Probably the most amusing story of the day was regarding the picking. There were about 20 friends and family picking assisted by 5 Vietnamese contract pickers who regularly assist Steve each year. Although we outnumbered them 4:1 they still managed to pick probably ¾’s of the total grapes picked. They were machines and we were social butterflies!
If we thought being involved in vintage was fun, the lunch put on by the Schubert’s was even better. Fully catered, the food was scrumptious. Little did we know what a “Barossa” lunch meant, as we thought we were going back to the harvest afterwards. But we found out that lunch then turned into afternoon tea which turned into dinner. We didn’t end up leaving until 9.00pm that night. Cecilia told us that last year, people hung around until 3.00am in the morning! So if you are ever invited to lunch at the Schubert’s … you have been warned!
As you can imagine quite a few bottles of wine were opened and consumed. Some I remember trying were the 2003 and 2004 Goose Yard Block Shiraz side by side. I thought the 2003 was a great wine, but it is nothing compared to the 2004. It truly is sensational and unfortunately when our friend across the Pacific reviews this vintage it will truly put the Schubert’s on the map in the US and therefore make their wine even harder to buy! So buy up now while you have the chance. But Steve and Cecilia truly deserve everything that comes their way as they are great people and they make great wine. We also tried their new 2nd tier shiraz label, the 2004 Gosling. Definitely a sweeter style but I could see myself enjoying this with some BBQed meat. The only other highlight that I remember was trying some 60 year old port from Seppelt. Very smooth yet complex at the same time. It capped off a wonderful day that will be remember for quite some time. If given the chance we will definitely be there again next year.
