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Hunter Wineries (1) - Mt PLeasant & McDonald Rd
Tasted January 5, 2013 by graemeg with 612 views
Introduction
With the family still down at the in-laws in Tasmania, I grab the opportunity to do some tasting up in the Hunter, almost entirely dedicated to the Hunter great semillons and shirazes. One day I’ll get the time to properly expand beyond what I consider to be the Big 6 wineries (Mt Pleasant, Brokenwood, Thomas, Tyrrell’s, Meerea Park, Lake’s Folly).
Flight 1 - Mount Pleasant (11 notes)
The usual good range of wines for tasting. Nothing, it seems, was getting me a taste of some O’Shea shiraz. Never mind. I still think the alcohol levels in the reds need to come down a notch; it would do wonders for the freshness of these otherwise-fast-improving wines.
White
2011 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Elizabeth
{screwcap, 11%, A$19} Sweaty honey/grass aromas. Medium acidity; light-medium body. Dry, softly textured, and grassy tasting. A bit bland overall. An early drinker I think.
White
2006 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Elizabeth
{screwcap, 10.5%, A$25} There’s some development here; there’s a characteristic toasty quality to the yellowing hay flavours. It’s medium-bodied, with medium-acid, but feels to be very much a drink now wine. The warm vintages of the noughties, along with what must be heavier demands on Mt Pleasant’s Semillon resources for more up-scale labels (Phil Ryan, Lovedale) don’t seem to have helped the average quality of Elizabeth, I must say. Once it was an automatic buy, these days it’s very much a vintage-by-vintage proposition.
White
2009 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Phil Ryan Signature
{screwcap, 10.5%, A$26} A not-quite youthful, grassy, herby, restrained nose. Lots of acid, and a light-medium body give it a pungent grassy aspect on the palate, with a phenolic touch. Dry and of medium-length, it’s way better than the 06 Elizabeth. Could age a few more years.
White
2006 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Anne
{screwcap, 10.5%, A$30} An oddly muted lemongrass nose. Palate seems dilute, almost watery; this is truly light-bodied. Medium acid. Less fleshy than last time I tasted it. Hard to call; aging slowly, that’s for sure.
White
2007 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Single Vineyard Lovedale
{screwcap, 11.5%, A$60} Developing nose (and palate) of wax, lanolin and hay. Medium-high acidity disguises the richness of the flavours. Medium bodied and dry. Somewhat developed palate; flavor coats all the tongue. Finishes long and fresh still. Has years ahead of it; another 8-10 til peak.
Red
2010 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Philip
{screwcap, 14%, A$20} All Hunter fruit again, I think. Still smells very juicy and jube-like. Quaffers need to be fruity, and I doubt there are any ambitions for aging this any more. It’s very lightly oaked, is soft and spicy on the palate; has a touch of earth; doesn’t taste as overtly fruity as the nose implied. Medium-bodied, but finishes just on the short side. To drink, not keep.
Red
2011 Mount Pleasant Wines Mount Henry Shiraz Pinot Noir
{screwcap, 14%, A$48} A wine made as a tribute to the unique varietal blend so beloved of Maurice O’Shea, and to let the winemakers experiment with fruit and imagination. Spicy and peppery nose, quite lifted and intense (blame the alcohol?). It’s a ‘medium’ wine in nearly every structural respect save for some seriously gritty tannins; the flavours are of black fruit and dust. Needs food to show better, I think. Ambitious price…
Red
2010 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Phil Ryan Signature
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$26} Very much a modern take on new world shiraz. Blackberry/cherry fruits, soft oak aromas. Fine, quite gentle tannins, medium body, medium length finish. Good and ripe, just avoids too much heat on the palate. Big mouthful of flavor for the shorter term.
Red
2009 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Rosehill
{screwcap, 14%, A$40} Youthful soft red berries and spice. Low oak, fine medium-grain tannins. Lovely balance along the tongue; smoky, earthy cherry-laced fruits show a savoury side before culminating in a medium-long dry finish. Very good in all respects, especially if you buy it for two-thirds the cellar door price in Sydney’s bigger chain stores.
Red
2010 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Old Paddock & Old Hill
{screwcap, 14.85%, A$60} Simply reeks of quality and depth. Very young nose of spicy red fruits and dusty earth. Despite quite high tannins and a medium-full body, this is no trial to drink at all. Wonderfully polished palate carries the alcohol without missing a beat; the wine finishes long and even. Wants at least eight years to evolve, but seems to have the goods.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2008 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Maria Late Harvest
{screwcap, 10.5%, A$20} Gentle honey nose. The palate is medium-sweet, all honey-tasting and light-bodied. Acid is very low, though, and this compounds the general lack of depth. Pleasant enough, if a bit simple, but not something to cellar.
