Mitchell Harris Sabre Vintage 2010

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Julian Coldrey

The second release of Mitchell Harris’s sparking wine, this has credentials that stretch back far beyond the establishment of this label. Indeed, John Harris brings a wealth of experience as former winemaker at Domaine Chandon to this wine, and it’s important to remember Western Victoria was once renowned for its sparkling wines above all other styles. So, quite a pedigree.

The style here, as with the 2008, places an emphasis on freshness and generosity. It’s an absolute crowd-pleaser, in fact, but still retains a range of complexities of flavour that reward closer tasting. What I like about this wine in particular is how its lees-derived, savoury notes creep their way in softly, adding interest to a core of citrus fruit and creating an edge of sophistication without robbing the wine of its fundamental deliciousness.

Acid and texture, the bugbears of many an Australian sparkling, are well-handled here. The palate has a creamy mouthfeel that complements its fruit and spice flavours well. There’s ample spritz which means the wine is lively in the mouth, yet it has a softness to its textures that is pleasing. Some nice, chalky phenolic pucker brings up the rear.

While it’s possible to approach this wine analytically, that would be somewhat missing the point of a style that seems designed, first and foremost, for drinking.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A40
Closure: Diam
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Sauvignon Blanc Fumé 2013

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Julian Coldrey

Mitchell Harris has evolved a clever direction for its Sauvignon Blanc. Whilst remaining recognisably varietal, this wine benefits from a range of winemaking inputs including a portion of wild fermentation and maturation in oak. The result is a style that contains the variety’s signature flourishes in a slinky, sophisticated package.

The aroma is equal parts gooseberry and wood, each well balanced with respect to the other, all underlined by some subtly funky notes. There’s something substantial yet crystalline about the aroma profile. Its notes possess the freshness of the variety, giving up some of the sharp distinctiveness of a Marlborough wine in exchange for an attractive depth and gloss. I can see a lot of happy noses buried in this wine in Summer.

In the mouth, a slippery, bright experience. Entry is slick, fruit flavour riding a glossy texture through to a mid-palate that broadens with tropical fruit and caramel. It’s not a confrontingly complex wine, but there’s a good range of sweet and savoury notes, and the whole is quite expansive. Texture becomes progressively more layered as the wine progresses, the after palate showing a really substantial mouthfeel, slightly reminiscent of a caramel chew. The finish is clean and herbal.

This is such a nice style.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Sauvignon Blanc Fumé 2012

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

Given the dominance of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in Australia, it’s a brave producer who attempts something truly different. With this label, Mitchell Harris offers a true alternative to the floridly aromatic Kiwi style. Winemaking includes wild yeasts and oak maturation. The end result is a restrained, elegant Sauvignon Blanc.

The aroma shows hints of varietal character in the form of light gooseberry and nettle. The dominant aroma is a sort of slatey understatement, like a blanket of minerality under which fruit is bound. Mostly, though, it’s notable for how quiet it is, preferring to slowly release aromas than throw them in your face. Like a slow strip tease.

And as one might imagine of a stripper, there’s luridness too, with Sauvignon Blanc’s neon-and-fake-tan flavours very much present. Yet even in the mouth, it’s a slow burn of a wine, very fresh, but more sea spray than fruit juice; the varietal’s hallmark acid kicks in from mid-palate onwards. Despite the understated flavour profile, there’s actually significant intensity, and this wine shows greater persistence than one ordinarily might expect.

Sauvignon Blanc for grown ups.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A22.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Mataro Grenache Shiraz 2011

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

There’s all sorts of chatter about 2011 in certain parts of Australia. There’s no doubt some good wines have emerged out of challenging conditions, but it’s equally true that some wines show the difficulties of the vintage. As a drinker, I’m sometimes interested in tasting the latter wines, because they are instructive and, at their best, can be differently enjoyable from those made in better years.

This wine, from boutique Victorian producer Mitchell Harris, shows a clean simplicity that, while ruling it out of contention as a wine worthy of extended contemplation, indicates a genuine and skilful attempt to make the most of the season’s challenges. On the nose, a meaty, peppery, nougat-like, red fruited aroma profile, which expresses as a series of loosely connected smells rather than something seamless and integrated. There’s a sharpness to the pepper note that I quite like, but the whole lacks definition and a coherent narrative.

In the mouth, a burst of red fruits, somewhat confected in character, along with more meat and leafy greens. It’s not especially intense, and it lacks a bit in texture. Its attractive flavours seem in search of a structure through which to express themselves, and this relative lack of form makes the wine drink as more of a quaffer than something especially demanding.

John Harris is a highly skilled winemaker, and expectations of this producer are high. In absolute terms, this wine may disappoint, but to craft something simple and attractive from a difficult year isn’t something to take for granted, and I look forward to subsequent vintages of this wine so I can better understand what Mitchell Harris is aiming for with this label.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A26.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Sabre Vintage 2008

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

This has been a long time in the making. I remember talking with John Harris about it a couple of years ago and, even though it was a long way off release, I sensed his excitement. And I feel excited too, because his tenure as sparkling winemaker at Domaine Chandon creates what I feel is a reasonable expectation of quality to this tasting. Mr Harris should know what he’s doing, a fact his still wines have amply demonstrated to me, but to which this wine brings an extra frisson of anticipation.

