Introduction
This was part of a 15 day trip from Portland, OR, USA to Australia. We started in Sydney, then drove north up the coast, stopping every 2-4 hours and spending three nights. We wound up an hour North of Brisbane. I've never been much of fan of most Australian wines available in the US, so this trip was certainly not intended to be a wine vacation. However, I did think that since we were there anyway, I would certainly like to experience some bit of Australian wine. The only reason we picked the Hunter Valley was due to its proximity to Sydney, and it followed the path we intended on anyway ("head north"). I am very glad we came here though, as it was one of the highlights of our two weeks in Australia.
Before this trip I knew nothing of the wines from the Hunter Valley. This is probably mostly due to the fact that they are hardly available in the US at all. The Hunter accounts for only 2-4% of Australia's wine production, and their yields here are WAY lower than other areas of the country. It's quite a warm climate. Hotter in fact that Barossa and McLaren Vale, the two regions I despise for their 16% extracted bombs. The Hunter actually makes quite a bit more restrained wines, though. Many of the whites hover around 11% alcohol, with reds rarely getting above 14%. Since the Barossa and McLaren Vale are cool(er) climates, they can let the fruit hang on the vines quite late in the year without catastrophic results (well, I think 17% is pretty catastrophic, but whatever). However, since it's so hot in the Hunter, if they did that they wouldn't get anything that much resembled wine. As a result, they pick quite early in the year, before the consistently hot stuff arrives and can cause damage. They often pick Semillon starting in January! Reds come in February. This results in lower alcohol levels, and quite high acids. This brings up an interesting point, though.. many argue elsewhere in the world that the reason they have to let fruit hang so long is due to global warming and their lack of phenolic ripeness. I wonder why then here they are able to just pick earlier in the year without any adverse effects? All the fruit tasted properly ripe... but it also wasn't a mess of alcohol. The acid was incredible, and what makes this region interesting for me.
My method for the wineries I chose was to look up the highest rated wines from the Hunter in CellarTracker, and hit all the places with high averages. This worked out quite well, though there were some duds.. we also stumbled upon some random places by chance, and also by recommendation. By no surprise, the places the community liked the best I also liked the best.
Flight 1 - Mount Pleasant Wines (11 notes)
This is a fairly commercial operation these days, with one of the largest productions from The Hunter Valley. They produce 1.2 million liters of wine here. Of course not all the fruit is here, as there's "just" 310 acres on the site. However, while they make mass produced, commercialized wines, they also make a lot of really interesting stuff in smaller quantities. The gentlemen behind the bar was incredibly friendly, and poured us all of the good stuff he had open. We didn't try any of the really mass produced stuff, which I suppose is good, but probably makes my view of this place perhaps better than most people who see them in the stores.
We did a wine tour half way through our tasting and learned quite a few interesting bits of information. They are very honest about the production, and part of the standard tour included a discussion of the additives they put in most of the wine. She said that it is very common to add things like tannin and sulfur to the freshly picked grapes. They also add acid. I was shocked that this info was just volunteered without any questioning. I guess this type of practice is just accepted here. Really strange. They also add all the yeast; no natural fermentation. No qualms are made about doing pump overs here, either. In Oregon people freak out, trying to do gravity flow everything. She must have said pump 10 times during the tour, though.
Another interesting tidbit she mentioned was that one of the big reasons the Australian wine industry moved to screw tops was simply because they weren't able to acquire high quality cork. The "big" wine regions of the world kept all the good stuff, so the cork that was usually used in Australia was even worse quality than the usual variety.
They had both small concrete tanks for some of the smaller production stuff, but also these nasty retro drum fermenters for the mass produced stuff. This is the machine that makes wine taste like it came from nowhere. This thing was massive:
White
2008 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Phil Ryan Signature
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
This has a kind of soapy nose, some funky melon, and a fermenting pickle. The palate is tart, with some nice acidic fruits (peach and pear), and pretty green feeling. The finish is mostly tart green apples, with really nice sharp acid. Tons of apple skins here.
White
2005 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Elizabeth
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Intense nose, a little funky and tart. The palate is like melting plastic poured over some sweet honeydew melon with funky acids; really quite nice and interesting. Good acid and quite intense through the finish. Deep and long acids. We bought two bottles and enjoyed one even more later in our trip, and the other came back to the US with us. Hope to let this sit for another 5 years.
White
2005 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Single Vineyard Lovedale
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
At first this shows some nice pleasing white fruit on the nose, but then a huge wallop of an orange and a pine tree aroma... interesting and cool. The palate is really rich, with nice tertiary development showing, with still plenty of pleasing acids while still being mouth coating and fresh. The finish is really rich, expressing tart acids into the long, pleasing finish. Really impressively balanced, even if it's a bit sharp
White
2008 Mount Pleasant Wines Chardonnay Phil Ryan Signature
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Sweet and rich nose. Lots of tropical fruits present, including passion fruit. The palate is rich, with a really pleasing sharp acid streak. It's impressively balanced with just a touch of oak. Nice spice throughout, with some delicious coconut scented surf board wax. The finish shows big acid and light bits of spiced butter. Not too much complexity for future evolution, but great now. We came back two days later and tried this again, not enjoying it nearly this much... so not sure if the latter bottle was just old or what.
Red
2006 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Philip
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Plenty of butter on the nose. Like a grilled cheese sandwich, with butter, spice, and salt. The wine tastes like really fake butter (the kind you get at McDonalds for breakfast), mixed with distilled berry soup. The harsh finish is bitter, sharp, and tart. Blah. Really unenjoyable lingering flavors.
