Harkham Wines - Natural wine with a smile (Hunter Valley)

Maintaining a wine blog when you have a young family is tough, tougher when you combine it with a busy day job. The wine appreciation never stops, (nor do the recording of tasting notes, TBH) though the volume of articles being posted tends to inevitably decline. The post below should have been put on the blog over a year ago – the hospitality and enthusiasm of Richie Harkham demanded it, even if the quality of the writing in the post doesn’t quite. Regardless, this post was lost in the mix, and I have stumbled-upon it, dusted it off and posted it for the record. Tasting notes are from early October 2012. Thanks to Ritchie for taking time out of his day back in 2012.

The wine making industry loves ‘the next big thing’, especially when it polarizes opinions and has the potential to attract new customers to wine. In the last few years organic/biodynamic wine making practices and in particular, ‘natural wine’, have assumed this status. The growing trend of producing, selling and drinking natural wine polarises opinions amongst industry types, wine nerds and the wine cognoscenti.

While RedtoBrown have made light of natural wine in some of our posts (the ongoing ‘Wine Wars’ series of video clips being the most obvious example), on a serious note we have never shifted our focus away from the subjective assessment of the quality of the wine in the bottle for any given wine maker – be it natural or not.  If I like the taste of the wine, I like the wine: a tear-inducing, inspirational story behind the making of a wine does not mean I will enjoy drinking it.

With that elongated intro out of the way, my family headed to the Hunter Valley last October (editors note: 2012), for a relaxing few days. On recommendation of a wine friend, one of the wineries we visited was Harkham Windarra.

Owner and winemaker, Richard Harkham (Ritchie) has an infectious passion for his craft. Harkham is one of the few, (if not the only) Hunter Valley-based wineries making natural wine. This may be due to the regions successful battle with bret over the last 20 years, though it does seem strange that the major wine region closest to Sydney (the natural wine consumer capital of Australia) is not jumping on the bandwagon with more gusto.

When we met, Ritchie summed-up his winemaking philosophy as aiming for a wine that will be “as close to nature as you can get”. Ritchie noted winemakers tend to intervene too much in the winemaking process, and he tried to intervene only when necessary in a way that is done through positive energy in the cellar. As Ritchie noted, “wine is alive and always living and changing.”

Our tasting was a bit rushed, with Ritchie kindly fitting us in on a weekend prior to the arrival of a Chinese delegation keen to try his wines. The most impressive of the wines tasted had pure fruit flavours and refreshing, natural acidity. The least impressive strayed towards some left-field tropical fruit flavours and less structure. However, none of the wines tasted slotted into the cheap throw-away natural wine stereotype of faulty, funky barnyard reds and cloudy, orange, apple cider whites. Quite the opposite.

We left the winery with 4 bottles of wine (one of them a wine that Ritchie admitted did not turn out the way he would have liked, but was a wild wine to taste). The tasting notes below are for three of the wines, tasted in early November (Rose) and mid-November (the two Shiraz).  (As for the delay in posting the notes – blame my day job and downtime with my beautiful baby boy).

Harkham Aziza’s Shiraz 2012

An earthy, meaty nose with crushed grape stems, some dried florals, blueberry and dark cherry fruit. On the palate, a bit salty, with minimal tannin. Largely driven by juicy black cherry fruit and fresh acidity. The finish is earthy, meaty and savoury though clean, with a hint of residual salt.
After two days on the tasting bench/fridge, the nose opened up, with sweeter fruit coming out on the front palate, and a finish with additional dried herbs.
Given the difficult vintage conditions, and the minimalist natural wine making philosophy, this is a surprising result. Drink now.
Price: $22
Rating: 88pts

Shiraz Nouveau 2011

This wine hits home to me the razors-edge natural winemakers tread each vintage. If the winemaking is not at fault (and in this case it definitely isn’t), the fruit and vintage conditions can do their best to hijack a wine. Especially if the scientific – dare I say it, ‘industrial’ wine making work-arounds are not available. The wine had a banana-like nose with tropical undertones on the palate, arguably variable acidity, yet a core of ripe red cherry and raspberry fruit. Finished with an almost white wine textural mouthfeel. Ritchie noted that this was made from super ripe, small berries that were carbonically macerated in whole bunches in stainless steel tanks and bottled 3 months later. It was a tricky wine to make, and it shows in the glass.
Rating: 87pts

Harkham Rose 2012

Attractive light, pale strawberry colour. Nose – Sweet red fruits and a hint of spicy stonefruit (white nectarine). Juicy yet delicate fruit flavours, primarily strawberry, light and vibrant with lovely fresh, cleansing, integrated acidity. The finish is dry, with some mixed citrus peel lingering at the end. A very drinkable, refreshing wine, sweet on the nose, yet largely dry on the mid-back palate. The fresh, integrated acidity a standout. This wine passed the ‘Wife Test’, with the better half giving it two thumbs up.
Rating: 94pts

 Website: http://www.harkhamwine.com/

Scarborough 2011 Yellow Label Chardonnay

Scarborough does wonderful things with Chardonnay in the Hunter Valley and the Yellow Label is their out and proud ‘old school’ style of chardonnay. In all but the odd horror Hunter Valley vintages, I can rely on this wine.

