Vintage 2006. The 2006 Pinot Gris, made the by the esteemed
Brokenwood Wines, is handcrafted using grapes from
their Beechwood vineyard in North East Victoria.
The wine displays flavours of peach, nectarine and
honeysuckle with a touch of aromatic sweet spice.
The mouth filling richness of the wine will match perfectly
with the grilled barramundi and rich pork belly, with the
crisp acidity leaving the palate cleansed.
Delicious!
7/26/2007 Jeff Gale  The Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette

Vintage 2006.
 Winsor Dobbin  Travel & Living Magazine Summer 2007

Vintage 2006. Every winemaker is seemingly making Pinot Gris. This is one of the better examples I have come across lately. A pale straw white youthful wine emanating from grapes from the Beechworth region in Northern Victoria. Aromatic and pure as well as being luscious. Vibrant fresh fruit abounds. Think pears, almonds, hints of musk spice and oranges with hints of lemon and lime. Smooth, soft, well rounded and above all delicious. Really nice drinking. Try it with seafood risotto. Around $25. Drink 2006-2009.

92/100
10/1/2006 Paul Ippolito  Seniors Newsletter - Gold Coast & www.webwombat.com.au

Vintage 2003. Clean, fresh, lively aromas; medium-bodied, with juicy red berry fruits; fine grained tannins;subtle oak. Beechworth/King Valley/McLaren Vale. Screwcap.

Rating 89
Drink 2012
6/1/2006 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2007

Vintage 2003. Big red, no bull
At last – the perfect drop for the perfect steak

A red well-suited to a big bloody steak, as well as a hunk of brilliantly aged cheddar, is the 2003 Brokenwood Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot that Iain Riggs has made in the Hunter Valley.

It’s made from fruit harvested in Victoria’s King Valley & Beechworth areas (they give it the classiness) and from the McLaren Vale (for sublime fruitiness) and it’s very much a wine that provokes profound thoughts about the meaning of life.

I guzzled a bottle last Sunday and found myself reflecting, not for the first time, on how bloody fortunate we all are to live in such a peaceful, prosperous country where super wines like this one cost only $28 – and that’s profound indeed.
8/11/2005 Dorian Wild  General News Section ~ City Weekly

Vintage 2004. 87/100
Dark Red. Fresh red currant and cherry on the nose, with zesty pepper and baking spices adding complexity. Vibrant red and dark berry flavours are a tad bitter-edged, with light body and brisk acidity providing lift. This is a very easy drink.
7/1/2007 Steven Tanzer (US)  Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Issue 133 July/August

Vintage 2006. 89/100
Green-golf. Brisk citrus and pear aromas are clean and sharply focused. Offers flavours of zesty lemon and pink grapefruit on the palate, with a crisp spearmint quality carrying through the bright, lengthy finish. Very pretty blend, with excellent balance and clarity.
7/1/2007 Steven Tanzer (US)  Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Issue 133 July/August

Vintage 2005. 88/100
Love the intense grassy pea shoot nose with a streak of herbs. Lively on the palate with citrus, gooseberry herbal fruit and clean tight finish. Super mussel or clam wine but rich enough to carry a conversation on its own. Finished under screwcap for added freshness.
7/21/2007 Anthony Gismondi (Canada)  www.gismondionwine.com

Vintage 2006. Seafood fritto misto, spaghetti in anchovy and garlic sauce or spatchcock would go nicely with the multi-layered Orange area chardonnay. The wine has melon and orange blossom scents and brings intense nectarine flavour to the front palate. Marzipan, spice and citrus fruit characters intergrate with cashew-like oak on the middle palate and flinty acid comes through on the finish.
7/18/2007 John Lewis  The Newcastle Herald

Vintage 2005. As the Brokenwood range expands to envelope more vineyard regions, Iain Riggs is managing to capture the regional definition of each of them with consummate accuracy. This is a definitive Orange Chardonnay with a long, citrus-accented palate, layers of spice, leesy complexity and a creamy finish.

92 Points
 Tyson Stelzer  WBM 100 Magazine

Vintage 2005. 92/100
Again, spotlessly clean; a firm, clean, minerally framework, with grass, herb, gooseberry and grapefruit all intermingling sotto voce; lemony acidity to close.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion

Vintage 2006. I opened this last night alongside the Meerea Park Hell Hole and Thomas Kiss of the same vintage (more later), all three excellent wines, but on the night this was my favourite, or at least the best to drink now. I’ll re-taste the other two tonight but the Graveyard is all gone; it was just too good to leave alone. Is it worth $125? For myself, the answer is yes, and I’ll be popping a couple of bottles into the cellar.
Wonderful depth of fruit with blackcurrants and blackberry, pepper, coffee, vanilla and aniseed all playing their part in the clean ripe aromas that jump from the glass. It’s just above medium bodied with juicy black fruits, cherry, mocha, cedar and lots of pepper and spice – intense and pretty full on. Perfect balance between fruit, oak, alcohol, acid and fine dry tannin creates an effortless flow through the mouth and the finish is very long and dry with a coffee bean aftertaste. Great wine.
Other vintages: 2004
Rated: 96 points
Tasted: May08
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Drink: 2008 – 2026+
6/25/2008 Gary Walsh  www.winorama.com.au

Vintage 2006. THE 2006 Graveyard is the product of a Hunter vintage in which 45-degree heat over the Christmas-New Year period cut Brokenwood’s yields by up to 30 percent.
Despite these challenges, this is an outstanding Hunter Shiraz that again cements Graveyard’s place among Australia’s great single-vineyard reds.
It is dark purple in colour and has scents of cassis and freshly ground coffee beans. Profound blackcurrant flavour glides onto the front of the palate and glacé cherry, white pepper and dark chocolate fruit characters come into play with lightly applied cedary oak on the middle palate. Silky earthy tannins show at the finish.
It would be beaut with grilled broadbill steaks, crispy lamb and stir-fried udon noodles or boeuf bourguignon.
Ageing: 12 years
Rating: 5 Stars
RRP: $125
5/7/2008 John Lewis  The Good Taste Guide, The New Castle Herald

