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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2021 and 2026 (based on 11 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.6 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 12 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by drjb on 6/14/2023 & rated 94 points: At President's Room, Brisbane Club. This was a fine bottle of Australian chardonnay but under Stevin it remains painfully young and closed with hints of fine citrus and stone fruit aromas on the nose. The palate has oodles of intense fruit balanced by an intense mineral grip that recalls a very young Puligny. Time in the glass reveals plenty of structure and lovely fruit nots but an hour in a decanter would have revealed more. Embryonic ! (762 views) | | | Tasted by fizz on 1/28/2021: Peach, lime, oat meal, flint. Elegant and quite intense on the mid weighted palate. Length to burn here. Finishes with a hint of coconut and lime rind. Delicious now, and with years ahead of it. (1530 views) | | | Tasted by Screwcaps on 11/17/2020 & rated 96 points: Stunning wine. Needs a quiet room to see detail and length in its delicacy. Only just starting to develop some mealy length to compliment white wine white pepper tannins. This is lovely. Thanks to Duck for a blind taste. Quite backwards, thought it to be 2017 or younger. Hold for 3-5 more for the oak to drop out and the middle to fatten up. Grand cru Chablis power and length with new world winemaking. Far out. This is exceptional. (1555 views) | | | Tasted by fizz on 8/2/2020: Screw cap. 13.4% alc.
Jumps out of the glass. Stone fruits, flint, nuts. Just so well balanced. Mouthfeel and texture is sublime. Super wine here. Delicious. Food friendly too. Brilliant. (1575 views) | | | Tasted by catchnrelease on 12/27/2019 & rated 90 points: Good, but too young. (1700 views) | | | Tasted by AJ72 on 5/23/2018 & rated 88 points: Seems a little coconut character from the oak present here. Not bad but not as good as I'd hoped. (2461 views) | | | Tasted by theporkrail on 2/22/2018 & rated 93 points: After reading other rave reviews, both professional and amateur, I opened one of these. Really powerful nose showing stone fruit with a hint of flint, the palate is a bit overwhelming, crunchy green apple with almonds and minerality, perfect balance but in reality this really needs at least 5 years (1593 views) | | | Tasted by CamWheeler on 10/18/2017 & rated 91 points: Mount Mary New Release Tasting: Cashew and lime, a wisp of smoke, spice and orange peel. Very good texture on the palate, good acidity to cut through as well. Medium weighted fruit with a sweet tinge around the edges. Obviously young but poised well. (1675 views) |
| NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JamesSuckling.com and JancisRobinson.com and The WINEFRONT 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.
2015 Mount Mary Chardonnay2015 was an ideal season for producing quintessential Mount Mary Chardonnay. Philosophically, we strive to make Chardonnay that sits somewhere between the old and new world styles. Firm fresh acid, backed by healthy amounts of flavour, body and character are evident in this wine, attributed from site and season.
The aromas of the 2015 Chardonnay open with a slight whiff of struck match before showing an aroma profile ranging from grapefruit and lime right through to white peach, honey, toast, nuts and an array of spices. The palate shows restraint and poise whilst displaying an incredible underlying power and intensity.
It’s the purity and length of this wine that sets it apart from other vintages.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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