Smells of lemon, traces of lemon rind, cashews and spicy, creamy oak

On the palate, juicy lemon, ripe grapefruit, an alluring creamy texture and clean acid. Some integrated oak flavours on the back palate. 

Clean, flavoursome and refreshing, but not overpowering or too woody. The body and flavour to make it a versatile wine to drink with across a range of white meat dishes (seafood to roast chicken thighs).

Old school but wearing a shiny new suit.

Ratings: 91pts

ABV: 13.5%

RRP: $23 (Cellar Door)

Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au

2012 Scarborough Green Label Semillon

If asked to describe the Scarborough winery to friends, two things spring to mind: they provide one of the best cellar door experiences in the Hunter Valley and have a range of wines with clear intent and purpose.  

In regards to the latter comment, Scarborough has two semillons in their range that offer a clear point of difference. The Green Label Semillon is Scarborough’s early drinking, approachable take on the variety, with the pricier White Label being more austere-when-young and cellar-worthy.

The Green Label Semillon has a ripe nose of lemon, with crunchy granny smith apple, passionfruit, apple blossom and a hint of green pear. On the palate the wine has refreshing acidity that cleanses, is not sharp or harsh and has generous lemon/lemon pith flavours at the back. The finish is clean and dry.

The Green Label is arguably ripe in the context of young Hunter Semillon while not trying to be something the variety is not– a positive example of a ‘drink now’ white wine that is approachable with broad appeal, yet does not have to imitate the hegemonic Sauvignon Blanc style.

This would match nicely with seafood, poached chicken or even pork fillet in the approaching spring months.

Rating: 90pts

ABV: 11.2%

RRP: $20

Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au

Scarborough Chardonnay - 2010 Yellow Label & 2011 Blue Label (Hunter Valley)

These two wines present a good study in both the old and the new when it comes to Australian Chardonnay. Scarborough’s Yellow Label Chardonnay, while not their most expensive wine, is something akin to a flagship, and harks back to the rich and powerful Chards of yesteryear. The Blue label is a more elegant, less oak driven style of Chardonnay, and much more in line stylistically with where many Australian Chardonnays have moved.

Importantly, both wines are good examples of their styles and avoid the extremes of those styles that have often been evident in Australian Chardonnay.

2010 Yellow Label Chardonnay – $23 -  From a warm and fast vintage. The wine sees a blend of old and new oak, partial malolactic fermentation, and a regular stirring of lees. Classic old school flavours of butterscotch, peach, and grilled nuts. It’s rich, with plenty of oak input, but it always remains in balance. Luscious mouthfeel. It lacks a bit of intensity and length for a higher score, but it’s nevertheless a lovely drink. 3.5 stars

2011 Blue Label Chardonnay – $21 - From a very good Hunter Valley vintage. This wine only sees old oak, no malolactic fermentation, and a regular stirring of lees. It’s a quality Chardonnay with both generosity and restraint on display. Citrus and stonefruits. A nice touch of creaminess is balanced by a lovely acidity and gives the wine an appealing texture before delivering a long, dry finish. Its approachable now with a bit of air, but will be at its best in another couple of years. Great drinking. 4 stars

Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au      



Red  

Draytons Heritage Vines Liqueur Verdelho NV

Impressively packaged and presented, the Draytons Heritage Vines Liqueur Verdelho is a seductive and slick wine.
Deep, dark mahogany in colour with waves of dark caramel, espresso, roasted nuts, honey and rancio flavours/characters. The real surprise is the clean, jangly acidity at the back palate and finish, helping to avoid a cloying finish and balancing the powerful flavour hit upfront with a refreshing citrus element. Impressive length, with the flavours lingering nicely.
Given that the Australian winter is almost over, this wine was also delicious when served slightly chilled, so you can drink up in the warmer spring months. An impressive wine in its style.

Rating: 93pts
ABV: 17.5%
RRP: $55
Website: http://www.draytonswines.com.au/

2009 Thomas Motel Block Shiraz

I have tasted two bottles of the 09 Motel Block – one during a fantastic Hunter Valley taste and tweet event in 2011, and this bottle. Both have been robust, powerful renditions of Hunter Shiraz.

The Motel Block is one of the single vineyard wines from Hunter Valley wine making maestro, Andrew Thomas. Drawn from a dry grown, 2.8ha vineyard planted in 1967,  the nose is dark, brooding with quality sweet cedar oak, dark chocolate and some sweet roasted fennel, while on the palate, there are robust black fruits. With air and time in the decanter, the wine mellowed out to reveal more red fruits, yet with an earthy Hunter vibe. Aniseed and allspice become more prominent once opened and the wine freshened up further over time.

Unlike some warm climate wines, the Motel Block has powerful fruit on the palate, though refreshing acid on the finish: a wine that has oak, fruit and natural acid in fine balance. Should age nicely and mellow in old age.

Rating: 94

RRP: $45

ABV: 14.5%
Website: www.thomaswines.com.au

A week with Jim Chatto and the Pepper Tree crew (Part II) . . .

