In retrospect I should have known better. I accepted an invitation to visit Tower Estate not really sure what to expect, but nothing would quite have prepared me for what I saw and tasted. Tower Estate, as OnWine readers would be aware, is one of Len Evans’ latest playthings, a brand-new and rather brash winery project in the heart of Pokolbin financed by Evans and a group of twelve chosen from his better and better-off friends. Even Evans admits today that he’s going to have to slow down sooner or later, so I was totally unprepared for the depth and detail that Evans has infused into this remarkable project. Should have known better, of course, since he can’t do anything by halves. There’s nothing gimmicky about Tower Estate. Its structure is a memorable one, typical Evans, comprising large squat and blocky shapes, sloping walls and of course a proud tower itself, creating something of the effect of an ancient Scottish fortress. But instead of having a loch to overlook, Tower Estate sits amid a young vineyard which slopes along the road to Blaxland’s Barn which the group also now owns. It’s also down a gentle slope from Tower Lodge, presently under construction. Tower Lodge carries with it the same architectural theme imagined by Evans, somehow managing to combine the feeling of a medieval village, a Roman ruin and a Mayan fortress in a way that seems to me, at least, totally absorbing and natural. Mark my words, this boutique board lodge centre and retreat will make the cover of virtually every lifestyle publication in Australia. Behind its chunky, airy entrance, Tower Estate is equipped with a spacious and modern winery which gives young ex-Brokenwood winemaker Dan Dineen every flexibility and control. He only needed one assistant to complete the 2000 vintage, from which he has made an array of very impressive regional wines, but it’s the 1999 vintage of 8,000 cases that will put Tower Estate on the map for the right reason: darned good wine. Tower Estate’s concept is practically the antithesis of the total estate concept with which Len Evans began Rothbury’s chequered career. It’s an unashamed importer of juice or must from other regions and other states for it’s Evans’ intention to pick the eyes out of Australian wine, settling on his pick of the best ten different combinations of variety and region, provided of course he can get the fruit. The concept is to source fifteen tonnes of each batch, making a round thousand cases of each wine. As you’d expect, the Hunter Valley wins a few spots, with a semillon, a shiraz, a chardonnay and even a verdelho. Despite Evans’ enthusiasm for the latter wine, I reckon it’s just making up the numbers until something a little sexier puts up its hand. Tower Estate’s 1999 Verdelho (16.7, drink 2001-2004, $20 ex cellar) is an attractive, lightly-oaked and early-maturing wine with a chewy, almost oily palate of citrus and gooseberry fruit with soft acids and a smoky, herby edge. Bright and fun to be sure, but it’s in serious company. The Hunter is much better represented by the Hunter Valley Semillon 1999 ($18 ex cellar), a very fine, minerally young wine in the classic taut, lean Hunter mould. There’s a suggestion of grassiness about its lemony melon aroma and an underlying scent of wet slate. Long and steely, it’s true to type, drinking best around 2007-2011 and rating 18.0. Evans is predictably happy with this wine, but positively glows over the 1999 Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc (18.3, drink 2000-2001+, $25 ex cellar), which Dineen made from first-rate fruit sourced by a persuasive Evans through Michael Hill Smith. There have been some very fine 1999 sauvignons from the Adelaide Hills, but this is one of the finest. I like its acidity, its tightness and definition, its vibrant and focused gooseberry and cassis fruit and its lightly grassy freshness. It has rare length for an Australian sauvignon and could almost come from Marlborough. The Chardonnay 1999 has yet to be released and is a typically smart modern expression of Hunter chardonnay, with juicy rich melon and fig flavours, hints of tobacco and lemon and clean acids. Its oak is well enough balanced, but there’s not quite the length for top marks. It rates 17.0 and will drink best between 2001-2004+. Tower Estate’s Clare Valley Riesling 1999 (17.5, drink 2004-2007+, $20 ex cellar) is a fresh and racy but respectful and traditional style with a delicate musky perfume and whose excellent length of bright lemon/lime/pear fruit finishes steely and austere. Since they’re yet to be bottled, I tasted Tower Estate’s three 1999 reds from cask. They will sell from the cellar for between $30-40 and in each case amply justify that sort of investment, even for first releases. Just goes to show the advantage of not having to wait for young vines to mature. The Hunter Valley Shiraz (18.2, drink 2007-2011) comes from what Evans believes to be the valley’s finest block of shiraz. Although 1999 isn’t regarded in the same light as 1998 or 2000, it’s a marvellous example of a true Hunter style. Medium to full in weight, it’s not attempting to lool like a McLaren Vale clone, as indeed are so many modern Hunter reds. Instead, this is a tight-knit dark and fleshy wine whose fine tannins provide ample backbone for some deliciously sour-edged dark cherry/plum fruit and lightly smoky mocha oak influences. This wine has been given 60-70% French oak, Dan Dineen using some American cooperage for its lift and mid palate sweetness. Peter Lehmann surrendered enough top-notch old vine fruit to Evans for Tower Estate’s Barossa Valley Shiraz and he’d be delighted with the result. It’s a regional classic, richly fruited and structured but simultaneously elegant. Dineen has chosen 70-80% American oak, preferring its sweet coconut qualities for this wine. Its spicy licorice-like aromas of dark liqueur chocolates, ripe red fruits and plums work perfectly with its lightly smoky oak and tight, but firm extract. The best of the 1999s from Tower Estate, it rates 18.5 and will look best between 2001-2011. If Tower Estate’s Cabernet Sauvignon (18.3, drink 2007-2011+) is anything to go by, then the rumours were right about the 1999 vintage in Coonawarra. Although it’s straight cabernet with length and elegance aplenty, it’s supple and fleshy with good palate weight and richness. There’s a whiff of clove and nutmeg and a slightly herby note to its fragrance, while hints of tobaccoey, cedary and smoky complexity permeate its ripe red berry fruit. I expect that a number of OnWine subscribers will be very interested in Tower Estate’s direct marketing concept, the 200 Club. This club, which will never contain more than 200 members, costs nothing to join each year other than a case of every Tower Estate wine bought at normal case discount price. Evans expects that by limiting his total production to 1,000 cases of each wine, in three years time they will all be on allocation, putting 200 Club members in a pre-emptive posistion. Members will also be eligible to attend traditional Evans formula wine dinners at the winery, in Melbourne and in Sydney once a year and have a private room at the winery for their own entertainment. If Tower Estate’s wines weren’t impressive, I wouldn’t bother mentioning this club. But they are, very much so, and if you like the idea of receiving a collection of wines each year from top varieties and regions made by a company and a winemaker clearly able to deliver on their promises, this might suit your buying habits. At time of writing, there are under 100 places left. Call the winery on (02) 4998 7989 to find out more. Although few of us love a monument more than Len Evans, Tower Estate isn’t simply another monument which he may have created for himself. Instead, it is a genuine wine business about some very serious wine. And, I might add, a very healthy streak of typical hedonistic fun, a subject Len Evans knows rather a lot about.
