Clare Valley - Mount Horrocks and Grosset
Super fresh and fine Rieslings from Clare Valley blow away the travel cobwebs.
Super fresh and fine Rieslings from Clare Valley blow away the travel cobwebs. Clare Valley – 07 March 2007
We finally arrived in Clare at about 9pm this evening, after a journey which had started at 7am this morning in Margaret River. From there it was 3 hours on the bus to Perth, a 3 hour flight from there to Adelaide and then another 2 hour bus ride.
To say that we were feeling travel weary does not even begin to describe it. If ever there was antidote to travel dust though, the winery of Jeff Grosset and Stephanie Toole in the tiny town of Auburn in the Clare Valley region would be it.
Jeff is widely hailed as the maker of the finest Riesling in Australia and for many, one of the finest examples of this variety in the world. He also makes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a fabulous Bordeaux blend called Gaia.
Stephanie, his long term partner – they have children together but have never married – is as widely acclaimed for her Riesling – particularly her sweet version, the amazingly wonderful Cordon Cut. Apparently a favourite of the royal family, who served it recently at the Queens 80th birthday lunch. It is however her Semillon which is my personal favourite – a wine made in tiny quantities (only 400 cases) which very much inspires me to get to the point where I will be able to take the entire UK stock and sell it with great pleasure.
Clare is about 100km’s north of Adelaide, a series of valleys which run North to South for about 25km’s and which are about 7km’s wide. Polish Hill and Watervale are the two main sub-regions and are concentrated around Mount Horrocks – another feature which is really more of a substantial bump in the landscape than a Mount, but it does seem to be the Australian way to christen anything which is not entirely level as such. Mount Horrocks is at a lofty 620metres – hardly very high altitude viticulture but those extra metres do all add up and make a difference.
The climate here is completely different to Margaret River which is maritime. Here, they have warm days and much cooler nights. In fact, once off the bus and in the gleamingly new winery, a number of us had to go and rummage through our suitcases for jumpers and extra layers – not something we could have even imagined doing the night before.
You only have to spend a minute in this winery – where we had dinner as it was the only space big enough to accommodate the group – to be left in no doubt as to how very carefully and precisely both Jeff and Stephanie make their wines.
It gleams. The tanks are pristine and neatly lined up against a far wall and in the middle of the space. The grey floor looks clean enough to eat off and the presses are similarly spotless and neat. This translates exactly into the wines, which are focused, precise and above all full of clean (which in no way suggests that they are in any way bland or characterless, because they are not) fruit.
I was amazingly travel weary and drank a glass of Semillon rather too quickly (I cannot drink this slowly – it is too delicious) which meant that my notes for some of the wines served with dinner are again very slightly all over the place.
1996 Grosset Gaia
Amazingly fragrant nose – cut grass, cedarwood with very sweet, ripe fruit and dark chocolate underneath which follow through on the palate. there is a very slight hollow in the mid palate but nothing serious and strong, scented fruit returns for the finish. Elegant and very fine with still a way to go.
1993 Grosset Gaia
Much more farmyardy on nose. Still very much alive on the palate but the fruit has thinned out somewhat, leaving gamey, inky notes. The same fragrant, fresh grass character lingers towards the back though and this has very good length and a fabulous finish. Apparently ’93 was a bad vintage which speaks volumes for how carefully these grapes are grown and the wine is made. This might not have the flesh of the ’96 but it is in no way a bad wine.
1998 Mount Horrocks Shiraz
Animal, leather and game nose. Good finesse with rich, dried fruit, game, black cherry and black pepper. Great complexity at the front with more rich dried fruit and cloves and all-spice coming out towards the back. Fine, sweetly fruited wine which has good intensity despite the elegance but just somehow lacks something and I am not sure what it is. Good but not great.
Talk at dinner turned again to Biodynamics because Jeff is not convinced. He is much more a believer in capturing a sense of place, finding that blends of grapes from different parcels and regions tend to cancel each other out while the best wines, in his opinion, are those which show a very pure terroir. The aboriginal word for this is pangkarra – a sense of place, a defined area which they feel they belong to. This feeds directly back to sustainability and certainly organic farming as it is not just about your land divorced from yourself. Changing your land is changing yourself and the world for your descendants and that is the behaviour of maniacs.