(In my previous post I focused on vineyards and the 2012 vintage during my week with Pepper Tree. This post I look more at the winery and their chief winemaker, Jim Chatto)

The Pepper Tree story and situation is an interesting one. Having started in 1991, it’s a winery that doesn’t have the history that a Tyrrell’s or Mount Pleasant does. Nor does it perhaps have the name or cache of some of the newer breed of Hunter wineries. Moreover, Pepper Tree make wines from the Hunter, Orange, Coonawarra, and Wratonbully, not an approach that necessarily gains kudos in an age in which people are increasingly looking for greater focus and greater regional specialisation. The corollary of this is that Pepper Tree is a medium sized winery that hasn't had a strong image or brand name within wine circles. And yet over the past 5 years, they’ve increased sales by 20% year on year, the quality of the wines have undoubtedly improved, and I think the Alluvial Semillon and the Coquun Shiraz are fast becoming Hunter benchmarks. So in a tough period for many Australian wineries, Pepper Tree is a quite uniquely positive story.

Jim Chatto, chief winemaker at Pepper Tree, has been the driving force behind this improvement of Pepper Tree’s fortunes, and is I believe beginning to make some truly great Australian wine. In taking over the show at Pepper Tree 5 years ago, he was taking control of a portfolio of wines that were arguably overpriced and underperforming. He has since turned this around and Pepper Tree wines have received wide acclaim in the past few years. Improving things in the winery, including cleaning up a problem with Brettanomyces, as well as both accessing better vineyards and improving things in those vineyards, have all led to better wines. Looking through the history of Pepper Tree wines reviewed by James Halliday (which go back to a 1993 Pepper Tree Frost Hollow white!) there are 39 wines that have received 94 points of more. Of those wines, 29 have come since the 2007 vintage. Moreover, there has been plenty of acclaim from other wine critics for Pepper Tree wines of recent vintages. The two wines that arguably stand out are the Alluvius Semillon (off the Braemore vineyard), and the Coquun Shiraz (off the Tallawanta vineyard). Neither wine quite has the history to sit in the lexicon of great Hunter wine just yet. But based off the past few vintages I can see that both wines are on track for a place amongst their peers given a few more vintages of similar quality. If that is the way things do pan out over the next few years, then I think Pepper Tree if perhaps never becoming a trendy label, will at least become a name synonomous with benchmark Hunter wine.

The other part of the Chatto winemaking story is his own Pinot Noir vineyard in Tasmania. He has a passion for Burgundy, and this little plot will be the outgrowth of that. He spent a number of years finding the site he wanted, eventually settling on a warm site 5 years ago that is one of the most southern vineyards in Tasmania. He was looking for latitude rather altitude. It has been planted with a number of different Pinot clones and 2012 will be the first vintage where he makes wine from the vineyard. It’s his personal long-term wine project. Given how long he took to find his site, the length of time he has waited to produce his wine, and the quality that can be seen in his winemaking more generally, it will be a Pinot Noir I follow with keen interest.

Back to Pepper Tree, and the portfolio starts with a $15-$18 varietal range and goes through to single vineyard wines in the $40-$50 range. In having such a portfolio, Chatto's winemaking ranges from the commercially made through to premium wines where less intervention and expression of site are the aim. Those in the varietal range are likely to see more winemaking as such. Fining and filtration, acid adjustments, concentrate, enzymes etc. All of which may be viewed as untrendy winemaking, but to me makes perfect sense for your cheaper, commercial wines, where consistency and flavour are going to be more valued by the consumers who will buy the wines than notions of authentic site and vintage expression (not that these are mutually exclusive ideals). Importantly these wines can be pretty good to. I tasted the 2011 Chardonnay, a blend of Orange, Wratonbully, and Hunter fruit, just before it was about to be sent off for bottling, and it had a balance and elegance to it that would happily see me handing over $18 for it. I also got to try it pre and post filtering, and the post-filter sample tasted slightly cleaner and better. For someone looking for an affordable and good drinking Chardonnay, this post filtering example would likely be the more appreciated outcome.

The wine I was most directly involved with, also in the varietal range, will become the 2012 Semillon Sav Blanc blend. If it’s a brilliant wine for the price, it will have obviously been the result of a bit of “Red Love”. If it’s not . . . then blame Chatto. Jokes aside, the Semillon for this wine came off the Quayle vineyard in the upper Hunter. The fruit when it was harvested was largely ripe, but had small pockets of greenness in it, which Chatto says he doesn’t mind for a Sem Sav Blanc blend (conversely he likes to make sure his straight Semillons achieve full ripeness before picking). The Sav Blanc will actually come from NZ (apparently even with transport costs it is cheaper to get good quality Sav Blanc from NZ than it is to source it from somewhere like the Adelaide Hills or Orange). It’s one of their top selling wines, and from a commercial perspective as important as any of their more premium white wines. I got to taste the fruit before it came off, crushed the fruit when it came into the winery (at night and in the rain . . . hardcore), tasted it as juice, racked it between tanks, and made the yeast preparation to kick off the ferment. Sounds like I did quite a bit, but in reality I will have had very little to do with end product, but just the fact that I was involved makes me very keen to see how it turns out once released later this year.