Vintage 2006. May’s luxury reds usually create a frenzied splurge

In recent times, May has become the month of the red wine splurge.
It’s when Penfolds launches the latest Grange shiraz and other new vintages of its Luxury and Icon range – an event that usually sparks a wild scramble from wine lovers with deep pockets.
And other producers follow suit by releasing their highly priced flagship reds at this time of year-among them the Hunter sourced Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz.
The new Graveyard, the $125-a-bottle 2006, will be launched at the annual Brokenwood luncheon at the McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, winery on Saturday, May 31. The celebration is of particular importance because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Graveyards-first made in 1983 and now recognized as one of Australia’s greatest single-vineyard wines.
The 2006 graveyard has further significance because, although a 2007 is still to come, there will be none from the rain-drenched 2008 hunter vintage ……
5/7/2008 John Lewis  'Top of the Table' - The Good Food Guide, The Newcastle Herald

Vintage 2006. A Hunter classic, this proves great Shiraz doesn’t have to be a blockbuster. Spice, earth, raspberry, black cherry and leather armchair aromas. Great intensity. Food Veal chops with exotic mushrooms.
Now to 15 years.
97/100
13.5 percent
$125
5/27/2008 Ralph Kyte-Powell  Good Living Magazine 'The Winter Issue' - The Sydney Morning Herald

Vintage 2005. 93/100
Ruby-red. Seductively aromatic nose offers spicy kirsch, cassis, mocha and oak spice scents. Deep and sweet, with powerful but focused cherry and dark berry flavours underscored by exotic Asian spices, dried flowers, cocoa and licorice.Sweet, spicy and expansive on the long, sappy finish. The balance here is quite impressive.
7/1/2007 Steven Tanzer (US)  Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Issue 133 July/August

Vintage 2005. I think this needs a few more years to really hit its straps, but it would still drink well now with rabbit stew, paking duck pancakes or char-grilled wagyu beef sirloin with horseradish and grilled mushroom pave. It has raspberry, toffee and clove scents and rolls onto the front of the palate with sweet blackcurrant flavour. Elements of plum, briar, dark chocolate and black pepper combine with savoury oak on the middle palate and earthy tannins feature at the finish.
7/18/2007 John Lewis  The Newcastle Herald

Vintage 2004. This wine is the jewel in the crown of the Brokenwood stable of wines. It is also the benchmark for Hunter Valley Shiraz. Pretty high expectations exist for this wine year in year out. Coming from a difficult vintage, this one is a more forward and advanced style of Hunter Shiraz. A glorious crimson violet ripe plum colour. Classy yet aromatic and luscious. Gorgeous and impressive in stature, vibrant yet intense. Polished delicious fruit characters - blackberry, liquorice, touch of red earth and red cherries. Quite concentrated varietally with lively soft acidity. It is lingering in length - and quite seamless in mouthfeel. The oak which is totally integrated accompanies the smooth suferfine tannins which makes overall for quite an elegant wine. Drink 2006 - 2011 plus.
94/100

September 2006
 Paul Ippolito  Paul Ippolito Talks Wine - E-Newsletter

Vintage 2004. This is my favourite Graveyard in years, but don’t expect a fanfare and dancing girls. This wine has vulpine qualities and it prowls around your palate looking for signs of fleshy weakness before it strikes. Nervy, animal and uncompromising, this is an edge of the seat red wine.
6/1/2007 Matthew Jukes (UK)  The Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2007

Vintage 2004. The 2004… from a difficult, hot yet wet vintage, is a triumph: elegant (12.7% alcohol), spicy, balanced, charming.
6/3/2006 Max Allen  The Weekend Australian Magazine

Vintage 2004. 96/100
Of brilliant clarity, this medium-bodied wine has perfect texture and structure to its array of black and red cherry fruits, finishing with fine ripe tannins. Carefully judged oak completes a wine of real finesse - and low alcohol.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2008

Vintage 2004. ...By any standard, it has been the star Hunter red wine from the past two decades…Graveyard Shiraz is one of those wines that many people have in their cellar… The current Graceyard 2004, released in May at $ 100 may not have been the best vintage but has emerged as an excellent wine…Anyone who can't find room in their cellar for the best from the Hunter should think again
4/25/2006 Ken Gargett  Courier Mail

Vintage 2004. This isn’t just one of the
best reds in the Hunter,
but in Australia. Great
concentration with wonderful
structure. Dark cherry and
plum flavours are noticeable,
with subtle vanilla and that
trademark savoury, earthiness
that is so typical of the
Hunter. RRP $100.
6/1/2007 Rick Allen  Accor Traveller magazine

Vintage 2004. Arguably the Hunter's best red, the current vintage (2004) is fragrant with classic spice, pepper and dark cherry flavours along with some oak and tannins. It's a wine that's low in alcohol at 12.5% but soft and earthy on the palate and it'll set you back around 100 bucks a bottle. A great present for a wine lover.
8/1/2006 Winsor Dobbin  Inner West Blues

Vintage 2004. One of Australia's most famous wines, this is a classic Hunter style with a soft velvety palate of cherry and earthy flavours merged seamlessly into a delicously appealing palate. The tannins are fine and the palate precise and long. You'll find lots of cedar and mocha character in this soft, delicious wine 95/100. Drink now to 2015.
7/27/2006   West Australian

Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz has been named one of Australia's top 10 Classic Australian Shiraz. Earthy, intense & brimming with dark fruits, this is easily the Hunter Valley's top red!
8/1/2005   Decanter Magazine

…Brokenwood's Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is one of Australia's most sought after reds."
8/1/2006 Christine Salins  National Liquor News

Vintage 1996. In the 1940s, '50s and '60s, blends of Hunter Valley and McLaren Vale shiraz and shiraz-cabernet were at the cutting edge. Indeed, many of the Australia's greatest red wines of the era were blends made by Hardys and Mildara. Now, with access to outstanding shiraz fruit in both those regions, Brokenwood is making a flagship red named HBA, after its three founders, James Halliday, John Beeston and Tony Albert. The extraordinary thing is that it will not be released for 10 years, reinforcing the intention to make a wine with longevity. The 1996 HBA was recently released at $180 a bottle (cellar door only; one bottle limit) and it is a stunner. It's a blend of Hunter shiraz from the Graveyard vineyard and McLaren Vale from the Rayner vineyard. The '96 is a great wine, beautifully mellow at 11 years, with wonderful depth and complexity. It has an earthy, beef-stock, leathery bouquet. It's at its peak now but has probably a decade ahead of it. Only 44 dozen were produced, from a specially selected barrel from each region and it has been bottle aged at 18-20C. An HBA has been made every year except 1999 and, having tasted them all, I can promise that more superb vintages are waiting in the wings.
5/29/2007 Huon Hooke  Good Living Magazine - The Sydney Morning Herald

