years ago. I still do. Your Hazy Boys and your Pastry Strouts is nothing new because these guys have been making this kind of stuff for so long and it's fine. It's great. This goes back to before Bourbon Meryl aged anything and for reals, they do actually. She's doing the Mollydooker shake. They do actually condone this. So why are you shaking this bottle of wine? Barbara Herman, our fine wine director, does this from time to time as well. It kind of loosens it all up, gets it. Best case scenario, you're oxidizing it a little bit. Worst case scenario, you're releasing some sulfur. So if we actually, that's a good point, Greg. The number one reason why it is of absolute importance that you do the Mollydooker shake is they don't finish the wine with a little bit of added sulfur. They use a neutral gas called argon. And when you pour off an ounce, then you screw the top back on and you do that very famous Mollydooker shake, it releases the argon that's in suspense. No, s***. So see if it tastes different. Yeah, for real. That's a thing. Yeah. That's last Burke, you do it. Releases the argon gas. But sometimes with other wines, it is to kind of shake up, get rid of the sulfur. But I've also found it to kind of liven something up if it's tasting a little shut down. A lot of white wines, especially, if you're not getting anything out of it. It's not a proper thing to do. You'll never see a certified Somme do it table side. But once in a while, you just need to give something a little shake. Did you see it froth up in the bottle when she shook it up? Yeah. That's really scass. It's the opposite of a Pepsi. This wine is awfully flabby. Yeah, for sure. You got to remember what this wine's designed to do for you. I mean, it's designed to go with that big, rich barbecue, winter time. This is a really good thing when you're making your grandmother's chili recipe. This is going to pair very, very well. Australian, true to form, old school Shiraz. It's probably the best chili pairing that you can do out there. You can see that. Or like a big steak or like barbecued ribs with like a root beer reduction sauce, something like that. Cheese. Cheddar. They share like a 10 year Hooks cheddar. Yeah. Yeah, but I think they would say cheddar. Cheddar. Shiraz and cheddar. As opposed to the New Zealanders who are like, chee-dee. So definitely big and rich and a little flabby. I agree with that word. I think temperature would help this wine quite a bit. In defense, I like this. I like the kind of Chardonnay that you like to bad mouth. Because I like a lot of oak. I like a lot of extracted fruit. I like a pineapple cream kind of Chardonnay, and I like a big raspberry smoothie kind of Shiraz. It's the original fruit bomb. Fruit bomb. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with Mike. I think this has a place. It is enjoyable, a bit monolithic maybe, meaning one-dimensional and kind of big and in your face. But a glass of it is delicious. I may not drink more than one glass of it, especially at 16 percent. But I think it's enjoyable if a little bit over the top. Isn't Merlot the original fruit bomb? I think when I say the original, I think this is the category we started using that term for. Yeah. I think if you really enjoy a lot of these $25 red blends, especially out of California or you like some more jammy cabernets, you should give this a try. Stylistically, it's something that you would like. There is no right or wrong in terms of style, but something different that's got fruit, it's got richness, it's going to make you go, wow, this is I'm bringing out my inner cave, man. This is the wine for you. You're right. You should give it a try. You're right. And after this, they should try Malbec. And after the Malbec, they should try the Toro. Nice. Good transition into Spain. Yeah. Last thing I'm going to do is go back around with this Vionier, which you guys know is one of my tricks at the end of a tasting. I guarantee you this is going to taste completely differently than it did in the first. Well, it's because it's now blended with Shiraz. A little bit. Not co-fermented. She's blended with Shiraz. I'm blended. There's a little bit of chicory and spice on the back of this one too. It's not one-dimensional. It's not super complex and it's not grippy, but they know how to make good wine. The finish is still there. This is a very brief, broad overview of the diversity of wines from a giant continent that makes fantastic wines from every varietal in the known universe. I wish we had more time and more examples. Maybe we'll do part two. Australia Boogaloo. Australia Boogaloo. I could have done better. Hopefully, this paints a picture a little bit for people about some of the great wines and stories we love to tell, and especially Mike seeing them up close and personal. Something shocking about Australia, and you alluded to it earlier, the oldest wine that I've ever had was a Sherry style from Australia, Sepp Holtzfeld. They have some of the oldest wine on hand, and some of the oldest grapes in the world. You wouldn't think so because it's a relatively new country compared to the winemaking histories of France and other places. But scourges have marred the landscape in Europe, but Australia somehow still has some of the world's oldest vines living and producing wines that are a fraction of the cost of those that you would get around the world. Yeah, and Pre-Phyloxera. And Pre-Phyloxera. And I think the region you're speaking from is from Rutherglen, right? Yeah, I mean, the Rutherglen stickies are truly of fame in things of