Some friends of ours had booked a holiday house in Robe. Hey it was a 6 hour drive up there for one weekend, but hey why not! Turns our despite the crappy web site, Robe is pretty damn nice place to be! But the best thing about it is it’s surrounded by limestone coast and fantastic vineyards. About 80 minutes out of Robe, the town of Coonawarra is god’s gift to Wine tasting. There’s at least a dozen top shelf wineries on the main drag.

What not to get
Plenty of Sauv Blancs and Cab Sauvs, although nothing that really stands out, except for the pricey Wynns numbers. All Chardonnay, Merlot and Shiraz here.

What to get
Yalumba was probably the biggest surprise. They had this cracking Menzies Merlot that has asparagus and oysters on the nose! A bit freaky and a bit of a punt by the winemaker, but a treat to the palette. Infact the whole Menzies range was a highlight. Mellow Cab Sauvs with not enough backdone, nonetheless sublime. At least a dozen wines on tasting too.

Perhaps the best surprise was the Hollick Vineyard. Their Upstairs at Hollick restaurant was fantastic, so we had a spot of lunch there, overlooking the vines and the oak barrels in the cellar. Oh and celiacs (freaks that are allergic to wheat) and vegos are catered for. Anyway, they had some stellar whites. Most notably the Reserve Chardonnay is exceptional. This is a very lightly wooded Chardonnay, so it’s medium bodied and just damn well enjoyable. It takes a lot for me to get into Chardonnay, so this is the new precedent.

Sweet wine lovers, the Hollick Nectar is exactly that. Quite a remarkable sweet wine that will only get more like honey with age, but is sublime right now. Their Pinor Noir reminded me a little of the Prince Albery Pinot from Geelong. For those who came in late, that’s a tall order. Again mellow cab sauvs and a very meaty, nutmeg, chocolatey shiraz which was a little pricey at $37.50.

Zema Estates have a little range but a big reputation. Very much the family business and of the highest standard, Zema’s six wines are worth a look. The 2001 Cluney blend was consumed that night with a lamb pasta and was quite the shiznit! it should retail for around $20 and would go pretty much with any pasta or casserole quite nicely as the rest of the table would attest.

And last but not least, how could you go to Coonawarra without going to Wynns Coonawarra Estate? Well mostly their range was meh in a nutshell. It was surprising to find that they spent most of their time recommending other people’s wines! They did have the John Riddoch range on tasting though. So given that we’d come all this way, we bought the John Riddock Cab Sauv. Holy crap that was expensive.

A little more about Robe
Robe is an awesome little spot with its own lake and beach. Everything is made out of limestone and the weather is always right for drinking. Plenty of holiday homes so no need for a cramped hotel. It definitely gives you the impression of an up and coming trendy area.

It’s close to Kingston, with some of the best crayfish i’ve ever had and about 80 minutes from Coonawarra. Next time we’ll be spending a lot more time than a weekend there, that’s for sure. Anyway have a look at some of the links in this article and get into it!