It's been a while since I posted here - not least because I'd spent a good period of the last few weeks down under. Part of the trip to Australia included a couple of days out of Melbourne and into the Yarra Valley, and a short trip to Tasmania, where I also ensured there was enough time to sample a number of the local wines at a couple of wineries and the Taste of Tasmania festival in Hobart.
First wine stop was a little unexpected and quite ahead of schedule - little-heard-of Otway Estate out in Geelong (during a couple of days when the family was driving down/around the Great Ocean Road). Most of the wines here were quite average; the one exception was a very pleasant and surprisingly aromatic Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc with strong toasty flavours and softer fruit/grassy notes on the nose. As an interesting aside, I was told at the cellar door that a very small portion of Riesling was blended in with the grapes - not enough to affect the varietal character, but just enough to add to the aromaticity. Pinot Noir here was quite a disappointment (I'd heard some good things about them in this region) - not quite ripe enough with a strong minty fragrance, and too much oak for my liking.
Then came the main attraction for the trip - the cricket in Melbourne which ended two days too early - meaning of course, there was plenty more time to see the city and the Yarra Valley. So on the 29th Dec, I headed down by De Bortoli for starters and was greeted by a ton of other Englishmen at the door who also had planned on being at the match. De Bortoli's got a terrific cellar/tasting room with a nice cheese stall, and some terrific facilities - a much talked about restaurant that we didn't try, open barbecues and a lovely view. Huge crowd of people all over though (with barely any standing room at the cellar counter), but I was very impressed though by the way the staff at De Bortoli handled the crowd - service was terrific, and the wines even more so. Lot of excellent wines here - the tasting started off with the Gulf Station Riesling, which for the money is one of the best I've had from the region. Minerally with lots of citrus and lime zest, acidic and quite dry - great stuff. The other highlights among their whites was the Yarra Valley Viognier, which was a pleasant surprise - not too high on alcohol, great nose of spice and orange zest and similarly refreshing. Good Sauvignon Blanc as well, and two pretty good Chardonnays (although I'm personlly not a fan of the varietal).
Among the De Bortoli reds, the Yarra Valley Shiraz and Shiraz-Viognier stood out with typically enjoyable spice and dark fruit characters, and the latter having an incredible nose. Cabernets here were also quite impressive, particularly the Gulf Station one, made in a slightly more old-world style with a bit more restraint and some lovely earthy flavours instead of the usual concentrated fruit. Main event though was the Noble One dessert Semillon. I'm very fond of these 'stickies', and this was really delightful - apricot, honey, peach and hints of orange zest on the nose, very Sauternes-like in style - complex, rich and heavy in the mouth but balanced by lots of acidity. Easy to see why it's rated among Australia's best sweet whites. Picked up two bottles to take back (and one's already finished :-).
Balgownie Estate was a comparitive disappointment. The Sauvignon Blanc there was much too grassy and herbaceous for my liking (something I'd find to be the case in a few more places along the rest of the trip), and the Pinot seemed to lack body - very muted nose, and not much on the palate either. Two of their 'White Label' Bendigo-sourced wines though were excellent; the Cabernet Sauvignon (one of the few good Cabs I enjoyed - two others were at De Bortoli, but many others around the area were generally too underripe and vegetal) and the Shiraz.
Coldstream Hills had some excellent wines, but the impression the service left was very poor. Mind you, the tourists on the 29th meant that a lot of the cellar door staff had their hands full (literally!), but this was the only place where I was standing around for about ten minutes with an empty glass awaiting my first pour. Most of the people at the other end of the counter seemed fairly brusque - a change from the rest of the area, with the norm thankfully being very different. The Sauvignon Blanc here though was very enjoyable, very much along the lines of one of the New Zealand counterparts with lots of tropical fruit, citrus zest and a very grassy character, and it was here that I tasted one of the best Pinots of the trip - cherry, plum and spice on the nose, with dark fruit and some softer smoky notes in the mouth.
McWilliams' Lillydale Estate was a mixed bag. A Sauvignon Blanc that seemed quite flat; pleasant, acidic Gewurztraminer with a great nose of musk, roses and spice; a Rosé that was pleasant and inoffensive, but little else; Pinot Noir that lacked tannin and structure; good Shiraz with a little too much oak and a very impressive Cabernet Merlot balancing blackcurrant and pepper with oak, earthy flavours and a slight herbaceousness. Not too many complaints, but there was nothing here that was really worth going out of the way for (as there are some equally good or better Cabs around the Yarra for even better prices ).
On the way out of the Yarra, dropped by Samson Hill Winery for some photos, where we tasted one of the most impressive Shirazes of the day. With the winery based on one of the hills on the edge of the valley, and on old volcanic rock, the Lucky Bastard Shiraz (no, I'm not making the name up) had a very earthy/tarry character, with concentrated fruit and spice blending in alongside hard, powerful tannins. A terrific one, but not one quite drinkable just yet - hence why I passed up a purchase.
Returned to the Yarra a few days later, and began with Domaine Chandon, which I'd been informed was one of the must-see sights. The visitor centre/tasting room alone is worth the visit with a spectacular view all around and a very sleek, tourist-friendly appearance. The sparklers there were all excellent, particularly their Vintage Brut, but it was the Green Point still wines that really caught my attention. The Sauvignon Blanc was another standout - again, not dissimilar to one of the better Marlborough Sauvs out there - and the Pinot Noir was superb with a nose of cloves and cherries, and a silk-like mouthfeel.
