Clare, a storied county in Ireland, is also gaining fame in Australia as one of its premier wine making areas. Ninety minutes north of Adelaide and 100 kms from the sea, Clare's towns were originally trail stops--today they are still important stops...on the Clare Valley Riesling Trail.

Several producers are now making outstanding Rieslings from Clare fruit, but it was Jeffrey Grosset who put the area on the Riesling map. Polish Hill, Watervale and Sevenhills (famous in wine circles) are valley towns surrounded by some of the great Riesling vineyards in the world.

We started our visit with a 2007 Riesling tasting led by Jeffrey Grosset.

The Taylor (marketed as Wakefield in Canada): very light colour, soft nose for Riesling - but good structure, firm acids.

The Mount Horrocks (made by Jeffrey's life partner and winemaking competitor, Stephanie Toole, a Kiwi): showed light gold, classic petroleum nose. Beautifully balanced, not overly acidic. Great concentration - ripe grapes - virtually no sense of sweetness.

The Grosset Watervale: similar light gold shade, more piercing nose than the Horrocks, not as floral but very long. Quite generous for Riesling.

The Grosset Polish Hill: again had a similar colour - slate nose - flatter entry but even more depth - goes on and on - wonderful texture.

In the course of the tasting, we learned that the town of Clare is cooler than Adelaide. In the evening, it is cool and clear, enhancing the balance of grapes. The austerity of the wines is the result of intense fruit which permits the wine to be fully fermented, reducing sugar levels to virtually nil, while high acids are maintained by cool nights. Alsace Rieslings may show more texture as they have more time on skins. In Clare, the goal is intensity of fruit, but to get the juice off the skins as quickly as possible. The Polish Hill River area is 2 to 4 degrees cooler than Clare, though Grosset credits the slate in the soil as the natural resource secret for great Riesling.

We then tasted our first Clare reds, made from fruit grown in much warmer areas.

The 2004 Mount Horrocks Cabernet Sauvignon: fairly shallow nose with some ripe fruit, but on the palate, showed fully integrated red fruit with lovely texture and balance. Pleasant cigar box finish.

The 2004 Gaia: Grosset's top red, opened with cedar and red fruit on the nose. A more open texture in the mouth, with herbal notes and red fruit. Well balanced, has some cabernet franc and merlot. Very good.

The 2004 Taylor St. Andrews: huge, even spicy nose, with similar texture but bigger than the Mount Horrocks. This was a big fruity mouthful but lacked depth and staying power - at least in comparison to the others. Good, but not great.

Moving on, we tasted some of the Riesling competitors' products...

07 Mitchell: made from Watervale fruit. The vintage was one of earliest; it was a warm year but not hot. As to the wine, the nose might be said to be classic Watervale - floral, suggestion of elderberries. In the mouth, fairly tight, lots of depth and good balance.

07 Leasingham Bin 7: Austere nose, sense of petroleum.  Less crisp on entry, a little hot but still intense. Needs time.

04 Jim Barry Florita: here was a huge nose, very floral. Lovely balance, a very rich - has grown in bottle. An outstanding wine - should last for 30 or 40 years.

Clare Shiraz came next, and what a revelation! Perhaps after hearing about the ripe fruit and cool nights, it should not have come as a surprise that we would find elegance as well as power. First from 2005...

Mitchell Peppertree Shiraz: Restrained spicy nose, opening up beautifully; well balanced, lovely, spicy red fruit with fine, full finish. Very good. $25.

Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz: More open spicy, floral nose; round dark fruit, well balanced, complete wine.  Good finish. Very good to outstanding $45.

Jim Barry McRae Shiraz Cabernet: 80% new French/American oak, huge spicy nose, also a huge mouthful of spicy dark fruit. A powerful wine indeed, in a Barossa style. Look for high show marks.  Very good. $45.

Leasingham Bin 56 Cabernet Malbec: Has 6% Malbec, cedar and berries on nose. Red berries with a little tar on palate. Good balance. A bit like a less intense Riddoch. Good. $25.

Then to 2004...

Jim Barry - Benbournie 04: here we find more open rich red fruit on the nose which then fills the mouth. Beautiful texture. Very long. $125.

Mitchell Sevenhill 04: falls between the last two. Very well balanced. Delicate fruit balanced by smooth tannins. Should age gracefully. $23.

Then wines with some age...

1999 Mitchell McNichol Shiraz: A wonder. Beautifully balanced. Held back 8 years - this is a selection of typical lots to show how they age. $40.

1994 The Jim Barry Armagh: the current release is 2004, so this is a good demonstation of the ageing potential. Absolutely overwhelming. As full a mouthful as we have had. Still it has a very young feel, as though it could develop nuances forever. $200.

We had the pleasure of lunching with, among others, Andrew Mitchell from Mitchell's wines (Andrew is represented by Lifford's where his daughter is currently employed) as well as Dave Palmer and his wife Diane from Skillogalee. Dave and Diane have a restaurant and lodgings that look over the valley. What a sight! This was Australian hospitality at its finest. Mitchell, a dedicated, restrained, charming man, is an unabashed promoter of Clare. Dave and Diane Palmer are the heart of Clare, just proud of their hotel, restaurant and red wines, but particularly their Muscat Liqueur, a rich, full of life finish to any great meal, including this one.

The rest of the luncheon wines included the 92 Mitchell Clare Riesling and the 1996 Skilogalee Cabs (75/20/Malbec 5). What revelations! The Riesling was fresh and delicate with layers of elegant fruit. The red showed the elegance of aged Clare reds. What a treat.

All of this was finished with the world renowned Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling (2007) and, of course, the Skilogalee Muscat Liqueur. After all this, we returned to Adelaide for more food, wine and partying.