This year's Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Trophy for Australian Single-Varietal White over £15 went to Mount Pleasant, Lovedale Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales 2007 (11.5%)
Tasted against:
- Brokenwood, ILR Reserve Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales 2007
- Tempus Two, Copper Zenith Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales 2003
- Tyrrell’s, Vat 1 Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales 2005
Profile:
In 1914, a 17-year-old Maurice O’Shea visited France on a trip arranged by his French mother. Seven years later, having studied winemaking at Montpelier University, he returned to Australia and, along with his mother, purchased three plots of land that were given the name Mount Pleasant.
About a decade later, McWilliams bought a 50% stake in Mount Pleasant, eventually acquiring the other half in 1941. They retained the talents of O’Shea, and the takeover gave him the finances to seek out and buy two more areas of land, one of which was Lovedale – the source of this Trophy – which was planted in 1946.
Marking his 21st Hunter Valley vintage this year is chief winemaker at Mount Pleasant, Jim Chatto. ‘Lovedale is a unique site in the Hunter. It’s tough and crops are low, delivering a real intensity and purity in the fine-boned, very long-lived Semillon as it grows. We are trying to capture the character of the free-draining, alluvial site within the context of the vintage. The 2007 Lovedale delivers exactly this: a great site and a great vintage equal a great wine!’
Written by Decanter
