Hunter Valley?

[Guinevere]

Quaffing an 06 Arrowfield Estate Show Reserve Shiraz tonight. Got it from my
"bin ends" folks, so part of a mixed case of random gems. It is really a lovely little bottle. Tell me more about be Hunter Valley, my Ozzie pals.

[Gob]

Major wine producing area here, in New South Wales. Very much lauded.

Not been there myself, but many work collegues have done wine tours there.

[Gob]

Here you go....

Hunter Valley Semillon

“Hunter Semillon is Australia’s great gift to the wine world…” - Jancis Robinson, MW

The Hunter Valley is recognised as the world’s leader in the production of dry white wines made from Semillon.

Nowhere else on the globe do they craft a style even close to the Hunter’s traditional low-alcohol, ageworthy Semillon. Hunter Semillon is widely regarded as Australia’s unique white wine – a style unlike all others, based on unique climatic conditions, Australian ingenuity and more than 150 years of practice.

As with most other varieties that came to call the Hunter their home, Semillon came to the region courtesy of the original Busby collection, planted in the Sydney Botanical Gardens in 1832 by Australia’s original wine pioneer James Busby.

The first viticulturist to exploit the variety in the Valley was thought to be James King of “Irrawang” near Raymond Terrace, who made some early vintages of such promise that one of his wines was selected to be placed on the table in front of Louis Napoleon at the Paris Exhibition in 1855.

The link between Semillon’s arrival in Busby’s Collection and its subsequent propagation in the Hunter Valley is possibly provided by Thomas Shepherd, a nurseryman and owner of Darling Nursery. Shepherd was a member of the committee which supervised the planting of the Busby Collection in the Sydney Botanical Gardens in 1832 and may well have obtained cuttings from the Botanic Gardens specimen at that time and subsequently propagated them. Henceforth, the variety though almost correctly named by Busby in his Journal as “Semilion” became known as Shepherd’s Riesling and later still until quite recently (1970s) as Hunter Valley Riesling. Today the variety goes by its proper nomenclature of Semillon although the pronunciation is always good for an argument in the region.

Hunter Valley Semillons are traditionally picked in the early part of the vintage with a sugar level of between 10 & 12 degrees baume. The wine is invariably fermented without the use of any oak and the finished wine is one of relatively low alcohol. Semillon, while young is delightfully fresh and crisp with zesty citrus characters, however the magic of Hunter Semillon is only truly realised with age. This remarkable wine can mature and blossom for two decades and beyond and many people believe the wines are at their best around 8-10 years after vintage.


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I'll see if I can find info on Shiraz now shall I?

[Guinevere]

Omg I *need* that blonde moment smiley

I was just thinking I need to plan a wine trip to Oz....

[Gob]

It's in the "see more smilies" link.

Hunter valley wines.


Hey Guin, if you're planning an Aus wine tour, don't forget this place!

[Guinevere]

Not planning but definitely dreaming.

1% Viognier in this wine, it gives it a slightly different quality than a Barossa Shiraz, more smoke, less pepper, I really like it!

[Gob]

This one?

[Guinevere]

No, the Show Reserve. An 06, seems to be sold out everywhere I looked. I have one more bottle, I'm saving to share with the Swede.

[Gob]

https://www.crackawines.com.au/Arrowfie ... hiraz/Wine

This one then.

[Guinevere]

Yup. Although I am fresh out of kangaroo steaks.

[Gob]

Plenty of them round here, I passed more than a few lying by the side of the road on the way into work today!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Hunter? Pah! McLaren has it all over those woofters

and this one beats 'em all.

http://www.darenberg.com.au/


One of my favourites






Bit rude tho'

Meade

[Guinevere]

MGM, I've got several bottles of Shiraz from the McLaren Vale. The few I've sampled so far were fine, but not close to the Hunter Valley.

I bought an Ozzie "mystery case" from my wine folks, $36 for the mixed lot of 12. It was a steal, and even more so given the quality of the wines I've sampled so far. The down side is that none of them are really available any more, but I can always try more decent vintages.