Day 1.
An exhausting trip from Wembley to Margaret River, having arrived from Adelaide at 00:10 the same day, and crawled in and out of bet at 00:45 and 08:45.
Tasting and Lunch at Knee Deep winery, Johnson Road, Wilyabrup WA
http://www.kneedeepwines.com.au
email restaurant@kneedeepwines.com.au
I will try to preserve the tasting order wherever possible.
All wines and components grown on site here.
Here we learnt that if you want to start a winery in WA, you must have your own water source (ie a spring fed damn).
2008 Classic White
A mixture of Semillon, Suavignon Blanc and Chardonnay
Quite simple, fruity, went down very easily, nothing of real note, and muted finish. Sound, and fault free, but way overpriced at $22 pb.
2008 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Introduced as the classic MR blend, a theme that was to be repeated ad nauseum on our visit.
A lovely dry white, with dominant Semillon, and some grassy grapefruity SB in the background. Lovely dry finish, lots of acid, just begging for some seafood.
2007 Chardonnay
An ultra-modern chardonnay, almost done to extreme, with slatey, mineral acidity and white fruit only (white peach only). As dry as an Adelaide river bed in summer, finish altogether too short. Went well with <<some>> of our meal.
2008 Chardonnay
Younger and much brighter than the 2007 Chardonnay above, and much more pleasing. Both yellow and white fruits, and some spritz, and MLF and tubbiness. Much more too my liking, but undoubtedly will become much leaner and <meaner> with time.
2008 Rose
A nice palate cleanser (today) and really impressive. Strawberries, sunshine in a bottle, really a lovely dry finish. A really nice surprise, and another example of potential for this region. Calling it a palate cleanser is probably quite unfair.
2008 Shiraz
Light-bodied, just a little oak, and fine, powdery tannins. Anaemic, and a sign of what lay ahead of us. WOuld have easily been overpowered by a meaty meal, this is just not what red wine is about.
2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Oh yes, this is why we visited WA and in particular headed to MR.
A quite lovely refined, powerful, and refined Cabernet. Herbs in the garden, full bodied, powerful tannins, and a long finish. Great potential, will be grand in 10-15 years.
Our meal:
Course 1: Pork belly, with fried lentils, minted tea soup with whole peas.
The most magnificen piece of pork belly, perfectly cooked, really melt in the mouth, the lentils soft, but still a little chewy, the lukewarm tea with peas just superb, contrasted and complimented the pork belly. Not a combination I would have dreamed about, but just <<WOW>>
Course 2: Chicken fillet with many herbs and spices, with baby carrot, whole asparagus, vanilla bean mash.
Just stunning.
Course 3: Three Chocolate dessert, with nougat, turkish delight, and warm mulled wine.
A three layered chocolate biscuit styled desser, served with 2 different nougat pieces, turkish delight lightly dusted with castor sugar, and a superb mulled wine (very Swiss style, and highly intoxicating).
2008 Knee Deep Sweet Wine
Botrytised Semillon, but a little dilute.
Altogether a very impressive meal, and mostly good, drinkable wines. The reserve Cabernet was the standout, as agreed by those in attendance.
Hay Shed Hill WInery, Harmans Mill Road WIlyabrup WA
Michael Kerrigan is the head winemaker here, well worth a visit, some very impressive, but lesser know wines here.
Three series of wines on tasting:
The pitchfork series - affordable everyday wines
Hayshed Hill series - middle grade wines
Block series - premium wines
Lots of wines on tasting, some highlights follow.
2008 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Crisp and dry, but not outstanding
2008 Hay Shed Hill Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
I thought this was the best SSB tasted during the trip. COmplex fruits, intense spine-tingling acidity, and a very long finish. Lip-pursingly good.
2008 Block 1 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Sold out grrrr.
2008 Pitchfork Chardonnay
Inexpensive, and a lovely quaffing Chardonnay, lean and minerally in the modern fashion.
2008 Hay Shed Hill Chardonnay
This is the one that our PM Mr. Rudd says he has 4 cases in his cellar. Another post-apocalyptic modern chardy, lean, minerally, white fruited, and quite nice, but well in the wake of the next wine.
2008 Hay Shed Hill Block 6 Chardonnay
The pick of the three. Very complex for such a young wine, some MLF, barrel ferment characters, white and yellow peach and melon, crisp acidity, and minerally river stones.
Superb now, will really open up and drink well in 4-5 years. WWOTT
2008 Pitchfork Pink
Freeze it, it would make a delicious sorbet, but in its liquid form, not suitable for serious drinkers
2008 Pitchfork Shiraz
Light-medium bodied, delightful fruity wine made to drink now. DM fans would think WE2 cleanskin.
2007 Hay SHed Hill Tempranillo
Pleasant, but just not enough intensity of fruit or interest/complexity. Wetted our palate for the next wine!
2007 Hay Shed Hill Shiraz Tempranillo
Almost the stand-out wine for this winery.
Tempranillo in a cool climate needs something like the shiraz it has here, it makes an ultra-elegant wine, friendly with very many food types, and this one was just great to quaff. If you see this wine, be sure to grab some at around $25 a bottle. <Sensational>>
2007 Hay Shed Hill Block 2 Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2005 was sensational, the 2006 wasn't made.
This was our main reason for the visit, and this wine just did not let us down.
TYpical MR nose with herbs, tobacco, black AND red berries, cassis and creme. Nary a hint of green-ness, power packed tannins, dry, grippy ansd savoury finish.
IMO this is in the top 5 MR cabernets, and well worth sourcing, for a long sleep in the cellar. $40 at cellar door.
It was getting late, we finished in the Forte Leeuwin apartments for the night. and had a very early night. Tomorrow was wine tour day, 6 wineries lined up, a mini bus picking us up, and our driver a popular local wine maker.
Tomorrow's line up: Xanadu, Voyager, Leeuwin, Watershed, Pierro, and Moss Brothers, with brief stops at the Margaret River Cheese Factory, and the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.
Be sure to watch for my report of Day 2!
Cheers John