Mount Mary 2016 Vintage Release

Wednesday, October 24, 2018 in News

Mount Mary 2016 Vintage Release

Sam Middleton of Mount Mary paid Langton’s a visit this week and took our wine-broking team through a tasting of his brand new 2016 vintage releases. See the range here.

Sam Middleton is the grandson of Mount Mary’s founder, the late Dr John Middleton

Sam Middleton is the grandson of Mount Mary’s founder, the late Dr John Middleton.

Sam Middleton of Mount Mary paid Langton’s a visit this week and took our wine-broking team through a tasting of his brand new 2016 vintage releases.

The 2016 Yarra Valley vintage was warm, dry - and compressed: grapes were picked over a much shorter period than normal, less than two weeks rather than the usual four to six.

The four 2016 Mount Mary wines are, as a group, fruit-forward (though not ‘big’) and approachable compared with recent vintages.

This is especially noticeable with the white Bordeaux-inspired Triolet (67% Semillon, 23% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Muscadelle) which is noticeably less austere than usual. Triolet is a distinctive winestyle (unlike any other SSB) with a small but passionate following snapping up the mere 300-400 dozen made each year.

The 2016 Pinot Noir is savoury and true to style, and the 2016 Chardonnay shows Middleton is not afraid of ‘real’ Chardonnay flavour, with phenolic (‘struck-match’) character an important but secondary consideration.

The flagship 2016 Mount Mary Quintet (46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot) shows a bright, red-fruit character, perhaps due to the higher-than-normal proportion of Cabernet Franc, though Middleton says the Cabernet Sauvignon showed a similar brightness.

Middleton strongly asserts Quintet’s flagship status, making it clear that a 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, to be released next June to mark 40 years of winemaking at Mount Mary, is very much a one-off. The wine is from the original 1972 Cabernet plantings and there are just 649 bottles, to be priced at $485 each.

Mount Mary Quintet was the first Bordeaux blend to enter the Classification’s top, ‘Exceptional’, category

Mount Mary Quintet was the first Bordeaux blend to enter the Classification’s top, ‘Exceptional’, category.

Sam Middleton is the grandson of Mount Mary’s founder, the late Dr John Middleton, who single-mindedly took Mount Mary to its current position as Australia’s leading small producer, a status the younger Middleton has consolidated since he took over as winemaker in 2011.

Three Mount Mary wines were included in the original 1990 Langton’s Classification of Australian wine, and all three remain Classified. Mount Mary Quintet was the first Bordeaux blend to enter the Classification’s top, ‘Exceptional’, category in 1996.

In the new Classification VII, released in September, Quintet still ranks ‘Exceptional’, the Pinot Noir is in the “Outstanding’ category and the Chardonnay is rated ‘Excellent’.

Mount Mary’s total annual production is around 4000 dozen.

If you’re interested in adding these incredible wines to your collection, you can find Mount Mary here.

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