NEW FACES With Red Dot Café now galloping, the

N u m b e r 12 - J u n e 2 0 0 4
N E W FA C E S
With Red Dot Café now
galloping, the strain on
Kane saw us introduce
Samuel Allen to the kitchen
fray. Mild-mannered Sam has
cheffed at such establishments as
Urban Bistro and Enoteca Cucina
where he played roles of chef de partie
and sous chef respectively.
After an extensive search with the aid of
Jeremy Harris at Speakman’s, we
appointed Dale Wyman, ex-Bremerton
Wines of Langhorne Creek, to the lofty
heights of General Manager. Dale is a
cricketer of note with full accounting
qualifications and a keen eye for business opportunities. His responsibilities
will include all aspects of our operation.
Sam Allen(left) negotiating terms
with new boss, Dale Wyman.
Z O R K TA L K
The revolutionary new Adelaideevolved wine closure which is being
used on the all-new Penny’s Hill RED
DOT Shiraz has zapped all who see it.
The Swedes were very interested, the
English attracted and the Yankees
absolutely gob smacked. Go Zork.
ZORK PULL
At the launch of Zork at Penny’s Hill on
May 1, the world’s first public airing of
the new popper stopper, comedian
Damian Callinan brought the audience
to a standstill at black tie nosh up with
one Chris Hackett wishing he’d left his
mobile phone at home. Guests included
Zork chiefs Nigel Robinson, John
Brooks and director Colin King and
their wives. Philip White, Jane
Ingoldby, David Paxton, Ang Tolley,
Toby Bekkers, Drew Dowie and Lulu
Lunn and a big team of Peter Darley
supporters added to the fun.
and our man in NY, David Forziatti
and their excellent girlfriends, Susie and
Cindy. As helmspersons, the novice visitors acquitted themselves satisfactorily,
or so the tack-t-ful hosts implied.
AROUND THE WORLD IN
80 DAZE
Parky and Mr Riggs have just come
back to earth after three weeks of circumglobalising, some 80 hours of which
were spent aloft. Their odyssey, partly
in the company of the irrepressible Zar
Brooks and the genteel Geoff Hardy,
included Stockholm for bulk wine business, London for the Wine and Spirits
Fair and multi-stops across the US with
villages such as Chicago, Seattle,
Portland, Miami and Boston visited in
the quest for market penetration. The
renowned Hospice du Rhone at Paso
Robles in California, in conjunction
with Epicurean Wines, saw all our
key wines offered en masse for
public tasting.
C AV I A R E M P T O R
On the world jaunt, it fell to Brooks
and Parky to assume responsibility for
ensuring the quality of all caviar purchased. And beluga me if Stockholm
wasn’t a clear winner.
Besides avid caviar tasting, margaritas
were sampled with alacrity, not to mention the odd sparkling rarity, such as a
‘96 Cuvee Belle Epoch which bounced
into Zar’s carry-on bag at a British
Airways flight lounge!!
BEFORE THE MAST
To obtain relief from lurgies and the
aural drubbing of an all pervasive hiphop festival, Parky and Ben enjoyed a
day’s sailing out of Miami harbour with
Florida distributor, John O’Connor
David “Fiveziatti” with Parky
high on the seas off Miami.
CIAO BELLA!
Quite by accident, and after lunch at
Nepenthe on Highway 1 near Big Sur,
Parky, Zar and US importer, Ben
Hammerschlag, while testing the grippings of a new BMW sedan, found a
remote and unusual wine bar at Ben
Lomond in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Named Ciao Bella, it will definitely
kick start a new Woop Woop designation, our equivalent of the Michelin 5star, for being “out there”. If you know
of any wine bar, restaurant or pub that
is remotely located and slightly mad, let
us know. We plan to identify a series of
Woop Woop Wonders across the globe.
Juan Torres(left) of Binny’s in Chicago with
our star rep, Magan Eng and Woop Woop.
F O O D FA M E
As the kitchen kapers of our man Kane
Ellis catch on, so spreads the fame of
our foodstuffs. Recent “Advertiser”
Wednesday food pages saw Kane and
Red Dot Café featured on front cover
and several times thereafter.
