It was the first Australian wine region to develop its own appellation scheme; its chardonnay and semillon have frequently saved the bacon of dozens of Hunter Valley growers; it is becoming a major NSW processing centre for one of Australia’s largest wine companies, yet hardly anybody thinks of Mudgee as a serious wine region. The sleepy little hollow is now getting its first real taste of corporate life. Perhaps it’s because its name doesn’t have quite the ring of a Coonawarra or a Margaret River. Perhaps it’s because there isn’t a grape variety which performs better in Mudgee than anywhere else. Perhaps it’s just that little bit too far from Sydney for the average weekend winery visitor, or perhaps its winemakers are a little more publicity-shy than some from the Yarra Valley or Tasmania, but Mudgee has been viewed as the perpetual bridesmaid of Australian wine. All that’s about to change. Mudgee’s about to come in from the cold and finally assert itself as a quality wine region in its own right, out from underneath the Hunter Valley’s shadow to be seen as a principal player in New South Wales’ renaissance as a major producer of premium wine. Such is the confidence of Australia’s third largest wine producer, Orlando Wyndham, that it is directing $12 million of its $50 million capital boost from its French parent, Pernod Ricard, towards its Mudgee-based wineries and vineyards. The Montrose and Craigmoor wineries are both in line for upgrading and expansion to help Orlando Wyndham meet its anticipated export targets, which have been significantly boosted by the emergence of the Mudgee-based Poet’s Corner label as a significant international brand. Destined also to handle the increased production from Orlando Wyndham’s ongoing expansion of its Hunter Valley vineyard resources, Montrose will receive $10 million worth of new crushing, fermentation and storage equipment, taking its capacity from 3,000 tonnes at present to 12,000 tonnes by 2000. Aside from the dominant Orlando Wyndham presence, Mudgee is home to several small makers of exceptional interest and fervour. The passion for music displayed by the Roberts family at Huntington Estate’s annual Music Festival is rivalled by Botobolar’s bent towards organic vineyard management and preservative-free winemaking. Established by Gil Wahlquist in 1971, Botobolar has now passed into the hand of Kevin Karstrom who proudly continues Wahlquist’s organic vineyard philosophy, with predictably varied, but noteworthy results. Botobolar’s rare and distinctive marsanne (7/10) is scented with honeysuckle and orange blossom. Huntington Estate’s Bob Roberts and other local small makers are excited by the transition from the region’s sleepy past and enjoy the recognition developed by exciting new regional wines such as Rosemount’s multi-award winning Mountain Blue Shiraz Cabernet 1994 (8/10), as smart and polished a red in the modern oaky Australian style as you could imagine. More than just with numbers, it’s also impressive to see what Orlando Wyndham is doing with its fruit. The company’s best Mudgee red is the Montrose Cabernet Merlot (8/10) which, if labelled under a more fashionable Australian brand, would probably fetch a lot more money than it does today. A stylish and sophisticated wine, it makes a welcome introduction to Mudgee’s cabernet-based reds, including the Huntington Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (7/10), Botobolar Cabernet Sauvignon (7/10), Miramar Cabernet Sauvignon (7/10) and the Thistle Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (8/10), from region’s leading cabernet maker. The Mudgee cabernet style is firm and quite rich, with stable colours and ripe red berry fruit over earthy, dusty undertones. Bob Roberts established Huntington Estate in 1969. He’s still taken by the depth of flavour, structure and colour of the region’s reds and enjoys watching them develop with bottle age. ‘Whatever it is that gives Mudgee’s reds the ability to acquire complexity with age always seems to be there’s, he says. ‘We don’t have to work the grapes excessively to make long-term wines’. Craigmoor’s Shiraz (7/10) is as spicy and soft as the contemporary Australian standard for this rediscovered grape, ready to drink at release but equally capable of short-term cellaring. Huntington Estate’s outstanding shiraz (7/10) is a regional favourite, released like many of Mudgee’s small maker wines, after two or three years cellaring. Mudgee’s leading white variety is chardonnay. Although Bob Roberts says that more of the region’s producers pursue an earlier-drinking fruitier style these days, Mudgee chardonnay can develop in the bottle to acquire delicious honeyed complexity. Typically peachy and citrusy, it has a generous and creamy texture with a lemon rind note. Montrose (7/10), Craigmoor (7/10) and Thistle Hill (7/10) each make consistently fine chardonnays, while the rather more erratic Miramar (6/10) can eclipse them all on occasions. When traditionally made without oak maturation Mudgee’s semillon begins life with lemon sherbet and honeydew melon flavours which slowly develop towards honey and toast. Miramar (6/10) and Huntington Estate (7/10) are the region’s leading producers, while the semillon grown at Orlando Wyndham’s various Mudgee vineyards invariably finds its way into a bottle of the racy, fragrant white Poet’s Corner (7/10) where it’s blended with sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. With a climate not entirely dissimilar to the Upper Hunter, Mudgee has a reliably dry and hot ripening season, although in recent years summer rains have made life more difficult than most growers can remember. Its soils are typically old and degraded, while the regions’ supply of bore water is certainly finite, ultimately restricting yields and prohibiting it from riverland-like expansion. It’s really not that difficult to understand why companies like Orlando Wyndham and Rosemount Estate have such confidence in Mudgee. While it’s still possible that a super-premium red wine brand may emerge from the region, its main attraction is its ability to consistently produce rich, flavoursome wines of genuine varietal character at a price which pleases both producers and customers alike.
