Trip to Hunter Valley

Just two vineyards in a relaxed visit with Jerming, Justina and Tom this time. Both showed some really nice stuff. I lost my handwritten notes for some of the reds in Keith Tulloch, so I will be just posting what I have - the Field of Mars Semillion was a real eye-opener. Beautiful stuff.

• 2010 Lake's Folly Chardonnay 90 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Pretty good as always, but this was served a bit warm, so all the not so good parts of the wine were in clear relief, warts and all. The nose was a nice mix of toasty butter and cream with more citus lemon and green apple tones, hinting at the wine's lack of complete malolactic fermentation. Still very young on the palate of course, with more primary lime and lots of green apple flavours carried on a really fresh wave of acidity, almost sharp on the mid-palate, which seems to need some time in the bottle to fill up and round-out. The finish had a nice length to it, with a touch of toast, some spice and a piquant bite of acidity and a nice roundness that was missing on the mid-palate. A well-made wine, which should get better given 3-4 years of age.

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• 2009 Lake's Folly Cabernets 91 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  As always when tasted at the cellar door, impressive, but too young. I liked the nose, lots of smoky, spicy, brambly notes, patted down with deep scents of loam and wet earth playing upon a sweet background of plums and cassis. The palate took on that same sweetness, but there was a lovely purity in the dark fruit flavours, again cassis, plums, maybe some mulberries, all very clean and transparent. I liked the shape and texture of the wine as well, with soft, juicy acidity wed to some fine, plush tannins that gave the wine a little grip as it enetered the decently lengthed finish, where plum and spice notes were accompanied by a touch of capsicum. Still primary, but this should age well to give a lot of drinking pleasure in the medium term. Classier than most of the Cab blends you would expect from the Hunter.

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• 2010 Keith Tulloch Sémillon 91 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  I thought this was quite beautiful young Semillion. Lovely, precise nose, with white flowers, lemons and lime and a does of flinty mineral. The palate was clean as a whistle and perfectly balance, with lots of steely mineral running through its rather neutral fruit flavours, and a nice dry sand / earth component as it moved into a long, mouthwatering finish where hints of spice and flower showed up. Still very young of course, but there was a nice amount of dry extract and a sense of nascent complexity with this wine. Should be beautiful in 5-6 years' time.

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• 2010 Keith Tulloch Sémillon Field of Mars 93 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Really top-notch stuff - this could only have been a top-drawer Hunter Semillon. The nose had a reductive hint at first, but a few swirls later, it showed a lovely mineral streak, some chalky earth, a white asparagus notes alongside subtle fruit - this was a whole lot deeper on the bouquet than the straight Semillion. There was certainly a step up on the palate too. Just pitch perfect balance here, with beautifully judged acidity forming a mouthwatering frame for pure flavours of limes and lemons and grapefruits, all ran through by a tremendous sense of mineral - all flinty and sandy here. There was a grippiness on the beautifully texture palate wed to a sense of finesse that I normally associate with top-class Mosel Dry Rieslings. A long and very round finish tied the whole package up very nicely. This was really very complete. I liked it very much indeed.

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• 2010 Keith Tulloch Chardonnay 89 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  I did not notice the overt oak that the earlier poster did (that showed up on the "prestige" File of Mars Chard) - this was actually pretty decent to me. It really had quite a gorgeous nose, all melons, musk and flowers, lots of sweet ripeness here, relieved by slightly more citrus pink grapefruit and lemon zest scents. The palate was a mouthfull of flavour. Tons of rich, yellow fruit, pineapples and red apples with another touch of lemons nestling amidst a creamy, buttery mouthfeel. It was only on the finish where the wine became a bit imbalanced and the oak showed up. with a bit of heat and a very nutty, popcorn tail. Pity, otherwise this would have a pretty good Chard in the modern, new world style.

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• 2009 Keith Tulloch Chardonnay Field of Mars 90 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Lots of underlying quality, but just so much oak that it is hard to get to it at the moment. Nose was all oak - nutty, toasty, vanilla, butter even some salted caramel and spice. There was some fruit underneath that, but it was rather overwhelemed by the oak at the moment. It was the palate that showed the mettle of the wine. Lots of weight, concentration and intensity from the attack into the long, mouthwatering finish. This showed rich yellow fruit alongside ripe red apples more tropical pineapple notes, even some figs. Big stuff, but there was also a cleanness and purity of expression that I really liked. For all that fruit, this actually came across as a very serious wine, quite complete in the way it was balanced and structured. Some melon fruit at the finish, before (rather unfortunately) a whole lot more oak, with all sorts of nutty, vanilla notes. This should be better in time, assuming the oak ever tones down, at the moment, lots of quality but slightly marred by the heavy-handedness of the winemaker. This might have been a great wine if he showed as deft a touch with it as he did with his beautiful Semillions.

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• 2007 Keith Tulloch Shiraz Viognier 91 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin

  This was a really nice, forward drinking wine. It had a beautiful nose, full on florals, with lavender and marigold notes mingling with branbly garrigue all floating over a deeper layer of plums, dark berries and savoury meat scents and sprinkled with notes of spice. Lovely stuff. The palate was supremely drinkable as well. Big black Hunter fruit on the attack quickly mellowed on the midpalate to show some meat and spice laced through with very fine tannins and dollops of juicy acidity. There may not have been the greatest depth here, but there was an admirable sense of posie and focus, almost elegance. The wine finished in a round, friendly mouthfull of flavours - meat, spice and blackpeppercorns, even a bit of orange peel, in a soft, appealing package. Decent length too. Not one for the long-term, but for its price and the pleasure it gives, quite unbeatable value.

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