Vintage 1996. Tiny quantites only of this classic Hunter/McLaren Vale blend. Still youthful and looking at many years in the cellar, this complex, seamless wine is the first release. Named for the founders of Brokenwood - Halliday, Beeston and Albert - it's sure to become an icon.
Rating 96/100
6/12/2007 Ken Gargett  The Courier Mail Wine Guide - 100 of the Best

Vintage 1996. "…It's been a good month for magnificent wines from the Hunter... I tasted a sneak preview of Brokenwood's long-awaited 1996 HBA Shiraz. Named after the winery's founders (Haliday, Beeston and Albert), this is a homage to the '50's: it's a blend of the best barrel of shiraz from Brokenwood's Graveyard vineyard in the Hunter with the best barrel of Rayner vineyard shiraz from McLaren Vale. The result is spectacular: unbelievably complex, spicy, earthy, multi-layered, complete, and destined to age for another decade at least.
Due to its extremely limited supply (only forty cases were made) and the fact that it's already ten years old, the HBA is a solid $180 a bottle - but in my opinion, the quality of the wine justifies the price: it's a new Australian classic. It's available from Brokenwood's cellar door on McDonalds Road, Pokolbin: (02) 4998 7559 or www.brokenwood.com.au"
3/24/2007 Max Allen  The Weekend Australian Magazine

Vintage 1996. Brokenwood is proudly carrying on the historic practise of blending Hunter Valley and McLaren Vale shiraz.
Cloaked in secrecy for more than ten years, the inaugural Brokenwood HBA Shiraz (named for founders James Halliday, John Beeston and Tony Albert) is as much an intellectual and investigative exercise as it is nostalgic and visionary. Brokenwood chief Iain Riggs' fascination with the wines crafted by blending masters Maurice O'Shea (Mount Pleasant), Roger Warren (Hardys), and Colin Preece (Seppelt) meant that once a reliable source of McLaren Vale shiraz was secured, the quest to re-create the magic of past years was on in earnest.
Only wines deemed worthy at ten years of age will wear the HBA livery. At A$180 a bottle (cellar door only, one bottle per person), the 1996 HBA Shiraz may be an ambitious project with an ambitious price tag, but with just fifty dozen to go around, it will be in high demand. The wine is excellent. It has aged with grace, showing perhaps more Hunter than McLaren Vale character, and has more than a glimmer of the great old wines that inspired its creation."
4/1/2007 Nick Stock  Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine

Vintage 2007. Year in, year out, this wine is a winner. True to style, it is tight and focused with lemon zest and citrus flavours, rounding off with clean, tight acidity. Yes, it will age - but it's hard to leave it alone. Flathead fillets.

Under A$25.00
2/29/2008 Rick Allen  "3 Top Drops" - The Manly Daily

Vintage 2007. Bargain

The 2007 Hunter Semillons were of stellar quality and this one of the best - fresh, lively and citrusy in its youth, with delightful balance and structure. Given time it will develop tasty characters but it is so delicious now I'd recommend drinking it with chicken or fish dishes.
3/2/2008 Windsor Dobbin  "Unwind" - S24, The Sun Herald

Vintage 2007. 91/100
Hunter Semillon should be a staple on every wine list, but it's still under-performing, which is surprising when wines like this are so good every year. The Brokenwood team has created another fresh, lemon-accented offering with enough zest and acidity to take any SB head-on
10/1/2007 Tyson Stelzer  WBM100

Vintage 2006. 94/100
Spotlessly clean; a classic young semillon, finely tuned and honed notes of lemon rind, herb, spice and mineral; great acidity and mouthfeel.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2008

Vintage 2006. This top-draw Hunter Valley Shiraz specialist has done it again with this richly flavoured and splendidly balanced red. Great drinking now and will only get better in the next five years.
RRP: $40
5/4/2008 John Fordham  "On the Grapevine - Food & Wine … Insider, The Sunday Telegraph

Vintage 2006. Not to be confused with the standard Brokenwood Shiraz, this is the pure Hunter version. Initially a confronting wine, it looked dry and very stinky, but given time in a decanter it sweetened up and completely won me over.
Opens up stinky and charry with an array of distinctly non-fruity smells like earth, bacon, smoke, pepper but with time the powerful blackberry/blackcurrant fruit rises up and a licorice/dark chocolate sweetness also emerges. On the palate a mix of savoury earthy flavours and peppery blackcurrant/blackberry fruit backed with plenty of toasty mocha/vanilla oak. It’s medium bodied in weight with attractive fine soft tannins and a long dry earthy finish. A wine with attitude and personality. It comes over as a real Hermitage meets Hunter style. I love it. If you drink it now make sure to give it a couple of hours in the decanter.
Rated: 93 points
Tasted: Apr08
Alcohol: 14%
Closure: Screwcap
Drink: 2008 - 2020
4/26/2008 Gary Walsh  www.winorama.com.au

Vintage 2006. This is the Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz for those who can’t afford the real thing. With an excellent texture, dustings of Hunter earthiness and warmth, it will repay short-term cellaring.
It’s also a good drink now with a thick sirloin.

A$40.00
2/16/2008 Greg Duncan Powell  "Life" Full Bottle - The Sydney Morning Herald

Vintage 2005. GRAPES from newer plantings and a proportion from older vines on the Graveyard vineyard go into this classy Hunter Shiraz. It is crimson with garnet tinges and has earthy scents. Spiced blackcurrant flavor comes through on the front of the palate and elements of mocha coffee, bramble jelly and dark chocolate meld with vanillin oak on the middle palate. Smooth chalky tannins feature at the finish. It would be a good partner for red curry of barbecued duck, scotch fillet steak and mushrooms or grilled lamb cutlets with sea salt and rosemary potato wedges.
4/16/2008   "Uncorked" The Good Taste Guide - The Herald

Vintage 2005. 2005 was another great year for Hunter Shiraz, making wines of great balance and finesse. There’s excellent integration here between dark berry and plum fruit, dried herb complexity, fresh red cherry acidity and fine tannins. It finishes long and fresh.