While I agree completely with Jeff on this, for me, Biodynamics is a way of capturing an even deeper sense of place. If the vine is completely at home and deeply rooted in a place which is alive and vital, it is that much more capable of transmitting that energy and sense of terroir to the fruit and then the wine.
I did not stay for the very late night shift which apparently involved the tasting of numerous older vintages from all sorts of eminent Australian producers, but then I am somewhat of a lightweight and we had another early start.
The next morning, the air was again cool. Cool enough that I had on a very light cotton jumper and a cotton scarf and Stephanie greeted us wearing a light fleece. This really is a departure. We set out for a look at the Watervale and Polish hill vineyards and on the way, were given a more in depth explanation of what makes Clare unique.
There are many very crumbly rock soils here with Watervale being the most common. This is especially good for vines and most especially Riesling as it is amazingly drought resistant. Roots shoot straight through it to the moisture far below and when it does rain, the water runs straight through it.
The actual Watervale vineyard, on the gentle slope of a very low hill, is a mixture of hard and soft rock and a very cool breeze was moving through it at a swift pace at 9am in the morning. Galah’s – beautifull grey birds with vibrant pink and orange chests - clustured in the blue gums under an absolutely flawlessly blue sky. This vineyard apparently consistently produces bigger bunches with bigger berries, as opposed to Polish Hill where they are much smaller and a more yellow colour. The defining flavours of Watervale are citrus and lime while the Polish Hill aroma is much more reticent – more smoke and mineral than fruit with amazing length.
Clare Valley has still not succumbed to Phylloxera, so 98% of the vines are planted on their own roots. Both Stephanie and Jeff seem remarkably relaxed about this, even though it has just been found in the Coldstream Hills in Yarra Valley. Jeff feels that when vines are on their own roots, a grower is forced to do the meticulous research required to match a variety to a site. With the option of grafting, growers can make up (or try to make up for) the deficiencies which does not work as well.
The vineyard for my beloved Semillon is just next door to the Watervale Rieslings just under the crest of a very gentle slope where the soil is much poorer. It is very acid which limits the amount of nutrients available to the vine - very important for this variety as it can be very high yielding. Stephanie’s Shiraz is grown on terra rossa over limestone in a vineyard in the same cluster. She does a lot of shoot and fruit thinning for this crop which is still very unusual in Clare – usually the issue is all about getting enough vigour, not trying to control it. They don’t however have to do this every year but removing just 10% of what is there can often make a huge difference.
From here we went to the Polish Hill vineyard – now a recognized sub region of Clare which Jeff was instrumental in defining. When we arrived a very pale, ice grey moon full moon was still hanging in the flawless blue sky. The fruit from this vineyard always has higher alcohol and higher extracts. This vineyard is on a very poor strip of shallow top soil with clay, gravel, then slate slabs which are 500 million years old under that. The soil types here are much more fragmented than they are in Watervale, and certainly I find much more minerality on the palate in this wine.
This vineyard is irrigated and they do drip water when they feel the vines need it. This is not necessary every single year and usually this happens after harvest, to make sure the vines have enough energy to build up reserves for the following year. Only cow manure is used, no other fertilizers and as Clare is very naturally disease free – dry air and cool mornings mean that this is naturally a very organic place.
Grosset tasting
For Jeff and Stephanie’s whites, only free run and the juice from a first, very gentle press is used, all of the rest being sold off for bulk wines. There is no skin contact at all – a completely opposite approach to that taken in the Mosel, for example.
2006 Grosset Watervale Riesling
Lime and lime blossom on nose – very delicate and elegant. High but balanced acidity and medium body with lime, lime blossom and honey at the front and more honey and spice towards the back with lovely really quite rich mid palate. Delicately spiced honey and lime on the finish. Utterly elegant and fine with gentle but persistent length. Very, very lovely wine.
