It’s about 200km south of Sydney in the small town of Collector. How small? See below for a pic from Instagram, that’s it.
Although in terms of placement it’s a great stop off on your way back from Canberra if you’ve spent the day there at the wineries about 5 mins drive off the freeway. The Some Café is a great way to charge yourself up for the trip back to Sydney. (I had the Egg and Bacon roll aka The Dingo and it was delicious – nice and hot Brioche roll, egg, thick cut bacon and a tomato chutney sauce and a nice coffee to wash it down - I was seriously debating whether to order another one it was so good nom, nom, nom).
The cellar door is a just a room with a nice fireplace burning away with a few tables and the wines and local produce around the edges. Nicely decorated and understated like the labels. There were 7 wines on show and Alex’s sister in law was manning the room as Alex was doing a masterclass at Lerida, although he was happy to answer any questions via txt that sis-in-law sent through.
Whites were Riesling, Marsanne and Chardonnay. The Riesling was classic Canberra Riesling, zinging acidity, tart lemon, quite shy and reticent on the nose – one to age for a good 10 years. The Marsanne came across as a bit reduced, with rubber hose aromas coming off it and some soapiness, I thought it might be the glass but didn’t notice it in the Riesling/Chardy. It dissipated a bit with some swirling but I felt it was not quite right, probably need a proper drink of it to be sure. The chardonnay was minerally, taut, wet rock, lemon sherbet, grapefruit, more Chablis than Burgundy. Will age for 10 years no worries.
The reds started off with the Sangiovese, which was a fruit forward almost playful wine, bubble gum paper, raspberry, with a nice backbone of acid and carry providing a nice balance with some chewy tannins – really liked this as a point of difference as a regional interpretation of the variety. He has this knack for creating initial fragrances that come bounding out of the glass, all the reds have this same perfumed hit up front, I really like it as you can sit and nose it and enjoy them.
The Marked Tree, tasted a bit thin after the Sangio with its lingering tannins, once I’d had a quick rinse of water and tried it again it was a lot better. I like how they are 2012 and only being released now, after 12months in the barrel (I think) and then bottled aged for 2-3 years. This is a SV blend and has nice pepper, blackcurrant, liquorice bullets, with a nice fragrant lift from the Viognier but no overt apricot!!
The Reserve upped the amperage in all facets, coming across as softer and smoother and more refined (whole bunch?) held together with grippier tannins and a longer length. This will be a belter in 10 years time. Although I wouldn’t be adverse to drinking it now with a suitable marbled eye fillet steak to contend with the tannins.
If anything it reinforced for me the great things Collector are doing.
They also had 2007 Marked Tree Shiraz available as Museum stock ($30) which I’m supping on as I type this and chilling to Cat Empire. Lovely perfumed wine, with a light musk and strawberry wafting off, dark cherry and spices rounding it out. On the palate it is sour cherry, blackberry, slight confected note (not in a negative way). The acid on the back of the palate is still very prominent and shows how well these wines age under screwcap, slowly but surely with elegance – think Audrey Hepburn. Lovely colour too. Loving the acid drive through the palate, makes it seem almost medium bodied and Old World with a New World richness of fruit. I reckon this alone is worth the visit to the cellar door.
He said that the Cellar Door was doing really well. Selling loads to people driving down to the snow, who then fill up the boot on the way home a week later. Very handy being right next to the highway.