92 Points
 Tyson Stelzer  WBM 100 Magazine

Vintage 2005. The fruit for this wine comes off the young vines and de-classified fruit from the Graveyard Vineyard.

Aromas of blackberry, cherry, smoke, pepper, licorice and toasty vanilla oak. All at once perfumed, savoury and sweetly fruited. On the palate medium bodied with cherry, blackberry, toast, spice and typical earthy Hunter flavours. Fine balance with soft yet appropriate tannin and a long smoky black fruit finish. This is a most suave and stylish wine.

Rated: 94/100
Drink: 2009-2017
8/1/2007 Gary Walsh  www.winorama.com.au

Vintage 2004. Elegant and medium-bodied, this has dark berry notes with aromas of leather and earth. A long, savoury finish makes it a delicious drop.
Try it with braised rabbit.
3/16/2008 Sally Gudgeon  "Wine Lesson" - Sunday Life Magazine

Vintage 2004. 94/100
Fragrant red fruit aromas; a light- to medium- bodied vibrant and fresh palate; red frutis with slight mint, leaf and earth notes.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2008

Vintage 2004. This is a gorgeous, medium weight, savoury, but bramble jam imbued red wine. I love bright, berry driven Hunter Shiraz as they are the perfect foil to the bigger wines from South Australia.
5/1/2006 Matthew Jukes (UK)  The Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2006

Vintage 2002. Deep ruby in colour with a tinge of garnet, it has layers of aromas including smoke, raspberry, red currants, dark chocolate, cherry and vanilla. It's medium full-bodied, dry and fairly crisp with rich fruit replays and soft tannins; well-structured with a medium long finish. Serve with meaty pasta sauces, lamb kebabs or rare steaks. My note: Aromas of mint and black plums. Good acidity for food. Medium to full-bodied. 90 Points
12/1/2005 Natalie McLean  Natalie McLean's website www.nataliemclean.com

Vintage 2002. 90/100
Development in colour is entirely appropriate; shows the cool vintage, with attractive savoury/earthy elements; fine tannins and good length.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion

Vintage 2002. The smoky, red licorice nose is quite robust and leads to a mellow medium-bodied offering with a sweet (14% alc.) flavour profile of raspberry, black cherry and spice. A well balanced effort with seamless integration of fine grained tannin, ripe fruit and reasonable acidity that carries through to the warm finish. From a fabulous winery. Drink now to 2009 with lamb daube. (VH) Drink now and over the next 5 years. 4 Stars ~ wines of excellence
12/1/2005 Vic Harradine  Winecurrent website www.winecurrent.com

Vintage 2002. Remarkably slow-ageing for a six-year-old, this still has a pale yellow hue and a bouquet as mineral as crushed rocks. It's light bodied, delicate, crackingly crisp and nervy, with a clean, dry finish.

Good drinking now or in the next eight years.
5 Stars
 Huon Hooke  Gourmet Traveller Wine - 100 Top New Releases

Vintage 2002. Translucent youthful fresh and greeny straw. Opulent and indulgent in aroma profile. Fresh, lively, evocative and invigorating. Grassy herbs, citrine lemons, a hint of honey, toastiness and green apples complete the palate of aromas and flavours in this well melded integrated wine of glorious mouth feel and medium dry finish. Still has years to go. Drink with pan-fried calamari.

Drink to 2017. About $35. 96/100- Superb.
2/4/2008 Paul Ippolito  "The 5 Minute Wine Rush" - www.paulippolito.com.au

Vintage 2002. 96/100
An outstanding example of traditional Hunter Valley semillon after five years of bottle age. Fresh and very youthful, still with a pale straw colour and a minerally, gravelly, faintly lemony, somewhat austere nose. In the mouth it's very fine and delicate, light-bodied but intense with a dry and crackingly crisp finish that just cries out for fish, crustaceans and molluscs. At 11 per cent alcohol it's refreshing and more-ish, taut and nervy, with no hardness or austerity on the palate. Mine was a great bottle, thanks to a perfect cork, and would have lived happily for another 20 years. I wish I could be sure all others are in such good nick. Bring on the screwcap!
Food: All shellfish, especially oysters; any white-fleshed fish simply cooked and sauced; cold cooked prawns dipped in homemade mayonnaise.
11/6/2007 Huon Hooke  Good Living Magazine - The Sydney Morning Herald

Vintage 2002. 95/100
I think this is the last vintage to be sealed with cork. The fruit for the 2002 is from the Oakey Creek Vineyard, although ILR follows a ‘best of vintage’ philosophy, rather than one of single vineyard origin.
Aromas of lime, lime rind, soap and a vanilla perfume. Initially a fair bit of free sulphur swinging about which dissipates with airing. On the palate bone dry with flavours of lime, lemon, vanilla and mineral. Quite soft and refined with clean gentle acidity and a fine sense of precision. No hard edges. Finishes clean and long with a limey aftertaste. A beauty.

Drink : 2007 - 2020
12/2/2007 Gary Walsh  www.winorama.com.au

Vintage 2001. My tasting of the 2001 showed it to be straw-hued and with orange blossom scents. Lean, crisp lime-lemon flavour came through on the front of the palate. Green apple and crushed almond characters chimed in on the middle palate and smooth citrusy acid featured at the finish.
Brokenwood's winemaking team led by Peter-James Charteris can be well pleased with the wine.
I think it has huge potential and is well worth watching out for.
5/1/2006 John Lewis  Newcastle Herald

Vintage 2001. The Hunter Valley ILR Reserve Semillon is bight green/yellow in colour with aromas of lemongrass while the palate shows clean, zesty citrus fruit with a vanillin edge.
2/1/2007 Kim McMullen  Liquorwatch Magazine

Vintage 2001. …bright, light, green-straw in colour, with a bouquet of above-average complexity at this relatively early stage of development. The palate opens with intensity but slightly lean, citrus fruit of the mid-palate needs to develop the characterisitc honey and toast which comes with full maturity.
5/6/2006 James Halliday  The Weekend Australian

