Rosehill Limited Release Hunter Valley Shiraz

See several previous Delectable notes. Colour is very youthful - no tawny rim - a rich Ruby red. Rich plum, very earthy , ferrous / iron filings. It needed 16 years to show its Hunter Valley origins. In its early years it was more “South Australian “ in its flavour profile. Savoury and stalky and developing a little Hunter Valley “sweaty saddle “. Tasted another bottle 20 weeks later on 10th February 2023. Still more South Australian in flavour than Hunter Valley.

See several previous tasting notes for this wine. This was made back in the day when Hunter Valley reds had strayed from their medium bodied, savoury, sweaty saddle origins to being riper and more full bodied like a South Australian Red. This was declared in a speech by Chief Winemaker at the time, Jim Chatto, at a dinner I attended at the winery. Also plenty of oak still evident at 15 years of age. I prefer the original Hunter Valley style which Mount Pleasant has wisely reverted to utilising the wonderful old vine fruit at its disposal. Tasted again 35 weeks later on 26th March 2022. Nothing to add to the note here. A Hunter Valley wine trying to look like a South Australian wine back in 2006 with ripe fruit and oak. Thankfully HV reds have returned to the medium weight savoury long living style that Maurice O’Shea made in the 1950’s.

Dense ripe plum and dried plum notes with an overly healthy dose of oak. Medium to full bodied palate. Not your normal Hunter Valley Shiraz - more like a South Australian Shiraz as I’ve mentioned in a previous note. Still retains the Hunter Valley earthiness but not as medium bodied sweaty saddle that Hunter Valley Shiraz should be and was traditionally. Great that Hunter Valley producers have returned to the old medium bodied savoury styles which shone in 2014 and 2017. Tasted 21 weeks later on 24th January 2021 with similar notes to above. Still dusty oak and earthy sweaty notes. Medium to full bodied - also a note of black plum on the palate.