The news from Australia and its agricultural woes has been presented in detail by our weather-reporting media. Although that nation has been hit with a terrible drought, some of the wineries have managed to stay in business by using water they have found underground, or they were lucky enough to have their vineyards located near a river or stream.
William Hardy Vineyards, aka Nottage Hill, is one of those lucky few who are still producing decent wines in spite of all of the current weather misfortunes.
With an ample supply of irrigation water available to them, the only thing the vintners had to worry about was the searing heat currently baking the country. The vineyards and wineries located in southeast Australia are also blessed with breezes from Antarctica that cool their vines. They also protect the grapes by keeping them well inside the foliage canopy and not in the heat of direct sunlight. Even with all of this going for them, the high heat has one redeeming quality, it enhances and amplifies the fruit flavor of the grapes, and thus, the wines they produce.
2012 Hardys Nottage Hill Pinot Noir ($13)There is plenty of cherry flavor in this offering from Hardys Nottage Hill to keep any fan of the flavor happy.
The color is a bright ruby red, which guides you right into an aroma of complex fruit flavors featuring cherries and blackberries mingled with oak. Below the surface there is a swirling, kaleidoscopic array of dark summer fruits and berries along with that indefinable incense-like aroma that, to us, marks a truly great pinot noir.
The flavor is as multifaceted as is the aroma. There is a host of cherry and berry flavors, all of which are wrapped in pinot noir velvet softness. This wine also possesses a substantial body, which is another sign of a well-made, finely proportioned pinot noir. The finish is long and as interesting and complex as the aroma.
This wine is reminiscent of the great burgundies of the 1960s. Take our word for it, they were great pinot noirs.
2012 Hardys Nottage Hill Shiraz ($13)Shiraz is as about as authentic Australian as the kangaroo, koala and that wide-brimmed cowboy hat with one side pinned up that you always see in the movies.
Even though we know that it is made from the familiar syrah grape, its Australian birthplace endows it with its own particular flavor and readily identifiable under-flavor. The flavors and aromas it displays are huge, concentrating on cherries, blueberries, spice, licorice and chocolate. Here too, the finish is long, complex and full-flavored.
The 2012 Hardys Nottage Hill Shiraz is an almost perfect red wine accompaniment to anything, from great American tube steak (the hot dog) to a filet mignon. This is a truly big and, pardon the cliche, regal wine.
2012 Hardys 2012 Chardonnay ($17) Chardonnay has never been one of Australia’s strong points. A chardonnay usually does best in a cool spring and fall and a warm, but not hot summer. Southeast Australia does have areas that usually fall into these parameters, but lately, due to the almost nationwide heat, they have been hard to find.
We do not know exactly what the Hardy’s vineyardists did, but they managed to produce a very nice and attractive chardonnay. Warmer weather usually increases the sugar content of the grape, as well as the flavor and aroma it imparts to the finished wine. This selection is no different.
The aroma is intense and showcases melon, peach and oak. The flavor continues with peach in very strong amounts, which is bolstered by a crisp lemon background. A long, creamy, and full-flavored finish make this wine a joy to drink.
Our suggestion is to try it and explore the elegance a wine can develop even under the most adverse of conditions.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and manages ArticlesOnWine.com. He can be reached at frojhe1@att.net.
