Welcome to my new Wednesday feature where I will be sharing pictures, wines and interesting facts from places I’ve wondered to throughout the world.
Today’s post comes form my wine drinking bestie and frequent travel companion, Kate.
Last June, I woke up up at 4 am to take a van to an empty field just north of Melbourne, Australia. It was dark and cold (just about at freezing), it took about 40 minutes standing in the dewy grass until we got the hot air balloons off the ground. Painful? Yes. Totally worth it? YES! Stunning views? OMG YES!
Upon landing, away I went wine tasting. One of the most interesting standouts I found was Soumah (pronounced Soma). They have a zesty, citrusy white wine varietal called Savagnin, which is a complicated grape, or rather a grape with a complicated history. In Australia, they thought it was Albarino until about 2009! It is not Sauvignon Blanc, but may be related. An amazing zesty summer wine with lots of citrus, I drank my only bottle this summer with some lemon pepper shrimp and I’m desperate for more. Cue a perfectly timed email from Get Freighted, an AU wine distributor who has set up a virtual cellar door for people like us and soon I hope I can add more Soumah wines to my cellar. And they aren’t just covering Yarra Valley. Gary and his team are shipping all kinds of amazing Australian wine to the US!! Contact Gary to join their virtual cellar door! It is a new offering, so for selfish reasons, I hope it remains available for some time to come!
