Two in the Bush

Sorry about the kitschy photo but the wine kinda created its own photo-op.

111. 2005 Bird in Hand Winery - Two in the Bush Merlot Cabernet (Adelaide Hills - Australia)

I don't have too much to say about tonight's wine - other than the fact that this was a very nice and reasonably-priced bottle. It was around $20 when I picked it up a couple of years back at the Playhouse Wine Festival. I see that it is listed now with the provincial stores at $23.00. Not the cheapest bottle of wine for a Tuesday night, but there was plenty to like about it.

Bird in Hand is a fairly new winery in the "emerging wine region" of Adelaide Hills. The area had an early start in the mid-1800's in grape-growing; however various contributory forces (including "neo-prohibitionists") resulted in the disappearance or removal of all vines in the area by the 1930's. Viticulture restarted in the 1970's and has seen some well-received wines being produced.

The Adelaide Hills are not far out of the city limits; however, its geography is largely a maze of valleys that results in considerable climatic differences that defy a generalization of wine production in the area. It's considered a definite cool-climate region for Australia though and each hillside may be best-suited for a completely different varietal than the next.

Two in the Bush is the entry level of three that the winery produces - the premium label being Bird in Hand and the specialty level being called Nest Egg. If this 65%Merlot, 35% Cab blend is the winery's entry level, I'd love to try out Bird in Hand. One can only hope that a Bird in Hand is worth two Two in the Bush bottles.