By Tom Neal Tacker
The Mudgee vintage
is in full swing. Wine makers and purveyors are looking bleary eyed. Grape
juice stained hands tightly grip glasses, while tempers and humours are in high
alert. It’s an adrenaline fuelled and fascinating time of the year,
particularly in drunken Mudgee, the self-styled ‘Woollahra of the West’.
Frog Rock Wines and
Riedel co-hosted a wine and food matching dinner at the Butcher Shop Café (49
Church St Mudgee, NSW Tel: 02 6372 7373) last weekend. I would drive even
further to get my hands on another set of Riedel glasses by the way but I
rarely need an excuse to visit Mudgee. It’s a writer’s paradise. So many
characters just waiting or wanting to have their stories told…
The old butcher
shop contained a crowded and rowdy Riedel wine dinner with aplomb. Frog Rock
rose to the occasion with good wines, even adding a couple of rare museum
releases, including their 1998 premium Shiraz/Cabernet blend which with the
2004 Merlot, accompanied the ‘Chilli blue swimmer crab with rice and kimchee’
as a main course. It was an interesting food choice and nearly but not quite
worked (hunger pangs won out over exactitude perhaps) though the
Shiraz/Cabernet really needed another course unto itself. The chilli/kimchee overwhelmed
this wine in its prime but the Merlot managed to survive by virtue of its rich
berry fruit palate and subtle tannins.
To begin the 2004
Old Vine Semillon was served outside with hors d’oeuvres in order to allow the
staff to re-set the tables after the Riedel class that preceded the dinner.
“You’re not allowed to drink on the concrete footpath, council laws, so drink
on the asphalt in the street instead,” said Fiona Turner, Frog Rock’s marketing
mistress, the night’s emcee and a whiz at on the spot innovation. Frog Rock’s
wines are made by David Lowe and Jane Wilson (surely Australia’s most unsung
dynamic winemaking duo-those Henschke’s get a lot of press) and Simon Gilbert
using fine fruit sourced from Frog Rock’s own Edgell Ln. vineyard as well as from
a number of other Mudgee growers who’ve been unceremoniously dumped from
Southcorp/Rosemount after years of honourable association.
The Semillon was
refreshing and true to form, low alcohol, pronounced acidity and zesty. ‘Tassie
oysters natural’ and ‘Smoked eel puree with cucumber’ were good matches for
this racy wine.
Back inside for the
entrée, no arrests despite a crowd of over sixty drinking and noshing noisily
on the outlawed footpath, we had a ‘Three cheese pinenut torta with warm
olives’ and the 2003 Chardonnay. If you like ripe, leaning towards an oxidised
state and very peachy, apricot-ish chardonnay, then this is for you. All front
with little back Chardonnay isn’t my preference but that’s a matter of style
and regional characteristic.
We finished with a
‘Yellow box honey semi-freddo’ and the 2004 ‘Sticky Frog’ botrytis Semillon, a
very good example of botrytis affected Semillon made with restraint. It has a
nice marmalade-y nose and finishes tight without the blowsy loose aftertaste of
too many stickies made here in Australia.
Prior to the
Riedel/Frog Rock dinner we made our way for an aperitif to Roth’s Wine Bar (30
Market St. Tel: 02 6372 1222) a Mudgee institution and the holder of NSW’
oldest wine bar licence. Simon and Mandy Gilbert acquired the premises not long
after Christmas. They’ve given it a fresh lick of paint and a good clean. Who
knew it had a back garden that also contains a tiny kitchen? The Gilberts
intend to provide a “tapas like menu of simple food” in the near future and will
include a comprehensive retail selection of Mudgee wines. In the meantime, some
things remain the same: ‘Diesel’ and ‘1080’ still sell at $2 per tumbler,
clearly one of the country’s best value for money drinking dens; full of
history and some of Mudgee’s more notorious characters. If you want to catch up
on Mudgee gossip, (la plus ca change at the grapes of Wrath’s Wine Bar) stop
here first. Ask Mandy to tell you about some of the local ghosts.
Apart from my usual
favourites: Huntington Estate, Lowe Family Wine Co, Miramar Wines, Botobolar
(quixotic but always interesting), Elliot Rocke Estate, Abercorn, Blue Wren
Wines and Thistle Hill Vineyard we visited Peterson’s Glenesk Estate (02 6373
3149) and Di Lusso Estate (02 6373 3125). The Petersons set up in Mudgee some
six years ago (also still in the Hunter and recently in New England close to
Armidale) and makes the exceedingly rich red wines that Mudgee is famous for:
Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and a blend of the two. Gold medal winners at the
recent Mudgee shows, these reds are massive, dense, almost chewy wines. There’s
also a well-made Verdelho that I liked a lot. It’s fresh and attractively
‘green’ with a sharp finish and is pleasant drinking now. Their Chardonnay was
similar to the Frog Rock, made from very ripe fruit and lacking the finish I
prefer. However if you like in-your-face Chardonnay, then Mudgee has it in
abundance, most of it for less than $20 too.
Di Lusso is a
wonderful surprise. It’s one of Mudgee’s untraditional wineries if you think that
an exclusive Italian varieties range is indeed untraditional. Mudgee’s history
includes Italian migration and grape growing so this is a matter of conjecture.