Highly Recommended
£18.50
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
Heavier, slightly oiler nose – grapefruit and grapefruit pith. High but balanced acidity and medium body, grapefruit zest and pith with underlying slightly spicy mineral and just a hint of honey. Heavier in weight than the Watervale with a sort of brooding power and while the mid palate is less pliable, it promises to age beautifully. Amazingly complex and promising finish – spice, honey and creamy grapefruit pith. Intensely wonderful wine.
Highly recommended.
£16.50
In this instance, the Watervale does not seem that much more forward than the Polish Hill which is apparently usually the case but it was a richer, softer vintage for Polish Hill in 2006 which may explain it.
The perception is generally that Polish Hill is somehow superior to the Watervale but Jeff Grosset does not distinguish them that way – he merely sees them as different. Difference in price is really down to yields and nothing else - both have always been very expensive wines to make and will remain so.
2006 Grosset Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc
55% Semillon
45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45%
Two different vineyards from different regions supply this fruit – the Sauvignon is from the Adelaide Hills.
Melon, mineral and cut grass on the nose. Balanced high acidity, medium body, melon, honey and mineral in an amazingly elegant, focused body. More honey appears towards the back with just a hint of butter but the oak is barely there – a drop of single cream. Cut grass notes also appear towards the back. Good length and grassy/minerally finish. Very unlike most Sem/Sauv blends, this has amazing focus and pure elegance. Very fine wine indeed.
Recommended
£15.25
2005 Grosset Piccadilly Chardonnay
Lean, leesy citrus fruit on nose – almost no cream or butter coming through although there is a hint of toast. Very balanced acidity and medium body. Lemon butter, toast and a hint of honeyed spice with great spicy minerality developing on the palate to a very attractive mineral/spice finish.
Like all these wines, this is utterly focused and elegant. JG thinks that this is a particularly bold style, for Piccadilly but when taken in comparison to most other Australian chardonnay, it is a wisp of a wine. The fruit for this comes from the Piccadilly sub region of Adelaide Hills.
Recommended
Price TBC
2005 Grosset Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir
Tiny production – a mere 320 cases. The fruit comes from 2 vineyards in Piccadilly valley – the coolest part of Adelaide Hills. These are both very well exposed sites and yields are kept very low in order to ripen the fruit properly.
Destemming is done if stalks are green, if not, 50% are kept in. This has been done since the first vintage – 1993 – but care is always taken to make sure that these are fully ripe and mature. This is foot pressed as they have found that with this method, the berries are broken over a few days instead of all at once, which seems to work very well.
Sweet strawberry nose with aromatic spice and mineral. Very good, high but balanced acidity, exceptionally fine tannins, medium body with sweet, ripe, strawberry, lots of aromatic spice, mineral and liquorices. There is a slight hollow in the mid palate which I am sure is an age thing but the finish comes back with lots of spice.
This has the softness and elegance of Pinot but for me, it lacks that seductive silkyness and very heady, sensual aromatic profile that the truly great examples have. This won’t be stocked at Green & Blue as I do think that at this price, you could do better. It is very good wine but it does not transcend.
2004 Grosset Gaia
70 % Cabernet Sauvignon
25% Cabernet Franc
5% Merlot.
This example is relatively closed on the nose compared to the vintages we were tasting last night but there are subtle hints of the incredible blueberry and blackberry perfume which was evident then. Balanced acidity, structured but incredibly smooth, chocolately tannins, Rich, smooth blue and blackberry with chocolate, hints of plum and great, chocolately smooth mid palate. Great length and fresh plum and liquorice finish.
This is utterly wonderful wine – elegant and completely` smooth with a finesse rarely seen in new world Bordeaux blends.
Highly recommended
£24.00
Pre-ferment juice was produced and tasted as well. 2007 Polish Hill has great fresh acidity, delicious texture already and subtle green flavours (not green as in unripe at all – green as in slightly gooseberry almost). Good length already and rich finish.
2007 Watervale is definitely lighter and fresher with much more obvious citrus flavours – lemon and lime and an intriguing finish – fresh greengage with a hint of spiced honey.
These are very different in how they feel in the mouth – Polish Hill is already more textured while the Watervale is leaner and fresher.