Flight 2 - Lindemans (5 notes)
A random decision to call in here was rather like dropping in to see a long-dementing relative, who no longer bears any resemblance to someone we all knew and once respected. Confected commercial swill abounds, the Coonawarra trio are apparently too precious to be on tasting, and only a few sad and distinctly second-rate ‘Hunter’ wines still exist.
White
2011 Lindeman's Sémillon Bin 1155
{screwcap, 12%, A$30} A youthful, soft grassy-infused nose of citrus fruits leads. The palate is grassy and soft, quite acidic, light-bodied, but lacks depth and persistence of flavor. Medium length, but only has a little presence towards the front of the tongue. And seriously overpriced…
White
2011 Lindeman's Chardonnay Bin 1181
{screwcap, 14%, A$30} Light aromas of nuts and peaches. A lightly-oaked, light-medium-bodied, short-finishing early-drinker veering towards the bland. For thirty bucks? Dreamin’…
Red
2011 Lindeman's Shiraz Bin 1103
{screwcap, 13%, A$30} Intense cherry fruit with loads of white pepper. Enough to bring on a sneezing fit. Spicy, peppery palate has a little sweet jubey fruit/ Light-medium bodied, not much oak, short finish. It’s not gloopy or heavy, which is good, but it’s still not terribly interesting or convincing.
Red
2011 Lindeman's Shiraz Hunter River Reserve Bin 1100
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$60} Dark blackberry fruit, pure and almost unsullied by oak. Despite only fine dusty tannins, this is medium-full bodied, with good balance along the palate, decent acidity for freshness and a dry, medium length finish. It’s still young, of course, but I thought this was a pretty tidy wine that would benefit hugely from 5-8 years cellaring. At about half the price, however, so no buy for me.
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Red - Fortified
N.V. Lindeman's Grand Tawny
{500ml, A$35} Tea, brandy spirit and cough mixture. The palate also has a medicated-honey quality to it which is quite off-putting. Medium-sweet. Plenty of acid too. But it all sits right on the front palate, and there’s very little length of finish to speak of. Probably a good thing. Overall, a big disappointment.
Flight 3 - Brokenwood (8 notes)
– There is a complicated scale of tasting fees at Brokenwood which I tried not to get involved in; just asking to taste the Hunter wines. There is also a huge list of current release wines for sale, but not much of it on tasting. Some of the wines below I was probably only offered because I was so assiduously taking notes.
White
2012 Brokenwood Sémillon
{screwcap, 10.5%, A$25} Lifted grass, hay, straw. True to type. Medium-high acid marks the grippy, sweaty, lime/grass palate, which is fresh, focused, dry and still light-bodied. Still, it should see 10 years easily; has just the right balance of lightness, flavour and low alcohol to do the job. One of the better examples of this label over the last decade.
White
2010 Brokenwood Sémillon
{screwcap, 12%, A$25} A more generous, citric wine than its younger sibling. This has a smokey touch from 10% oak use as well, which broadens out the palate to a fuller, medium weight. Still plenty of grass and citrus on the palate too, and there’s no oakiness to speak of. Finish is medium length, but I think this is a wine for the shorter term.
White
2006 Brokenwood Sémillon Maxwell Vineyard
{screwcap, 11%, A$50} This is minerally, developing, with aromas of chalk and lime. It’s light-medium bodied, surprisingly steely for seven years old, with medium acidity just softening out as it hits the palate. This has a long, tangy, even finish; terrific aging Hunter Semillon. I’d drink now, seems like it will hold another 5 years easily.
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Red
2010 Brokenwood Shiraz
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$45} Peppery, violet aromas, with a touch of tar and earth. Plenty of acid, minimal oak, medium powdery tannins. Flavours are toward the cherry/blackberry end of the scale, the wine is distinctly savoury, medium-bodied, with a medium length finish. Needs time to settle down. Good wine.
Red
2011 Brokenwood Shiraz Verona Vineyard
{screwcap, 13%, A$50} Dark Asian spices, cinnamon aromas. Solid red fruit palate, dry, savoury and polished. Medium dusty tannins, medium body, long dusty finish. Excellent wine which will handsomely reward 10 years in the cellar.
