At the core of every visit to the Hunter Valley are the vineyards and quality wine. Since the 1820’s wine has been crafted in the Hunter Valley with the semillons and shiraz particularly known for their thoroughly unique style.
No other wine can match the low alcohol (normally around 11%), fresh zesty style of the Hunter Valley semillon. So versatile and it also ages very well. Surprisingly, there are many wines from the 1970’s and 1980’s still drinking well. If only they had been bottled with a screwcap, then some of this wine could be almost immortal.
In a market that is in some places moving towards lower alcohol levels, Hunter Valley semillon is a very neat fit for aging as well as drinking relatively young. The local shiraz has a more moderate body and alcohol combined with earthy, gamey mood. The Hunter River Burgundy has a reputation for its silky and earthy complexity. These wines can age well as illustrated by some of the Lindemans releases from the 1960’s.
Even more remarkable is that the wines from Maurice O’Shea were made under harsh conditions including without electricity and, in some cases, during the last years of the Second World War. Chardonnay is also a local strength driven largely by the wines of Max Lake and Murray Tyrrell as well as some of Australia’s oldest plantings. Both wines can age magnificently well, despite the warm Hunter climate. The modern style is much leaner than some of the older heavily oaked and worked examples. And then there is Cabernet Sauvignon – one wine grown on a South-Easterly facing red volcanic hill that many locals believe is the area’s best piece of dirt. Of course, I am talking about Lake’s Folly. Max Lake was always bucking trends and turning his nose at the establishment.
No better place is this illustrated than in an old bottle of Folly such as a recently shared 1985 Lake’s Folly Cabernet at 12% alcohol from a good but not great vintage that is still singing its varietal and regional origins.
While there is certainly great history to the Hunter, perhaps its strongest suit, for the moment, is a new generation of winemakers exerting greater influence over the local styles, which will continue for some time to come.
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