Vintage 2001. 2001 ILR Reserve Semillon
" This is a stunning semillon. It has all the goods - age, complexity and popular drinking appeal. The sticking point is that it is semillon, so that you the wine loving consumer will probably shun it. And at about $45, it is at the premium end of the market (deservedly) and unfortunately you will probably also further shun it for this reason. But seriously, in the look and learn stakes, this is very serious Hunter semillon at its best - made with excellent grape stock, given the winemaking works full treatment and released at a time when it has started to blossom and show its full potential both as a wine varietal but also a regional style. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine and could waffle on with meaningless descriptors such as citrine influenced, lovely lemons and lime, toasty and honeyed charcters yadda yadda yadda - but I won't. Seriously this is top shelf semillon - go on treat yourself and impress someone special. Try it with a seafood platter."
2/21/2007 Paul Ippolito  paulippolito.com.au

Vintage 2001. 96/100
Bright, light green-straw; a complex bouquet, still unfurling into the characteristic toast and honey which will grow as the wine ages.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2008

Vintage 2005. The Hunter Valley's Brokenwood winery has a sizeable investment in Beechworth, with a number of varieties planted. The chardonnay is arguably the best wine yet to come from the endeavour. It's a high-class drop - lean, quite sulphurous and intense. The fruit flavour is peachy and the persistence impressive. Should develop well in the bottle."
4/1/2007 Campbell Mattinson  Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine

Vintage 2005. A gloriously lemony yellow coloured wine from this Hunter Valley producer who has sourced the grapes from the Beechworth area in Northern Victoria. Quite aromatic and complex with tropical fruits, peach and melon, citrine and wild yeast essences. Generous and well rounded with a soft and subtle smoothness on the palate with a lingering nature. Try it with sautéed crab.
Around $30.
Drink 2006-2009.
9/18/2006 Paul Ippolito  Wine Talk www.female.com.au

Vintage 2005. This is a ripper of a wine, with citrus aromas and lovely balance and complexity on the palate. There's a smoothness and elegance that makes it ridiculously easy to drink. This one would be excellent with fruits de mer or any number of fish dishes. Great value at $ 30.00
7/23/2006 Winsor Dobbin  The Sun Herald

Vintage 2005. Not all of Brokenwood's best wines come from the Hunter with winemakers Iain Riggs and PJ Charteris also having access to fine fruit from several interstate vineyards. One of the best is the Brokenwood 2005 Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay ($ 30.00) from Beechworth in Victoria, home of several outstanding chardonnay's. This is an absolute ripper, an Australian expression of the White Burgundy style, barrel-fermented and rich with white peach flavours prominent, but not overpowering, the fruit and oak are in perfect harmony.
8/1/2006 Winsor Dobbin  Inner West Blues

Vintage 2005. 94/100
A complex but not feral bouquet; has considerable structure, with fig, melon and ripe stone fruit; the oak well-balanced and integrated.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2008

Vintage 2005. Deep coloured and solid, this fuller bodied pinot has plenty of grip and pwerful cherry-liquer flavours. Smooth and fleshy, with walnut oak and spicy aromas. Some alcohol heat on the finish. This will please lovers of big pinot noir.
10/1/2007 Huon Hooke  Gourmet Traveller Wine

Vintage 2004. Cherry pie nose. Quite tannic and sappy in the mouth, with good flavour length and intensity. Nice spicy oak.
3 Stars
Three, four & five star ratings are signs of excellence in fruit quality and winemaking skill. All wines are judged ‘blind’ by wine industry professionals and are compared in peer classes by three judges.
1/1/2006   Winestate Magazine ~ Special Issue

Vintage 2006. This is the most successful viognier I have yet seen from Brokenwood’s Beechworth vineyard. It’s a spicy, lifted, stylish wine, warm through the finish but crisp and lingering too. The palate is glycerol but not over the top, and while there are distinct apricot flavours they come across as pure and well defined. Nice work. Nice wine.
Drink: 2008-2009
Points: 91
RRP: $30
Screwcap
4/23/2008 Campbell Mattinson  www.winefront.com

Vintage 2002. It has been so unseasonably warm in Sydney over the weekend that I not only decided to go to the beach (Greenpeace caught napping this time round so no struggling) but also opened up a couple of 2002 museum release Hunter semillon. This is from twenty year old vines located in the Lovedale sub-region and came sealed with a cork.

Aromas of zestt lime and lemon, a little hay and the first hints of toasty development. Overall still very fresh and spritely. On the palate light crisp flavours of lemon, lime, flint and only a little toast…and min toast at that. Crunchy acidity and a mouthfell of river pebbles dryness. Finishes with lime and asian herbs. A classic style that needs a few more years to show its best.

Rated: 91/100
Drink: 2009-2016
8/1/2007 Gary Walsh  www.winorama.com.au

Vintage 2005. Fruit for this came off a vineyard in the middle of Bathurst's famous racing circuit. It has citrus and honeysuckle on the nose. On the palate it is distinguished, elegant, finely layered and textured. It was fermented in a mix of 80 per cent new oak and 20 per cent a year old."
9/27/2006 Jeff Collerson  The Daily Telegraph

Vintage 2005. 93/100
An elegant medium-bodied wine with melon and cashew flavours; finely balanced acidity, good length.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion

Vintage 2005. When Iain Riggs from Brokenwood wines is making Nebbiolo, you know Italian alternative varietals are the next big thing on the Australian wine scene. This Nebbiolo was grown in the Victorian alpine region yet is made by this quality Hunet Valley producer. Cherry red in colour with stacks of vibrant and fresh fruit yet also distinctively savoury, it is lean in structure but has a glorious capacity to throw out some wild fragrant fruit intensity. Try it with a mushroom risotto.
 Paul Ippolito  Hunter Lifestyle Magazine - April/May 2007

Vintage 2005. Nebbiolo is the principal grape variety of the Piedmont region in northwest Italy and is used in the wines of Barolo. In Australia, the variety has thrived in northeast Victoria. This wine comes from Brokenwood's Indigo vineyard at Beechworth. Nebbiolo
 Winsor Dobbin  Travel & Living Magazine Summer 2007

Vintage 0. A gorgeous offering worthy of a multiple bottle purchase. Brokenwood, famous for their Hunter Valley 'Graveyard Vineyard' Shiraz (listed in Langton's Classification as 'Outstanding', has added cool-climate Beechworth vineyards to their holdings. Spice and smoky aromas open up this exquisite Pinot while the tangy flavours are a gusher of sour cherry, black currant and pomegranate. Perfectly balanced and sporting a lengthy finish, this dry and fully textured wine is outstanding.
Rating: 4 Stars
RRP: $20.95
5/8/2008 Vic Harradine  www.winecurrent.com

