In a project which combines many aspects of his previous ventures like Rothbury Estate and Bulletin Place, Len Evans is shortly to release the first wines under his new Tower Estate label. While there’s a distinct focus on Hunter Valley wines, Evans has looked further afield to make others from fruit sourced from ‘the greatest areas of Australia with the varieties they do best’. Not unexpectedly the Hunter scores with semillon and shiraz, but also rates a chardonnay and verdelho, while there will also be a riesling from Clare, an Adelaide Hills sauvignon blanc, a Barossa shiraz and a Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon. Evans also has his feelers out for some pinot noir from the Yarra Valley or Gippsland and possibly even a merlot from Mudgee, an area for which he harbours great anticipation with the merlot grape. ‘We’ve picked some of the best vineyard sites in Hunter and are paying a maximum for the fruit, but we don’t want any more than fifteen tonnes of any parcel of fruit. That way we’ll end up with about a thousand cases of each wine, most of which we’ll be selling directly from Tower Estate at Pokolbin itself.’ Reminiscent of the Rothbury concept, Evans wants his own mailing list and (as yet un-named) club, whose members will buy a case of each wine each year. He’s also talking of staging special functions for members and arranging masterclasses for them. Sympathetic souls, especially those with fond memories of the old Rothbury days, should call (02) 4998 7989 to express their interest. Don’t expect to see much Tower Estate in restaurants, and Evans doesn’t have any intentions at this stage to export any. There will only be a discount of around 10% to the wine trade. Winemaker Dan Dineen, formerly of Brokenwood, made 8,000 cases in 1999, all on site. Where the fruit came from other regions, it was shipped as juice for whites and as must for reds. Evans is keen to thank his friends who helped to supply Tower Estate with its first fruit, including Robert Hill Smith, Michael Hill Smith and Brian Croser. His Barossa shiraz came Peter Lehmann and I was present at the lunch during this year’s Barossa Valley Vintage Festival at which Evans was told by the venerable PL: ‘We listened to your whinging this afternoon and Marg and I decided that if you want it you can have 15 tonnes of our best fruit. Marg says I owe it to you and right at this second I want to wash that stupid bloody look off your face.’ I won’t repeat what Andrew Wigan, Lehmann’s chief winemaker, muttered under his breath at that poignant moment, but at least Evans says he’s made a ‘wonderfully deep licorice red’ out of it. It will be released in 2001. The Coonawarra cabernet has been made into a ‘leaner style’, the Hunter shiraz is ‘voluptuous’, while the whites are ‘very good’. To be released on October 18 (the day the project is awarded its licence), the Semillon, Verdelho and Riesling will each be priced at $20, the Sauvignon Blanc at $25. Interestingly, Evans is prepared to let consumers set the prices over the long haul. In the unlikely event that any wine doesn’t entirely sell out in its first year, its price will reduce the next year. There may be an escape clause in this logic which he might later deploy to increase prices should the demand prove to exist, but we shall have to wait and see. Tower Lodge also forms a part of the development. It’s a twelve-unit board lodge concept whose spacious rooms and boardroom are suited for weekend holidaying and business use during the week. Evans and team are also developing a citrus and olive grove on the property.