Red
2007 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Rosehill
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
From 65 year old vines. The nose is rich and port like. Big fruit, but fairly balanced despite it. The palate shows pretty big fruit, soft texture, and overall is pretty nice. The finish follows through with the same massive, port like fruit, and not much else. This is a rich wine.
Red
2008 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Phil Ryan Signature
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Oaky with big fruit. I was beginning to tire of these Shiraz's at this point. The palate was a little dry with more big fake fruit and spicy alcohol. The finish is tannic, and not nearly as dialed up fruit, which saves this wine a bit. Still, not too much interest here either. Quite pedestrian.
Red
2005 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Maurice O'Shea
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
A nice pleasing Shiraz. The nose does show some big fruit (blackberries), as well as some rubber cement glue. Really soft and mellow palate, though expressing some rich, soft fruit. Quite pleasing with some forest floor also pleasant. Quite spicy on the finish, which is quite nice and rich, with more complexity to the fruit, showing some solid balance with the fruit, tannins, and high levels of acid. Impressive stuff, but not worth the $64 for me.
Red
2005 Brand's Laira Shiraz Stentiford's
Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
$74. Intensely dark, and spicy nose, with some smoky bacon fat type aromas. The palate is soft, but massive and rich, showing chocolate, syrup, spice, and clove. The finish kicks in with lots of spice, tar, cream, and fruit concentration like a port. Really spicy but not really coming across as hot (label says 15.5%). This is only 89 points for me, but for others more keen on this massive style I could see it being a lot more, as it's done in a fairly restrained and balanced way for the style.
Red
2001 Brand's Laira Eric's Blend
Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
$75 Rich and soft nose with deep berries and primarily chocolate. The palate is soft and creamy with some strange old fruit showing up. Really spicy on the finish, with dark fruits, and quite a bit of splintery wood.
Flight 2 - Brokenwood (9 notes)
Apparently they have two tasting rooms here, and they're a mere 800 meters apart. Unfortunately we picked the "wrong" one, which is really just a Cellar Door (read: tasting room) on a resort of sorts. The one 800 meters down the road is actually at the vineyard/winery. They pour all the same stuff, but it would have been nice to be at the winery. We just came upon this place first, so we thought it was the only one (who'd expect two in under a kilometer?) The wines here were all fairly average, which was a let down considering some of the things I had read about the place. The ILR Semillon was pretty decent, but the price point just didn't make sense.
White
2009 Brokenwood Sémillon
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Funky fruits on nose, with a burning rubber band. Good acid on the palate; tart, and some green apple skins. Really tart finish, with more green acids, and leaves the mouth quite puckering. Good, bug straight forward.
White
2006 Brokenwood Sémillon Belford Block 8
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Rich and fairly fruity nose, with sharp green notes. Strange rubber band component on the palate, with more greenness sitting in a rubber tire. The finish shows intense acid and pleasing lemon. Better than the regular issue here, but still nothing too great.
White
2004 Brokenwood Sémillon ILR Reserve
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Some nuttiness on the nose, specifically almonds, mixed with perfume and some charred smoke. Rich and soft palate, which has this strange creamy acidity and fruitiness, with the rubber band cropping up again. The finish is exactly like tasting a sour lime sherbet... quite tart, but very delicious.
White
2010 Brokenwood Thompsons Road Roussanne Viognier
Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth
Fairly aromatic, with perfumey and floral aromas. The palate is woodsy, not like oak, but like a tree branch mixed with some red fruit (yeah, red) and mentos. Rich, tart acids and pleasing soft fruit on the finish.
White
2008 Brokenwood Chardonnay Maxwell Vineyard
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Tart and smoky aromas, though fairly light. The palate is tart, with puckering green fruit. Fairly balanced, though. Nice acids and it really coats the mouth, but not in an overall pleasing sort of way.
Red
2008 Brokenwood Pinot Noir Indigo Vineyard
Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth
Certainly smells like a proper Pinot Noir. However, there is virtually no flavor on the palate... with tons of aeration some light cherry pokes through. Overall the finish is kind of bitter and quite tart. Boring flavors overall.
Red
2008 Brokenwood Shiraz Indigo Vineyard
Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth
Big fruit on the nose; spicy and balanced. Quite nice. The palate is balanced, with nice reduced red fruits, some pepper, and cinnamon. Coffee cake on the finish, along with the coffee, which is a totally different direction than expected from the nose and palate. There is some typical spice and pepper, too, with nice drying tartness. Pretty darn tasty.
Red
2009 Brokenwood Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Crazy pine nose. Soft on the palate, though fairly mild deep red fruits. Soft and pleasing finish again. A mellow Shiraz.
Red
2006 Brokenwood Shiraz Wade Block 2
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Much bigger, jammy fruit here... this smells quite extracted. Pretty big on the palate and finish, with massive, jammy fruit coating the palate, and a drape of alcohol at the finish. Not my style.
Flight 3 - Scarborough (9 notes)
A pretty spot, but the wines just were not good. The folks pouring here seemed to be all business (as in, not friendly), and the other customers seemed to be getting what they wanted. I couldn't believe what the other guests were enjoying. In talking to a few of the other producers in the area after the fact, apparently they seem to be going for the "modern" palate, and not really making traditional Hunter style wines. Much more oak used here, and I found the wines quite out of balance overall. The free cheese plate was a nice touch, though.
White
2009 Scarborough Wine Co Sémillon White Label
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very light nose... no discernible aromas. The palate is pretty steely/metallic, with mild acid and a bit of off putting funk. The finish is tart, showing some minerals and rocks, but in the end it tastes like paper. Not pleasurable.