Vintage 2004. Spicy morello and sour cherry; fruit forward style; despite 15% alcohol, a quite silk finish. Screwcap.
4 Stars
Rating 89
Drink 2008
 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2006

Vintage 2005. 91/100
Bright purple. Smoky, vanilla-accented blueberry and cassis aromas develop candied licorice, dark chocolate and olive notes with air. Supple dark berry preserve flavours display an impressive melange of depth and energy with sweet vanilla and vibrant violet pastille notes building on the back. Obviously sweet but admirably focused, finishing with very persistent flavours of juicy black currant and cherry.
7/1/2007 Steven Tanzer (US)  Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Issue 133 July/August

Vintage 2004. 94/100
A medium- to full-bodied mainstream varietal style with blackberry, dark chocolate and some savoury/earthy notes; oak in appropriately solid support; good tannins and mouthfeel. Top vintage, top wine.
8/1/2007 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion

Vintage 2003. FOR THE CELLAR

The mature Rayner vineyard at McLaren Vale is the source of this generously built ’03 Brokenwood. It’s in seamless balance, ripe, intense, sustained and full-bodied, yet fresh and vibrant. Best two to twelve years.
Food – roast fillet of beef”
7/18/2006 Ralph Kyte-Powell  Good Living - Sydney Morning Herald

Vintage 2003. Supple, mouth-filling, medium-to-full bodied wine; dark fruits with splashes of chocolate and mocha; ripe tannins. Screwcap.

Rating 92
Drink 2013
6/1/2006 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2007

Vintage 2003. 90/100
Smoky leather, tobacco, bacon, gamey, vanilla, black cherry aromas. Smooth, round rich palate with supple tannins and a touch of acidity. Leather, Chocolate, tobacco, black cherry, cola, bacon, spicy, white pepper flavours with a cedar, olive note on the finish. Not as fruity a style with a touch of acidity but well balanced.
7/16/2007 Anthony Gismondi (Canada)  www.gismondionwine.com

Vintage 0.
ONE of the Hunter-based Brokenwood Company’s biggest triumphs was in the 2001 London International Wine Challenge – with a wine made from McLaren Vale grapes.
The wine was the Brokenwood 1999 Rayner Vineyard Shiraz, which was judged ‘The Best Red and The Best Shiraz’, a brilliant coup in what is the largest, most international and most respected wine competition in the world.

Sadly, because Wirra Wirra Wines bought the Rayner Vineyard at the end of last year, Rayner Vineyard Shiraz will disappear from the Brokenwood portfolio after the 2006 wine is released.

The Rayner vines were planted up to 50 years ago on spur of deep Blewitt Springs sand at McLaren Vale by the late David Rayner, who had worked with Iain Riggs when he was managing the Hazelmere Winery at McLaren Vale in the early 1980’s.

When Iain moved from Hazelmere to the Hunter in 1983 to become Chief Winemaker-Managing Director of Brokenwood, he maintained his close association with David, and the Brokenwood Rayner Shiraz wines made their first appearance in the 1993 vintage.

The current release is the 2004 Rayner Vineyard Shiraz which sells for $69 a bottle.
Over the past decade, the Rayner wines have been a valued part of the Brokewood line-up and Rayner Shiraz was a vital component of the $180-a-bottle Brokenwood 1996 HBA Shiraz released last year.

Iain Riggs was inspired to make the HBA by the great Hardy’s Hunter McLaren Vale Shiraz blends of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is a 50-50 blend of the barrel of wine from the Graveyard Vineyard at Pokolbin and the best barrel from the Rayner Vineyard at McLaren Vale and was tagged HBA to honour the three founders of Brokenwood – James Halliday, John Beeston and Tony Albert.

The prime 40-hectare Rayner Vineyard gives a major boost to Wirra Wirra’s grape supply, buy Iain Riggs is philosophical about his loss. He says he has excellent alternative McLaren Vale growers in Derek and Raylene Wade.

Brokenwood has been taking shiraz, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay from the Wade Vineyard since 2001 and the fruit quality has been steadily improving.

“We enjoyed great success with our Rayner wines and we are sad to have lost Rayner as a source,” says Iain. “However the Wade Vineyard has been nudging ahead year by year and its grapes are excellent.”

Wine drinkers can put the quality to the test in the newly released Brokenwood 2006 Wade Block 2 Vineyard Shiraz, reviewed today in Uncorked.

ONE of the Hunter-based Brokenwood Company’s biggest triumphs was in the 2001 London International Wine Challenge – with a wine made from McLaren Vale grapes.
The wine was the Brokenwood 1999 Rayner Vineyard Shiraz, which was judged ‘The Best Red and The Best Shiraz’, a brilliant coup in what is the largest, most international and most respected wine competition in the world.

Sadly, because Wirra Wirra Wines bought the Rayner Vineyard at the end of last year, Rayner Vineyard Shiraz will disappear from the Brokenwood portfolio after the 2006 wine is released.

The Rayner vines were planted up to 50 years ago on spur of deep Blewitt Springs sand at McLaren Vale by the late David Rayner, who had worked with Iain Riggs when he was managing the Hazelmere Winery at McLaren Vale in the early 1980’s.

When Iain moved from Hazelmere to the Hunter in 1983 to become Chief Winemaker-Managing Director of Brokenwood, he maintained his close association with David, and the Brokenwood Rayner Shiraz wines made their first appearance in the 1993 vintage.

The current release is the 2004 Rayner Vineyard Shiraz which sells for $69 a bottle.
Over the past decade, the Rayner wines have been a valued part of the Brokewood line-up and Rayner Shiraz was a vital component of the $180-a-bottle Brokenwood 1996 HBA Shiraz released last year.

Iain Riggs was inspired to make the HBA by the great Hardy’s Hunter McLaren Vale Shiraz blends of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is a 50-50 blend of the barrel of wine from the Graveyard Vineyard at Pokolbin and the best barrel from the Rayner Vineyard at McLaren Vale and was tagged HBA to honour the three founders of Brokenwood – James Halliday, John Beeston and Tony Albert.