Mount Horrocks
2006 Mount Horrocks Riesling
Steely, limey nose. High, balanced acidity, medium body, incredibly austere lime and flint. If ever you need a wine to deep clean your tongue, this would be it – it feels as though it leaves your tastebuds sparkling. Fresh lime peel and grapefruit come out more further back with a fresh lime sorbet finish.
This is amazingly well made wine but I tend to prefer these a few years on. They have great ageing potential, that is for sure, but are just a tiny bit too challenging in their youth. This vintage is 13% alcohol but wears this incredibly lightly. Less than a gram residual sugar.
Stephanie believes that this is halfway between the Grosset Watervale and Polish Hill and I can see her point exactly although she thinks that there is only a touch of minerality whereas I find it very flinty indeed.
Highly recommended
£16.25
2006 Mount Horrocks Semillon
Fabulous freshly cut grass and spiced cream nose. Balanced high acidity, medium body, fresh, grassy flavours with some richer melon and fresh lemon underneath this and nutty, spiced cream coming out in the mid palate. The mid palate is fantastically broad and mouth-filling without being at all blowsy. Amazingly fresh finish with even a hint of minerality. This is by far my favourite Australian Semillon. It has all the freshly cut grass and lemon flavours you would ever want from a Semillon with fabulously well balanced cream and nutty weight. That combination of freshness and richness is brilliantly, seamlessly achieved and is something I never tire of. I can happily drink this without food but it is amazingly versatile with food – everything from substantial salads to pork and veal.
Another wine I feel true love for, this is highly recommended.
£14.50
Stephanie first started making this wine in 1993 and in the late 90’s, experimented with adding Sauvignon Blanc but was not entirely happy with the results. She feels it is relatively recently that she has really cracked the code with this wine, now made only from the free run juice which is then barrel fermented in 100% French oak barriques, about 40% new.
2004 Mount Horrocks Clare Valley Shiraz
This has ripe red and black fruit with gamey, animal notes on the nose. Balanced high acidity, structured but very velvety tannins, medium to full body with inky fruit and animal flavours and delicious, quite subtle gingerbread spice towards the back and even further back, lots of black coffee and liquorice.
This is definitely a more restrained, much fresher style of Shiraz than most and is, as with all Stephanies wines, amazingly well made. It does not really get me though – good but not great.
£17.00
2004 Mount Horrocks Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich, ripe, quite glossy dark fruit on nose. Balanced high acidity with medium body and incredibly fine, elegant tannins. Great, pure blackcurrant, black coffee and hint of plum. Great sweet fruit/coffee in the mid palate and fresh plum and coffee finish. This is lovely wine – again, amazingly fine, fresh and elegant. It has complexity, although not on an epic scale, but that is a minor criticism as the finesse makes it a pleasure to drink.
Recommended
Price TBC
2006 Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Rieslng
Cult wine recently served at the Queen’s birthday lunch!
Perfumed melon and honey with grapefruit pith on the nose. Perfectly balanced acidity with honeyed melon, grapefruit segments and grapefruit pith. Fantastic development with grapefruit sorbet and grapefruit spice towards the back and a fresh, clean hay finish.
Absolutely delicious – one of the great sweet wines of the new world.
Highly recommended
£15.50
The juice of the 07 cordon cut is amazing – pure fresh hay and waxy citrus fruits. Far too good to spit although all this sugar may mean I am more than slightly over energetic on the bus.
The wines of both Mount Horrocks and Grosset are not cheap but they are the epitome of wines made by hand, with complete dedication to the details which make the difference between fine but ordinary and uncommonly good wine. They are also made in tiny quantities. I think that on the whole, they are completely lovely with great precision and focus. Of course, it does help that they are made by two such very appealing, modest, welcoming and intelligent people but even if they had been monstrous, I would not have been able to fault the wines.
Tasting was followed by lunch in the old Auburn train station which Stephanie bought and renovated and which acts as her cellar door facility. This lovely old building looks out over a small section of vineyard for the Cordon Cut and by the time the sandwiches were ready, the cool of the morning had lifted completely and the day was very warm. I almost never visit a place anywhere without idly wondering, at some stage, if I could live there or not and so far, Claire Valley is in the one place in Australia where the answer is yes. While it is hugely unlikely that this will ever actually happen, the crystal clean air and cosy, rustic, complete middle of nowhere feel is very attractive indeed.
