So what could be better on a cold night in February in the depths of a third national lockdown than a virtual wine tasting? Well its no substitute for the real things but in current times it’s better than nothing and turned out to be a very enjoyable experience indeed. Hosted by North Yorkshire natural wine merchants Buon Vino you chose the wines that interested you from a list of around eight available for the evening. Ours arrived very quickly indeed and they were followed on the evening of the tasting by a Zoom code to enable us to join the virtual tasting.
Roc’ Ambulle. Chateau Le Roc. Pet Nat. NV
This is a delightful Pet Nat made from Negrette and Mauzac grapes grown in Fronton in South West France, just north of the city of Toulouse. It’s low in alcohol at 9.5% making it an ideal drink for a warm summer afternoon in the garden. A delicate pink colour from a short skin contact it has lovely strawberry fruit and some delicate floral notes. A fine mousse gives it a gentle creaminess on the palate. There is a hint of sweetness but it is by no means sweet. A very drinkable wine with a very pleasant character. What’s not to like?
Ottavio Rube. Vino Bianco. Cooperative Valli Unite 2019.
A biodynamically produced wine from the Valli Unite cooperative in the Piemonte region of Italy. A blend of Cortese and Timorasso it has hints of pear, peach and lime in a wine that is crisp and fresh. It has a nice texture and is well balanced. Good value for money.
Chardonnay. Judith Beck. 2019
Organically grown grapes from the Burgenland in Austria were hand harvested and whole bunch pressed into old barriques where they were allowed to undergo a wild fermentation. The wine was aged for 6-7 months on the lees before bottling. This really is very good with nice weight and balance. Lovely lemon citrus together with a wonderful creamy texture from the ageing on the lees. The wine has seen no oak at all. A really nice Chardonnay and excellent value for money at £15.95
Tragolargo. Bodegas Vinessens. 2020
An orange wine that is a blend of Moscatel and Malvasia grown in the Alicante region of Spain. The wine has had minimum intervention and is certified organic. A short period of skin contact has produced a golden/light orange colour, the wine is aromatic, grapey with a gentle burnt orange flavour and a delicate floral perfume. There are some dry, grippy tannins here. All in all an orange wine for those who are new to this style of wine and want to explore.
L’Hurluberlu. St. Nicolas de Bourgueil. Sebastien David. 2019
Byodynamically produced Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley north of Chinon.This is a pure expression of Cabernet Franc with bags of cherry and red berry fruit. It is delicately floral but without that green edge that Loire Cabernet Franc can sometimes have. It is fresh, juicy, exceptionally fruity and very drinkable. Chill it down in the fridge for an hour or so and it would be perfect for drinking in the garden when the warmer weather arrives.
Tempranillo. Rioja. Bodegas Moraza. 2019
This is Rioja for those that want the purity of the fruit and not the use of oak. A wild fermentation in concrete it is unfixed and un filtered to retain purity of flavour. Fresh and vibrant, a really drinkable wine like so many at this tasting have been. It gets better and better as it opens out and breathes a little in the glass and develops an ethereal quality more usually associated with Pinot Noir.
Masieri Rosso. La Biancara. Angiolino Maule. 2019.
A blend of Merlot and Tai Rosso from the Gambellara region of Northeastern Italy. A minimum intervention wine with some lovely sweet, plummy fruit, a touch of spice, lovely texture and soft tannins.
McHenry and Hohnen was founded in 2004 by brothers in law Murray McHenry and David Hohnen. Murray’s back ground had been in hotels and fine wine before he purchased land in the the Margaret River and started growing grapes which he initially sold to Cape Mentelle. David Hohnen had established Cape Mentelle in the mid 1970s and in 1985 he founded Cloudy Bay in the Marlborough region of New Zealand’s South Island. It seemed inevitable that they would conduct a joint venture and McHenry Hohnen was founded.
The winery is in an elevated position overlooking Hazels vineyard just south of Witchcliffe. The view of the vines from the offices is breathtaking. It must renew the soul everyday morning you come into work. The head winemaker is Jacopo Dalli Cani who hails from the Soave region in north eastern Italy. He speaks passionately about his role in producing wines that have character and a real sense of place. The viticulturalist is Mike Sleegers who has over twenty years experience of growing grapes in Western Australia. Together with their teams they have worked to introduce organic farming and biodynamic practices. The hard work was rewarded in July this year with biodynamic certification for the winery and hazel’s vineyard.
The state has three main vineyard sites. Hazel’s, where the winery is located, is 35ha and is currently the only vineyard with biodynamic certification though all all biodynamically farmed. It is the most southerly site and has significant plantings of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Grenache, Mataro, Zinfandel and Merlot. Burnside is one of the regions older vineyards dating back to 1981. Some of the estates oldest Chardonnay vines are grown here on gravel loam. The cellar door is located at the Burnside site. Calgardup Brook vineyard was planted in 1998 on sandy, schist like soils.