The prime 40-hectare Rayner Vineyard gives a major boost to Wirra Wirra’s grape supply, buy Iain Riggs is philosophical about his loss. He says he has excellent alternative McLaren Vale growers in Derek and Raylene Wade.

Brokenwood has been taking shiraz, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay from the Wade Vineyard since 2001 and the fruit quality has been steadily improving.

“We enjoyed great success with our Rayner wines and we are sad to have lost Rayner as a source,” says Iain. “However the Wade Vineyard has been nudging ahead year by year and its grapes are excellent.”

Wine drinkers can put the quality to the test in the newly released Brokenwood 2006 Wade Block 2 Vineyard Shiraz, reviewed today in Uncorked.
5/14/2008 John Lewis  The Good Taste Guide 'Wine' - The Newcastle Herald

Vintage 2006. A Happy, Safe and Holy Easter to all my readers around the world. Here is something to drink after a day of indulging in chocolate;

Nowadays Brokenwood produces quite a few wines that originate from grapes other than from its Hunter Valley base. This medium bodied food friendly varietal of Italian origins is sourced from the Rayner family vineyards in McLaren Vale in South Australia. Sangiovese is one of the better Italian varietals to acclimatise here and hits the mark on a number of fronts including being suited for Australian warm weather red wine drinking. It is somewhere between Pinot Noir and Merlot on the density scale but more towards the Pinot side in terms of its evocative aroma profile. Anyway enough of the wine lesson for today. Exuding lashings of violets, savoury and dusty cherries and black olives, there is an intermingling of characters coming from the perfumed quite pronounced aromas. The alcohol is also there as is the McLaren earthiness. Unfolding and ensuing is a fair bit of raspberry as is also an underlying gaminess. It has the sort of aromas where you don’t mind being anti social and sticking your nose in the glass for longer than you normally would. The taste, you ask, well is medium with an imparted delicacy with cherries, strawberries and prunes, leaving a delightful savoury finish. Tis one of the better Sangiovese’s I’ve had of late. Really nice stuff to drink as well with some spaghetti with a puttanesca sauce.

Drink Now. About $30. 92/100 – Excellent.
3/23/2008 Paul Ippolito  The 5 Minute Wine Rush - www.paulippolito.com.au

Vintage 2005. The McLaren Vale Sangiovese is a young bright red wine that exhibits cherry fruit aroma with sweet oak coming through. The palate is full with a dry savoury tannin structure.
2/1/2007 Kim McMullen  Liquorwatch Magazine

Vintage 2005. Brokenwood is a Hunter Valley-based winery, but it has a broad view. Its winemakers, Iain Riggs and PJ Charteris, take grapes from many regions further afield in their quest to produce the best of everything, and in an interesting range of styles. Their backbone is still the Hunter semillon and shiraz, of which the pinnacle is Graveyard Vineyard, but they currently have arrangements with vineyards in McLaren Vale (for sangiovese, and shiraz in a quite different style to the Hunter), Beechworth (chardonnay, viognier pinot gris, nebbiolo and pinot noir), Orange (chardonnay and pinot noir) and Bathurst (chardonnay again, from Mount Panorama, no less).

All are interesting and many are excellent. But the chardonnays are especially fun because we can compare the same grape from three regions: Beechworth, Bathurst and Orange (they used to do a Hunter chardonnay, too, but alas, no more). These are what Riggs likes to think are wines with GUTS - Grapes with the Unique Terroir of Site.

My favourite of the three 2005 chardonnays is the Forest Edge Vineyard from a very high altitude vineyard at Orange. It's smoky, minerally ands complex, with balanced oak and fine, seamless acidity; good richness and depth. Very satisfying to drink with roast chicken. The Indigo Vineyard from Beechworth is bright and fruit-driven. Just right for prawns dunked in homemade mayonnaise.

The Mt Panorama Vineyard from Bathurst is shy, restrained and backward, with good lees characters and a firm spine. Not as persistent as the others, it probably needs more time to show its mettle. It's also a lovely drink. No exhaust fumes or burnt rubber. It would suit oysters with a squeeze of lemon.

All are at 14 per cent alcohol, screw-capped and priced at $27 to $30.
5/5/2007 Huon Hooke  Good Weekend Magazine - The Sydney Morning Herald

Vintage 2006. IT is 15 per cent alcohol, but this attractive McLaren Vale red shows no signs of the heavy ‘dead fruit’ characters that often accompany wines of such weight. It is ruby red with dark garnet tints and has Turkish delight and eucalyptus forest floor scents. Intense ripe blackcurrant flavor shows on the front of the palate and Cherry Ripe chocolate, white pepper and anise fruit characters integrate with nutty oak on the middle palate. Lingering berry fruit and earthy tannins combine at the finish. It would be excellent with chicken cacciatore, roast marinated kangaroo fillet or baked lamb fillets on kumera and mint mash with redcurrant and pepper sauce.
Ageing: 7 years
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars
RRP: $45
5/14/2008 John Lewis  The Good Taste Guide 'Bottler' - The Newcastle Herald

Vintage 2006. This is a tarry, earthy, gamey expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz. It has quite a deal of drying tannin and noticeable alcohol warmth, though its chocolaty, violetty, blueberried finish is very tasty indeed (the word ‘indeed’ should be mandatory in all wine reviews). This is matured in 80 percent American oak with the rest in new and one year old French. There’s evident oak but it’s been well played. Over the next three or four years this wine will make for very satisfying drinking.
Drink: 2009-2013
Points: 91
RRP: $45
Screwcap
4/23/2008 Campbell Mattinson  www.winefront.com.au

Vintage 2005. 90/100
Deep ruby. Dark berry, kirsch and candied plum on the nose, with bright floral and baking spice notes adding interest. Tightly wound on entry, with ripe red and dark berry flavours, smoky oak and succulent spices emerging with aeration. Tannins are present but the deep, sweet fruit consumes them for now. I suspect this will shut down soon but there's ample concentration to cellar this with confidence.
7/1/2007 Steven Tanzer (US)  Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Issue 133 July/August

Vintage 2004. Ultra McLaren Vale style, Black fruits and dark chocolate; stuffed full of everything, yet retains balance.

