Nephophilia is a love of clouds. A word that doesn’t sound as fluffy and beautiful as a cloud but it’s too late to argue with the ancient Greeks.
We were already members of Club Cloud but tasting ten extraordinary new release and museum wines at Ministry of Clouds’ McLaren Vale winery, south of Adelaide, we found a deeper appreciation.
The tasting was called “The Originals” – a celebration of 12 years since their first vintage and a thank you to some of their customers who have made them a sought-after brand.
Hospitality doesn’t come much better than a tasting and tour at Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood’s winery on Chapel Hill Road. They have a cellar door which they open for special events or by appointment. It’s a cellar door stripped back to the essentials; stunning contemporary artwork, memorable food and wine combinations and views of clouds over McLaren Vale vines.
During vintage this multi-function, versatile space is home to barrels of wine.
Everything is designed to be manageable for two people to keep control of every aspect of the business. The “Ministry’: part of the name alludes to an understandable obsession with control and quality. The “Clouds” is a nod to things about winemaking that are out of their control: like weather.
Bernice and Julian make it look easy but, as with any successful business, it’s thorough product of knowledge, hard work and attention to detail. Together they draw on a combined 50 years in the wine trade: managing sales (Australia and export), marketing, PR, retail, wholesale, winemaking and, of course, the fun part: tasting.
Their experience at Australia’s most prestigious importers of wines (Negociants Australia) from Europe and beyond influences the profile they’ve achieved in all their wines. There is elegance and finesse combined with classic characteristics of Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills and their home, McLaren Vale. We get the best of both Old and New world wine styles. Fine, grippy tannins, loads of flavour without being an over-the-top heavy red fruit bomb and wild funky ferments in the Chardonnay, for example make these wines perfect with food.
Wine list and foodie faves
Bernice and Julian make wines to go with food. It’s a cliché in the wine industry to say this (back labels that say “goes well with meat and chicken”. Oh please!) but Ministry of Clouds is well represented in our best restaurants for this reason. Read the tasting notes on their website (below) . It’s obvious these two know their food and wine combos.
Bernice and Julian share five of their faves.
We’ll have what they’re having
A piping hot bowl of laksa at Manna Coffee Shop – Kensington Road… super authentic, warms the cockles of your heart.
Chicken liver pasta and vitello tonnato from Mensa.
Eating at Jordan Theodoros and Stephanie Vasileff’s house… a simple bite at their home is a huge affair… generous serves, lots of different things, a real treat to the senses, think home grown, home pickled, home-made everything. Next level.
Shobosho and Sho Sho… just a reliable delicious feed each time, every time… a must order there – blue swimmer crab udon noodles, nori and dashi butter… sooooo good
Gin and tonics with all the dumplings at Salopian Inn… a local fave from very talented people.
MoC wines seen in all the best places
Restaurants
Omada
Fugazzi
Shobosho
Mensa
Retail
Edinburgh Cellars
East End Cellars
Parade Cellars
Enough talk; let’s taste
‘The Originals’ tasting of current and museum vintages
James Halliday always includes a list of the Top 10 wineries who make his Australian Wine Companion for the first time. A New Kids on the Block/ Ones to Watch list. Ministry of Clouds made the cut in 2015. Halliday said, “what I did not know was that they would be able to produce an array of new wines this year every bit as good as those from their first year.”
Lip zinger
Ministry of Clouds 2024 Picpoul was a thrilling discovery. Pick it off a wine list, pull it off a shelf wherever you are lucky enough to see it. A well-known variety in the south of France and the Rhône, it seems to have adapted beautifully to the McLaren Vale climate and sandy soils. We hear that they are planting more Picpoul. Good news.
A mouth-filling, weighty palate, perfect grip and acidity, a touch of lemon and pepper and clean finish. Picpoul is French for ‘lip stinger’, referring to its crispness. Lip ‘zinger’ says it better!
Current vintage 2025. Available
The Clare Valley Riesling 2024 is one of their most popular wines. Pure vineyard (mostly Watervale) captured in a bottle. Floral, crisp, beaut balance. Has the chops to age for years.
Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2024. A Chablis-like nose and structure on the palate and some really classy fruit from famous vineyards in the hills with exceptional pedigree.
2024 Tempranillo Grenache. Has grip and softness. Beautifully balanced acid and tannins, intense red berry on the nose and palate and a hint of liquorice and star anise. Typical, enticing purple colour of the Tempranillo complements the garnet Grenache colour and gives a pleasing lift of violets on the nose and palate.
2023 Old Vine Grenache. Vines 80-98 years old. A great example of how to get a red that’s light and bright but packed with super-savoury flavours, chewy tannins from front to back palate, spices and tannin grip.
No wonder these two are staples on many wine lists. Delicious!
2023 Shiraz McLaren Vale. From the home vineyard. Good example of what we mean by a “cool” wine. A rich palate, refined tannins, loads of intense black berry fruit, liquorice and spice but a million miles away from those big jammy overripe high alcohol ‘hot’ alcoholic flavour bombs.
2021 Shiraz ‘Single Vineyard’ Blewitt Springs. Bigger than the 2023. From vines planted in the 60’s. Elegant cigar-box wood on the nose, beautiful balance with tannin, acid, intense blackberry fruit and alcohol.
