McHenry Hohnen Rocky Road Chardonnay 2010 Margaret River Australia

McHenry Hohnen Rocky Road Chardonnay 2010 from Western Australia - Margaret River. It is a cracking wine, fresh clean aromas of melon, peach and apricot and a hint of cleverly integrated spice introduce it nicely. On the palate an apple start leads to melon and peach and then a cheesy edge, the acidity of the wine is fine and fresh and the alcohol, well integrated is enrobing the flavours, adding a warmth that is still clean and balanced. The length is long and the spice skips in an out of the fruit, all sweet and ripe, a really carefully crafted wine.
Score : 88 and is available to purchase form WineDirect at a cost of £17.50.

David Hohnen is well-known in the wine industry for his development of both the Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay brands, his latest wine venture is in partnership with his brother-in-law Murray McHenry, his daughter Freya and her partner, winemaker Ryan Walsh. They have planted a wide range of alternative varietals from southern France and Spain ( marsanne, roussanne, grenache, mataro, shiraz, tempranillo ) which are proving to be very well-suited to the area. Grapes are sourced from three vineyards owned within the families of David Hohnen and his brother-in-law Murray McHenry. Within the three vineyards, fourteen varieties are cultivated. These reflect the region's heritage with the Bordeaux varieties (semillon, sauvignon blanc, malbec, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot) and as well as the varieties mentioned above (marsanne, roussanne etc.)  are Chardonnay and Zinfandel
From the Rocky Road vineyard, fruit is picked separately from the top and bottom of the valley, fermented separately and then blended to produce a wine that represents the minerality style of the vineyard "creamy clay" . The grapes were picked during the coolness of the night and following pressing were fermented in oak barrels. The wine was left on its lees untill the blend was assembled and bottled in late summer.

Margaret River
Located approximately three hours' drive south of Perth, the region was ‘discovered’ in the early 1970s after various pieces of research from Professor Harold Olmo and Dr John Gladstones identified it as a potentially great grape growing region. The Margaret River area includes the rolling hills of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, extending 90 kilometres north-south between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, and is bounded to the west by the Indian Ocean. Highly regarded as a producer of powerful yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon, the region has also forged a great reputation for its white wines notably Chardonnay and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blends. However, it is capable of producing all the classic varietal wines. The region is a vibrant and popular wine destination for visitors from around the world. 

Margaret River wine region first saw European settlement as late as the 1830’s and has evolved from pioneer ‘outstation’, forestry, dairy, alternative life stylers who enjoyed the unique coast and its surfing to an area dedicated to the pursuit of great vines and fine wine.

The climate is strongly maritime-influenced, as might be expected in a region surrounded by the ocean on three sides.  With a mean annual temperature range of only 7.6°C (45.68°F), it has less than 25% of its annual rain falling between October and April. The low diurnal and seasonal temperature range means an unusually even accumulation of warmth. While spring frosts are very rare and highly localised, the lack of winter dormancy for the vines can cause problems that are unique to this region.

Reviews.

Robert Parker (2009)90 pts

Wine Advocate #191 Oct 2010 - Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 2009 Rocky Road Vineyard Chardonnay was fermented in oak with a proportion of natural yeast. It gives intense citrus and tropical fruit aromas with notes of lemon curd, pineapple and green guava plus nuances of passion fruit and cedar. This medium bodied wine has a good backbone of high acidity enlivening the concentrated flavors and a long, zesty finish. Drinking now, it should continue to be delicious until 2014+.

Jancis Robinson (2010)16.5 pts

Tasted Jan 2012 - Smoky oak aroma (all French). Rich, dense and fresh with ripe fruit flavours giving breadth. (JH)

James Halliday (2010)94 pts

Pale straw-green; similar restraint in the winery, both McHenry Hohnen Chardonnays are wild-yeast-fermented, but here the flavours are in the grapefruit spectrum, heightened by the linear acidity the fruit offers; this wine, too, is driven by fruit, not oak.

Wine Front (2010)95 pts

Cumquat, nectarine and spice to smell and taste with a startling burst on the palate of intense grapefruit flavour and acidity – the acid line and drive is unswerving and precise. It’s a leaner style, that’s flinty and refined, but has no shortage of flavour, impact or length. Terrific.

Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Riesling 2009 Great Western, Australia

Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Wallflower Riesling 2009 Great Western in the West of Australia, south of Margaret River, a cool climate area.. Larry Cherubino was named by James Halliday 2011 Wine Companion as Winery of the Year, he is careful about how he grows his grapes, canopy management, little intervention and watering selectively as well as picking at night to preserve the quality of the grapes, and he produces a range of wines from delicate whites to heavy hitting reds!Larry Cherubino
After picking the grapes are de stemmed and only the free run juice is used for this wine, natural yeasts are used and a long cool fermentation is allowed - this leads to a good flavour palate.

Great Southern is aptly named, as it is pounded by the Southern Ocean and is renowned for its dramatic cliffs, white sandy beaches and bays and is steeped in the history of early European settlement.  The region is vast and diverse, extending 150 kilometres north to south and 100 kilometres east to west. It ranges from the coastal, maritime subregions of Albany and Denmark to the inland, continental subregions of Mount Barker, Porongurup and Frankland River. In these circumstances it is indeed surprising that there is such a degree of coherence in the wine styles produced

Continental influence takes over as you move inland and temperature variability increase significantly, in general terms the climate of the more northern areas is slightly warmer on the higher sites. Though rainfall is greater and relative humidity increases in the south around Denmark, heat summation and sunshine hours do not change greatly, so careful site selection allows the production of virtually every wine style.

Riesling:  Riesling vies with Cabernet Sauvignon as the most important wine from the region. The wines age superbly, seldom reaching the peak of their development in less than ten years. As well as being crisp and lean in youth, the wines still have intense flavour, typically in the citrus spectrum with an underlay of herbs.
This Riesling was a lovely medium pale straw, the aroma had lime skin, peaches and a little kerosene ( and at 3 years old - I was surprised....) along with a definate mineral edge, this came through again on the palate and the clean fresh zesty fruit had a pithy finish with great length, the alcohol was merely supportive of the delicate and carefully crafted wine, this is a wine that could age well in bottle - and is only part of the way through its journey - Enjoy! It can be found at Wine Direct at a cost of £14 per bottle if buying a case.
Score : 86

 

Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2010, South Fleurieu Australia

Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2010 from South Fleurieu was made by Brian Croser ( ex Petaluma winemaker). The Foggy Hill Vineyard is on a northwest-facing slope at 300 to 350 metres (ASL) at Parawa, the highest point of the Fleurieu Peninsula half way between Victor Harbor and Cape Jervis. The climate of here is very maritime. The Great Southern Ocean just 8 kilometres to the south keeps the winter warm and the summer cool. The wine style produced is amazingly Burgundin in style.The Dijon clone vines were planted in 2004 with the first wine vintage being 2007.

The winemakers notes are '
The Pinot Noir fruit was destemmed crushed and chilled to 3°C, 50ppm of SO₂ was added and the must was placed into the 1 tonne fermenters. The fermentation tubs were sealed down for 4 days for a cold maceration and were then seeded with a yeast strain selected from our own vineyards. Our own strain of malo-lactic bacteria was added at the same time. The tubs were hand plunged morning and night throughout the fermentation.
The fermentation on skins lasted 10 days and at its peak of activity reached 35ºC for a two-day period. When all of the sugar was exhausted the tubs were sealed down for a further 7 days of juice contact with the skins. The contents of the tubs were transferred to a small air bag press and drained and lightly pressed to barriques without any settling. A mixture of 30% new and the balance one and two year use French oak barriques were used.
The wine was allowed to sit on lees until the malo-lactic fermentation was complete in November after which it was racked and SO₂ was added before the wine was returned to barrique. After 9 months in barrique the wine was clear racked in January and was bottled on February 18th 2011 '

The wine itself, was ruby coloured and had a whiff of spice uplifting the red fruit aromas with a slight candied edge and rose petal for interest. On the palate, red currant, cherry, spice and a slight herbal nuance, slightly minty. The length was good with red fruit enrobed by sweet spices to the end. The tannins were grippy and had a chalky texture and did not feel as ripe as many of the 2010 Australian Pinots! This is avaiable from Wine Direct at a cost of £23+ a bottle. An elegant Burgundian style wine which has much to offer - watch this space!
Score : 85