Innovation is also important in the winery and chardonnay grapes from the Apiary block of Hazel’s vineyard are wild fermented in a concrete egg to produced a “natural” wine. The wine is aged on the lees and is then bottled with fining, filtration or the addition of sulphur.
Wines tasted at the cellar door.
Rocky Road
Rocky Road Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2018. A delightful wine with gentle lime, gooseberry and a touch of tropical fruit. A nice texture and lovely balance.
Rocky Road Chardonnay 2018. Made with fruit from three vineyards this is light, fruit forward, crisp and clean with a nice balance. A good easy drinking style of Chardonnay. Very nice.
Rocky Road Cabernet/Merlot 2016. A very approachable wine, soft plummy, cherry fruit with a touch of savoury spice. Very drinkable.
Rocky Road Shiraz 2016. Raspberry bruit with lovely peppery spice and a delicate velvety texture.
Rocky Road Shiraz/Grenache/Mataro 2017. This is delightful, youthful juicy cherry and plum and quite delicate on the palate. Tannins are softening to produce a great everyday wine.
McHenry Hohnen
McHenry Hohnen Laterite Hills Chardonnay 2019. Lovely stone fruit, pineapple and vanilla. A Nice texture. Serious stuff, excellent.
McHenry Hohnen Tempranillo 2015. Mature in appearance with soft, savoury dark fruits and a delicate perfume.
McHenry Hohnen GSM 2018. A lovely expression of red berry fruits cherry and raspberry. A wine with real character which needs a bit of time to fully soften out but is still very good now.
McHenry Hohnen BDX 2018. A blend of Malbec (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (46%) and Petit Verdot (4%) all from the Hazels vineyard. The Malbec has seen 15 months in new French oak, the Cabernet and Petit Verdot spent 15 months in second year oak. Deeply concentrated with cassis, plummy fruit and a gentle perfume. The palate is rich and complex with nice balance and a good finish.
Hazel’s Chardonnay 2017. A little lighter but with wonderful stone fruits, lemon citrus and vanilla. Creamy and elegant. A lovely finish of vanilla and lemon peel.
Calgardup Chardonnay 2017. Light and delicate with a profound saline minerality. A lovely elegant Chardonnay.
Burnside Chardonnay 2017. Long and powerful with great balance and texture. A complex wine with peach, almond, butterscotch and a subtle floral note. Very good
Hazel’s Shiraz 2017. An element of carbonic maceration in the production. A delightful style of Shiraz , lighter than some, perfumed, spicey and very approachable. Very nice indeed.
Hazels’s Zinfandel 2017. A lighter style of Zinfandel and all the better for it. Medium bodied with nice plummy fruit, warming sweet spice and well balanced.
Hazel’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2014. Showing maturity in appearance. Black fruits, tobacco, dried herbs and a gentle touch of cooling mint. There is real elegance here. Delightful.
Rolling Stone 2015. Only made in the best years this wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot which has seen 18 months in French oak. the wine is unfined and unfiltered. Deep and brooding, it is still youthful in appearance. Blackcurrant, mint, tobacco and a savoury complexity. Full bodied, a wine to be taken seriously. A long, long finish. Exceptional.
The Margaret River wine region is 277Km south of Perth in Western Australia and is a good three hour drive. It is home to some of Australia’s finest wines and you should try to visit at least one cellar door if you are visiting the area. Wine enthusiasts will want to visit many more and a good plan is essential. We based ourselves in the town of Margaret River itself and rented a very nice Airbnb for our stay in the area. The town has excellent facilities and is also a good location if you want to visit beaches and caves. The Main Street has a tourist information office from where you can collect a map of the region which includes the location of all the cellar door that are open for tastings.
Margaret River Wine Facts.
Vines were first planted as long ago as the 1830s but the first commercial winery was established at Vasse Felix in 1967.
There are 5840 hectares under vine.
Over 36 grape varieties are planted in the region. The top three red varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon (20%), Shiraz (15%) and Merlot (6%). The top three white varieties are Sauvignon Blanc (20%), ) Semillon (19%) and Chardonnay (15%).
The climate in the Margaret River is Mediterranean with a strong coastal influence. There is only a 7.5 degree celcius mean annual range in temperature.
There are over 175 wine producers and 90 cellar doors.
It is the third most visited wine region in Australia after the Yarrra Valley and Hunter Valley.
The Margaret River region produces less than 3% of Australia’s wine but twenty percent of its premium wines.
Cellar Doors Visited
The following are the cellar doors we visited during our stay in the region that we particularly enjoyed. They are in no particular order and do not necessarily represent a route to be followed.
Blind Corner. 1105 Vasse Yallingup Siding Road, Quindalup. The cellar door is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
Our first stop in the region was Blind Corner following a recommendation from a sommelier in Perth. It was a fantastic place to begin. They grow grapes at two sites in the Margaret River region and both are certified organic and biodynamic. We tasted nine wines including a Pet Nat made from a wild ferment of Chenin Blanc which has had the addition of a small quantity of Shiraz juice just before bottling, delicious and so refreshing. Other highlights included an elegant Chardonnay/Aligote and a preservative free Shiraz/Viognier field blend.
