Cool and consistent: Adelaide Hills reveals its rising styles

 

This is our biggest ever Adelaide Hills tasting report with almost 450 wines tasted and rated. It is well-known that the Adelaide Hills is a magnet for talented winemakers and, as you’d expect, there’s a wealth of good wine being made here.

The region is incredibly diverse and has established credentials in a wide range of styles. You will find quality examples of sparkling wine to vintage port and everything in between. But while the region continues to develop in many directions, it is the established styles that are really driving the reputation of this region.

Chardonnay is the stand-out wine here with the ability to deliver top quality in a range of different vintages. It was an early hero in Adelaide Hills and has been accordingly gifted many of the best sites, which is one of the reasons for its ongoing success. Winemakers like Michael Downer (Murdoch Hill), Adam Wadewitz (Shaw + Smith), Phil LeMessurier (Corduroy), and Brian Croser (Tapanappa) lead the way for chardonnay made in a modern, refined and powerful style. Penfolds Senior White Winemaker Kym Schroeter, who is responsible for the ever-excellent Adelaide Hills Chardonnay Reserve Bin A, must also claim credit for elevating the category’s reputation.

The 2019 Murdoch Hill Chardonnay Rocket (97 points) shines brightest in this report, along with the 2018 Shaw + Smith Chardonnay Adelaide Hills Lenswood Vineyard (97 points) and 2019 Ochota Barrels Chardonnay Adelaide Hills +5V OV (97 points). These are all examples of tightly fused, powerful chardonnays with crystal clear definition that stand tall, despite intense competition both within the region and around the globe. “Chardonnay is our greatest wine and the diversity across the region along with the naturally powerful drive of fruit we get in the hills is really outstanding,” says Michael Downer of Murdoch Hill.

Shiraz is very consistent and has proven the ability to deliver quality in a range of different vintage conditions. Shaw + Smith have led the way for this variety over the past decade and their release of a vertical half dozen from 2012 through to 2017 shows just how consistently shiraz excels. All these wines are reviewed and rated in this report.

The 2017 Shaw + Smith Shiraz Balhannah Vineyard (97 points) is wildly complex, rich and layered. The 2018 Murdoch Hill The Landau Syrah (96 points) delivers complex, seamless and supple style and the 2019 Ochota Barrels Syrah I Am The Owl (94 points) showcases beautifully deep aromas of dark spices, graphite, wet black stones, pepper and a swathe of spiced blackberries, cherries and plums, all of which can also be found in the 2017 Honey Moon Vineyard Shiraz (94 points). There are many more shiraz highlights too.

For pinot noir lovers the news is good. The region continues to be one of Australia’s great pinot noir regions. The energy being invested in pinot noir production by a predominantly younger set of winemakers is paying handsome dividends. Of the more than 60 pinots tasted and rated here, 25 are rated 93 and above.

The 2019 Murdoch Hill Pinot Noir The Phaeton (97 points) and the 2019 Ochota Barrels Pinot Noir Impeccable Disorder (97 points) both deliver finely layered, complex and elegantly powerful pinot style. Stalwart pinot producer Ashton Hills has a strong trio of 2019 vintage pinots rated here, led by the succulently poised 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve (96 points).

The 2019 pinots from Deviation Road, Commune of Buttons, Gentle Folk and The Other Right all deserve attention as the rising stars of hills pinot. They are dialing in on the right sites and refining their processes. “We are getting serious and we are attuned to how we can sustainably run the vineyards after years of experimentation, finding out what we do and don’t like and what does and doesn’t work,” says Jasper Button.

Nebbiolo continues to garner more and more interest. The styles are diverging and winemakers are more confident with it. It also tends to attract winemakers that have proven their mettle in other areas. Steve Pannell (S.C. Pannell) is really setting the pace for this variety and a tasting of every release (back to 2005) illustrates his elegant, pure and refined style matured in large wooden vats. All these wines are featured in this report including the excellent 2016 (96 points).

Sparkling wine is the other mainstay of the Adelaide Hills and there are two dedicated producers that really drive the quality: Deviation Road and Daosa. The diversity of styles here is again impressive with Deviation Road’s 2013 Blanc de Blancs Beltana (95 points), 2012 Loftia Vintage Brut Late Disgorged (96 points) and the Southcote Blanc de Noirs 2017 (94 points) showing how one producer can deliver a range of high-quality styles. Daosa also play a strong style game with the Piccadilly Valley Blanc de Blancs 2015 (94 points) and a reserve wine-driven Piccadilly Valley Natural Reserve NV (93 points).

Looking across recent vintages, the region has had a good run since the uber-cold and wet 2011 harvest. That was until the summer of 2020 when bushfires savaged much of the region in a terrifying and deadly episode that saw many vineyards wiped out and many more hit by smoke taint, rendering entire crops worthless.

The Cuddle Creek fire and associated smoke taint ran through the north of the region but the southern half was spared the effects of both smoke and fire. Yields were already low and so expect small amounts of exceptional wine from 2020. I’ve tasted some bottled whites for this report and many reds from barrel and the high quality offers a glimpse of what could have been, in a year when so many vineyards were completely devastated. 

2019 will be remembered as a great year for pinot noir with across-the-board quality and drinkability. The 2019 pinots have smooth tannins and plenty of rich fruit while still holding freshness. They also represent strong value. Shiraz is also a standout but many of those wines are still being finalized. Chardonnays are an earlier drinking prospect on the whole with rich fruit in a drinkable, supple and balanced style.

Chardonnay is a standout wine from 2018 with high quality from most corners. The cooler 2017 harvest continues to show just how well the region can perform when a cooler vintage prevails over a season where everything still gets to the right point of ripeness. The 2017 wines have real intensity.

There is a lot of ground to cover in the Adelaide Hills, with its diverse geology, topography and climate making this region a winemaker’s playground. You’ll find so many different varietals and wine styles here, all underpinned by the inherent power and focus that is a universal quality. Whatever your tastes, there’s quality and value to be found in every part of this region.

We hope you enjoy the read as much as we enjoyed the tasting.

– Nick Stock, executive editor