Dropped by Yarra Gateway Estate (good Pinot Noir, little else) and Riverstone (fairly average) after, and then to Fergussons for a very good lunch. The restaurant there is rated as one of the best in the Yarra, and the food here was terrific (they've got perhaps the best roast beef in the area). Wines afterwards involved a spectacular Chardonnay (and again, keep in mind that I'm not a Chardonnay fan generally) with a perfect balance of oak and ripe fruit flavours, and some very good reds, all along the 'fruit bomb' line with high alcohol and rich, jam-like concentration of flavours. I'm fond of that style from time to time, and particularly enjoyed the Benjamyn Cabernet Sauv. The Shiraz was also very good, but I found too much heat on the Pinot (was it 14%?).
Yering Station finished off the Yarra trip, and there were a couple more pleasant surprises here. Good sparkler, the now-standard grassy Sauvignon Blanc and then a light, refreshing, fruit-driven blend of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier. That and the Pinot Gris were the picks of the white wines, and the reds were just as good. Surprise package here was the Sangiovese - was slightly skeptical at first before tasting, but was blown away by a great blend of plum, light spice and earthiness. More good Cabernet and Shiraz Viognier, again quite similar to a lot of the other examples of these wines around the Yarra. Kudos as well to the cellar door staff here - the crowd was almost as big as at De Bortoli on the first day when I'd gone there, and the bar was a little smaller, yet service was excellent right through.
Onto Tasmania to kick off the New Year, and Tamar Ridge was the first stop after reaching Launceston. As a huge Riesling fan, I absolutely adored it. They had three styles of Riesling - Tamar Ridge - a very elegant, dry, Kabinett style with floral aromas, citrus and lime zest; Devil's Corner - a slightly sweeter, almost Spätlese styled wine with lime and pineapple flavours and some minerality, and the Tamar Ridge Botrytis - a heavier 'sticky' Auslese with honey, pear and apricot, and plenty of acidity. The two Tamar Ridge ones were simply stunning - get the feeling that this is one winery to definitely keep track of, as these were among the best Rieslings I've had from down under. Very elegant, complex and I just wish they'd export to a few more places, because their Rieslings are really world-class in my book. Among their other wines were a Gewurztraminer that seemed to be lacking something in the mouth - didn't have the fruit, spice or acidity, an incredibly grassy Sauvignon Blanc, a couple of very good Chardonnays - the Tamar Ridge label one with a lot more oak and richer toast/buttery flavours, and the Devil's Corner label one showing very little wood, and strong ripe peach/pear flavours. The Pinot Noir was also quite solid (not unlike most of the better Yarra Valley ones), but the Cabernet-Merlot at the end was a huge disappointment. Very leafy nose, and a quite tart/vegetal palate that suggested it was quite underripe. Lovely cellar door as well with a nice view just a few minutes' drive away, and incredible hospitality once more. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
Bay of Fires was on the other side of the Tamar River and the only other cellar of note that I went to. The cellar door was superb - very stylish, and state of the art. Their brochure had advertised the Arras vintage sparkler as being one of their highlights, and this (00 vintage) was *stellar*. Fine bubbles, pale golden yellow and an incredible nose of yeast, fresh bread and softer nutty aromas. Very pleasant in the mouth as well, and definitely worth buying even if the price was a lot steeper at 45 AUD than most of the other wines around the area. The Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay 01 was excellent as well, showing a little more citrus fruit on the nose and some more acidity, but another definite thumbs up.
Among the still wines, the whites again shone. The Bay of Fires (main label) Gewurz was decent - again lacking a bit in the mouth, much like the Tamar Ridge one and the Tigress (second label) Chardonnay was quite average but from there it was all uphill. The BOF Riesling and Pinot Gris were the highlights - the former quite dry with slight floral notes, lemon and lime zest and a minerally taste with plenty of acidity, the latter off-dry with an incredible nose of flowers, pear and citrus and incredibly refreshing in the mouth. The Tigress Sauvignon Blanc was another very good one - strong nose of lemongrass, and lovely tropical fruit flavours and acidity in the mouth. Among the reds, the Pinot was excellent - with a great perfume-like nose of cherry, clove and vanillin oak and a silky smooth texture with a great finish - but the Cabernet was again quite green and underripe. Not the best way to finish.
Managed to taste a bunch more when in Hobart on the 3rd Jan with the Taste of Tasmania festival still going (it was its last day), but with more cricket to follow, didn't pay quite as much attention to the wine. Of note at the festival were Wellington's Sauvignon Blanc - very much like the previous two Tasmanian Sauvs with a very assertive grassiness
- and Pinot Grigio - slightly sweet with lots of ripe fruit and plenty of acidity. The Pirie Estate tasting stall provided my first sample of a really good Gewurz from Tasmania with a nose of musk, rose petals and spice with slight tropical fruit flavours in the mouth, and the wine segment of the trip finished appropriately with another Riesling - Frogmore Iced Riesling, another dessert selection with a nose of pineapple, apricot and lime, a marmalade-like taste balanced by lots of acidity with a long finish. Avoided most of the reds (aside from the odd Pinot) here, and had no regrets. The Tassie wineries still have a way to go as far as reds are concerned (Pinot was good, but I felt generally overrated, and almost every single Cab/Cab-Merlot was quite vegetal and underripe), but their whites are quite fantastic on the whole with some amazing Rieslings and some very good Pinot Gris and NZ-like Sauvignon Blancs being produced.
Salil