Vasse Felix. 4357 Caves Road, Wilyabrup. Open Monday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
If you visit Vasse Felix be prepared, its likely to be busy. This is especially so at weekends and holidays. Don’t less the possible crowds put you off as its a great place to visit with somethings for everyone. The grounds around the cellar door are very pleasant and the well manicured lawn overlooking the vines is a lovely place to sit in the sun and relax. The tasting room is very well managed and though busy when we arrived we didn’t have to wait very long for a space at the counter. In addition to tasting you can visit the art gallery, enjoy lunch in the restaurant or simple enjoy a glass of wine and some small plates in the lounge.
We started the tasting with the 2016 Blanc de Blancs and what pleasant surprise it was. Hand picked, fourteen months on the lees it had lovely toasty citrus, great depth and a long finish. The Chardonnays were consistently good with the 2018 Heytesbury Chardonnay was the star, complex, well balanced and simply delightful. We also enjoyed the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon with delicious dark berry fruits and great potential to age.
Cullen Wines. 4323 Caves Road, Wilyabrup. Open Monday to Sunday from 10am to 4.30.
We arrived at Cullen as they were preparing for a private function but they were more than happy to accommodate a tasting. Cullen wines are certified organic and biodynamic and might be considered rather different as they do grow any Shiraz or Grenache. The wines however are superb. The Mangan Vineyard Malbec 2017 was very drinkable and bursting with savoury dark berry fruits. The comparative tasting of the 2013 and 2018 vintages of Diane Madeline was superb. This is Cabernet Sauvignon at its best, beautifully balanced wines with both elegance and power. While the 2018 is a wine for the future in contrast the 2013 was drinking beautifully but with the potential to age further.
McHenry Hohnen. 5962 Caves Road, Margaret River. Open Monday to Sunday from 10.30am to 4.30pm.
We particularly enjoyed our visit to the McHenry Hohnen cellar door and were fortunate to be able to taste eighteen wines thanks to the hospitality of the tasting crew. The Rocky Road range of wines were consistently good, very drinkable and great value for money.The two vintages of Hazels Chardonnay (2016 and 2017) were both lovely expressions of the grape variety with super long finishes. Both Calgardup Brook and Burnside Chardonnays, both 2017 vintage, were superb with great depth and balance. Other standouts were the McHenry Hohnen GSM 2017, Hazels Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 and Rolling Stone 2015. the later wine is only made in exceptional years and is real keeper.
Domaine Naturaliste. 160 Johnson Road, Wilyabrup. Open Monday to Sunday 10am to 5pm.
This fantastic, new tasting room surrounded by vines is a real pleasure to visit and it has been awarded the 2020 Best Value Winery of the Year in the 2020 Halliday Wine Companion Awards. Three ranges of wine are produced, Discovery, Direction and Flagship and you can structure your tasting to tour particular interest. In the Flagship range the Artus Chardonnay 2018 was superb and reasonably priced for the quality. The Morus Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 showed fantastic potential to age. We also enjoyed the Rachis Syrah 2017 and Rebus Cabernet Sauvignon 2016.
Marq Wines. 860 Commonage Road, Yallingup. Open Friday to Monday from 10am to 5pm.
Another recommended visit and a real warm welcome at the simple but stylish tasting room. Petit Manseng is a long way from its home in the Juracon in France and isn’t something you are going to come across all that often in the Margaret River. Barrel fermented and Chardonnay in style its full, aromatic, textured and with an incredibly long finish. The Chardonnay 2018 was a wild ferment in barrel and showed lovely character and balance. Other highlights were the Malbec 2018, which is oh so drinkable and the DNA Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 which had great ageing potential. The Cut and Dry Shiraz was made in the Amarone style, drying the grapes for 2-3 weeks, producing a wine which is complex with peppery/spicey black fruits.
Pierro Vineyards. 4051 Caves Road, Wilyabrup. Open Monday to Sunday 10am, to 5pm.
We called into the tasting room at Pierro late in the day so only had time for a quick tasting of the whites. The quality here was impressive and should we return to the region we would definitely revisit to taste the full range. The LTC Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2018 was very drinkable and great value for money. The Pierro Chardonnay 2018 was rich, powerful and stylish and the Chenin Blanc 2018 had not seen any oak and has a beautiful nose of pear, almond and honeysuckle and a palate which is crisp and dry.
Stormflower Vineyard. 3503 Caves Road, Wilyabrup. Open Monday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
A delightful tasting room which is only small so timing your visit to avoid busy weekends is probably a good idea. The vineyard is certified 100% organic and the wines are lovely expressions with a nice sense of place. The star here was the Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 with delicious blackcurrant fruit and great balance. We also enjoyed the Botrytis 2018, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc (76%) and Semillon (24%), lashings of oranges and tropical fruit and nicely balanced.
There were many other visits we wanted to make, including Cape Mentelle which is one of the founding five wineries in the region, but sadly time was against us. This is just one reason why we hope to return to this wonderful region in the future.