The wines with minimalist winemaking if you like, are the single vineyard wines. Wines like the Coqunn Shiraz. A single vineyard wine off Tallawanta, which in recent vintages has not required any acid additions, uses a neutral yeast, goes into large format oak (mostly old), and might see some minor fining and/or filtration just depending on the vintage. Gentle winemaking, but there’s no attempt by Chatto to make a “natural” wine, but rather a practical approach to making wine that best expresses its site. And on this point, I get the sense from Chatto and a number of other Hunter winemakers who I talked to while in the Hunter that week, that not many of them are not about to jump on the “natural” wine train. Given the history of the Hunter with Brett, and the fact that they’ve got to the point in the past 5 years where the Brett problem has largely been cleaned up, I don’t think Hunter winemakers are about to let their wines run their “natural” course. That being said, Chatto, and indeed many Hunter winemakers are keen to show off their great vineyards and make wines that are true to their site. To do this they are engaging in low intervention, yet pragmatic winemaking. Wines like the Coquun Shiraz and Alluvius Semillon are fantastic examples of this.

Beyond the things I gleaned about winemaking, the other thing I gained an appreciation of during the course of the week was just how much cleaning goes on in the winery. Cleaning grape bins, cleaning the destemmer, cleaning the press, cleaning tanks, sulphuring barrels. There is a constant and consistent process of cleaning whatever it is you’ve just been using. As much as there is the interesting side to winemaking, there is the equally important and time consuming effort to ensure everything in the winery is clean.

There were no winery mishaps while I was there, apart from one early morning when I got a faceful of Chardonnay. We were pumping the 2011 Chardonnay into a truck to go off to bottling when the hose sprung a leak and afforded me a chardonnay shower. If I wasn’t fully awake beforehand, I certainly was afterwards. Had it been captured on video it would have made for a good Youtube post.

A big thanks to Jim for giving me this opportunity, and a special thanks also to Luke, Leon, Joe, and Todd for showing me the ropes and putting up with all my questions. All up a great week.


Red

A Week with Jim Chatto and the Pepper Tree crew (Part 1)

I drink a lot of the stuff, write about it, and have pretty strong opinions on wine, so I’ve thought for a while now that I should get my hands dirty and do a bit of vintage work. I’ve spent plenty of time in wine regions, in vineyards, and in and around wineries, but of course this is not the same as actually being involved in turning grapes into cherished vino.

And so it was that I organised with Jim Chatto, chief winemaker at Pepper Tree, to spend a week in the winery in late Jan/early Feb, at the early stages of what has proved to be a very challenging vintage in the Hunter Valley. I traversed vineyards, helped crush grapes, and cleaned tanks. I learnt lots, helped out where I could, and drank some very nice wine in the process. All up it was a great week.

This post I will just concentrate on the vineyards and vintage itself, while in my next post I will look at Pepper Tree and working in the winery.


Vineyards

During the course of the week I had the chance to accompany Chatto as we walked and tasted through a number of great Hunter vineyards that Pepper Tree sources fruit from, including Tallawanta, Braemore, Steven, Trevena, Coombe Rise, and then also Quayle in the upper Hunter (there was also a sneaky trip into Lovedale but we’ll keep that one quiet). Having previously tasted many wines from these sites, and indeed written about some of these vineyards, it was great to actually kick the dirt, taste the fruit, and just gain a better understanding of where these wines come from.










(Jim Chatto tasting through the Quayle vineyard in the upper Hunter)

The first thing that stood out to me during my vineyard wanderings was the obvious difference in the taste of the fruit between the vineyards and even within vineyards. For those that taste grapes regularly, this difference might appear to be bleedingly obvious, but without having previously had the chance to taste grapes from multiple sites in a compressed period of time, it wasn’t necessarily apparent to me that the differences would be so evident. A Semillon grape from Braemore tastes distinctly different from that of Tallawanta, Coombe Rise etc. The unique character and typicite of a site can be readily discerned. This enlightenment was similar in a way to lining up a whole bunch of wines from the same region and tasting through them. The distinct differences between individual wines or indeed vineyards becomes more evident when viewed next to one another.

At a more detailed level, it was interesting to identify blocks or sections of vineyard that produced different flavours. Tallawanta vineyard was planted in 1920, sits on red soils, and produces beautiful old vine Shiraz. It straddles a small, gentle hill, and as such has both east and west facing slopes. There’s a great intensity to the fruit here. Tasting both slopes, however, it was immediately evident that the western slope was much more advanced and better tasting this vintage, having benefitted from whatever afternoon sun had been afforded it during this cool and wet vintage. In a hot vintage this would likely be reversed with the eastern slope looking better, benefitting from the protection it is afforded from the afternoon sun. This gives Chatto a level flexibility across different vintages to ensure fruit of the appropriate quality goes into one of his top wines, the Coquun Shiraz.