We finally arrived in Clare at about 9pm this evening, after a journey which had started at 7am this morning in Margaret River. From there it was 3 hours on the bus to Perth, a 3 hour flight from there to Adelaide and then another 2 hour bus ride.
To say that we were feeling travel weary does not even begin to describe it. If ever there was antidote to travel dust though, the winery of Jeff Grosset and Stephanie Toole in the tiny town of Auburn in the Clare Valley region would be it.
Jeff is widely hailed as the maker of the finest Riesling in Australia and for many, one of the finest examples of this variety in the world. He also makes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a fabulous Bordeaux blend called Gaia.
Stephanie, his long term partner – they have children together but have never married – is as widely acclaimed for her Riesling – particularly her sweet version, the amazingly wonderful Cordon Cut. Apparently a favourite of the royal family, who served it recently at the Queens 80th birthday lunch. It is however her Semillon which is my personal favourite – a wine made in tiny quantities (only 400 cases) which very much inspires me to get to the point where I will be able to take the entire UK stock and sell it with great pleasure.
Clare is about 100km’s north of Adelaide, a series of valleys which run North to South for about 25km’s and which are about 7km’s wide. Polish Hill and Watervale are the two main sub-regions and are concentrated around Mount Horrocks – another feature which is really more of a substantial bump in the landscape than a Mount, but it does seem to be the Australian way to christen anything which is not entirely level as such. Mount Horrocks is at a lofty 620metres – hardly very high altitude viticulture but those extra metres do all add up and make a difference.
The climate here is completely different to Margaret River which is maritime. Here, they have warm days and much cooler nights. In fact, once off the bus and in the gleamingly new winery, a number of us had to go and rummage through our suitcases for jumpers and extra layers – not something we could have even imagined doing the night before.
You only have to spend a minute in this winery – where we had dinner as it was the only space big enough to accommodate the group – to be left in no doubt as to how very carefully and precisely both Jeff and Stephanie make their wines.
It gleams. The tanks are pristine and neatly lined up against a far wall and in the middle of the space. The grey floor looks clean enough to eat off and the presses are similarly spotless and neat. This translates exactly into the wines, which are focused, precise and above all full of clean (which in no way suggests that they are in any way bland or characterless, because they are not) fruit.
I was amazingly travel weary and drank a glass of Semillon rather too quickly (I cannot drink this slowly – it is too delicious) which meant that my notes for some of the wines served with dinner are again very slightly all over the place.
1996 Grosset Gaia
Amazingly fragrant nose – cut grass, cedarwood with very sweet, ripe fruit and dark chocolate underneath which follow through on the palate. there is a very slight hollow in the mid palate but nothing serious and strong, scented fruit returns for the finish. Elegant and very fine with still a way to go.
1993 Grosset Gaia
Much more farmyardy on nose. Still very much alive on the palate but the fruit has thinned out somewhat, leaving gamey, inky notes. The same fragrant, fresh grass character lingers towards the back though and this has very good length and a fabulous finish. Apparently ’93 was a bad vintage which speaks volumes for how carefully these grapes are grown and the wine is made. This might not have the flesh of the ’96 but it is in no way a bad wine.
1998 Mount Horrocks Shiraz
Animal, leather and game nose. Good finesse with rich, dried fruit, game, black cherry and black pepper. Great complexity at the front with more rich dried fruit and cloves and all-spice coming out towards the back. Fine, sweetly fruited wine which has good intensity despite the elegance but just somehow lacks something and I am not sure what it is. Good but not great.
Talk at dinner turned again to Biodynamics because Jeff is not convinced. He is much more a believer in capturing a sense of place, finding that blends of grapes from different parcels and regions tend to cancel each other out while the best wines, in his opinion, are those which show a very pure terroir. The aboriginal word for this is pangkarra – a sense of place, a defined area which they feel they belong to. This feeds directly back to sustainability and certainly organic farming as it is not just about your land divorced from yourself. Changing your land is changing yourself and the world for your descendants and that is the behaviour of maniacs.
