If you haven’t yet had a chance to visit Olive Farm Wines (OFW) in the Swan Valley, then you need to stat! And if you haven’t visited for a while, then I suggest you get your wine-drinking butt out there soon.
It’s not new that I’m a fan of OFW. Ever since moving to Perth I have visited the cellar door and neighbouring – The Cheese Barrel a number of times alongside enjoying a behind the scenes look at the 2013 vintage. Recently Steve, the cellar door manager invited myself and a friend along to one of their New Release & Cheese nights where we had an absolute ball. The night really inspired me to want to blog about OFW yet again and to perhaps share with you a few things you may not know about this Swan Valley Winery.
- Touriga Nacional 2016
They are the first and only winery in the Swan Valley to currently have a red wine made from the Touriga Nacional grape for sale. If you’re familiar with MyattsField in the Perth Hills, then you may have tasted there one however this is the very first in the Valley.
Touriga Nacional is a Portuguese grape variety, most notably associated with the production of Port. OFW’s are selling theirs for $37 and how winemaker, Shaun described it, it’s like a Pinot Noir – aromatic, medium bodied with sweet fruit and a smooth texture.
Plus did I mention they only made a limited quantity? Hence why I picked up a bottle or two for myself. Stay tuned for a tasting note!
- Durif 2016
If you haven’t jumped onboard the Durif train yet, then I suggest you taste some stat. There are a couple of good ones out in the Valley and also in the Perth Hills alongside throughout Australia. Olive Farm Wines produce a crackin’Durif at $37. As winemaker Shaun put it;
It’s Shiraz on steroids”.
- The Awesome Staff
I really love going out to Olive Farm, from the cellar door staff like Steve, Gemma and Jordan to the winemakers behind the scenes – Anthony and Shaun – everyone loves what they do and it shows. For me, chatting to Anthony and Shaun is a highlight as it’s so damn obvious that they are super passionate about what they do not to mention they are full of grape-y knowledge.
- The Cheese
At the event on Friday, naturally neighbouring The Cheese Barrel catered for the event in the winery. From absolutely divine ooey, gooey cheese and tomato relish toasties to an absolutely smashin’ cheese grazing table – everything was delectable.
If you don’t get a chance to make it to one of their New Release Wine and Cheese nights, don’t fret as you can visit The Cheese Barrel anytime and enjoy wine flights matched with cheese!
- The Architecture
From The Cheese Barrel, to the cellar door, to the winery, everything has been built beautifully. At the event I went to, it was a bit of a sensory experience (which reminded me of my experience at Cava Berdie in Spain actually) which took us from bubbles and canapes in the cellar door to barrel tastings in the cellar and ending up in the winery with cheese and red! It was awesome to see everything in the facility + did I mention from the cellar door you can look down into the winery? Very cool split-level design.
Obviously the Yurisich family have amazing winemaking skills however it’s safe to say design and architecture is another skill the family has with brother Michael Yurisich designing the facility.
- Chardonnay 2017
So it’s yet to be released however on Friday night we got a sneaky taste direct from the barrel and my oh my it’s coming along very nicely! I believe Shaun said it’s still got a few months of maturing to go before it comes out on the market, however it’s one to jump on folks!
- Malbec, Tempranillo & Cabernet Franc 2016
These are 3 more of the new releases we tried on Friday that went down very well indeed! These babies are all drinking well now and will keep for 3-5 years. The Cab Franc is always only available in limited quantities, so get in quick with that one. And in my opinion the Malbec and Tempranillo are brilliant reds to match with cheese!
- The Fortifieds
You’ve been living under a rock if you didn’t already know that the Swan Valley make some of the best fortified wines in the world. By fortified wine, I mean port-style wines where brandy/distilled spirit is added for a lovely warming, alcoholic kick to what’s in your glass. On Friday we were lucky enough to try a yet to be released barrel-sample of a Liqueur Viognier which was an insanely good way to end the night – super luscious with a brilliant balance of acidity and sweetness. Keep an eye on the OFW social channels for a release date.
These are only 8 of the many awesome reasons to pop out to Olive Farm Wines for a visit or re-visit – so make sure you do so soon before all those limited release wines get snapped up!
By: Casey
***Grabbed from: https://travellingcorkscrew.com.au/blog/olive-farm-wines/