Our Wines
2007 Award Winning Chardonnay - $20.00
What can we say about our Chardy? It won Silver this year at the 2008 Royal Sydney Wine Show. Christobel came up with the following description: “The limestone foundation and loamy soil of our vineyard on the Pokolbin slopes are a perfect combination to produce this award winning wine. The real truth of the matter is that the wine is divine and we can’t make enough of it. Make up any description you like – once you taste it, you are hooked for life.”
2005 Margaret River Cabernet Shiraz - $15.00 (Special New Year’s Sale Price)
The Margaret River is world famous for its magnificent wine, food and spectacular scenery. The Uglies love Margaret River Reds. Christobel’s choice of these superior Cabernet Shiraz grapes has resulted in a wine which has a delicious taste with a chocolate burst aroma followed by a warm soft palate and
a slight peppery finish.
This wine is truly delicious.
Special New Year Offer:
Buy 2005 Margaret River Cabernet Shiraz, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc NZ, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Adelaide Hills - separately or in a mixed dozen and we will ship them in Sydney for FREE. (This offer is only for a minimum of 1 dozen.)
These wines can be found at Fishermans Fine Wines in Pyrmont at the Sydney Fish Markets. The wines are naturally more expensive if you buy them from the retailer but there is no minimum order, so if you only want one or two bottles, they can be purchased from our good friend, Matt at Pyrmont.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc - $15.00
Gussy loves New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc and she convinced us that just because we were going to sell a wine made outside Australia we were not going to be struck down by lightning. As much as we hate to admit it the Uglies' New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is to die for. The grapes are grown in Marlborough , and made by a friend of Christobel’s friend who even she grudgingly admits is a pretty good winemaker. Christo is not that kind that we are allowed to tell you who made it but you would be sure to recognise the name. Besides our Chardonnay this wine is one of our best sellers because it is the wine that Christobel spruiks the most. She broke some bone in her shoulder a couple of years back skiing at Coronet Peak and she spent a couple days in Queenstown hospital in traction, under the care of some idiot called Glenn who was stupid enough to offer her a sponge bath after she told him she couldn’t manage to do it herself. The memories of that experience will last in Christobel’s mind forever (and we suspect Glenn who is probably still wearing a straightjacket and the guest in some facility that the NZ Health department operates). Move away from that mental image when you are drinking the wine. It is crisp and clean and best served well chilled and is suitable for simple fresh food.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc - $15.00
This is a quintessential Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc, that is ripe with mellow fruit followed by a soft warm palate. This wine is perfect for summer; so perfect in fact, that if you are sharing it with one other friend, you must be very careful not to open the second bottle without reminding yourself to be kind to your liver. When Christobel said we could finally drink this wine, the three of us were so excited by the end of the first glass that we ended up drinking seven bottles between us before Agostina found us and told us we were alcoholics. We then gave Mama glass and she said she understood why we were excited and rang our nearest neighbours (Chris and Vic) who helped us celebrate this wine.
2008 Clare Valley Riesling - $13.00 per bottle per dozen
Christobel went to the Clare Valley some years ago when Riesling was unfashionable. Fashion clearly never gets in the way of Christobel and she bought a patch of dirt and we planted Riesling and Shiraz (much to the surprise of everyone around us because they knew we came from the Hunter.) The vines are well established and in good soil and both the Shiraz and the Riesling are terrific wines. The Riesling has that lively fruity pitch about it and is suited to a sweeter palate. Just in case you think everything that Christobel touches in grapes turns to gold you really should know about our Merlot and Shiraz. We grow Merlot and Shiraz at Serena that ends up being fed to the pigs most years. Merlot and Shiraz grape varieties usually thrive in the Hunter Region except at Serena. We don’t know why and are past worrying about it. We should really pull the vines out but they have been there so many years they form part of the essence of our home. The pigs enjoy them so they are not a complete waste. Anyway, back to the Riesling which we always had a market for but now that it seems to be trendy again we should be giving you some longwinded description about why you should try ours. The simple truth is that we sell out of it every year so if you are a fan of Riesling we are sure you will find it very respectable.
2006 Clare Valley Shiraz - $14.00 per bottle per dozen
As mentioned earlier, we grow our own Shiraz grapes at home however, they usually end up being fed to the pigs. We have just come to the conclusion that Serena and Shiraz do not go together however, we are pleased that Shiraz and our patch of Shiraz in the Clare Valley do go beautifully together. Not as full bodied as some Shiraz, but what it lacks in fullness is more than compensated for by its spicy finish. This wine goes well with all types of dead animal except fish, especially in winter when heartier sustenance is required. Good for drinking now or laying for a while longer. (Agostina has also been known to put it in the fridge to give it a slight chill and drink it as a pickup when she is feeling tired.)
2007 Hunter Valley Verdelho - $15.00 per bottle
Our vines are now old enough to produce decent fruit and we all agree that Christobel has done a great job with this wine which can sometimes be a bit complicated. We asked her for a technical description of the Uglies’ Verdelho to put on the website but she refuses to and says that if you are a Verdelho drinker you will not be disappointed with the Uglies’. Just because she won’t describe it doesn’t mean that it is no good. We think she read somewhere that some winemakers are sometimes temperamental and when we asked her for her tasting notes she refused to hand them over so the following is Gussy’s observation. Christobel read it and of course told us that it was a ridiculous description, so we sent a bottle to a few of our regulars and they agreed exactly with what Gussy said. The Uglies’ Verdelho is full of fruit but is not that complicated that it almost burns on impact and it doesn't make you think you are breathing fire after a mouthful. If you are looking for a mellow wine, forget Verdelho ... go and drink the Sauvignon Blanc. The Verdelho is in fact, quite refreshing with a crisp, fruity finish and really is quite different from any of the other wines offered by the Uglies. Gussy probably won’t be offered a job as a wine writer but her decription of this wine is pretty accurate.