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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2019 and 2023 (based on 4 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.3 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 14 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by tanduybui on 7/2/2023: Umm...... either still developing or past it or simply is not a great wine. I am not going to rate it as it would not be a high score.... Disappointing.
Lifeless, dull, monotonous and flat...... And it is not the cork so what could it be? (170 views) | | | Tasted by PeterMcI on 4/10/2023 & rated 85 points: I was looking forward to this and the composite cork was in great condition, but the wine was a little fat, a little bitter on the finish and short. Really, not that much drinking pleasure. I’ve had Yarra Chardonnay’s over 10 years old until stelvin that have opened as fresh as a daisy. I have no doubt that this was once an excellent wine, but certainly this bottle shows little evidence of that. (262 views) | | | Tasted by Andrew67 on 11/6/2022: Past its best. Still holding some fruit and acidity, but fading quite quickly. Drink up (404 views) | | | Tasted by deverett on 4/28/2020 & rated 93 points: Fantastic Chardonnay, previous note spot on and really like where this is right now. Flavour, richness, poise and length, it all here at the moment. (870 views) | | | Tasted by Vini Ciclismo on 3/14/2020 & rated 91 points: lustrous lemony yellow.
gentle fragrance of white peach and light oak spice
medium weight, creamy texture, lemons honey and vanilla with some french oak spice. smooth, very balanced palate, has a refinement that persist on the crisp resonant finish. nicely aged, excellent drinking now, the right balance of youth and development. (861 views) | | | Tasted by deverett on 12/5/2019 & rated 93 points: Lovely Chardonnay, rich in flavour with beautiful texture and length. Ripe stone fruits, melon, cashews, spiced oak and a little vanilla. Drinking beautifully right now, not sure it will get too much better from here but feels like it will hang on for a bit though. (776 views) | | | Tasted by NoelB on 8/14/2018 & rated 94 points: Lovely, but very expensive. (966 views) | | | Tasted by CamWheeler on 10/18/2017 & rated 91 points: Mount Mary New Release Tasting: Sea spray, pear, orange, lemon, vanilla and a little mint in the background. Good balance here, with the fruit and oak having settled down from its youthful stage. Still a little sweet element to it but there is good cut and flow as well. Should develop further over time. (1318 views) | | | Tasted by CamWheeler on 10/13/2017 & rated 91 points: Blind Chard and Pinot Tasting: Green apple, pear, vanilla, lemon pie and some light mint. Well balanced on the palate, this is youthful but has plenty of time left to develop. Should get to a good level with time. (1137 views) | | | Tasted by Andrew67 on 4/30/2017 & rated 91 points: Quite a different experience from last time. The fruit was almost underripe, with green apple and some citrus the primary flavours. There was lot of vanilla and oak, with a (almost disappointing) medium length finish. It's in an odd space right now, reminiscent perhaps of a vat 47 with the underripe notes. However iff the comparison holds, then this will evolve into a very good chardonnay. I'm going to leave it for another 18 months until the next bottle, just to give it some time. (976 views) | | | Tasted by Andrew67 on 1/25/2016 & rated 92 points: Very young and fresh. Slightly sweet up front, but quickly evolves into a balanced and structured chardonnay. Peach and apricot on the palate. The oak is refined and balances the acidity well. Will get better from here. (1095 views) |
| NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JamesSuckling.com and JancisRobinson.com and The WINEFRONT and Vinous and Halliday Wine Companion. (manage subscription channels) |
| Mount Mary Producer website
OUR HISTORY
John Middleton – Founder
John led a very active and healthy life during which much was achieved. He came to Lilydale in 1952 after service in the RAAF and medical training at Melbourne University. Although he had the opportunity to specialise, he chose to establish himself as a much-loved family doctor in what was then, a predominantly rural community. His fascination with wine began in his late teens and never faded. Mount Mary was the vehicle by which he fulfilled his dream to produce wines of great quality. John died in 2006 at 82 years of age, after a short illness.