There used to be a lot of Trebbiano grown in Mudgee (that Italian heritage) at
one time, but most of it was pulled or grafted over to suit the changing times.
That’s too bad I think. It could be used now to make a light easy-drinking
white or blended into some of their monster reds much as Viognier is used now
in the Barossa. Just a thought, but I propose that the Sangiovese could use it.
Unfortunately the
Pinot Grigio and Vino Rosato were sold out but they did have left just a
tasting sample of the 2004 Vermentino (fruit sourced from a grower near
Mildura), a fine example of this unusual variety. Tropical fruit notes, crisp
long finish; I was thinking of a plate of fried calamari as I tried it. At $21
it’s a good buy. I really liked both the 2003 Sangiovese and the 2003 Barbera.
$25 for either is a bit pricey but the $285 per dozen is slightly better value.
The Barbera is a wonderful quaffer and the Sangiovese is stunning, full of
black cherry varietal character, dusty tannins, like a good Chianti Classico.
The 2004 Nebbiolo was interesting but ultimately disappointing. Mudgee is
simply too warm for this fickle grape variety. Di Lusso is grafting its
Nebbiolo over to Lagrein to solve the problem. It’s to their credit that
they’ve recognised the necessity. The 2003 ‘Il Palio’ a 50% Sangiovese, 25%
Cabernet and 25% Shiraz ‘Super Tuscan’ style is good value at $25. I liked it
for its food accompanying strength. We finished with a 2003 Aleatico ($23 for a
500ml bottle) and liked it enormously. After so many overwrought stickies, I’m
more than ready for a sweet but lightly pinkish coloured finish to a meal, or
on its own as the case may be. It’s redolent with peaches, almonds and guavas.
We sampled some fresh figs with the Aleatico and also tried the house olive
oil. Di Lusso has a charming cellar door using to great advantage their fig and
olive groves as they ‘value add’ to the wines on offer with preserves, chutneys
and pickled olives for sale.
Sunday the day
after lunch at Deeb’s BYO Lebanese in a garden (Buckaroo Ln. almost opposite
Huntington Estate Tel: 02 6373 3133 open weekends and holidays) is another
Mudgee institution. (Many of the winemakers from the Riedel dinner were there
the next day nursing their hangovers.) Jane Wilson brought her Tinja Range 2004
Sauvignon Blanc (fruit sourced from Orange) and the amazing 2004 Nullo Mountain
Riesling. David Lowe turned up later and told me that Len Evans said to him
that it was the best Australian Riesling he’d ever had and, “Why didn’t you
ever make a wine like that when you worked for me you bastard?” The 2004
vintage has sold out but the 2005 will be available later this year, “in a
drier style” David tells me. Tinja Range wines sell for under $20. Incredible
value!
Deeb’s is a
curiosity. Proprietors Sybill and Bechora are original ‘tree-changers’ having
given up big smoke jobs at Sydney’s Hilton to escape to the country quiet of
Mudgee’s outer fringe. Bechora cooks delicious Lebanese home-style food. The
‘Lebanese Tomato omelette’, ‘Grilled Chicken with Chilli’, and ‘Mixed Plate’
with bastourma, stuffed vine leaves, labna, olives, eggplant pickle, hummus and
yogurt dip, priced from $15 to $17 were excellent. Sybill commands the small
patio and larger garden dining areas like it’s her personal fiefdom. Beware the
customer who treads on the unwritten law of the land. Sybill will unleash her
inner Medusa faster than you can say, “May I have… please?” But the ‘service’
is part of Deeb’s charm, I think.
We stopped in at
Frog Rock to check out the cellar door, have a coffee and de-brief with Fiona.
Her dad Ken Turner, founder of Frog Rock in about 1974, (about the same time
that his mate Bob Roberts started Huntington Estate) was in hospital recovering
from a quadruple bypass. “He’s keen to get back here for vintage of course,”
said Fiona. They’re breaking ground on a new cellar door facility soon. “It’s
designed by Glenn Murcutt, first time he’s designed a cellar door. He’s a
friend of my parents.”
Mudgee is full of
surprises. It doesn’t get the foodie press that Orange does. It doesn’t get the
numbers (thank heavens for this) that the Hunter does. The wineries are within
easy reach of the town. It’s even possible to bicycle to many of them, giving
the designated driver some exercise and a break. Mudgee moves along doing what
it does so well: producing underrated wines for good prices, value adding to
the best of its abilities with olive groves, apiaries, cheese making,
bush-walking and history. Mudgee doesn’t have a gross suburban mall (what
suburbs?) so the high streets of the town have maintained a friendly
atmosphere. The locals go there to shop, gossip and peruse. The cafes and
restaurants are doing their best at cooking up local produce and often doing it
very well. There are seven pubs in town. The old theatre, The Regent, is up for
sale now just waiting for a new owner. Certainly Mudgee is stock full with
characters wanting their time on a larger stage. There’s no lack of stories or
interest here.
Contact Mudgee
Visitor Information Centre: 84 Market St. Tel: 02 6372 1020 or
www.mudgee-gulgong.org for maps,
accommodation advice and events. Some wineries are open by appointment only
during the week. Ring first to confirm.