California dreaming

Trunking symbols said :

A shop which has the name “plonk” doesn’t exactly strike me as a destination for wine conosseurs. In fact I’d be surprised if they sold anything more exotic than Chateau Cardboard.

Haha, you poor fool…

Imported wine from the other side of the world has little to recommend it outside of snob value.

Everything James and Oz said about Californian wines could have been said about their Aus equivalents, and possibly more so.

Californian wine makers have little interest in exporting to Australia… Apparently we are hard market to export wine to as we already have a strong wine industry and the exchange rates don’t help very much (they know they will either be very expensive or they will make a loss)…

This is at least according to the wine maker I met in SF last year (whilst drinking the wine they made, which was very good :)…

Trunking symbols said :

grunge_hippy said :

doesnt plonk at the fyshwick markets claim to have stuff from overseas?

A shop which has the name “plonk” doesn’t exactly strike me as a destination for wine conosseurs. In fact I’d be surprised if they sold anything more exotic than Chateau Cardboard.

You would be surprised then….

Ohh I’m an uppity pube who won’t shop at a place called plonk

Well for your information, unlike vintage cellars and jim murphys the guys at plonk actually know their stuff. They also sell the wines from the local region that no-one else has. As a wise fanatic it is my chosenn place to get good wine and not the $15 bottles of mass produced crap that Vintage cellars have.

If you wish to try Californian wines try buying off the net or go to Sydney. That’s my preferred option as most the bottle shops in Canberra stock rubbish when it comes to imported wine.

Would I be right in guessing you watched Oz and James

Always great to see people commenting on things they know nothing about – “A shop which has the name “plonk” doesn’t exactly strike me as a destination for wine conosseurs. In fact I’d be surprised if they sold anything more exotic than Chateau Cardboard.”

Plonk (now at the Fyshwick Markets) is the best wine and boutique beer shop in the ACT, by far. Want a Canberra region wine, go there, no-one else stocks that diverse range.

What they don’t have much of is California wines – my interest was also piqued by the recent James & Oz Wine Adventure on SBS, and I’ve had little luck finding any decent Napa or Sonoma wines. But the exchange rate is great, so a trip to California is on the horizon !

grunge_hippy said :

doesnt plonk at the fyshwick markets claim to have stuff from overseas?

A shop which has the name “plonk” doesn’t exactly strike me as a destination for wine conosseurs. In fact I’d be surprised if they sold anything more exotic than Chateau Cardboard.

Fully agree with Wraith and Holden.
Have you tried the grog shop at Oak’s Estate (the old Nissen hut at 4 McEwen St). Hope this helps.

doesnt plonk at the fyshwick markets claim to have stuff from overseas?

Nothing wrong with Californian wines but they’re no better than cheaper local equivalents. There’s no mystery that I can see.

madamcholet said :

Australia makes the best Australian wines. You just can’t make flat statements about Australian wine being better – it’s too complex.

Let me guess, California makes the best Californian wines?

I’d say Wraith is right though, you don’t have to try too hard to find local wines are generally of a high to very high standard at reasonable pricing.

So, along with supporting the Australian industry, there’s probably not much call for imported wines. Especially at more moderate price points.

Australia makes the best Australian wines. You just can’t make flat statements about Australian wine being better – it’s too complex.

What’s the problem here though?

Simple, Australian wines are so much better, and yes I have tasted Californian wine, whilst not bad, it pales in comparison.

This might be one reason why its hard to find, because most people probably can’t be bothered with so much nice wine here and at good prices.

The Providore Wine Merchant in Manuka has a handful of Californain wines – mainly zinfandels and the odd syrah from the Nappa Valley (which are quite good in their own right) but I haven’t seen any of the great Pinots or Cabernets that California is supposed to be famous for. You’ll pay between $35-80 a bottle though so its in the ball-park with Vintage Cellars who pretty much only seem to stock Ridge Vineyard from Nappa.

Hard to get here in Aust as there is no interest from local consumers.

Given the exchange rate over the past few years, Yank wine was very poor value. Aussie dollar strength should help this but not many importers worry about them.

As the UK is not a wine producing nation (tiny amounts) they import loads of wine from everywhere, they are also geographically closer to most international wine regions. Here in Aust we support our local producers and don’t import nearly as much, thus the limited selection of foreign wines.

Imports are on the rise, no doubt we will see more variety in the near future.

No idea where to get US wine locally, have you thought about looking to the better shops in Sydney and Melbourne and having it shipped to you?

At the cheaper end of the price range, I believe the problem is one of value for money (or lack there of) compared to Aust wines. Surprised there isn’t more medium/higher priced stuff around though, although can’t day I’ve looked.