Another comparison of interest was that between Braemore and Trevena. Braemore, planted in the 1960s, is synonymous with great Hunter Semillon, and is considered by many something of a Grand Cru in the Hunter. Trevena, on the other hand, was planted in the 1920s but doesn’t have the profile that Braemore or many of the other great Semillon vineyards in the Hunter have. Braemore and Trevena sit side by side on the same alluvial flat, with only a small dirt road separating them. If someone had told me that the whole area was Braemore I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid, as there are no obvious terroir differences between the two sites. And yet tasting through the two vineyards it was evident that Braemore had better tasting fruit, and apparent why Braemore has risen in the wine lover’s consciousness in the past decade, while Trevena has perhaps not. The difference wasn’t huge, but it was there. The reason for this? I don’t think it has much to do with soil or aspect, as there is not much to obviously pick between the two in that regard. However, they are owned and managed by different vignerons, and looking at the respective vineyards it is quite obvious that Braemore is a site that receives a lot more love and care than Trevena at present. If Trevena can receive a bit more attention in the next decade there would appear no reason it can't come to be considered one of the Hunter's top semillon vineyards.

And on this point, the Trevena example serves to highlight that as much as the Hunter Valley has done a great job in elevating and promoting wonderful single vineyard wines, there is still upside in plenty of the vineyards. There are older vineyards, like Trevena, that still need more work, while there are also younger vineyards that are just starting to come into their own. Chatto has recently released a 2010 Shiraz from the Tallavera vineyard, an elevated site in the Mount View area. It is his play on a Tyrrell’s 4 Acres style shiraz, has received some great reviews, and I’ve got a bottle here that I will review shortly. The key thing for me however, is that they are only 15 year old vines up at Tallavera. One would imagine that the vines are only starting to hit their straps now and that the quality of fruit produced will continue to improve with time. In the Hunter, some further vineyard care and time should give voice to an even greater number of complex, ageworthy wines than already grace wine lovers cellars.

Excitingly, for lovers of the trinity of wine, vineyards, and maps (I can’t be the only one!), there is work being done on a comprehensive Hunter Valley map, that overlays soil type, with both subregion, and vineyard. Given its history, the Hunter perhaps understands as much about its sites as any region in Australia, but there is still insight and knowledge to be gained and it will be great to see this map produced.


2012 Vintage

The above was perhaps a big picture view on Hunter vineyards, but how were things looking for this vintage? Well it’s a mixed bag. Most of the fruit I tasted in late Jan/early Feb was fantastic, and in fact Chatto made the comment that it was some of the best tasting Hunter fruit he had had. The cool summer had allowed for a long, slow ripening of flavours to develop. However, on the other side of the coin it has also been a wet vintage, and rained for much of the week that I was there. There has continued to be on and off rain since that time. The full story has of course yet to be played out, but this will be a variable vintage. Some vineyards had more or less been written off while I was there, because of the rain, including the Tallavera Shiraz, while other vineyards still had that beautiful tasting fruit hanging at the time. It will be a site and winery specific vintage. Chatto’s regular refrain was that he had to hold his nerve and be patient. There was some great tasting fruit out there, but pick too early in fear of the rain and any wine you produce will likely taste pretty green. Of course the flipside, and the fear for all winemakers, is that you might push your luck with the rain and end up having not much fruit at all.










(A wet looking Steven vineyard)

I think whites will generally be pretty good, with many sites being picked before the rain could do too much damage, and all reports are that there is some very good Semillon in the making. The reds on the other hand have been a struggle with rain coming at exactly the wrong time, which is a shame for many reasons, not least of which is that there was some beautiful Shiraz in the offing. It’s not been a complete write-off like the 2008 vintage in the Hunter for reds, and Chatto managed to pick some shiraz off Tallawanta, but plenty of vineyards have not been picked. Many Hunter winemakers are sourcing fruit from outside the Hunter to make some red wines for the vintage. Of the Hunter Shiraz that has been picked, I very much doubt that the fruit that will end up going into premium wines, and potentially the beneficiary will be some of the entry level wines.

I guess in some ways it would have been nice to have seen a vintage where the weather had been perfect, and beautiful fruit kept rolling through the door for the whole week I was there, but in some ways this was perhaps the more educational experience. A tough vintage, with tough decisions to be made in both the vineyard and the winery. For a marginal, yet great wine region like the Hunter, this however, is often the way.


Red

Scarborough 2010 Blue Label Chardonnay

The Scarborough winery in the Hunter Valley devotes considerable attention to Chardonnay, arguably the global king of white grapes, though a second class citizen in a region (justifiably) dominated by Semillon. Still, they manage to produce very reliable, regionally expressive, modern interpretations of Chardonnay in a variery of styles.The Blue Label is the entry level, accessible wine in this range.
It smells and tastes of subtly spicy ripe peach and yellow nectarine fruit (the fruit flavours being what I like to call the Hunter 'fruit salad' flavour), though on the palate there is also a nicely balancing squeeze of lemon and a hint of lemon zest. Overall there is generous fruit flavour at the front and mid palate, a velvet like texture, finishing gently with some spicy old oak and subtle smokiness.

Good value for money and a nice example of a modern classic hunter Chardonnay: it has the flavour and the fruit, the oak is not overdone, though present, and there is enough zing to make it a refreshing wine to drink with several different dishes. Despite the arctic weather on the east coast of Australia at the moment, it's summertime, drink up.