White
2010 Scarborough Wine Co Sémillon Green Label
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Again, this smells like wet shaved paper filings. The palate is showing a little green apple, but overall is quite mild with some tart acid building. Straight forward on the finish, showing some generic tartness and a bit bitter. The fleshy part of a green apple is present as well.
White
2009 Scarborough Wine Co Chardonnay Blue Label
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
They say this is "chablis style" with only old oak barrels. The nose is pretty fresh and smells of apricots; generally it's quite nice and fruity. The palate is tart and sharp, with nice acid. Interesting sharp acids on the finish, but not much else going on.
White
2008 Scarborough Wine Co Chardonnay White Label
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
When we were there we watched some woman purchase three cases of this unpalatable wine. Impressive. The wine is finished in 100% new oak, and it sure shows. The nose is entirely made up of new oak aromas. I want wine here people, not an oak tree. The palate is soft and quite nondescript; not much in the way of flavors at all, just some acid building and the oak covering everything else. Really high acid on the finish, but the oak still gets really nasty at the end. Really unpleasurable to consume. Popular style known around the (new) world, but not one I'll ever understand.
Red
N.V. Scarborough Wine Co Pinot Noir
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
NV, but this one's primarily made up of 2006 fruit. Quite light in color. The aromas are quite nasty. Smells of pepper, and really bad imitation perfume mixed with additional rubbing alcohol. The palate is nasty as well, with the same perfume, and artificially sweetened strawberry candy and chemicals. The finish is rank, bitter, and nasty. More fake perfume. This just seems really poorly made. Probably the worst wine of our trip.
Red
2007 Scarborough Wine Co Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Quite large, massive fruit on the nose. Fruit, alcohol, and pepper. The big candied fruit continues on the palate with nasty oakiness. Not balanced at all on the finish; just flabby.
Flight 4 - Lindemans / Rosemount (12 notes)
Why did we go here... well, I guess because Rosemount is such a big brand in the US, once I saw it I thought, "Well we're in Australia... we HAVE to go to Rosemount!" Actually, that was more of a joke... but we still wound up here, after the woman at Brokenwood told us they actually have good wines here. I guess she's not a wine drinker... Lindemans is of course also massive. They are together as they are both owned by Foster's. Neither company actually has a very big presence in the Hunter Valley any more, but due to their history here they decided to keep their Cellar Doors. Most of the wine poured is from other areas, though (Rosemount owns 4,800 acres in the McLaren Vale!!)
I guess both brands now are marketing wines called "Early Harvest". They include things like 6% abv. dry Chardonnay! And 8% dry Shiraz! It's all part of the "low calorie" fad. They were mentioning what massive sellers these are for them. They're in hip bottles that just beg to be opened on a summer day. We didn't even both trying them... even the people that worked there said they have virtually no flavor. Why bother? This is all marketing at this point... it's now "hip" to drink wine, so people want to be seen drinking wine even if it has no flavor. BTW, those are her words about their marketing, not mine.
Anyway, as expected, nothing here was worth remembering. They also had herbal infused wines here... we did try a couple, but I didn't bother noting them. I'll tell you the highlights, though: The blood orange and elderflower infused Chardonnay tasted like blood orange and elderflower.
White - Sparkling
2007 Lindeman's Eliza's Ten Lillian's
Australia, South Eastern
A blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, done in the Champagne method. The nose is zesty and fresh, yes, much like a Champagne. The palate is also zesty, with pleasing bubbles. Some bitterness builds on the palate, though. The finish tastes like pine shavings, and really tart stone. Just not too pleasing of a drink.
White
2004 Lindeman's Sémillon Bin 0450
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Spicy aromas, with a nuttiness that comes across as oak (though surely there is none used here). More nuts and spice on the palate. The finish becomes rank though. Tastes of metal shavings... like I'm chewing a machine shop. Really not pleasing.
White
2010 Lindeman's Riesling Eliza's Ten Louisa
Australia, South Eastern
Nice, typical new world Riesling nose with plenty of melon. The palate is a little tropical with forward fruit, though it's also drying and unpleasantly bitter. Drying and bitter into the finish.
White
2010 Lindeman's Chardonnay Bin 1080
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Light nose... some pear, and no oak. The palate is quite creamy and mild. Some bitterness and light acid. Generic bitter finish.
Red
1999 Lindeman's Shiraz Sparkling Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Smells of a typical Shiraz with pretty big, up front fruit. The palate has some great bubbles, again with typical Shiraz flavors which feels a little weird in a sparkling wine. There's a strong acidic streak on the palate, but that's coupled with an off-putting metallic streak as well. You can definitely taste some age on this. It's kind of bitter and slightly oxidized. Woodsy as well. Tastes old. In fact, it tastes like the cork. Not "corked", but tastes like cork, as if its going. bummer.
Red
2007 Lindeman's Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
They have 55 acres of Shiraz planted here. This smells like snake shit. The nose is quite angry, spicy, and a hot mess. The palate is feral, woodsy, and tastes like a dry rock. The finish tastes like wood. Not oak, but like I just got punched in the head with a slab of wood. Brutal.
White
2009 Rosemount Estate Chardonnay
Australia, South Eastern
Really harsh butter and acid on the nose. The palate is similar, but lighter in flavor. Spiced acid and apple on the finish. Bitter again. Not enjoyable.
White
2008 Rosemount Estate Riesling Ripe
Australia, South Eastern
Nice luscious fruit on the nose. A little funky flavors on the palate, but pleasing and soft. Nice and quite balanced. A surprise of a Riesling. I could Sunday Drinker this wine.
Red
2008 Rosemount Estate Sangiovese
Australia, South Eastern
Spicy, and a little bit like hot glue on the nose. Tannic on the palate, with spices and not much fruit at all. Tart, bitter finish.