Long time local journo, Samela Harris
was taken by the place and snap shots
of our outbuildings also provided backdrop for her roadtest of new Mitsubishi
sedan. If you’ve not yet sampled the
morsel magic of Kane and Sam, get a
crew together and pencil in the RDC
for a tasty, fair priced feed.
Kane also cooked along with colleagues
from Salopian Inn and Star of Greece
at recent 300 strong black-tie fundraiser
at Festival Theatre. Served in conjunction with the catering staff of Adelaide’s
Hyatt, event was a strong showcase for
local foods and wines.
F I R S T N O N - E S TAT E W I N E
Using grapes from outside the borders
of our own vineyards for the first time,
Penny’s Hill now offers an all-new
regional non-estate Shiraz under the
name RED DOT. Funny, but it took
many an elimination to get to what now
seems a very obvious title. Nice wine
too. Well balanced, fruity and flavoursome with fresh mouthfeel and happy
palate, get some on board.
See ORDER FORM included.
LONGER SEA & VINES
FA N C Y PA N T S
The 2004 Sea & Vines Festival,
extended to all three days of the recent
June long weekend, braved bad
weather to record reasonable visitor
numbers. Music by our regular R&B
star, Dwight Adams, singer-songscribbler, Stephen Foster and the local cover
band, Jump Daddy’s provided continuous entertainment whilst Kane, Sam
and crew did a great job of feeding the
masses. And of course, bouquets to
Jane Stewart and the entire cellars
team for delivering yet another spectacular festival – all between torrential
downpours and nasty westerly gusts.
Fancy dress reached new extremes at
Ben Riggs' recent 40th celebrations at
Penny's Hill. Ben went from Mr to
King Henry VIII, Norm Doole was
perfectly cast as Adolf and Drew
Dowie convinced us he was a ship's
captain. One of McLaren Vale's most
memorable parties, it certainly did go
all night.
Notable guests included our Foreign
Minister’s wife, Nicky Downer,
Dorinda Haffner, Wolf and Shirley
Blass and our US importer, Ben
Hammerschlag and his Marketing
assistant, Lara Zahaba.
Parky with Wolf Blass and Jane Stewart four Jimmy Watson’s between them!
R O M A N T I C S P E C TA C L E
FAREWELL GENTLEMEN
The company’s optometrists, Ken and
Sunset Chenery, celebrated their wedding anniversary at Red Dot Café
recently. So moved was Kenny with the
ambience, he framed the lovely Sunset,
snapping the moment for posterity.
Since our last bulletin, two of the giants
of McLaren Vale's wine industry have
passed away. Marvellous endearing
characters both, Ken Maxwell and
Doug Collett will be sadly missed but
long remembered as visionaries in times
when growing grapes and making wines
in McLaren Vale were hardly fashionable. And besides memories of their
many and varied eccentricities, both
leave strong legacies with Mark
Maxwell and Scott Collett assuming
the mantles with aplomb.
Our sympathies go to Margie Maxwell,
Mary Collett and their families.
Sunset at midday.
S T O R K TA L K
And no matter how hard we try to keep
Louise out of the news, she’s managed it
with bells on. She and Mr Bosworth of
the Joch variety are to be pattered with
tiny feet later this year. Big congratulations and welcome to the magic of motherhood, Louise.
Mr King, Your Fuhrer and Captain Drew.
FLEURIEU PENINSULA
BIENNALE
Set down for November, Penny’s Hill is
proud to host the Heritage Exhibition
of the Biennale from November 5-28th.
Called “Open Borders”, and curated by
John Neylon, it is an interesting
approach to a diverse sampling of
Fleurieu-generated artworks and creations. Add a diary note folks.
Telephone: (08) 8556 4460
Fax: (08) 8556 4462
Mobile: (08) 0408 805518
Functions and Catering
Telephone: (08) 8556 4000
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.PennysHill.com.au
Mr. Riggs Joe Zuoro and ace retailer Jimmy Cefalo
at Joe’s fantastic Anacapri Restaurant in Miami.
CELLARS OPEN
10am-5pm - 7 DAYS.