We attended the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival at Disney World this weekend. If you have never been to the festival, you are missing a good time. We sampled food, wine and beer from around the world. We hit Tokyo twice for the beef rolls. Yum! In addition to the food and beverages, the festival features numerous culinary and wine events. We participated in a wine tasting event sponsored by Penfolds Winery of South Australia.
Penfolds southeast regional manager, Jim Hicks presented the wine tasting. He discussed a brief history of Penfolds as well as a discussion of the wine aging process. He provided three flavors of wine for tasting – two Shiraz wines and a Riesling.
Of the Australian wines, my wife and I are most familiar with the Shiraz, a red wine. We tried the Bin128 Coonawarra Shiraz, 2006 and the Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz, 2006. The Kalimna was aged in a barrel made of American Oak, while the Coonawarra was aged in a barrel made from French Oak. As a result of the differences in the barrel materials and the climate differences of the two regions where the grapes were grown, the Coonawarra had a peppery or spicy flavor. The Kalimna was smoother with a more fruity taste.
Thomas Hyland Adelaide Riesling was the third wine provided for tasting. It had a citrus, floral taste. It was a dryer Riesling than I prefer. My wife described it as a crisp summer wine. We will stay with the German and New York State Rieslings.
If you want to read more about Australian Wines, try James Halliday’s, Australian Wine Companion 2009.
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