Red
2007 Rosemount Estate Syrah Balmoral
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Called Syrah as they don't want to be associated with the Australian Shiraz situation, I guess... that is, this is suppose to be an "old world" style Syrah. Well, try again guys. The nose is big and bold, though fairly soft. Big, soft, and spicy palate. Decent acids on the finish, but overall this still tastes of extracted Australian Shiraz.
Flight 5 - Audrey Wilkinson (9 notes)
Certainly one of the highlights of the trip. Audrey Wilkinson is one of the oldest wineries in the Hunter Valley, and in all of Australia, established in 1866. They probably have the most beautiful spot of any of the wineries we visited, high up on a hill over looking some lakes. The grounds are very well kept and it was a pleasure walking around after our tasting. The whites here weren't too great, but their reds from the Hunter Valley were the best lineup we had anywhere. I would have loved to have been able to bring back more of their wines than we were able to. All of their Hunter reds had great fruit, but also really impressive structure and balance.
Considering the balance of the reds, one surprise was that they still had Shiraz hanging on February 24th. They were the only winery we visited that did, and the week before we arrived temperatures reached 45 degrees (113 Fahrenheit)!! Almost all of the Shiraz was showing tons of shriveling. I had heard stories about how in Australia they let the grapes hang until they shrivel on the vines, but I thought that was some kind of joke... or at least only done in the heavier handed areas. But this was pretty interesting. And by the way, this photo is fairly representative. While there were some clusters with less shrivel, I'd say over 50% of it looked this bad or worse.
Red
2009 Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard Shiraz Winemakers Selection
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Nice spice on the nose. Really pleasing fruit and balance of structure on the nose. That balance becomes fantastic on the palate, which has awesome cutting acidity running throughout, which is more prominent than the pleasing dark fruits. Feels really good as it stays on the palate, never becoming over bearing. Big and spicy finish, but impressively balanced in its structural elements. Pretty intense. One of the best wines of the whole trip, and another we brought back. 91+
Red
2008 Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard Shiraz Viognier Winemaker's Selection
Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Wrattonbully
Not too floral, but some red fruits and overall quite light. Bitter palate, with decent tannic structure, but overall quite mild fruit. The finish is light with some floral character, and it really coats the palate. Fairly straight forward.
Red
2009 Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard Malbec Reserve
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Big, but really soft nose with mild fruits. The palate is soft, big, with impressive balance of ripe fruit, rich acid, and tannins throughout. This wine is really all about its balance of structure. The finish is nearly graceful in its attack. The Hunter Reds here are all pretty impressive.
Red
2007 Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard Shiraz Lake Reserve
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Light aromas, but the palate shows pretty good balance of structure and fruit, though it is beginning to tend a bit hot. The finish pulls it in though, with good fruit, a nice heavy wallop of spice, and really nice structural balance.
Flight 6 (0 notes)
2/25/2011
The next day, Natasha and I rented a tandem bicycle and decided to ride around to the wineries. All in all we road 29 kilometers and still were able to visit 5 wineries as we did the day before in the car. This was an incredibly fun way to explore the Hunter Valley, and we really had a blast. One of the highlights was riding as fast as we could as 5 o'clock approached to try and find one more winery that was still open. As we were sprinting I looked up for a moment and saw to my left our first kangaroo of the trip, just as he noticed us. This guy was massive, probably 6+ feet tall as he stood straight up when he saw us. I wanted to stop to take a photo of him, but I hear kangaroos can give you a hell of a punch in the face if they feel threatened, so we road on (besides... gotta keep the eye on the prize, right?).
Flight 7 - Tyrrell's (12 notes)
The highlight of the trip, with the most amazingly consistent showing across the board. I'm amazed at my scores across the board. In fact, this is one of the most consistent lineups I've had anywhere in my life. Though he wasn't pouring us any of the pedestrian stuff... only the best of their offerings. When you factor in the price on these, perhaps it makes sense that they were so good, but still... great stuff, and again a really fun encounter with the man pouring. Tyrrell's is also one of the oldest wineries in the region (established in 1858), and their Semillon is fantastic across the board. He gave us each four glasses a piece, so we were able to taste all the Semillon's at the same time, comparing the age, etc.
Tyrrell's has 300 acres in the Hunter Valley, and 700 additional across the rest of Australia. Also, a really pretty spot:
White
2010 Tyrrell's Sémillon Brookdale
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Light melon on the nose, which is pleasing and refreshing. The palate is thick, like a melted rubber band. Chunky in texture, it also expresses nice melon flavors. The finish shows mild acid initially, but the acid begins ramping up once you've swallowed. Not overly complex, but the acid here keeps this really enjoyable.
White
2007 Tyrrell's Sémillon Single Vineyard Stevens
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
A little richer on the nose of this one, with bigger honeydew melon present. Creamy on the palate, and incredibly rich, showing some blended cantaloupe melon and cream, with really impressive cutting acidity. Nice crisp apples with the skins still on for the finish, which is rich and coating the mouth. Really enjoyed this, and upon return two days later I liked it even more, and purchased two bottles to travel back to the US with us.
White
2004 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Much lighter aromas here than the Steven's, though there are some light pickles present which are nice. The palate dials it up a notch, which is rich and soft, yet strangely chunky in texture. It coats the tongue in acid and granny smith apples. The finish doesn't express quite as fresh acidity as some of the previous, younger wines, but plenty of green apples. This lingers for some time and really coats the mouth. Upped the score a point a minute after tasting as the flavors were still lingering.