Rating: 90pts+ (+ is for dinner party versatility and its ability to make a Sauvignon Blanc drinker understand they can get their ‘fix’ plus so much more without resorting to their white wine of choice).

ABV: 13.0%
Price: $20
Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au/

EDIT: In light of this interesting article on Australian Chardonnay styles by Huon Hooke in a major Australian broadsheet newspaper (link: here), I would specifically note that this wine is on the leaner side of ripe. It may be a symptom of trying more and more of the modern Australian Chardonnays that are in the leaner, 'Chablis' style that I refer to the 'ripe fruits' in this wine. Compared to the derided 'Dolly Parton' 1980's era oaky tropical chardonnay, the Blue Label is more on the taut and trim side of things. However, it is not anorexic (a fate befalling more Australian Chardonnays as the lean trend mentioned in the article continues to gather pace). For the price, I maintain it would be a popular choice for many, especially who like the 'just right' category of fruit to acid/lean balance.
RB 13/12/11

Go Chard or Go Home - Hunter Valley Chardonnay Tasting

The Hunter Valley is synonymous with Semillon - Australia’s finest, most age worthy Semillon at that. It also happens to be the birthplace of modern Chardonnay in Australia, a lesser-known fact. To showcase what the Hunter Valley can do with this most noble of varieties, on 15 March in Sydney, the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association organised a sizeable single blind tasting of 17 Hunter Valley Chardonnays.

The tasting provided all involved with a solid introduction/reaffirmation of what makes good quality Hunter Valley Chardonnay so appealing: a consistent number of  wines with flavours of largely yellow and white stone fruit, some leaning more to green melon, others fig, and less commonly some citrus flavours. The use of oak in most of the wines was evident, though was generally well considered and in balance with the fruit, leading to a creamy cashew nuttiness and subtle spice that did not overpower.

One obvious point of difference on the night was the 2009 Polin Polin Tudor Chardonnay. It had crisper acidity than the norm, more citrus flavours and a subtle almost Riesling-like minerality. Other wines in the line-up, including the 2009 Tyrrell’s Vat 47 was framed by nice acidity and finished surprisingly restrained given the primary fruit on show.

The 2009 Scarborough White Label (reviewed previously on this site) was of typically high standard and an example of sensitive use of quality oak to maximise the end result – typical Hunter Chardonnay fruit profile with the intelligent use of nice oak adding a spicy restrain and complexity to the wine. The 2009 De Iuliis Limited Release was another wine that stood out for its oak/barrel driven complexity with a nice spicy smokiness adding interest.

After tasting the 17 wines, it was clear that the Hunter Valley produces chardonnay in a broadly recognisable style (a riper style with nice stone fruit and sometimes fig flavours, creamy spicy oak and slight tropical fruit in the warmer vintages). However, the tasting also reinforced what we have found in the past – Hunter winemakers are successfully varying the regional chardonnay style, producing appealing ‘point of difference’ wines in the process.

Thanks must go to the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association for organising the tasting (which in included a Shiraz vertical that will appear on RedtoBrown in upcoming weeks as well) – an enjoyable and educational event that effectively showcased what the Hunter Valley has to offer.

Website: http://www.winehuntervalley.com.au/

2009 Scarborough White Label Chardonnay (Hunter Valley, Sample)

This 09 White Label sits right where I like to see Hunter Chardonnay. It doesn’t resile from its region or roots, being a generous Chardonnay with prominent oak in its youth, and yet there is enough restraint shown to mark it out as a class act.

Melon, grilled nuts and lovely French vanilla oak are prominent on the nose. On the palate it builds and unwinds nicely after about an hour in the decanter, at which point it delivers pure Chardonnay goodness. There’s a generosity of citrus and melon flavours, along with some lovely creaminess. This is supported by spicy oak, fine acidity and a long finish with an appealing citrus pith note.

The oak should integrate nicely over the next 3-5 years, at which point it will drink beautifully.

Rated:


ABV: 14.0%
RRP: $30
Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au


Red

2007 Mount Pleasant Rosehill Shiraz (Hunter Valley)

Yet another wine that demonstrates the importance of giving a wine plenty of air and time before passing judgement. Initially I was a tad disappointed with this wine, if only because I had high expectations from this label from as good a vintage as 07 in the Hunter. By the end of the second day however, it had come together very nicely and all concerns had been dispelled.

Rosehill is to my mind a floral, feminine expression of Hunter Shiraz and the 07 is very much of this ilk. An inviting nose of lifted floral aromas, warm earth, and cherry, leads on to a medium-bodied palate with lovely texture and drying tannin. Excellent line and length of cherry fruit with good grip. Tasty.

If you would like to try a low-ish alcohol, medium-bodied, aged, Hunter Shiraz, you could do far worse than to put this wine in the cellar for 5-10 years. Lovely wine.


