The Hills are alive
It’s a brilliant time for the wines and producers of the Adelaide Hills.
e Adelaide Hills are a hotbed of quality, with winemakers old, new, traditional and out-there collectively making this region one of our most dynamic.
Anew generation of maverick winemakers has turned the nation’s attention to the Adelaide Hills. eir lean, juicy drinks are being heralded as the exciting vanguard of Australian wine. ey side-step convention and have set a fresh agenda, led by boutique brands from the Basket Range sub-region that expound minimal intervention, explore unexpected blends and o er intriguingly di erent
avour profiles. Some attach themselves to the natural wine movement, others focus on back-to-basics techniques – and their influence has been profound. eir wines have become hot property in restaurants and bars throughout Australia, and around the world. Amid the hubbub, wily veterans such as Tim Knappstein of Riposte Wines, Brian Croser from Tapanappa, Stephen and Prue Henschke, Stephen George of Ashton Hills, and Michael Hill-Smith and Martin Shaw of Shaw + Smith listen to superlatives about the ‘new’ Adelaide Hills with amusement. ey planted their rst vines in the region more than 30 years ago to establish the template for cool-climate wines of excellence.
ese long-established producers continue to impress, and their wineries stand resolutely within a ourishing district that now presents at least 50 winery cellar doors. In contrast, none of the new sensations from Basket Range have cellar door outlets, though this has not diminished their appeal. How does Taras Ochota of Ochota Barrels explain their popularity? “I make wines that I want to drink with my friends. ey’re lighter, lively and delicious – and this is what a lot more people now want to seek out,” he says.
e essential access points for these wines are two eclectic eateries and bars owned by winemakers. e Summertown Aristologist, run by Anton van Klopper of Lucy Margaux Wines, with Jasper and Sophie Button from Commune of Buttons, has a cellar packed with
their own wines, plus hundreds of others that have no, or low levels of, sulphur. ese supply their eatery upstairs and the venue serves as a regional cellar door outlet.
e other key tasting outlet is Lost in a Forest wine and pizza lounge in Uraidla, where co-proprietor Taras presents his wines beside those of his winemaking friends. ese include James Erskine’s Jauma wines, Gareth Belton’s e Gentle Folk, Brendon Keys’ BK Wines and Charlotte Hardy’s Charlotte Dalton wines. A few other no-sulphur, syphoned-straight-from-the-barrel fresh wines are usually poured at the bar as well.
Progress built on tradition
Brian Croser was the rst to recognise Piccadilly Valley as a premium chardonnay site, planting the Tiers vineyard in 1979. He remains a signi cant regional gure, with his Tapanappa wines focused on absolute quality. e cellar door, beside the winery overlooking the Tiers vineyard, o ers comparative tastings of current releases and older vintages to identify how elegantly chardonnay and pinot noir develop in the bottle. Stephen George may have sold his Ashton Hills brand to Wirra Wirra, but he still lives on the property and fosters his beloved pinot noir vines. He also works with Wirra Wirra winemaker Paul Smith to make three pinots – a Reserve ($70), Estate ($50), and Piccadilly ($35), which blends several local blocks. It’s a crucial synergy, showing the best from vines in the prime of their maturity. Another stalwart pinot advocate is Tim Knappstein, who took the great risk of selling his Clare enterprise (including his name, which has since proved endlessly irksome) to plant pinot vines at Lenswood in 1981. ese mature vines provide the foundation on which he has built Riposte Wines, with his two pinots being strong examples of how this variety can excel in the Adelaide Hills. ese are Riposte Wines e Sabre ($35) and e Dagger ($19), which is a skillfully produced juvenile, juicy style.
Serious about Hills shiraz
Michael Hall is based in the Barossa, but his desire to explore di erent expressions of shiraz led him to the
Adelaide Hills in search of distinctive vineyards. He found one at Mount Torrens, prompting him to release a third single-site wine, complementing his 2014 Syrah ($50) from Christa Deans’ cool Eden Valley vineyard. “It reminds me of the cool, peppery syrah of Hermitage in the Rhone Valley,” he says.
There is also a bolder 2014 Shiraz ($47) from John Shobbrook’s biodynamic vineyard at Stonewell on the Barossa oor. e Michael Hall Mount Torrens Syrah 2015 ($50) shows a di erent type of cool-climate elegance, which was recognised as the best wine at last year’s Adelaide Hills Wine Show. “I fell in love with the vineyard, and it is another expression entirely because of its di erent soil pro le,” Michael says. “I rmly believe there’s commercial space for all three of these wines because they each speak so differently. I get a lot of pleasure from people’s reactions when they taste them all, side by side. ey see that all three have merit in their own right.”
Seek more and you will ind
Some startling new styles have emerged from within established wine brands, such as e Other Wine Company, a project within Shaw + Smith winery, made by Adam Wadewitz. e 2016 McLaren Vale Grenache ($26) is a gorgeous, lean take on fresh, sinewy grenache, while the 2016 Adelaide Hills pinot grigio ($26) is a measured exercise in balancing sleek line and texture.
Adam is also making two intriguing Adelaide Hills wines with Nicole Roberts under the Elderslie label – the 2016 Blend #1 (pinot blanc, $42), and 2016 Blend #2 (pinot noir co-fermented with pinot meunier, $42).
Darryl Catlin produces impressive wines and ciders for Sidewood, though his own brand Catlin Wines is notable for its sensuous quartet of crisp whites, a beautifully restrained and spicy shiraz, and an outstanding montepulciano.
Ngeringa challenges cellar door visitors to taste the terroir in its smart range of biodynamic wines. e vineyard at Mount Barker Summit, which was originally part of the Jurlique organic herb farm, produces a suite of elegant, European-inspired cool-climate wines. ese wines are led by the lush-textured Elliptic Chardonnay, fermented in a concrete egg ($40) and an impressive new entry-level label, JE ($28).
David Neyle and Inga Lidums transformed a ve-acre patch of dairy pasture at the foot of Mount Torrens into the outstanding Lobethal Road vineyard. e mature vines produce fruit of exemplary character, leading to the 2012 Lobethal Road Bacchant Chardonnay winning best wine at the 2013 Adelaide Hills Wine Show. “It was a big moment for a tiny winery such as ours to win ahead of the big wineries because it shows there is more than one style of chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills,” Inga says. “It signals hope for all us little guys who work so hard at what we do.”
The sparkling story
Kate Laurie, who learned her sparkling winemaking craft in Champagne, has developed an outstanding suite of methode traditionnelle wines at Deviation Road. ese comprise the
Loftia Vintage Brut (chardonnay/pinot noir/ pinot meunier, $45), Beltana Blanc de Blancs ($100) and NV Altair Sparkling Rosé ($30). Respect for her knowledge and ability has seen Kate also take on outside projects, such as with Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards in McLaren Vale to make a sparkling ano. Kate’s standards of excellence have inspired others too. A growing con dence was re ected in 45 sparkling wine entries at last year’s Adelaide
Hills Wine Show, the largest regional number of methode traditionnelle producers in mainland Australia, with many inspired to use Michael Sykes’ mechanised service to produce sparkling wine at his Lodestone winery in Charleston. Small-volume output of the highest quality has led to some outstanding results. Among these are the 2013 Somerled Pinot Noir Méthode Traditionnelle Single Vineyard ($42) and the
2009 Golding e Marjorie Methode Champenoise Sparkling ($50), plus Bird in Hand’s two big statement sparklings.
ese are the 2010 Nest Egg Joy sparkling pinot noir ($75) and the 2007 Lalla Victoria Sparkling Pinot Noir (only 336 bottles produced, late disgorged, $175).