Published: August 20, 2008 10:49 am            

One of Australia’s top winemakers defied parents

The Wine Guys

Do you remember that as a kid you were curious about anything your parents said was bad for you?

That was the case for Chris Hatcher, who was told by his father — a Methodist minister — that wine was evil. Then his older sister won a bottle in a raffle and, too young to drink it, put her winnings on the shelf for Chris to examine with typical child curiosity.

We don’t know what happened to that bottle, but we do know that Chris grew up to become one of Australia’s top winemakers. Parents are sometimes wrong, right?

Chris has been senior winemaker at Wolf Blass for a decade and his wines from the Barossa are consistently some of the best we have tasted from Down Under. They have fruit-forward flavors yet offer promise for long-term aging.

Wolf Blass immigrated from Germany in 1961 to set up a business as a wine consultant. Five years later he set up his own winery, but couldn’t really dedicate himself to the business until 1973. His wines were instant success stories.

The labels — gold, grey, black and platinum — quickly identify the price level.

Chris recently shared his wines during a recent visit to the United States.

• Wolf Blass Edna Valley Gold Label Riesling 2007 ($18). This lush riesling has a luxurious quality to it and is more dry than most commercially made rieslings. Apple aroma with apple and citrus flavors. It would be a great match with seafood.

• Wolf Blass Gold Label Barossa Shiraz 2006 ($25). Good varietal flavors of blueberries and plums with a nice dose of mint and oak. Creamy mouthfeel with fine tannins make it a quaffable wine.

• Wolf Blass Grey Label Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($31). We loved the minty notes and spice in this luscious, rich cabernet. Blackberry and sweet vanillin oak round it out. It’s showing well now but will improve with several years in the cellar.

• Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz/Malbec 2004 ($75). Now in its 32nd consecutive year, this premium blend shows off the winemaker’s creativity. Intense currant and coffee aromas give way to a rich, full-bodied profile of plum, oak and spicy flavors. Very soft but durable texture make it a solid wine for the cellar.

• Wolf Blass Platinum Label Barossa Shiraz 2005 ($90). If the blend is all about the winemaker, this full-throttle reserve shiraz is all about place — Barossa. Using only the best shiraz grapes from select vineyards, this wine exudes luxury. Complex flavors of ripe blackberries, mocha, and spice. Full bodied with balanced structure.



MONTRACHET

Few people have the opportunity to taste inarguably the world’s best chardonnay: Montrachet. It’s expensive, hard to get but incredible to taste.

One of the many benefits of reviewing wines is that you get a chance to taste a great many young wines as they are released to the public. At this stage, these great wines are immature, only hinting at potential greatness in the distant future.

Don’t get us wrong — the vast majority of modern wines are ready to drink on release, and in fact should be consumed within 1-2 years. It is only the top 1-2 percent of all wines that need a period of aging for them to blossom into world-class mature wines.

We had the opportunity to sample one of these iconic rarities — the Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Grand Cru Marquis de Laguiche 2004 ($500), a legendary grand cru that has often been described as “the best white wine in the world.”

The Marquis de Laguiche is the largest of 14 landowners in Montrachet with about 5 acres of the total of 20 acres of land that can be legally labeled Montrachet.

A long term agreement with Maison Joseph Drouhin calls for them to manage the vineyards, harvest the grapes, and make and market the wine.

Montrachet is made from 100 percent chardonnay grapes grown on a south/southwestern facing slope, in poor limestone studded soil. The wine is barrel fermented in a mix of new and old oak, then aged for 9-10 months in barrels. The Drouhins believe that their Montrachet reaches its peak in 10-15 years.

Our curse, then, is that we had a chance to taste this delicious wine as it was released — but at this cost we won’t have a chance to taste it at its peak in another 10 years. But we’re not complaining.

The wine is a beautiful golden yellow color. The nose is ripe tropical fruit with citrus notes and a lovely toasty elegance. Very rich and round in the mouth with butterscotch, lemon and tangerine flavors. An amazingly long, creamy, mouthfilling finish that went on for a full 60 seconds.

        

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