Tarrington Vineyards Chardonnay 2009

I’ve been busy. Very busy. In this busy-ness its very easy to miss things, or simply lose track of something. There is one thing in particular that I have not seen, and also missed, and that is Tarrington Vineyards wines from Western Victoria. Its been a few years since Di has put out a wine but this one has been worth the wait. The 2009 Chardonnay is full of chardonnay goodness on the nose with purity of citrus, with grapefruit singing loud. The palate is wonderfully blessed with a squeaky clean minerality note commanding all other flavours – grapefruit and licorice powder the dominant. A great return Di, and to sound mushy, ‘…you were always on my mind.’ And I have no idea who sang that, but no one will miss that!

Drink with snapper cooked in banana leaf
Drink till 2015
96
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $35 Blackheart & Sparrows Fitzroy North

Hochkirch 'Maximus' 2006 Tarrington Pinot Noir

Hochkirch, I recently found out is the original name of the western Victorian town of Tarrington. This area was essentially populated by German immigrants in the nineteenth century, and if you head out that way, around Hamilton and Tarrington, you will find a lot of their German roots still there, like the six Lutheran churches I counted in Hamilton; that's a few I reckon.

Another German throw back is Hochkirch Wines in Tarrington – it’s all coming together now isn’t it. Hochkirch have been producing biodynamic wines for some time now, and they have been doing it rather well I might say. One thing that makes this label ever so German is not the name, but the little insignia of the eagle crest on each side of the label; very German don’t you think?

But the wine. The Hochkirch ‘Maximus’ 2006 Tarrington Pinot Noir has a great pinky red look about it with obvious translucency. The nose is instantly gamey with a hint of freshness at the back coming through as strawberry. The mouth has a soft hit of spice up front with a long savoury run down the middle of the palate that is held up by crisp acid. Right at the end, when you think it is time to pack up and go home comes a lovely whack of beetroot and beetroot leaf which is really strong and, what reckon, really obvious; obviously!

Nicely balanced, great length with what I think is surprising complexity about it. All in all, a great wine.

Drink with lamb assiete
Drink till 2014
16.5/20

Tarrington Cuvee Emilie Pinot Noir 2004

I first came across this wine at a friend’s wedding (Chris Tarrington –not related to the label) back in 2002. You see Chris isn’t short of a dollar, so for the reception, we had Tarrington Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. My relationship with the wine lasted, Chris’s marriage sadly did not.
Tarrington Vineyard is located in Tarrington in western Victoria of all places, just east of Hamilton. First planted in 1993 with small amounts of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this winery has consistently produced wine that in very good vintages is easily passed as Burgundy. The vineyard is close planted with up to 8170 vines per hectare, spacings of effectively 1m x 1.2m. This is important to the quality of the finished product, but that can wait for another blog.
The approach in winemaking is very old school, with the Chardonnay seeing no oak and staying on lees for the entire nine months of maturity.
So, to this wine.
The colour is quite deep, very deep for a Pinot Noir. The nose is very spicey with cinnamon really coming on strong. In the mouth, like the nose, is full of spice with game and bacon fat opening up the longer in the glass; only good Pinot can do this. By the end of the wine, the hue was fading quite a bit, telling me that the wine is in its the home stretch.
All in all, sexy stuff this one.
Eat with rare to medium rare beef, and yes, duck.
Drink till 2012
17.6/20