Rated:

RRP: $35

ABV: 13.5%

Website: http://www.mountpleasantwines.com.au/

Red

Margan Shiraz 2007 - Hunter Valley

The 2007 Margan Shiraz has a big H Hunter Valley nose of earth, leather and red berries. The flavours on the palate are predominantly in the red fruit spectrum with some nice dark plum, spice and the distinctive Hunter Valley earthyness that adds character and charm. The acidity is pleasantly sour/tangy (especially on the finish), the tannins chalky and less prominant than when I tasted another bottle in early 2010.  Given the vintage and the development in between tastings, this should age nicely for a while yet, though it is drinking very well now.

/ 89+Pts


ABV:13.5%
Price: $20-25
Website: http://www.margan.com.au/

2010 Scarborough White Label Semillon (Hunter Valley, Sample)

The White Label is Scarborough's premium Semillon, though at $25, it gives you an idea of what a bargain Hunter Semillon generally is.

Everything is in place for this Semillon to age well, and yet as I’ve found with a number of 2010 Hunter Semillons, it has a touch more generosity than you might typically expect as this stage of youth. It has a lovely line of citrus flavour that’s underpinned by a clean, yet unobtrusive acidity. Excellent length and persistence of flavour, along with a beautiful streak of minerality.

The first half of this bottle I shared with Brown at a boozy Friday lunch at a Teppanyaki restaurant, and it was lovely with some seared tuna. The remainder of the bottle I had at home a couple of days later, at which point it had developed some nice oily, lanolin notes that point to where it will confidently head under screwcap over the next 10 years.

Quality Hunter Semillon. 4 Stars.


Rated:


RRP: $25
ABV: 10.5%
Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au


Red

2010 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon (Hunter Valley)

You normally see this wine in bottle shops as a 5 year old cellar release, so I nabbed this when I saw it the other day.

Very young Semillon often doesn’t provide a lot of drinking pleasure, and the less than great examples I often think are akin to drinking water with a squeeze of lemon. Generally speaking greatness and drinking pleasure for Hunter Semillon comes with some time in the cellar.

2010 Hunter Semillons might be touch different however. I tasted the 2010 Tyrrell’s Semillons a few weeks back and found them to be richer and more expressive than I would have expected. This 2010 Elizabeth follows the same trend.

If I’d smelled this blind when just out of the fridge I reckon I would have picked it as a Riesling. It initially has a very riesling-like floral and citrus nose. Once warmed up a touch it revealed its origins more clearly adding in some subtle tropical notes. It drinks pretty well now with a nice balance between its acidity and citrus flavours on the one hand, and rich honey-like flavours through the mid-palate on the other. It possibly comes up a touch short on the finish, but as a wine that you can typically pick up for $10-$15, it’s a very minor quibble. 3.5 Stars for now and a “+” for where it might well be in 5-10 years time. A lovely Elizabeth.

Scored:
+

RRP: ?
ABV: 11.5%
Website: www.mountpleasantwines.com.au


Red

2000 Holtsbaum Shiraz (Hunter Valley)

I've had a few bottles of this recently, and when its not affected by cork taint or oxidised, its a lovely aged Hunter Shiraz. To me it's just another example of why screwcap is the far superior closure. The winery itself was appparently sold a number of years ago.

It immediately declares its 10 years of bottle age with a brickish red colour. It has a lovely bouquet to smell of musk, cherry, and earth. It's medium-bodied with nice sour cherry and a classic earthiness. There's still enough fruit and acidity to suggest it will continue to age. It's ABV is just 12.1%. It's not particularly complex, and will never achieve greatness, but I just really enjoyed drinking this.

Rated:




Red

2007 Thomas Wines Individual Vinyard Sweetwater Shiraz – Hunter Valley

The Hunter Valley is an underrated and underappreciated wine region. Its rich history and ageworthy Semillons and Shiraz deserve a wider audience locally and internationally. Sometimes I think that if the people of New South Wales were more parochial, or if the Hunter Valley was further away from Sydney, had less golf courses, Bed and Breakfast accommodation etc, it would be better known and more appreciated.
At the present time, you would be hard placed to find better examples of Hunter Valley Shiraz and Semillon than those produced by Andrew Thomas. The Thomas Braemore Semillon is up there with the best of Tyrrell's, Brokenwood and Mount Pleasant, same for the Kiss Shiraz.
Prior to a recent trip to the Hunter Valley, I nabbed a bottle of the Thomas Sweetwater Shiraz, one of many ‘individual vineyard’ wines in the Thomas range.
The Sweetwater has red fruit aromas, with raspberry and all-spice prominent. There is nice, and quite obvious vanilla (oak) scent on the nose, though not on the palate. In the mouth the wine has a juicy texture, silky tannins and dominant fruit and it finishes with a bit of sweetness and persistence. This is a moreish wine – the fruit is to the fore. I found myself onto my second glass in a flash, such is the effortless enjoyability of this wine.
To provide some indication of its cellaring potential, on the second day the vanilla oak was still apparent on the nose, and the wine was more savoury on the palate. The red fruit flavours had subsided somewhat, with subtle liquorice, aniseed and slight dark chocolate flavours emerging. The acidity was a bit more pronounced.

Summary: a lovely, highly drinkable and individual wine from a very capable winemaker. (2 asterix are for the uniqueness of this wine - the trend towards single-site Hunter Valley wines is something that I am happy to see, and look out for (eg Tyrrell's single site/vineyard Semillons and Shiraz).