While I agree completely with Jeff on this, for me, Biodynamics is a way of capturing an even deeper sense of place. If the vine is completely at home and deeply rooted in a place which is alive and vital, it is that much more capable of transmitting that energy and sense of terroir to the fruit and then the wine.
I did not stay for the very late night shift which apparently involved the tasting of numerous older vintages from all sorts of eminent Australian producers, but then I am somewhat of a lightweight and we had another early start.
The next morning, the air was again cool. Cool enough that I had on a very light cotton jumper and a cotton scarf and Stephanie greeted us wearing a light fleece. This really is a departure. We set out for a look at the Watervale and Polish hill vineyards and on the way, were given a more in depth explanation of what makes Clare unique.
There are many very crumbly rock soils here with Watervale being the most common. This is especially good for vines and most especially Riesling as it is amazingly drought resistant. Roots shoot straight through it to the moisture far below and when it does rain, the water runs straight through it.
The actual Watervale vineyard, on the gentle slope of a very low hill, is a mixture of hard and soft rock and a very cool breeze was moving through it at a swift pace at 9am in the morning. Galah’s – beautifull grey birds with vibrant pink and orange chests - clustured in the blue gums under an absolutely flawlessly blue sky. This vineyard apparently consistently produces bigger bunches with bigger berries, as opposed to Polish Hill where they are much smaller and a more yellow colour. The defining flavours of Watervale are citrus and lime while the Polish Hill aroma is much more reticent – more smoke and mineral than fruit with amazing length.
Clare Valley has still not succumbed to Phylloxera, so 98% of the vines are planted on their own roots. Both Stephanie and Jeff seem remarkably relaxed about this, even though it has just been found in the Coldstream Hills in Yarra Valley. Jeff feels that when vines are on their own roots, a grower is forced to do the meticulous research required to match a variety to a site. With the option of grafting, growers can make up (or try to make up for) the deficiencies which does not work as well.
The vineyard for my beloved Semillon is just next door to the Watervale Rieslings just under the crest of a very gentle slope where the soil is much poorer. It is very acid which limits the amount of nutrients available to the vine - very important for this variety as it can be very high yielding. Stephanie’s Shiraz is grown on terra rossa over limestone in a vineyard in the same cluster. She does a lot of shoot and fruit thinning for this crop which is still very unusual in Clare – usually the issue is all about getting enough vigour, not trying to control it. They don’t however have to do this every year but removing just 10% of what is there can often make a huge difference.
From here we went to the Polish Hill vineyard – now a recognized sub region of Clare which Jeff was instrumental in defining. When we arrived a very pale, ice grey moon full moon was still hanging in the flawless blue sky. The fruit from this vineyard always has higher alcohol and higher extracts. This vineyard is on a very poor strip of shallow top soil with clay, gravel, then slate slabs which are 500 million years old under that. The soil types here are much more fragmented than they are in Watervale, and certainly I find much more minerality on the palate in this wine.
This vineyard is irrigated and they do drip water when they feel the vines need it. This is not necessary every single year and usually this happens after harvest, to make sure the vines have enough energy to build up reserves for the following year. Only cow manure is used, no other fertilizers and as Clare is very naturally disease free – dry air and cool mornings mean that this is naturally a very organic place.
Grosset tasting
For Jeff and Stephanie’s whites, only free run and the juice from a first, very gentle press is used, all of the rest being sold off for bulk wines. There is no skin contact at all – a completely opposite approach to that taken in the Mosel, for example.
2006 Grosset Watervale Riesling
Lime and lime blossom on nose – very delicate and elegant. High but balanced acidity and medium body with lime, lime blossom and honey at the front and more honey and spice towards the back with lovely really quite rich mid palate. Delicately spiced honey and lime on the finish. Utterly elegant and fine with gentle but persistent length. Very, very lovely wine.
Highly Recommended
£18.50
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
Heavier, slightly oiler nose – grapefruit and grapefruit pith. High but balanced acidity and medium body, grapefruit zest and pith with underlying slightly spicy mineral and just a hint of honey. Heavier in weight than the Watervale with a sort of brooding power and while the mid palate is less pliable, it promises to age beautifully. Amazingly complex and promising finish – spice, honey and creamy grapefruit pith. Intensely wonderful wine.
