| HUNTER VALLEY |
| Essentials |
 The
fertile flatlands surrounding New South Wales’ Hunter River were first
planted with wine grapes in the 1830’s; like California’s Napa and
Sonoma Valleys, most of the wines originally produced here were sweet and
fortified, and manufactured by a few huge wineries.
Nowadays, Hunter Valley is at the vanguard of quality, producing
table wine which rank among the world’s best.
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WINE
IN THE BLOOD: PATRICK AULD BECOMES A LINDEMANS LEGACY Not
all of us restaurant-types view wine with a veneration that ranks between
First Communion and a royal coronation.
Some of us consider it pretty fun stuff. As food is our ticket to
grasping cultures around the world, so does a region’s best wine reflect
the attitude and mood of local traditions.
Australian wines have always had an oomph that the world’s elite
winemakers often blend out in favor of austerity and sophistication;
Aussie wines are ripe, luscious, and easy to understand.
For us, wine is an accessory to the complete culinary experience,
and Australian wines have traditionally been among the planets most
user-friendly. As such, we’ve been pumping Aussie wines for a decade now; basically since producers here in Hunter Valley began to understand that their little slice of God’s boondocks was blessed with the viticulturist’s Holy Trinity...earth, temperature, and rainfall. Over the years, the one house, which has best represented the Australian ‘spirit’ spirit, along with a healthy dose of vintage-to-vintage consistency, has been Lindemans Wines. Founded in 1843 by Dr. Henry Lindeman, a former surgeon in the Royal Navy (who evidently preferred a sip to a suture), Lindemans today is the fastest growing imported wine in the States. (Bin 65 chard is the most popular non-domestic white you can find; yeah, it’s bigger than anything from France or Italy). Well regarded both for whites (Chardonnay and Semillon) and reds (shiraz and cabernet), Lindemans Hunter Valley master, Patrick Auld, produces lively and accessible styles of both. If you’re interested, his wines tend to age superbly as; a mark of his enviable talent in the cellar. |
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A
third-generation winemaker, Patrick Auld gets it.
“To me, the secret of successful winemaking begins in the
vineyard. The introduction of
good oak can improve the wines, but you still need outstanding fruit to
make outstanding wine.” Hunter
Valley is to Australia what Napa is to California, a combination of sun
and soil and magic. Toss in
Patrick Auld’s experience (beginning with his tutelage under Barossa
Valley legend Peter Lehmann, winding through his six-year stint at Tulloch
with Ian Scarborough), and you have classic Hunter produce; crisp, lively,
always-reliable wines that typify both trends and traditions of Australian
winemaking. We were fortunate enough to join Patrick for a tasting of his wine portfolio, some aging champs and a few current releases. Bin 65, of course, is the big one; arguably, the most reliable chardonnay on the US market. Flecked with a light nuttiness, this is John Q. Public’s favorite drink, both fresh and fragrant, filled with fruit, lemon, peach, and a bit of sweetness on the finish. Not a lot of archetypal wine depth, nor is archetypal wine depth what Patrick was after... when you produce a million cases per year, you stick to what’s do-able and approachable. Certainly, in its genre, this wine is a masterpiece. But for all it’s appeal, chardonnay can be a one-dimensional experience. 1995 Reserve Semillon Bin 8650 is the other side of the coin, a wine that makes you sit up and take notes. Auld, of course, refuses to take this varietal lightly; he is a Semillon fanatic, and his ‘95 is just beginning to come into its own. |
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This
tipple is a genuine gem, filled with deep floral flavors, intense mouth
filling citrus, and a long, long finish.
Great wine for Aussie favorites, shrimp and lobster.
Auld’s Shiraz (pronunciation note for Americans: it’s a long
‘a’ and rhymes with ‘jazz’) is a-its earthy counterpart.
Shiraz is a classic Rhone varietal, (a.k.a. ‘syrah’), this big
fruit red is packed with rich blackberry and succulent plum flavors,
balanced by a dose of spicy oak. And
these are but the workhorses in the Lindemans stable; we were also
fortunate enough to sample the ‘95 Coonawarra Pyrus, a beautiful,
Bordeaux-style cabernet blend, loaded with cedar and mint, and the ‘94
Reserve Porphyry Bin 8490, a rich, raisiny dessert wine which blows away
many in its class. |
| Photos |
| 05.03.00, Hunter Valley Bike Ride, Zoo Chat in Detroit and Sydney |
| How To Get There |
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