White
1999 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
The nose is larger and richer in flavor profile than its younger counterpart. The palate shows plenty of rubber bands, but they have a sweet, slightly maderized character. Mild acid present as well, and the palate feel is soft yet full bodied. Big, rich, and lush finish, with fanatically impressive intensity on the finish. Crisp, mature apples, though light in overall acid at this point. A delicious mature wine. Too bad they're now wanting $90 for it.
White
2010 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Pretty big, rich, and soft nose. More exuberant than the 2007. Quite rich palate, showing gummy bears, but not in a sweet way... just the intensity of the fruit. Nice mild acid, though thin body. The finish shows just a hint of butter, but then its overtaken by big rich acid. Nice.
White
2007 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
A bit more oak is present on the 2007 than the 2010, though I don't get much else defining the aromas. The palate is very interesting: Rich, complex, and different, offering some spiced melon, rubber bands, salt, minerals, and other rocks. Very nice acid on the finish, showing a solid core of fresh fruit, with decent balance of oak. After a while my tongue feels cut up (in a pleasing way) from the vibrant acid. Very full, awesome lingering character. Again, the price is a big of a drag for just a few years older, but I suppose the tax structure dictates part of that.
Red
2009 Tyrrell's Pinot Noir Vat 6
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Fairly light in color. There's pretty intense oak aromas present on the nose, but it's balanced with some christmas spiced berries that are very nice. The palate is soft yet quite full bodied for a Pinot Noir, showing nice mild red fruits with only slight acid creeping in at the end. Very nice mouth feel overall. Wow, the finish goes the surprising direction of being quite rich, though huge, cutting acid; razors on the tongue for sure. Ripe cranberry and underripe raspberries. Heavy acid at play here, with some slight steminess. Very interesting Pinot Noir. I picked up a bottle to throw into a blind Pinot Noir tasting I'll put on back in the States.
Red
2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Brokenback
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Wow, I don't know if I've ever seen 12.9% on a bottle of Australian Shiraz. Awesome. Too bad it didn't quite deliver, but it was a measly $20. The aromas were fairly typical, with soft, dark spicy berries. The palate shows some aluminum, it's quite soft and light, with some green character. The finish coats the mouth, with mild acid and good tannic structure. Natasha thought I over-rated this one... perhaps because I wanted to like it.
Red
2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Single Vineyard Stevens
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
13% and $45 for this one. Rich and big aromas of reduced blackberry, but not over the top at all. Pretty toned down, also expressing some mild chocolate. Bigger again on the palate, but some soil dryness keeps this in check. Gets quite good as it stays on the palate, which is complex and drying. The finish is big and drying, a bit rich, but it does balance out with some rocks as well. 90+
Red
2007 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
I was told this was $54 on this day, and 13.5% booze. This is much richer and intense than the Steven's. Some green stems on the nose as well, though. The palate is quite big, but it's subtle and not over the top, showing some thick berries and dryness. Pretty intense dry tannic clout on the finish, but no extracted fruit. Really full. Yes the fruit is intense, but it's not over the top. I'd still prefer the Stevens for the cost.
Red
2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Lunatiq Heathcote
Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote
13.9% and $45. I was told, "This is named after American's!" It showed a pretty big and rich nose, like a spiced cupcake. Big and tart on the palate, like spree candy, with really rich and complex, deep thick drying texture. Quite full bodied. Rich acids on the finish, which is tart and impressively deep acid. 90+
Flight 8 - Piggs Peake (8 notes)
Cool labels, cute names for the wines, but unfortunately nothing here was worth drinking. The only plus here was it was the ONLY place on our whole trip that poured us wine in proper, large bowl glasses. Everywhere else uses these little 4 oz taster glasses that are difficult to deal with and just feel wrong in the hand.
White
2010 Piggs Peake Sémillon Sows Ear
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Nice pleasing soft aromas though some strange volatile acidity seems present as well. Very nice and soft texture on this medium bodied but silky frame. Quite pleasing on the palate with acids slowly building. Strangeness, like toilet cleaner, hits slightly on the finish, but then acid lingers deep into the finish. Pretty mild overall.
White
2007 Piggs Peake Verdelho Silk Purse
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very light vinegar on the nose, coupled with apples, and general tart and stinkiness. Again, stinky on the palate, like an old dirty pool. Same acidity that isn't too pleasing. The finish is tart and coating. It doesn't have a pleasing mouth feel but I still love the acid. For a Verdelho, I'd prefer more up front fruit than this has (it has virtually none).
White
2008 Piggs Peake Chardonnay Hogshead
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Quite stinky on the nose: more toilet cleaner, but this time it's heavier. Really not too pleasing. The palate is quite stinky and filthy. Gross tartness. Spice on the finish, with some surfboard wax that saves this a little. Tart and ripping acid on the finish. This is done in all new oak (6 months), which I guess shows up in that stinkiness, though it doesn't come across as the typical oak aromas and flavors.
Red
2010 Piggs Peake Merlot House of Straw
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Steamy hot fruit on the nose, mixed with rubbing alcohol. Some burnt soil as well. Nicer soft fruit on the palate, with some candied berries, like red vines. Tart tannins build on the palate. The finish is spicy and tart, showing drying tannins and a bit cloying overall. Uninteresting, really...
Red
2008 Piggs Peake Shiraz House of Sticks
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
I guess this wine is usually a Hunter Valley Shiraz, but since 2008 was a total washout they made it from 80% Orange and 20% McClaren Vale fruit. Rich and alcoholic on the nose, with a bit of spice. Big texture, with grippy massive fruit on the palate. Spicy and alcoholic finish.
