In article >, "St.Helier"
> writes:

>
>Villa Maria has been around for over 40 years now - and have a three tier
>"grading" structure.
>
>You probably had wine from their "Private Bin" (basic) range.
>
Yes, it was about $10 so I'm sure that's it.
>
>Out of Central Otago, this is a very young grape growing area (in fact the
>worlds most southerly winemaking region!) - virtually specialising in Pinot
>Noir, Riesling and Pinot Gris.
>
>Ian Hoare (after visiting) was underwhelmed with Felton's pinots - saying
>that he would prefer to reserve judgment for a decade or so, when the vines
>got over their youthful exuberance.
>
I liked this a bit better than the previous vintage. But not enough to buy.
Quality wise it was on the level of a good Bourgogne or maybe decent village
level Burg,not worth the almost $40 price tag.

>
>> 2002 McWilliams Shiraz -Pourer says this is Gallo's 1st Australian effort.
>> Decent fruity Shiraz, would be ok hamburger wine.
>
>
>Huh????
>
>McWilliams is one of Australia's oldest (Established 1877), largest
>family-owned wine companies, so I have no idea where Gallo enter the
>picture.
>
A quick Google showed McWilliams Hanwood Estate listed in Gallo's portfolio.
http://jobs.gallo.com/Portfolio/Imported.asp

Unclear the actual relationship. Pourer (distributor's rep) said that this was
first vintage with Gallo's winemakers there. At big tastings, I only report
what they say and I taste, no way to verify info. As always in those
situations, the pourers range from folks with an incredible depth of knowledge
about their products and wine in general, to others whose major skill seems to
be parroting WS and Parker scores.

thanks for the info,
Dale

Dale Williams
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