New Release
Reviewed: 14 July 2011
I was very excited to receive an invite to a wine dinner hosted by McWilliams, as I feel that their wines are not fully appreciated in Western Australia.
McWilliams (the owners of Mount Pleasant) is a family owned winery, which allows the winemaking team (led by Phil Ryan) a degree of latitude to make the best wine possible, rather than focusing purely on profit. Phil has had a remarkable career with Mount Pleasant spanning over 35 years. It is amazing that a winery that was established in 1921 has only had three chief winemakers, starting with the legendary Maurice O’Shea.
The Maurice O’Shea shiraz is an awesome wine made from 80 and 120 year old vines.
The focus at Mount Pleasant is on single vineyard wines. This has been a tradition for many years with the likes of the Lovedale vineyard semillon and the Rosehill and OP&OH shiraz. This was long before the current trend for single site wines emerged.
The Rosehill and Lovedale vineyards were planted in 1946, OP in 1880 and the OH in 1921!
Phil Ryan and Greg West (Sales & Marketing) made the trip across to showcase their range and provide a taste of the soon to be released 2009 vintage reds. Both the Lovedale semillon and the Maurice O’Shea shiraz were remarkable wines. In fact, all the wines represented remarkable value for money.
The team from Evans & Tate, which is lead by senior winemaker Matthew Byrne, was on hand to show off some of their smart new releases. Evans and Tate is now owned by McWilliams but I will talk about them on another occasion.
Reviewed
McWilliams – Mount Pleasant – Semillon – Lovedale – 2005 (18.5). Lovely nose showing lemon, lanolin and citrus notes with a hint of honey. The complex palate has honey, lemon and supple, creamy fruit on the finish. The length is the key here, as this really lingers. A supple wine of great charm that will live for many years.
McWilliams – Mount Pleasant – Chardonnay – Phil Ryan – 2009 (17.5+). This is a very modern expression of chardonnay. Very fine and elegant, with grapefruit, match strike and peach fruit that builds with air. The palate has melon and stonefruit characters and racy acidity to close. Long and fine with sympathetic oak handling. Primarily Hunter Valley fruit (85%), that has not had malo-lactic fermentation. Aged in French oak (25% new). A bargain at $20, only from the winery.
McWilliams – Mount Pleasant – Shiraz – Phil Ryan – 2009 (17.5). Juicy, silky and seductive. This is a fruit driven style, yet the structure is excellent. Fine tannins to close.
McWilliams – Mount Pleasant – Shiraz – Rosehill – 2009 (17.7). More density and depth to the fruit. Lovely mouth-feel and texture. This is silky, ripe and long, with red fruits, licorice, spice and a touch of pepper to close. Again, excellent length.
McWilliams – Mount Pleasant – Shiraz – Op & OH – 2009 (18). Spicy notes over a core of juicy, red fruits. Again, this has greater density and weight of fruit than the Rosehill, with beautiful mouth-feel and balance. Licorice and fine grained oak, with slightly chewy tannins that add to the finish. An elegant wine that is probably the best value red we tried.
McWilliams – Mount Pleasant – Shiraz – Maurice O’Shea – 2009 (18 – 18.5+). Remarkable, refined and enticing. The nose is all about spice and licorice. The palate is amazing, with intense chocolate, plum, coffee and a touch of dried herbs and leather. Whilst only medium bodied, this is textured and very long. A lovely wine.