With 20 Clare Valley wineries in town to show their wares, Clare Valley on Leigh St is the ideal place to try the latest wines from the country’s premier Riesling region.
The pop-up event is a taste of the upcoming four-day Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend, which celebrates 31 years this May. The valley features around 50 wineries with nearly half of them making the trip from the Mid North for the pop-up event. Wineries appearing at Leigh St include Knappstein, Jim Barry, Taylors and Pikes. One of the wineries making the trip is the fledgling label Shut the Gate, which had two wines (2014 Polish Hill Riesling and 2012 Single Site Grenache) feature in the top 100 of the latest Hot 100 Wines SA. Owned and operated by Richard Woods and Rasa Fabian, Woods says that events such Clare Valley on Leigh St are imperative for a young label such as Shut the Gate, which began in 2013 a few years after the couple moved to the Clare Valley from Sydney. “We believe it’s critical for small winemakers to use events such as Leigh St and Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend to get our brand out to the people,” he says. “We have such limited budgets and resources that it’s imperative that we leverage public events collectively as a ‘Clare Valley Winemakers’ team to make them really work.” For the Gourmet Weekend (Friday, May 13 to Monday, May 16), Shut the Gate will collaborate with Seed Winehouse + Kitchen for two events: ASADO – Gaucho Ranch Grilling and the three-course special evening The Dark Dream Dinner (sold out). For Clare Valley on Leigh St, Woods says their winery will be highlighting some of their premium Rieslings and examples of the “acclaimed 2015 vintage”. “In addition, we’ll be sampling small batch reds from our locally grown Sangiovese, Grenache and a special batch of Shiraz grown on one of the Clare Valley’s oldest vineyard blocks that dates back over 120 years,” he says. Entry is $10, which includes a complimentary wine glass. Clare Valley on Leigh St Frdiay, April 8, 4.30pm to 7.30pm clarevalley.com.au facebook.com/ShutTheGateWines
