{"id":1558072,"date":"2025-12-12T17:33:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T17:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.67pallmall.com\/?p=1558072"},"modified":"2025-12-15T13:40:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:40:57","slug":"on-the-road-richard-hemming-mw-in-margaret-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.67pallmall.com\/on-the-road-richard-hemming-mw-in-margaret-river\/","title":{"rendered":"ON THE ROAD | Richard Hemming MW in Margaret River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our Head of Wine for Asia Pacific made the trek from Singapore to Western Australia last month to join an enthusiastic crowd for a series of comparative tastings pitting Australia’s top wines against counterparts from around the world<\/em><\/strong>. Here, he recounts the highlights<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lined up at long tables inside high-roofed winery sheds, flanked by wooden barrels and stainless-steel tanks, dozens of participants taste through rows of wines in silence. The only noise is slurping, spitting and the odd clink of a glass, echoing around the room like wind chimes. Even the faintest of whispers is abruptly shushed, while deeper discussions of any kind are saved for later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a far cry from the revelry you might typically associate with the Australian wine scene. But once a year, the producers of Margaret River<\/strong>, Western Australia\u2019s famous fine-wine paradise, gather wine lovers and trade from far and wide to participate in a grand tradition of comparative blind tastings, pitting the great wines of Australia against their counterparts from around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The assembled gathering receive their instructions before tasting (basically, no talking)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three such tastings take place on successive days: the Howard Park Global Sparkling Tasting<\/strong>; the Cape Mentelle International Cabernet Tasting<\/strong>; and the\u00a0Cullen International Chardonnay Tasting<\/strong> \u2013 and last month, I was there to join the silence. Blind tastings in this format allow an assessment of quality as objectively as possible. And that quality is palpable: among the sparkling wines are Bollinger<\/strong>\u2019s flagship late-disgorged RD<\/strong> from 2008; English upstart The Trouble With Dreams 2020<\/strong> from Sugrue South Downs<\/strong>; and over-achievers from Roederer Estate<\/strong> in California and Ca\u2019 del Bosco<\/strong> in Franciacorta.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cabernet lineup includes knee-wobblers from Sassicaia<\/strong>, Lafite-Rothschild <\/strong>and Spottswoode<\/strong> as well as a wildcard from Lost Mountain<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0previously known as RdV Vineyard<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0in Virginia, whose 2022 was my joint highest-score of the flight. Meanwhile, the Chardonnays take in a Chablis grand cru from Christian Moreau<\/strong>, a premier cru Meursault from Fabien Coche<\/strong>, and Kumeu River<\/strong>\u2019s legendary Mat\u00e9\u2019s Vineyard<\/strong>. Up against these globetrotters are toppermost Australian challengers: fizz from Howard Park<\/strong>, Pirie<\/strong> and House of Arras<\/strong>; Cabernets from Moss Wood<\/strong>, Wendouree<\/strong> and Cape Mentelle<\/strong>; and Chardonnays from Giaconda<\/strong>, Tolpuddle<\/strong> and Cullen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The line-up of wines to be tasted spanned top names from across the world, which in the case of the Cabernets included California, Tuscany, Australia and Bordeaux, as well as an overachieving outlier from Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The wines \u2013 around 24 per tasting \u2013 are split into three flights, or brackets, to use the Australian term. After each one, tasters gather outside the winery buildings in the spring sunshine, and after the silence, a lively discussion ensues. Comments on each bracket are given by a pair of guest speakers \u2013 among the notable Australian critics present were Nick Ryan<\/strong>, Huon Hooke<\/strong> and Andrew Caillard MW<\/strong>. I was invited to share my thoughts on a bracket of Chardonnays and a bracket of sparklings. Finally, the larrikin Aussie spirit comes to the fore. My words on the sparkling wines coincided with the first morning of the Ashes Test Match in Perth, where the England team were undergoing a chronic capitulation. This did not go unmentioned. But the bantering is affectionate \u2013 and, more importantly than the humans, the wines are given due respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty years ago, the objective of these tastings was to benchmark acknowledged classics from around the world against what were then Australian upstarts. Today, the Aussies\u2019 reputation has been repeatedly proven, so that rivalry has become somewhat tempered \u2013 but the temptation to identify each wine remains irresistible. For the Chardonnay<\/strong> and Cabernets<\/strong>, the European examples were reassuringly obvious. In the former category, their identity was betrayed not so much by terroir as by closure: the difference in oxidative development for the wines under cork was apparent. Whereas for the Cabernets, a certain savoury character (often blamed on Brettanomyces, the yeast that can cause farmyard-type aromas) was a reliable giveaway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Giving his thoughts on the wines, Richard’s accent \u2013 and, possibly, headwear \u2013 opened him up to some stick from the locals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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With the sparkling wines<\/strong>, it was much harder to discern which came from Champagne<\/strong> \u2013 for me, at least. The methods of production which mark the best fizz can be repeated anywhere, and pockets of cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are now well-established worldwide. My top-scoring fizz were from Tasmania (Pirie Late Disgorged 2011<\/strong>), Franciacorta (Ca\u2019 del Bosco Cuv\u00e9e Prestige Edizione 47<\/strong>) and California\u2019s Anderson Valley (Roederer Estate L\u2019Ermitage 2019<\/strong>). Among the Cabernets \u2013 all from the 2022 vintage \u2013 I most enjoyed Ornellaia<\/strong>, Ch\u00e2teau L\u00e9oville Las Cases<\/strong>, Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019Issan<\/strong> and Yarra Yering Carrodus<\/strong>. Whereas for the 2021 Chardonnays, my best bottles were Tolpuddle<\/strong>, Cullen Kevin John<\/strong> and Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the original objective was to benchmark Australia\u2019s best, today these blind tastings are a celebration of wine\u2019s ever-improving quality around the world. There are few better places than Margaret River to witness that quality first hand \u2013 it\u2019s worth breaking the silence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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