.

A must do when passing through the Riverina is to spend some time in Griffith visiting their wineries. It is here where 70% of NSW wines are produced and these days some very good wines from an extensive variety of grapes.

Maybe you and I are/were, a little like Jeremy Oliver who wrote in ‘The Wine Annual’ quote: “For years I was guilty of sharing the same view on red wines, and that view was that quality red wine from Griffith was an oxymoron. We have one man to thank for proving us all wrong, and his name is Bill Calabria”.

On this occasion I made a point of visiting a number of wineries. The stand out in Griffith, by a country mile was Calabria Family Wines. First impressions upon arrival was immaculately clean premises and parking area. Upon our entry into the cellar door area, dressed in thongs and shorts (our everyday wear back at Mollymook) we were greeted like VIP’s. The customer service was EXCEPTIONAL and far exceeded our other experiences elsewhere in Griffith. We were given a complimentary tasty platter board to enjoy with our wine tasting. (Of all the wine tastings we have done throughout Australia and overseas, that was a first. I thought what a wonderful initiative to make our experience that little more special).

The wine tasting was extensive accompanied by tasting notes and a score card for which wine we enjoyed more than another.

Yes thanks to Bill Calabria, you are a game changer producing some exceptional reds in the Riverina and may I add, you have some very special ‘customer focused staff’ at your Cellar Door. The cellar door experience was was the highlight of our whole visit to Griffith.