Rating 94
Drink 2018
6/1/2006 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2007 Edition

Vintage 2003. A rich and sweet mix of blackberry, plum, chocolate and vanilla/mocha oak; soft, almost plush, tannins; 60 year old vines. Screwcap.

Rating 94
Drink 2018
6/1/2006 James Halliday  Australian Wine Companion 2007

The adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has been widely embraced in the Australian wine industry, albeit with the modification “don’t have all your grape sources in one region”.

Under the inspired leadership of Iain Riggs, the Pokolbin-based Brokenwood operation has transformed itself in the past 23 years from a purely Hunter producer to a great exponent of regional egg-basketry.

Its Hunter Graveyard reds rank among Australia’s best and its ILR Hunter Semillons are excellent. But Brokenwood has also scaled the heights with wines it has made from grapes grown outside the Hunter.

Perhaps its greatest success was in the 2001 London International Wine Challenge, the most respected wine competition in the world.

The international judging panel selected the Brokenwood 1999 Rayner Vineyard Shiraz, made in the Hunter from grapes grown South Australia’s McLaren Vale area, as the best red and the best Shiraz of the competition.

The Brokenwood Rayner Shiraz wines made their first appearance in the 1993 vintage and are the product of 50 year old vines planted by David Rayner and his family on a spur of deep Blewitt Springs sand.

The flexible philosophy is evident in a new batch of four Brokenwood wines that includes the $30 Brokenwood 2004 Rayner Vineyard Sangiovese, the 2004 Jelka Riesling from McLaren Vale ($21.50 a 375ml bottle), the 2004 Mount Panorama Chardonnay ($30) from Orange and the Brokenwood 2004 Indigo Vineyard Viognier ($35) from Victoria’s Beechworth area.

The Rayner Sangiovese is a big, bold 15% alcohol potion with spicy, bramble jelly scents and blood plum and glace cherry flavours. Just perfect for braised lamb shanks and borlotti beans or chicken cacciatore.
4/9/2005 John Lewis  Weekend Section ~ Newcastle Herald

THERE’S ONE THING the experts all agree on: Hunter Valley wines are as good, as complex and as long- living as ever. Well priced, too. The last couple of vintages have been excellent, and being located just two hours up the road from Australia’s largest market, Sydney, everything must be rosy, right?
Well, not exactly. The truth is that the Hunter, for all its rich history (grapes were first planted there in the early 1820s), stunning scenery and award-winning wineries, has a far harder job selling its wines, especially its shiraz, than it should.
The Robert Parker-led trend towards blockbuster reds has affected the Hunter more than most regions because, no matter how you look at it, Hunter shiraz is more Mr Bean than it is Rambo. For all their earthy complexity, unique leatheriness and lip-smacking length, they aren’t big.
Bill Sneddon, winemaker at Allandale, knows the problems only too well. “I’ve always found it strange that people are prepared to pay hundreds of dollars for a bottle of Burgundy, which is a light-bodied wine, yet they want shiraz to be big and oaky. I can’t understand it,” he said. “But I think it’s important that we
stay true to the Hunter and continue to make wines the way we know best.”
The top band of Hunter shiraz is certainly outstanding, with Brokenwood Graveyard undoubtedly the star. The price has soared from $40 a bottle a few years back to $100 today – yet still it is snapped up. McWilliam’s and Tyrrell’s have good track records with their reds, and more lately wineries such as Meerea
Park, Glenguin and Thomas have been producing some superb wine.
If the lack of appreciation – perhaps “understanding” is a better word – for their shiraz leaves Hunter winemakers bemused, fortunately there’s no such confusion over the semillon.
Wine aficionados can’t speak highly enough about this long-living gem and its ability to evolve over time from a lean, taut youngster with lemon citrus flavours into an aged beauty that takes on beguiling toast and honey complexity.
If you want to experience semillon at its best, grab some white-fleshed fish, scallops, or prawns to see what all the fuss is about.
Australia’s most authoritative expert James Halliday, in his 2007 edition of The Australian Wine Companion, listed the top 23 semillons he’d tasted in the previous 12 months and no fewer than 19 were from the Hunter.
The Hunter’s compact size makes cruising cellar doors a much easier proposition than most other regions. You can drive at a leisurely pace from the less populated Lovedale side of the valley, across the main road – the newly named Wine Country Drive – through the heart of Pokolbin to the far side of the valley in less than 30 minutes.
It also means you can visit one of the larger establishments, such as McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant with its manicured lawns, cafe, and huge tasting area, and less than a minute later be pulling up at Tinklers, quite possibly the quaintest family-run winery of all of the Hunter’s 120 cellar doors.
“With us it’s about having a chat and old-fashioned service“ said Leonie Tinkler. “We sell most of our grapes to Mt Pleasant, but we keep enough to produce 1000 cases of wine under our own label.” Their income is supplemented by selling seasonal fruit grown on the property, as well as jams, chutneys and relishes that line the wall along the bar. It’s 60 seconds and a world away from McWilliam’s, and it’s part of what makes the Hunter special.
Then, of course, there’s the scenery. There are so many different aspects to the valley that the vistas differ widely. The most spectacular is probably Audrey Wilkinson: the wines are good but the view straight up the valley is breathtaking. A close second is Warraroong Estate in Lovedale, but Petersons on Mount View, Keith Tulloch on Hermitage Road, and Allandale and Sandalyn on the Lovedale side all offer wonderful views. And all the while you’re taking in the views you’re tasting some superb wines.
So, if the Graveyard is the most sought-after shiraz, which of the Semillons are the other shining lights?
Tyrrell’s Vat 1, McWilliam’s Lovedale and Brokenwood ILR are generally regarded as the big three, with a host of others hot on their heels, such as Thomas Braemore, Chatto, Tower and Warraroong.
On a much smaller scale the Hunter also offers two highly collectable chardonnays – Tyrrell’s Vat 47 and Lake’s Folly – and in more recent years some fruity verdelho. But there’s a twist. Along with its superb, elegant chardonnay, Lake’s Folly has bucked the trend and produced a cabernet that is soft, balanced
and complex, with tremendous ageing potential.
Cabernet? In the Hunter? Yes sir, and it sells like hotcakes.
If only the shiraz had it so good. ¦
6/1/2007 Rick Allen  Accor Traveller magazine