I apologize for this attenuated piece. The picture by the way is of my daughter Matilda and not Jack, my beautiful son and traveling companion. She has nothing whatsoever to do with this story but certainly a great deal to do with me so I thought it best to show you a photo of the bolshy little lass.
Kindly refer to the two previous entries on Mudgee and Orange to establish some sort of context of where this is all leading. Otherwise, put yourself alongside me, my brother Glen and my almost-five-year-old son Jack, buckle up and grab a glass! We are off to Ross Hill (www.rosshillwines.com.au) to meet the highly informative Phil Kearney and taste some finely detailed wines; etched with Phil's brio and Orange's altitudinal zing and transparency.
While Bloodwood has always been at the rugged vanguard of small, independent grape-growing and winemaking; doing things in a sort of free-spirited, carnal and highly individualized manner; Ross Hill boasts numerous manifestations: contract grower, contract producer and now, under Phil's aegis, a winery that represents a sort of cutting-edge cool climate zeitgeist. Perhaps that is going too far! Nevertheless, Phil's commitment to ambient yeasts, quality material, and his intricate knowledge of Orange's vineyards and ripening windows, imbue his wines with an inherent freshness and polished veneer that less proficiently crafted wines lack. For that is what Phil and Ross Hill seem to represent: proficient craftsmanship rather than the zeal and wild yelps of, say, Bloodwood. Phil's wines are polished in the best sense for their purity of fruit flows with a forceful sense of place.
I will get to the wines after the gym and purging myself of the excess inherent in taking traveling chefs around Tokyo......
As I was saying, I hoped to get to the polished wines of Ross Hill after some exercise and rest. I have had enough rest now after trekking about Tokyo with visiting chef Mark Best, of Sydney's 'Marque' restaurant. Marque entered the Pellegrino Top 100 Restaurants this year and Mark received something akin to the hot newcomers award. Bravo! Personally, I think Mark to be the best restaurant in Sydney and have thought so for the last eight-years. Majimup truffles with parmesan cheese; yes please!
Back to Ross Hill where according to geology studies, the richness of the basalt deposits that run through Orange is considerably richer than at the more meager site of Bloodwood. These wines thus, tend to be richer sans overt pepperiness, according to winemaker Phil Kearney.
Sauvignon Blanc 2009: grown at 800-1050 metres at the top of a ridge. The wine is wild-fermented in tank and remains on skins over and beyond a long ferment, for six-months! This is a rather radical approach for any Sauvignon and results in a very chalky, resilient and judiciously phenolic palate due to the balance of rich fruit. The severity of texture took a little getting used to but the wine is incredibly focused, layered and long; bristling with intent and impact. Pow! Dageneau's wines sprung to mind as did Brander's cuvee, 'Au Naturel', out of Santa Ynez. Arguably the finest 100% Sauvignon Blanc I have tasted from Australia and perhaps, from the New World per se. 91
Pinot Gris 2009: hailing from fruit grown at 900 metres, this is made from 100% free-run juice to mitigate the overt chewiness that bothers many Pinot Gris. The wine's complexity lies with the broad, mushroomy funk of the ambient yeast, reverberating with pear and ripe baked apple notes in the mouth. Broad and textured with moderate length and intensity. 87
Chardonnay 2009: steely flinty notes and a lovely green tinged hue lead to a palate that is perhaps a little tangier than the restrained aromas belie, with flavours of nectarine and peach. Quite fruit forward in the mouth and remarkably, for a wine that is nevertheless distinctly of a cooler idiom, the wine has seen 100% malolactic fermentation (MLF). As Phil explained however, and as I recalled in the mind's recesses from my MW studies, wines that undergo 100% MLF and are left to settle have less of the overt buttery aroma, or diacetyl, than wines that have been blocked at less than full MLF. This is because diacetyl is actually synthesized by the malolactic bacteria in due course. This is why therefore, wines that have MLF blocked at say 50%, can taste more buttery and creamy than those that are left to their natural predilections. 88
Pinot Noir 2009: fibrous aromas of wet forest, hints of orange rind, cola and Chinese spices lead to a textural mid-weight palate. Surprisingly, the grapes had been fully de-stemmed. Long and svelte and initially, rather moreish. As the wine warmed in the glass however, sweetness became more apparent. Perhaps some whole clusters in the ferment would do the job, although attaining the phenolic ripeness in the stems in such a cool, elevated site is the conundrum. What to do? Vineyard management techniques to attenuate the ripening window perhaps? Easier said than done. 89
Shiraz '10: an example of the former winemaking regime, according to Phil. Rich, eucalyptus and bourbon-like tones of heavily toasted American oak (likely the A.P. John cooperage that many Australian winemakers blame for the overt eucalyptus tones in certain Australian wines such as this). Not for me. 83
Shiraz '09: conversely, a starkly different manifest of the grape due to Phil's touch. Soaring aromas of peat, violet, smoked meat and ripe blueberries. Very fine! More fruit-scented than the howling Bloodwood wines but certainly of a very similar high quality. In the mouth echoes of pepper keep the wine in line and tamed; while the finish is expansive, multi-layered and formidably long despite what remains, a mid-weight rather than full throttle wine. The alcohol is a civilized 13.5%. 94
Tempranillo '10: handpicked by disabled children in a vineyard behind a local school. Sweet/sour cherry, hints of orange rind and a dusty palate balanced by long, finely grained tannins. Unresolved fermentation aromas but this wine bodes to be savoury and very, very drinkable. 90
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