Red
2010 Piggs Peake Tempranillo Pressed Ham
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Soft and a little meaty on the nose. Fairly nice. The palate is soft, showing mild fruit, but not too large in size. Tart and drying finish, but the fruit is much too large and one dimensional here.
White
2009 Pear Tree Riesling Calling Birds
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Woodsy aromas. Like pine tree sap mixed with chemicals. More chemicals present on the palate. Tastes like burning hair and stale, tart melon. Nothing to add on the finish. I'm surprised I scored this so high based on that note.
Flight 9 - Ironbark Hill (9 notes)
We had a fun chat with the young guy behind the counter, but nothing really stood out. Nothing was bad, which is appreciated, but these are all pretty simple quaffers. Ironbark Hill was first plated in 1988, and they currently have about 100 acres planted.
White - Sparkling
2008 Ironbark Hill Effervesce
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
80% Semillon and 20% Chardonnay. Nice and crisp aromas. The palate is crisp and light, with nice minerality. Pleasing overall. Good minerals into the finish, with nice acid. A pleasing quaffer throughout.
White
2009 Ironbark Hill Sémillon
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
A little funky on the nose, but crisp and light. Fairly light and boring on the palate, with some very light bubble gum flavors. Light flavor overall. Pretty dry and weirdly powdery on the finish. Not mush here, though.
White
2008 Ironbark Hill Chardonnay
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
A bit more oak and butteriness here, but still crisp. Light, and not much going on again... just the light oak and hardly any fruit.
Red
2008 Ironbark Hill Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Holy crap, this sucker dials in at an even 12.0% alcohol! Incredible. The nose is very very light in scale, though incredibly fruity: It's covered in light red fruits. Almost Pinot Noir in color. The palate is fairly light, but pleasing, with soft fruit and good light acid. More acid into the finish, with an interesting cigarette smoke note coupled with bubble gum. Overall fairly pleasing and interesting.
Red
2008 Ironbark Hill Cabernet Merlot
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
A bit larger in scale than the Shiraz, this still shows some soft fruit on the nose. Nice fruit, big again larger in scale, with some big tannins on the palate. Tannic, with mild acidity on the finish. Pretty straight forward overall.
Red
2009 Ironbark Hill Merlot
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very deep color. Pretty big nose of thick berry sauce reduction. Tart and drying on the palate, with some deep fruit, though light in weight. Good acid on the finish, which becomes quite tannic though overall balances nicely. Good length. Pretty impressive.
Flight 10 - Keith Tulloch (7 notes)
You can tell this place has commercial success. This felt like one of the more marketing driven places that we visited... the wines tasted a bit commercial as well, without much standing out. Again nothing horribly bad, but they are also almost all every day wines, without much interest.
White
2010 Keith Tulloch Sémillon
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Nice bright acid notes on the nose, with crisp apple and pear. The texture on the palate is chunky, with fairly mild bright acid. Mildly tight acids and apples, with lime on the finish.
White
2010 Keith Tulloch Chardonnay
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
This sees just 2 1/2 months in new french barrique, but that treatment totally dominates the wine. The nose is light, with nothing but oak. A bit more butteriness on the palate, which is also slightly astringent. The finish is pretty icky... not as good as most of the Hunter Chardonnays. This shows quite a bit of oak and not enough acidity. A shame as the fruit underneath feels like it's of high quality. The wood treatment just killed what could have been an otherwise pleasing wine.
White
2009 Keith Tulloch Viognier Per Diem Bloodhorse
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Quite floral aromas, with some pleasing guava present as well. The palate is larger in style, with a off putting chunky texture. Decent acid but quite boring and lacking complexity on the finish.
Red
2009 Keith Tulloch Merlot
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Soft aromas, with some tart fruits. As this sits in the glass it seems to increase in size. Decent midweight on the palate, but the flavors do feel a little extracted. Acids and tannins build to cover up some of the extract, which is appreciated. Really nice acid and spice on the finish. There's mild extract, but again, the balance of the acid almost keeps it in check.
Red
2009 Keith Tulloch Shiraz Viognier
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Green aromas, and lots of them. It feels a bit under ripe on the nose. The palate is full bodied, but lacking some flavor or character, with just mild typical dark fruits. Acid begins building. Tart acid and tannic finish. Decent, but not too impressive.
Red
2007 Keith Tulloch Shiraz Kester
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Soft, but definitely those Aussie big dark fruits are present, though the volume isn't turned too high here. There's also some nice licorice, and slight bubble gum aromas. Big scale mouth feel with more bubble gum, big tannins, and mild acid builds. This is mildly gritty on the palate. Grippy tannins, not as dominant acid as many Hunter Shirazs, but it is nice.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2009 Keith Tulloch Sémillon Botrytis
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Smells of Sauternes, with some nice fire roasted pineapple. The palate is really chunky in texture (not very viscous), with mild sweetness and tartness. Yes, it feels like a light Sauternes. The finish kicks with some acid which escapes this from boredom. It's quite nice with that. Pleasing fruit as well, with a long, lingering finish.
Flight 11 - Veladare (8 notes)
Another one of the highlights of the trip, but not entirely for the wine. Keith Tulloch closed at 4:30pm, and we asked if she knew of any other wineries that were open later. She said most in that general vicinity closed by 5, so we took off riding around 4:20. We found a few places that said they were open until 5, but at one we couldn't find any people, so we got back on the bike and continued on. We came upon a sign for Veladare, which said it was open until 5pm. We had never heard of this place before, and it wasn't even on the winery map. When we walked in the door it was 4:45. David Fatches, the (owner? and) winemaker was in the winery, but he heard us walk in the door so he came upstairs. Apparently we were his first (and of course last) guests of the day, despite his hours of 10-5. He didn't have any wine open when we arrived, and opened all of these fresh for us, just at the close of business. We initially tried to make a pretty quick pass through these wines to let him leave at 5, but he said he could stay until 5:30 when he had to pick up his daughter. We were having a great time chatting, at which point he went in and asked his wife if she could get the daughter, and she could. At that point, David pulled up a chair, poured him and I a fresh, full glass of wine, and we just started chatting.
