Delightfully describing the experience as ‘Happy Special’, the girls from I Ate Brisbane were more than infected by Bar Barossa’s passion for quality food and wine.

Read about the Brisbane Food Bloggers Dinner here

Bar Barossa manager and winemaker Sandy Godfrey has named his favourite wine of 2009 as the Soul Growers Shiraz 2006.

“By far, my favourite wine this year came in a heavy punted bottle, a wooden box and took Barossa Shiraz to a new level,’’ Sandy writes in a newsletter to be circulated to purplepalate.com subscribers this week.

“Savoury ground spice, rhubarb and eucalypt create the basis to the nose, but it offers so much more … dark rich toasted oak, dried black currants and a hint of soya sauce that will bring you in time and time again. The palate is exactly as it should be, savoury and balanced, acid and tannin meet together and combine with rich fruit flavours to offer us an experience of Barossa Shiraz that you will rarely see.’’

Unfortunately, the Soul Growers Shiraz 2006 sold out to those in the know within months of its release. The 2007 has just been released, click here to read more about it.

Sandy Godfrey and Farley Wheildon, Purple Palate Queen Street Fine Wine Manager, will both release the top wines they discovered in 2009 in the purplepalate.com newsletter this week.

If you’d like to subscribe, click here to ensure you don’t miss out on their insights. - John Lehmann