Highly recommended.
£16.50
In this instance, the Watervale does not seem that much more forward than the Polish Hill which is apparently usually the case but it was a richer, softer vintage for Polish Hill in 2006 which may explain it.
The perception is generally that Polish Hill is somehow superior to the Watervale but Jeff Grosset does not distinguish them that way – he merely sees them as different. Difference in price is really down to yields and nothing else - both have always been very expensive wines to make and will remain so.
2006 Grosset Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc
55% Semillon
45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45%
Two different vineyards from different regions supply this fruit – the Sauvignon is from the Adelaide Hills.
Melon, mineral and cut grass on the nose. Balanced high acidity, medium body, melon, honey and mineral in an amazingly elegant, focused body. More honey appears towards the back with just a hint of butter but the oak is barely there – a drop of single cream. Cut grass notes also appear towards the back. Good length and grassy/minerally finish. Very unlike most Sem/Sauv blends, this has amazing focus and pure elegance. Very fine wine indeed.
Recommended
£15.25
2005 Grosset Piccadilly Chardonnay
Lean, leesy citrus fruit on nose – almost no cream or butter coming through although there is a hint of toast. Very balanced acidity and medium body. Lemon butter, toast and a hint of honeyed spice with great spicy minerality developing on the palate to a very attractive mineral/spice finish.
Like all these wines, this is utterly focused and elegant. JG thinks that this is a particularly bold style, for Piccadilly but when taken in comparison to most other Australian chardonnay, it is a wisp of a wine. The fruit for this comes from the Piccadilly sub region of Adelaide Hills.
Recommended
Price TBC
2005 Grosset Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir
Tiny production – a mere 320 cases. The fruit comes from 2 vineyards in Piccadilly valley – the coolest part of Adelaide Hills. These are both very well exposed sites and yields are kept very low in order to ripen the fruit properly.
Destemming is done if stalks are green, if not, 50% are kept in. This has been done since the first vintage – 1993 – but care is always taken to make sure that these are fully ripe and mature. This is foot pressed as they have found that with this method, the berries are broken over a few days instead of all at once, which seems to work very well.
Sweet strawberry nose with aromatic spice and mineral. Very good, high but balanced acidity, exceptionally fine tannins, medium body with sweet, ripe, strawberry, lots of aromatic spice, mineral and liquorices. There is a slight hollow in the mid palate which I am sure is an age thing but the finish comes back with lots of spice.
This has the softness and elegance of Pinot but for me, it lacks that seductive silkyness and very heady, sensual aromatic profile that the truly great examples have. This won’t be stocked at Green & Blue as I do think that at this price, you could do better. It is very good wine but it does not transcend.
2004 Grosset Gaia
70 % Cabernet Sauvignon
25% Cabernet Franc
5% Merlot.
This example is relatively closed on the nose compared to the vintages we were tasting last night but there are subtle hints of the incredible blueberry and blackberry perfume which was evident then. Balanced acidity, structured but incredibly smooth, chocolately tannins, Rich, smooth blue and blackberry with chocolate, hints of plum and great, chocolately smooth mid palate. Great length and fresh plum and liquorice finish.
This is utterly wonderful wine – elegant and completely` smooth with a finesse rarely seen in new world Bordeaux blends.
Highly recommended
£24.00
Pre-ferment juice was produced and tasted as well. 2007 Polish Hill has great fresh acidity, delicious texture already and subtle green flavours (not green as in unripe at all – green as in slightly gooseberry almost). Good length already and rich finish.
2007 Watervale is definitely lighter and fresher with much more obvious citrus flavours – lemon and lime and an intriguing finish – fresh greengage with a hint of spiced honey.
These are very different in how they feel in the mouth – Polish Hill is already more textured while the Watervale is leaner and fresher.
Mount Horrocks
2006 Mount Horrocks Riesling
Steely, limey nose. High, balanced acidity, medium body, incredibly austere lime and flint. If ever you need a wine to deep clean your tongue, this would be it – it feels as though it leaves your tastebuds sparkling. Fresh lime peel and grapefruit come out more further back with a fresh lime sorbet finish.