Mount Mary is a family owned, single vineyard estate located in the heart of the Yarra Valley which lies in the south-eastern corner of Australia to the east of Melbourne in the state of Victoria. Established in 1971 by John and Marli Middleton, Mount Mary was one of the first vineyards planted in the resurgence of the Yarra Valley as a premium wine producing region.
The inspiration behind the planting of vines in the Yarra Valley came from the Swiss settlers of the 1850’s. These worldly and hard working immigrants had been greatly influenced by the French wine producers and recognised the climatic parallels the Yarra Valley shared with Bordeaux and Burgundy.
After extensive visits to the wine producing areas of the world in the late 1960’s, and in particular those of Bordeaux and Burgundy, John and Marli became fixated on French premium wine. They resolved to find a suitable site upon which to establish a small commercial vineyard with the intention of making elegant, low alcohol wines from French varieties. John was obsessed at this stage with an idea put in his head by Colin Preece of Great Western, that Australia was yet to produce a refined and elegant Cabernet. John saw it as his duty to work towards this.
And so it was that in 1971, John and Marli stumbled upon the property known as Mount Mary. Surprisingly this ideally located, gentle north facing slope had not been planted to the vine yet they immediately recognised it as being ideal for their purpose. The first plantings were completed by mid 1972 and today Mount Mary has around 40 acres under vine representing 18 varieties of varying age and distribution.
The four wines produced by Mount Mary come from 10 varieties. Two wines are based on Bordeaux blends accounting for 8 varieties and two wines are the common varietals from Burgundy. Over the past few years we have been developing a new blend from the Rhone Valley based on 7 varieties not previously planted here. For those of you who add things up, the 18th variety is Pinot blanc which we have never done anything with but who knows what the future holds!
Mount Mary has established a dedicated clientele of private mailing list customers and has a national distributor to selected restaurants and retail outlets. We place great importance on consistency of style and quality as well as shying away from public exposure and promotion. We have always preferred to let the wines do the talking.
OUR ENVIRONMENT
More than half the land area of Mount Mary is not directly related to wine production. The health of our property is of primary concern and we have the long term objective of being self-sufficient in energy and water. We are also keen to limit our impact on the environment through revegetation and weed control. Despite the many challenges that have been presented to us over the past few years, progress towards our environmental goals continues. Whilst we still have a long way to go in terms of becoming the ideal environmentally aware organisaton, we have continued with our planting program and our water and energy system designs. This year work has begun on the reticulation of our harvested water supplies, the modernisation of our winery wastewater management and the energy efficiency of winery. Our revegetation areas are already attracting increased numbers of native birds and our Snow Gum conservation area is looking good. We are continuing with our program of collecting a variety of native seed for propagation.
In the past two years we have been fortunate to be a part of Melbourne Water’s Stream Frontage program. Although both drought and flood have played a part in limiting the establishment of young plants, we will continue to work on these areas through 2011. Also on the agenda is the completion of our gully wetland project.
The ultimate goal of our environmental works is to be energy and water efficient relying less on outside supply, provide additional habitat for native species and to limit our negative impacts by containing and treating waste products on site. Renewable power, water collection and recycling and redesigned facilities are at the centre of these improvements.
Mount Mary ChardonnayWe aim to make a Chardonnay with great length, which reaches a balance between richness and elegance. While some techniques are borrowed from the Burgundians, there are some departures from traditional practice in response to local factors, which ensures a unique wine. The most notable of these is that our Chardonnay does not undergo malolactic fermentation, as our local climate leaves the fruit with ideal acidity when it is picked. Our Chardonnay is matured in 30% new French oak barriques with the remainder in older barrels and large casks (1500L). The entire production is barrel fermented. Relatively hard pressing is employed to give the wine texture and lees stirring is carried out to add complexity and body. The Chardonnay is matured in barrel for 11 months prior to bottling.Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeAustralia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)Victoria Wines of Victoria (Victorian Wine Industry Association)Yarra Valley Wine Yarra Valley (Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association) |
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