Details
Rated:

**

RRP: $35
ABV: 13.8%
Website: http://www.thomaswines.com.au/

2009 Blue Label Scarborough Chardonnay (Hunter Valley, Sample)

Scarborough’s Blue Label only sees old oak, and is made in a clean and fresh style. It is in marked contrast to the heavily oaked Yellow Label, and your preference between the two will depend largely on what style of Chardonnay you like. It has a nose of peach, lemon, and a bit of tropical fruit. On the palate there is a reasonable amount of richness along with a touch of spice. The flavours move more towards grapefruit as it delivers a decent finish. Good, easy drinking and well priced. A wine to be drunk and enjoyed now.

Rated:


RRP: $19
Website: www.scarboroughwine.com.au

2007 Scarborough Yellow Label Chardonnay (Sample)

I was impressed to find that Scarborough wine maker, Ian Scarborough, specialises in making Chardonnay (The Hunter being established Semillon and Shiraz territory). My personal favourite of their range (Blue, Yellow and White Labels) is the White Label, which I think resembles a white Burgundy style as closely as any Chardonnay in the Hunter.
The Scarborough Yellow Label Chardonnay is made in a relatively powerful 'Australian' style. It is bright straw/yellow in colour, and smells of lightly caramelised nectarine, subtle fruit salad and a bit of spicy oak.
On the palate, nectarine and melon fruit is balanced with similar levels of spicy French oak. Importantly with a Chardonnay in this style, the oak is nicely integrated, and the fruit does not stray into over-ripe fruit salad territory (fruit salad flavours being my Hunter Chardonnay ‘trigger’ descriptor, for better or for worse).
There is nice creamy texture in the mouth (the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation) and it finishes with decent persistence and a hint of crushed cashew and grapefruit. I would personally recommend drinking the Yellow Label young, unless you don’t mind the oak growing in prominence with age.

In summary, an affordable, versatile wine that does not overpower with oak or sweet fruit, and is nicely balanced with admirable structure.

Details:
Rated:

RRP: $21
ABV: 13%
Website: http://www.scarboroughwine.com.au/

PS: I recommend a trip to the award-winning Scarborough cellar door if you ever visit the Hunter Valley.

Meerea Park Tasting – Alexander Munro Range

Last week, Brown and I went to another excellent Oak Barrel Tasting. This time it was with Garth Eather, co-owner of Meerea Park in the Hunter Valley (the other owner is his brother Rhys). The highlights of the night were as expected their premium Alexander Munro Range:

2005 Meerea Park Alexander Munro Semillon – the grapes come off the Braemore vineyard. Given that Semillon has comparatively little in the way of winemaking input, it would be great to taste this alongside the 05 Andrew Thomas 'Braemore' Semillon (which as the name suggests comes of the same vineyard) to see what - if any - differences there are. Anyway, that’s for another time. This is just starting to show some aged characteristics but is still a largely fresh, youngish Semillon. A slightly developed colour, it has a nose of citrus, some toasty, oily notes along with a hint of honey. On the palate this wine is very impressive. With great acidity and balance, it has lovely fruit before delivering a long finish with just a nice touch of tartness. Everything suggests it will have a long, long life. (RRP:$35)

2009 Meerea Park Alexander Munro Chardonnay – This wine is probably a bit young to be drinking right now, though is clearly a good quality Chardonnay. It has an understated nose of stonefruit verging on tropical fruit along with some nice oak. It has a lovely smooth mouthfeel and a long finish of somewhat tart grapefruit flavours. Needs another year or two before drinking. (RRP: $35)

2007 Meerea Park Alexander Munro Shiraz – This is a wonderful Hunter Shiraz, which is both typical and atypical of the region at the same time. It is slightly atypical in that it has a perfumed, almost lifted nose of berry and cherry fruits, while nevertheless having a bit of typical Hunter earthiness and some nice vanilla oak. Talking to Garth about this he says that the perfumed nose is the result of about 35% of the stems being added to the ferment. The wine has great length and structure, delivering beautiful berry fruit on the front palate before turning largely savoury with sour cherry and a bit of earthiness. There are fine tannins and a bit of spice in support. This drank really well with a bit of air, but it is a special for the cellar. (RRP: $70)

1998 Meerea Park Alexander Munro Shiraz – tasting this wine more or less confirmed my thoughts about the 07 being a long term wine. The 98 Alexander Munro had a lovely aged nose still with plenty of primary, cherry fruit, along with expected leathery, earthy notes that are very much 'of the Hunter'. On the palate it also still had some nice grip and tannin with a beautifully smooth, long finish. Some complexity here with many years still in front of it. (RRP: $110)


Red


Footnote: As luck would have it, I (Brown) was struck down with a bad cold on the night of the tasting. Such a shame, given that I loved the wines and can only imagine how much nicer they would be when fighting fit. Even at less that 100% tasting capacity, the wines all have lovely noses, and the length and structure of the Semillon and Shiraz in particular was impressive. I hope to try some more Meerea Park wines in late July when I visit the Hunter, and will report back on any new wines in the line-up.

Brown