This is amazingly well made wine but I tend to prefer these a few years on. They have great ageing potential, that is for sure, but are just a tiny bit too challenging in their youth. This vintage is 13% alcohol but wears this incredibly lightly. Less than a gram residual sugar.
Stephanie believes that this is halfway between the Grosset Watervale and Polish Hill and I can see her point exactly although she thinks that there is only a touch of minerality whereas I find it very flinty indeed.
Highly recommended
£16.25
2006 Mount Horrocks Semillon
Fabulous freshly cut grass and spiced cream nose. Balanced high acidity, medium body, fresh, grassy flavours with some richer melon and fresh lemon underneath this and nutty, spiced cream coming out in the mid palate. The mid palate is fantastically broad and mouth-filling without being at all blowsy. Amazingly fresh finish with even a hint of minerality. This is by far my favourite Australian Semillon. It has all the freshly cut grass and lemon flavours you would ever want from a Semillon with fabulously well balanced cream and nutty weight. That combination of freshness and richness is brilliantly, seamlessly achieved and is something I never tire of. I can happily drink this without food but it is amazingly versatile with food – everything from substantial salads to pork and veal.
Another wine I feel true love for, this is highly recommended.
£14.50
Stephanie first started making this wine in 1993 and in the late 90’s, experimented with adding Sauvignon Blanc but was not entirely happy with the results. She feels it is relatively recently that she has really cracked the code with this wine, now made only from the free run juice which is then barrel fermented in 100% French oak barriques, about 40% new.
2004 Mount Horrocks Clare Valley Shiraz
This has ripe red and black fruit with gamey, animal notes on the nose. Balanced high acidity, structured but very velvety tannins, medium to full body with inky fruit and animal flavours and delicious, quite subtle gingerbread spice towards the back and even further back, lots of black coffee and liquorice.
This is definitely a more restrained, much fresher style of Shiraz than most and is, as with all Stephanies wines, amazingly well made. It does not really get me though – good but not great.
£17.00
2004 Mount Horrocks Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich, ripe, quite glossy dark fruit on nose. Balanced high acidity with medium body and incredibly fine, elegant tannins. Great, pure blackcurrant, black coffee and hint of plum. Great sweet fruit/coffee in the mid palate and fresh plum and coffee finish. This is lovely wine – again, amazingly fine, fresh and elegant. It has complexity, although not on an epic scale, but that is a minor criticism as the finesse makes it a pleasure to drink.
Recommended
Price TBC
2006 Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Rieslng
Cult wine recently served at the Queen’s birthday lunch!
Perfumed melon and honey with grapefruit pith on the nose. Perfectly balanced acidity with honeyed melon, grapefruit segments and grapefruit pith. Fantastic development with grapefruit sorbet and grapefruit spice towards the back and a fresh, clean hay finish.
Absolutely delicious – one of the great sweet wines of the new world.
Highly recommended
£15.50
The juice of the 07 cordon cut is amazing – pure fresh hay and waxy citrus fruits. Far too good to spit although all this sugar may mean I am more than slightly over energetic on the bus.
The wines of both Mount Horrocks and Grosset are not cheap but they are the epitome of wines made by hand, with complete dedication to the details which make the difference between fine but ordinary and uncommonly good wine. They are also made in tiny quantities. I think that on the whole, they are completely lovely with great precision and focus. Of course, it does help that they are made by two such very appealing, modest, welcoming and intelligent people but even if they had been monstrous, I would not have been able to fault the wines.
Tasting was followed by lunch in the old Auburn train station which Stephanie bought and renovated and which acts as her cellar door facility. This lovely old building looks out over a small section of vineyard for the Cordon Cut and by the time the sandwiches were ready, the cool of the morning had lifted completely and the day was very warm. I almost never visit a place anywhere without idly wondering, at some stage, if I could live there or not and so far, Claire Valley is in the one place in Australia where the answer is yes. While it is hugely unlikely that this will ever actually happen, the crystal clean air and cosy, rustic, complete middle of nowhere feel is very attractive indeed.
