When you put your name to something, anything really, it’s a pretty big endorsement.  When it’s your product you’re putting your name to, you’re moving things up a rung in my view.  Not that Tim Stevens isn’t proud of the other wines he makes, it’s just with this one he has not only put his name to it, he has put his own winemaking stamp on it as well.

The perfect purple gems that have gone into making this wine are “…from low-yielding 49-year-old vines of Huntington Estate’s Block 1”.  They were treated with cold soaking for three days then allowed to ferment on their skins for another five days.  Following this, they were pressed off and finished fermenting in American oak, 60% of which was brand spanking new!  I was rubbing my hands together and smiling like a cheshire cat in anticipation even before I opened it.  I must’ve looked like a bit of a dill.

When I saw the colour, the aromas were one delicious surprise.  I thought it was going to be darker fruits and there were but with some red ones thrown in too.  Now I don’t know if it’s possible but it was such a pretty aroma.

Because of those red fruit aromas in there, I thought there was going to be some sweetness, and there was some but not much really.  The dark fruits took over, elbowing their way to the front taking centre stage.  But!  Out of nowhere comes subtle spice, some plums and blueberries.  Apart from all of this, there’s a richness to it and to use a wine cliche, it’s like an “iron fist in a velvet glove”.  Tannins contribute, just, to the all-round ‘everything’ about this wine.  The new oak is not obvious which tells me just how good the fruit is.

It sounds a bit all over the place but it’s far from it.  It’s complex and cohesive rather than complicated and confusing.  Can’t see this growing old in a hurry.

Huntington Estate Website

Region: Mudgee, NSW     Price: $95     Source: Sample thanks to Huntington Estate and Define Wine