We talked at length about our experiences in the Hunter Valley thus far, and he enlightened us to a lot of the history, background, and current politics. He seemed quite knowledgeable about the area, and he seemed to love educating newbies to the area. We wound up staying until around 6:20pm, at which point we feared for dark and our 8km ride home at dusk, so we took off.
All of the wines here were quite good, but nothing was amazing. Still, if I am ever to come back to the Hunter, Veladare is one of the first wineries I will visit. David was one of the friendliest and most knowledgeable people in the valley. What's unfortunate is the next day as we stopped into to some of our previous visits to pick up some wine, we were mentioning to everyone about Veladare and not a single person had heard of them, despite the proximity. Surprising that someone who knows so much about the others isn't known in those circles.
White
2010 Veladare Sémillon
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
This wine only takes 3 months after harvest to get in the bottle. Bright citrus acidity on the nose. The palate is very light, with some acids, but a little creamy in texture. Quite nice as it sits on the tongue. Quite tart on the finish, with good lemon acids. A pleasing Semillon.
White
2009 Veladare Chardonnay Carina
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very slight oak on the nose, but there's not much fruit to notice much besides the oak. The palate is pretty oaky as well, but there's some mild acid with a pleasing pineapple play on a creamy texture which make this interesting. Good acids coating the palate. Pretty light overall.
White
2009 Veladare Chenin Blanc Clio
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
At 13% alcohol, this is said to be done in a Vouvray style, with 20 grams residual sugar. The nose shows light lime. The palate is only lightly sweet, but it is noticeable. The palate is quite light with mild tartness. Some more sweetness is noticed on the finish, with mild acidic apples.
White
2006 Veladare Chenin Blanc
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Without the Clio designation, his "Chenin Blanc" has no residual. It shows nice, rich aromas of slightly fermenting white fruit and some floral character. Chunky palate, and pleasing soft texture. Good acid into the finish, but the palate texture is a bit too chunky for me.
Red
2009 Veladare Shiraz GPV
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Fairly steamy and boozy on the nose (label says 14.5%), but the fruit is pretty mild. On the palate, the fruit is quite plush and creamy, so this feels quite nice. Pleasing fruit again on the finish, with mild acid. Everything is pretty good here, but the complexity just isn't quite there.
Red
2006 Veladare Shiraz Pyxis
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
This wine is comprised of the first selection of fruit. Nice aromas, which are almost feral in nature, along with blackberries, mullberries, and really good spice, almost like a cigar. The palate is mild and soft. Pleasing. Quite nice, but the fruit is pretty large in scale for my tastes. A little hot on the finish. The palate is really nice, and I was so wanting to love this wine based on the nose, but the finish is pretty boozy. A shame.
Red
2008 Veladare Shiraz Argo
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Herbaceous nose. Very spicy. The palate is big, with massive ripe fruit and spice. Very spicy finish, approaching hot. I am just not a fan of McLaren Vale fruit.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2009 Veladare Calliope
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
This is botrytis affected Riesling. Not made every year, this one dials in at 13% alcohol and 140 grams R/S. The aromas are thick and lush. The palate is big in size, with good acid, nice tartness, with lush, soft sweet apricots. The texture is a bit chunky which is again slightly off putting. The finish is really spicy, lush, and deep, with great balancing acidity. Perhaps the best botrytis affected wine I had in the Hunter.
Flight 12 (0 notes)
Flight 13 - Glandore Estate Wines (12 notes)
The first winery on our last day in the Hunter. We made an attempt at this place the day before on the bike, but they were closed. This was the only spot in the whole Hunter Valley that had a tasting fee. You could have 5 or so wines for free, but if you wanted all of the wines, including their top wines, you had to pay a $3 tasting fee. Okay, no problem. Unfortunately, none of the wines were really up to snuff. This place was recommended by a number of folks, so we were both disappointed at the showing. Natasha didn't even bother with the second half of the tasting after the first few wines.
Rosé
2009 Glandore Estate Wines Merlot Rosé
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Light pumpkin aromas and a little raspy light berries, but fairly nice. Nondescript palate and light, but with additional searching there is some light acid and strawberries building. Tart and funky light pumpkin on the finish, and solid acid throughout.
White
2010 Glandore Estate Wines Savagnin
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Very bright aromas, almost some green beans present as well. The palate is mildly tart with some lemon fruit. Slight funk on the finish, lemon, and a bit drying. There's also a strange, old tire component present. This is done in quite a different style than it's done in the Jura.
White
2008 Glandore Estate Wines Chardonnay Estate
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Very slight oak on the nose, but that's the dominant play here, with only a slight bit of melon. Tart, but mild on the palate. More lemon and spice present, with just a slight dab of oak. Spicy oak again on the finish, with a bit of acid. Tart.
White
2010 Glandore Estate Wines Sémillon Elliott
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Quite light, but a bit refined on the nose. There's some light, crisp honeydew melon coupled with lemon that's nice. The palate is mild and light on its feed, with good acid building and plenty of lime flavor. A good hit of acid on the finish, driven by the lime. The finish is nearly identical to sucking on a lime.
White
2010 Glandore Estate Wines Chardonnay DPJ
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Some butteriness on the aromas (a good amount of oak seems to be present). Chunky in texture, this tastes a bit like a mix of chicken covered in light motor oil. It's bitter, with some light acid. The finish shows acid combined with a steel drum, all covered in oak. Pretty bitter.