legend. I mean, there's a classification of Rutherglen that you can't release the wine until it's 50 years old. Rutherglen stickies sounds like the name of their rugby team or something. But they're truly, truly amazing wines. And you're right, they haven't been pillaged like the rest of Europe was in the 19th century. But you have to remember modern, or we'll say British colonists or people from the West only started coming to Australia in approximately 1777. You think of Australia as a new school country. Yeah. It's like, it's incredible the history. It should be noted that yes, there are very large fires that are occurring. In Australia this winter, we did touch that 2019 was the driest year ever in Australia. Australia being a country incredibly vast, the same size as the United States, it's very difficult for us to wrap our heads around the massive diversity that exists within side Australia. It's like you could travel somewhere and you tell them, you have to say, summarize the United States in one sentence. You can't do it. Many regions are different. People identify with their regions, they identify with their country. They're banding together. At this point, to keep everyone's spirits positive, our job is to drink more Australian wine. That's the best way that we can support their market since their market share has drastically declined in the last decade. Fire size, it should be noted that there's only 1,500 hectares of vines which have been destroyed. Currently, there are the size of the fires in New South Wales is the equivalent of the entire country of Ireland. But the entire vines that have been burned or damaged is really only 1% of total production. These numbers did come from the Wine Australia Executive Officer Andres Clarke, whom I was in contact with his office before this podcast, just to get some updated information for you. It should also be noted that there's a difference between fire damage and heat damage. Fire damage, which you can immediately see in the vineyard is vines that have truly been charred. What you can't see is just raw heat damage, which has damaged the cellular structure of the plant, which you may not know for a year, year or two, down the road. So that's really kind of what they're... When they get back into these vineyards, that's really going to be the deciding factor on how you move forward. Is it the main effects of fire or is it the secondary factors which are the result from heat? It should also be noted that Australia is completely upside down or down under based on their seasons versus ours. We are now January 8th of 2020. It is now midsummer in Australia. Where they're at right now is the bunches are beginning to close. They have not gone through variation at this point, but the bunches are forming and they're now together. During this point of early summer, the effects of smoke taint are low to potentially moderate. So the potential of smoke taint is there and there will be some. But had we been a few months further, had we been in our time, March or March, April, which becomes their late summer to early fall, when it's harvest time, the grapes have gone through variation. They're hanging out, waiting to be picked. This is arguably the most dangerous time for the grape because it will absorb anything from the exterior at this point. Like we've seen in fires in California, farther down the summer season. September, October. Exactly. That's really the scary point in time. Once that compound is there, you can't get it out. There are some tricks to pull it out, but there's a distinctly ashy, smoky note which comes through in the vines. But it should be noted that we are still summer at this point in the game. So the grapes that are hanging on the vines, everyone is crossing their fingers for the best. But once again, like I said, the best thing that we can do is forget about our preconceived notions of Australian wine from 10, 15 years ago. Re-experience the vines, re-experience the grapes, re-experience a new guard in Australian wine. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Australia, we're pulling for you. Everybody grab a bottle of Australian wine and join the cause. Yeah. Foster's. Hey, everybody. Bloomin onion. Kangaroo. What's the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby? I honestly don't know. Kangaroos are like the big. The big wallabies are. That's like difference between a horse and donkey. They're both aquines but totally different. Is a yellowtail label, is that a kangaroo or a wallaby? Kangaroo. It's a kangaroo. Rocco was a wallaby. What? Modern life? Yeah, Rocco. Oh. Oh. He was a wallaby. That really doesn't add much clarity though. He wore a shirt. He was sophisticated. Very sophisticated. Bring all your dollary do's down to your local Binny's and buy some Australian wine. A lot of people are talking about Australia for a lot of reasons and one very specific one, but we really want to talk about it today to highlight the great wines that come from that country, the diversity of selection that we carry, and the passion we have for the wines and people that make them. We hope you can come in, talk to one of our staff members and they'll recommend a great red or white budget wine or something special from the seller for you from any part and every part of Australia. Cool. Thanks for coming, Mike. We're going to have to do Australia part two. Kangaroo Boogaloo. Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast. Until next time, I'm Barb. I'm Pat. I'm Greg. I'm Mike. Keep tasting. Barrel to Bottle, Australia for Podcast.