One of some blogs recording the visits I made during my study trip in January 2024.
Usher Tinkler’s dad and granddad owned vineyards (some bought from Lindemans) and grew grapes supplying prestigious wineries such as Mount Pleasant. Usher studied winemaking and they now make their own wines – more traditional Hunter Valley styles under the Tinkler name, and more innovative styles (such as “Death by Semillon”, made with skin contact and aged before release) under Usher’s brand. In the vineyard, where Usher was sampling grapes to test for ripeness, I noted the big canopies on the vines, protecting the grapes from sunburn and learnt they spray the vines with clay suspension to assist this too.
Back at the winery Usher quickly bashed down the grapes to get juice for analysis. We spent an hour or so with the picking crew, and back at the winery I tasted three Tinkler Semillons from the School Block: the 2022, the 2016 (a cooler year) and 2009 (a riper year). The contrast was amazing – from fresh green apple and lanolin in 22 to lime pith, smoke and gorgeous texture in 16 to butter and smoke in 09. Usher’s Death By Semillon, which he has only made since 2019 by comparison had more spicy notes and a very dry finish – a very foody wine. Unfortunately Usher’s wines are not yet available in the UK, but I look forward to an enlightened importer bringing them in.
At Brokenwood I met Iain Riggs, who had been the chief winemaker until 2020, and had introduced Semillon to this iconic producer. Doing his own studies of the Hunter Valley history, he not only provided me with a huge amount of reading but also took me on a visit to the historic Wilkinson property – in the 1860s Alfred Wilkinson and his four sons staked a huge claim on gloriously beautiful rolling hills in Pokolbin, that include names of vineyard that are still famous today: Oakdale, Mangerton, Coolata, Maluna, and Cote (which for reasons that should be easy to understand can no longer be called Côte d’Or).
Iain has a new project making wine in the old fermentation vats at Cote – Shiraz grapes were due in the next few days so he was spending his weekend coating the concrete with beewax and oil.
Back in the winery I met Stuart Hordern, the current winemaker, and his team, who were all working flat out on vintage. It was great to see equipment I normally see shiny and empty when we visit wineries in full use, and I learnt first hand how sticky a working winery is! We took a quick look at the Graveyard vineyard, where their top Shiraz is grown, And I was treated to an amazing vertical tasting of their ILR (Iain Leslie Riggs) Semillon going back to 2004, and Shiraz going back to 2009. Luckily Brokenwood are available in the UK (through Bancroft) so I won’t have to wait years to taste their wines again.
The Tyrrell’s family’s involvement in the Hunter Valley started back in 1858, and I met members the current (fourth and fifth) generations – Bruce and sons Chris (who now leads the business) and John, who were hugely generous with their time and information.
Bruce took me on a tour of what I learnt were some of their most iconic vineyards: HVD (Hunter Valley Distillery, which has loamy sandy soils, bought from Penfolds who planted Semillon in 1908), Four Acre and Eight Acre blocks near the winery, and Old Hillside, which has the oldest vines in NSW: planted in 1867.
Back in the winery Chris and Andrew Spinaze, their chief winemaker took me round various fermentations (the relatively low vintage is proving awkward because they are using all their smaller vessels and don’t have enough grapes to fill the larger ones).
I was treated to an amazing tasting of their Vat 1 Semillon going back go 1998, and their Stevens, HVD and Belford Semillons, which showed the different characters of different vineyards. On the day my favourite was the Belford from 2017, for its rich texture, and I was given a bottle that I brought home that I hope will evolve to the same complexity as the 2009! Just to keep me on my toes I finished with a Pinot Noir from 2022! With their ‘vintage crew’ for dinner one night, I tasted even more of their amazing wines, I was pleased I had brought along a bottle of English wine (a rosé the Heppington Vineyard near Canterbury) to ensure I flew a bit of a flag for the old country.
Tyrrell’s fly the flag for the Hunter Valley in many export markets. In the UK John E Fells import Tyrrell’s wines, Australian Wines Online have a good selection: https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/