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The Two Bud Spur wine taste Podcast
sauvignon blanc.mp3 ( 7.68 mb, 8:23 minutes )	We spent a relatively long time talking about sav blanc. How it's done, why it's done and why it's better than the Un Zud variety.
traminer.mp3 ( 5.77 mb, 6:18 minutes )	Craig talks about his dry style gewurztraminer. Actually he talked a lot and if it wasn't for Karen telling him to actually open it we may have never tasted it at all!
two bud spur reds.mp3 ( 8.34 mb,  9:06 minutes )	We finish our tasting with the Two Bud Spur reds. Karen and Craig make a french style Gamay that they call the Nouveau and we hear about all about it. Last but not least was their pinot. We were the first punters to try it and it is looking very very good. Snarey strikes again.

Craig Mundy and Karen Miller - Mild mannered scientists by day .....

"We're bucket ecologists .... we look at marine life in buckets" Craig explained. "Sometimes we poke them" Karen adds helpfully.

Well that clears that up then. When Craig and Karen aren't running the Two Bud Spur vineyard situated some 50 minutes south of Hobart they do things to marine life. Of course this quote also gives you an insight into the sense of humour possessed by these two self confessed workaholics.

We tried some of the Two Bud Spur range at last year's White Wine Weekend and liked it so we had always wanted to have a chat. On a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon we got the chance and duly arrived at the Mundy/ Miller household in Battery Point to try the latest Two Bud Spur offerings. 

Craig and Karen have full time jobs and we wanted to find out what can be done by part time viticulturalist. Turns out, quite a lot.

Karen and Craig

The Two Bud Spur range is made by Neil Snare from Winstead and to say that Karen and Craig are impressed by Snarey's abilities is an understatement. They waxed lyrical about him so much that we have expected shouts of "he's a wine god I tell's ya!" but mercifully this didn't eventuate.

We started with the Sauvignon Blanc. Craig and Karen are determined to produce wines that are different and enjoyable to drink. Their sav blanc is not 'typical', it is far more savoury and acidic than what most people experience. We tried both the 08 and the 07 and while we would take the 08 out to dinner we would definately sleep with the 07.  

Next stop was the gewurztraminer which is produced in a dry style. Craig mentioned that so many people expect this type of wine to be sweet that they are pleasantly surprised at the difference. At the most recent Taste of the Huon they sold almost as much gewurz as they did sav blanc.

The people, the range

Despite Karen looking continuously at the clock and trying to get rid of us (they were expecting dinner guests - Ed) we were able to have a taste of the Two Bud Spur reds.

They have a few rows of Gamay grapes in the vineyard so they wanted to produce a proper french inspired gamay. The result is the Nouveau. This wine is released on the same weekend that the first French gamay reaches England (a centuries old tradition). So look out for it at the Wursthaus in early November. We agreed with Karen that this wine is "very drinkable ... a bit too drinkable" and we will be at the launch in November. 

The last wine was the 07 pinot which is the first true Two Bud Spur pinot. This wine hadn't been released at the time we tasted it so we were the first punters to try it (we love a bit of special treatment! - Ed). It is a great smelling and very smooth wine with a lovely smoky finish. While Karen thinks it is getting there,  "we will be releasing it soon" she promised, we think it is one of the better pinots we have tried this year already. 

We will be posting a longer conversation with Craig and Karen soon but we hope you will make an effort to get out and try the Two Bud Spur range - you won't be disappointed.

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