Red
2010 Brokenwood Shiraz Mistress Block
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$75} Really very closed. Dust, earth, and violets. No fruit bomb, this. Medium body, integrated french oak. Hard to pick specific flavours, but the class and depth of intensity stand out. Long even finish. Very fine wine to be given 10+ years.
Red
2010 Brokenwood Shiraz Quail
{screwcap, 14%, A$100} Big, youthful chocolate/vanilla nose. Big long palate, full-bodied, with ripe red fruits, medium levels of oak, long finish and great presence on all the tongue. A 50/50 split of McLaren Vale’s Wade vineyard, and Graveyard fruit. Tastes like 80% McLaren Vale, though. Still, a pretty nice wine all round, despite the silly price tag and such wide-ranging blends being chronically out of fashion. Long, full finish. I’d drink this, if someone else is buying!
Red
2011 Brokenwood Nebbiolo Indigo Vineyard
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$40} Clear garnet, as befits the variety. Restrained nose of flowers and violets; all fruit, no oak. Spicy and savoury cherry fruit is carried by high acidity, medium tannins which cling to your cheeks, but ultimately a rather light-bodied palate culminating in a medium length dry finish. A victim of the vintage? Low voltage wine overall, but not without some interest. Would clearly benefit from food, cellaring I’m not so sure.
Flight 4 - Samll Winemakers' Centre (7 notes)
The Thomas Wines promise of a cellar door is delayed again, so I detour to see what random wines are on offer at the Small Winemaker’s Centre on McDonald Road. Along with some other makers to get value for my tasting fee… There are nearly 40 wines for sale here, but only a scant dozen or so available to taste.
White
2012 Andrew Thomas Wines Sémillon Braemore
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$30} Super-youthful straw and lemon. A high acid palate – it doesn’t screech, it seems natural enough, there’s just lots of it – gives way to a dry, almost dusty but limpid and pure palate mostly of straw-like flavours. It’s light-medium bodied, with a medium length finish, and wants a fair bit of time to settle down.
White
2011 Hart & Hunter Sémillon Oakey Creek
{screwcap, 10.5%, A$27} With oak! Soft lemon flavours are shot with grass; there’s plenty of acid here too but the oak serves to soften out the palate (it certainly doesn’t taste of oak). It’s light/medium bodied but can’t muster much length of finish, suggesting it should be consumed early. Decent wine.
White
2011 Margan Chardonnay Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13%, A$20} And don’t you notice the oak here, especially after tasting so many semillons this morning. Lots of buttery/vanilla, malo-like aromas and flavours. There’s some stonefruit on the palate, along with the oaky flavours. Medium/full body, but the finish fades a bit quickly. Straightforward, slightly old-fashioned chard; good value wine though. A drinker.
Red
2011 Andrew Thomas Wines Shiraz Two of a Kind
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$25} Simple red-fruit nose’; strawberries, blackberries. You taste the McLaren Vale fruit, that’s for sure. Little oak; the medium grippy tannins all seem grape-derived rather than oak. The jubey flabours don’t conceal a certain coarseness of texture that doesn’t quite manage to be rustic. A medium-bodied quaffer with a short-medium length dry finish.
Red
2010 Andrew Thomas Wines Shiraz Sweetwater Individual Vineyard
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$39} Exotic nose of jam, Turkish delight and oriental spices. For acid, tannin, body, it qualifies as medium all round; the flavours do resemble the nose but have a surprisingly earthy, dry aspect to them, helped along by finely-textured powdery tannins. A silky, medium-length finish caps off the dry palate; interesting wine which might be better with some development under its belt.
Red
2010 The Little Wine Company Shiraz Little Gem
{screwcap, 13.7%, A$35} Meat and tar nose. A bit medicinal too, I thought. Meaty and jammy on the palate; medium/full bodied, thickly textured with high tannins and warmer presence than the alcohol promises. Medium-length finish; not bad but didn’t excite me. Seemed to fade beyond the mid-palate. Easy pass at the price…
Red
2009 Talga Merlot
{screwcap, 13.8%, A$22} Big aromas of plummy coconut and vanilla. It’s low in oak and tannins, and oddly light-bodied considering the nose. Coconut/plum flavours are decent, but the finish is rather short. Drink up. I couldn’t establish from the label exactly where these grapes came from either. NSW? The whole country? Who knows. It’s not a wine with a heap of personality, that’s for sure.
Closing
continued in part 2