Red
2009 Glandore Estate Wines Shiraz Pinot Noir
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
I believe this was a 50/50 blend of Shiraz and Pinot Noir, and they wanted $100 a case for it. The nose was quite spicy, with nice mild fruit. Mild pepper on the palate, with some acid building. Tart and grippy, with some nastiness building as it stays on the tongue. The acid really coats the mouth on the finish. Pretty grippy considering the price point.
Red
2008 Glandore Estate Wines Tempranillo
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Some funky egg aromas, and a rank garbage can. This thing smells like a dying baby. The palate shows funky, rotting red fruits, and the rotting carcass of some animal. The finish shows spicy acids but this just makes my stomach churn. It was hard to swallow but I didn't want to spit this out as the woman watched my face tweak.
Red
2010 Glandore Estate Wines Pinot Noir
Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Tumbarumba
Very light oak with typical light berry fruits and some green stems. The palate is light, with some green tartness and red berries. Building tannins are present. Tart and grippy acid. Green stems linger on the finish. Not a bad Pinot, but pretty uninteresting.
Red
2008 Glandore Estate Wines Tempranillo TPR
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
This spent 15 months in American oak and its presence is noticed on the aromas, but not as much as expected. Definitely big berries here. Bigger still on the palate, which has nice texture and spice, with good berry fruit and drying tannins. Soft and nice finish, with good spice. The American oak is surprisingly not over the top as I expected.
Red
2009 Glandore Estate Wines Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Strange seafood and lettuce aromas. Continuing, I get some pickles and balsamic. It's really smells like a salad. Weird. The palate is spicy, with some wet lettuce, but there's bigger dark fruits building. Grippy and dry finish.
Red
2007 Glandore Estate Wines Shiraz Hamish
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
13.9% and $42. Very pleasing aromas of spicy red fruits. The palate is big, showing plenty of spiced red fruits. Some good acid is present as well. Very nice and mellow, with slight red apple. The finish is pleasing, with good balance and structure.
Red
2008 Glandore Estate Wines Shiraz Ward
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
14.4% and $60. It's too bad that more dollars usually means more extract. Why not more balance? Anyway, this has huge fruit on the nose, though it doesn't seem to be too out of whack... yet. The palate is quite large, though not fully extracted even if it tends in that direction. Nice and soft in texture, with tannins building. The finish is spicy, and here's where the heat from the alcohol comes in. Big, tannic, and nearly balanced, but that heat does get away from it.
Flight 14 - De Iuliis (5 notes)
Another visit due to recommendations, and another bust.
White - Sparkling
2004 De Iuliis Chardonnay Pinot Methode Champenoise
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very soft aromas, like Christmas candy, with a little funkiness. A little stinky. Very nice fine bubbles, with there's some strange sweetness and the same funkiness. The finish however goes straight down the toilet, literally... I'm left with the feeling like I just licked the toilet bowl after it was cleaned: some bleach and chlorine flavors... almost like an over dosed pool as well.
White
2010 De Iuliis Sémillon
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very light aromas with some hints of grass. Nice and soft, but not much flavor other than light honeydew and a hint of lemon. Drying and light finish. Tart and a little bitter.
White
2004 De Iuliis Sémillon Aged Release
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Some nuttiness (almonds) on the nose. The palate is a little creamy with more nuts, woods, mild spice, with lemon and a drying character. It slightly disappears after you swallow and the finish leaves the mouth quite dry, but really lacking in complexity.
Red
2009 De Iuliis Shiraz Charlie
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
This says only 13.5%, yet it's still a little hot on the nose, showing some soft mild fruit as well. Very light in body on the palate, and light in flavor as well. Quite soft, mild, with some spice. Pretty boring, though. The finish is richer and fuller fruits, with some mild spice.
Flight 15 - Pepper Tree (4 notes)
Definitely a really pretty spot. Several people had recommended we visit Pepper Tree, so we did. It was fun for the spot, but after just a few wines I could tell that I wasn't going to much enjoy myself, so I decided to complete our tour here. The whole place seemed very commercial, with not very friendly folks pouring, and very average wines.
White
2010 Pepper Tree Verdelho Limited Release
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Really nice vibrant, up front tropical fruits on the nose. Light on the palate, some pineapple and guava. Strange mouth feel though that I don't much like. A pumpkin on the finish with heavy tart acids carrying deep into the finish.
Red
2009 Pepper Tree Shiraz Limited Release Hunter Valley
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Soft mild dark red fruits on the nose, with some oak and some spice. Large and fairly soft on the palate. Not much flavor at first, and a strange chlorine texture. Spicy finish, but not much besides that and some mild acid. Light booze.
White
2010 Pepper Tree Sémillon Limited Release
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very light aromas. The palate is mildly creamy, but fairly light and still chunky in texture. The finish is quite light with hardly anything happening other than light typical Semillon flavors. Still, not bad or off putting, just light
White - Sweet/Dessert
2010 Pepper Tree Sémillon Limited Release
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Very stinky house paint aromas and rotting pineapple. Very chunky palate, more paint flavors, but other than that it's fairly soft and light. Cloying finish, with some mild but really just a bit of sweet tree and paint.
Closing
Overall our time in the Hunter Valley was awesome. I did not expect to enjoy as many wines as I did, and I really fell in love with the potential of Shiraz and Semillon from the Hunter Valley. All of my favorite all time Australian wines occurred on this trip. The shame is that virtually none of these wines are available in the US, and certainly none of the small production stuff that I liked.