The nose keeps me excited and shows evidence of the wine’s three years on lees. There’s a clean, pure vibe to the aroma that absorbs bready notes into a matrix of bright fruit, clear juice and the sort of lean florals that aren’t heady so much as piercing. It’s the integration of notes that impresses most – this aroma profile is quite coherent. In the mouth, good texture and relatively fine spritz pave the way for a surprisingly generous set of flavours. The aromatic citrus fruit is as much pulp as rind, and there’s a sense of weight that carries this wine through a few levels of complexity. It’s not the most aggressively savoury wine I’ve ever tasted, and there’s enough sweetness to soften and swell the palate. The sweetness is never intrusive, though, and does not mask an inherently funky streak to the flavour profile. Notes of crusty bread and tropical fruit alternate, vying for first place. Neither wins, but it’s awfully fun to taste them fighting it out.

A very impressive first sparkling release for Mitchell Harris. The maker is serious about this style, and I look forward to the next release.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A40
Closure: Diam
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Rosé 2011

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Julian Coldrey

I’m not aware of any other Pinot Noir Sangiovese Rosés made of grapes sourced from the Pyrenees and Macedon Ranges – so this immediately scores points as a curio. It’s much more than a novelty though; this is a seriously tasty wine.

The nose immediately sets the tone with a nice hit of savoury, slightly funky musk and red berry fruit. One of the things I enjoy about dryer rosé styles is the wildness their aroma profiles can display. This isn’t a truly loose one, but there’s enough angularity to keep me happy, underpinned by plenty of clean, characterful fruit. This is a million miles from blandness.

The palate shows lively spritz and a nice level of flavour intensity. Entry is clean and cool, allowing flavours to crescendo towards the middle palate. It’s not a smack down sort of wine, but it’s very well balanced and is structured firmly enough to create some sizzle and impact. A little roundness from the after palate onwards suggests residual sugar, but it’s subtle and does not detract from the delicious savouriness that characterises the wine as a whole. A gentle, fruit-driven finish.

Really nice rosé with heaps of personality.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A21.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mount Avoca Shiraz 2009

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Julian Coldrey

I recently had an interesting conversation with Jeremy of the newly reborn Wine Will Eat Itself 2 (The Main Course) about the use of whole bunches in a particular Grampians Shiraz we were tasting together. I reacted very strongly, negatively, to the way the wine was made, because I felt the stalks intruded on the character of the fruit in a distractingly unsympathetic way. Just as some flavours naturally go together, this wine showed me that some flavours don’t, or at least that they should be handled sensitively, subtly, to enhance the overall flavour profile of the wine.

This wine reminds me of that conversation, not because it has an obvious whole bunch influence, but because it shows the clear influence of another component that has become so much more common in Australian Shiraz over the past ten years: Viognier. To my palate, Viognier can be a seductively positive component in many Shirazes, adding perfume and texture and whole layers of additional complexity. Tip it over the edge, though; and there are a few ways in which winemakers seem to have managed to do this; and it can utterly ruin a wine, cheapening its flavour profile and adding an unattractive gloss to its texture. This wine really treads on the edge for me, and ultimately tips over to the dark side. To be clear, it’s completely well made and, as these things go, a damn good drink.

The nose shows earthy, savoury Shiraz characters alongside a bit of dusty chocolate and perhaps some mint. It’s meaty and a bit peppery and all sorts of good things. Rising above it is a nice floral lilt, brightening the aroma profile and adding a sweetness to it that would be entirely positive if it didn’t, each time I smell it, seem a step apart from the earthy savouriness the wine otherwise displays.

The palate is a bit more clearcut; I simply don’t like the way its mouthfeel is smoothed out and pumped up, though I admit that it’s superbly glossy at the same time. This is where personal preference plays so much into wine appreciation; for me, the incredibly seductive savoury rusticity of the Shiraz fruit ought to be the feature here. And it is, or at least tries to be, but is consistently shoved aside by that damned Viognier, all pretty and siliconed up, smoothing away any rough edges and masking what is, for me, the very centre of attraction of this wine.

I’d be curious to taste this with others, as I suspect it would be tremendously popular with a lot of people. It’s flavoursome, clean, texturally slick and just plain generous. Alas, though, the style just isn’t for me.

Mount Avoca
Price: $A27
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Shiraz 2009

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Julian Coldrey

Unlike the unusual Sangiovese just reviewed, this wine represents a classic Pyrenees style and one that drinkers will approach with justifiably high expectations. As with all regions in the Western Victoria Zone, the Pyrenees seems to be both highly regarded and perennially underrated, the kind of place wine nerds go nuts over but one that seems to lack the profile of many other Australian regions, large and small. This is certainly a true example of the style, the aroma throwing typically rich, dark fruit and the characteristic note of eucalypt that polarises some. For me, it adds a rustic, slightly hard edge to the aroma profile that is neither positive nor particularly negative; it’s just regional. Here, it is augmented by some evident whole bunch fermentation, which meshes well with the greener aspects of the aroma. There’s a prickliness too that adds complexity and dimension, leading further down through more clean, liquid fruit to a base of well-balanced, straightforward oak. A dash of Viognier makes itself felt through a pretty lift of florals, not enough to corrupt the character of the wine but certainly noticeable.The palate is generous without being in any way outsize. Entry is superbly clean, a lovely dash of savoury berry fruit flooding the mouth and gaining complexity along the way. Sexy oak, eucalyptus, stalk, vanilla; it’s all very easy to drink without being simple or confected. The palate structure is relatively easygoing, cruising along nicely until late in the after palate, where a firmer skeleton of tannin finally emerges, lightly drying the mouth and adding textural interest. The finish is a tad hard right now, with what seems like stalk contributing a rawness to the mouthfeel. This might benefit from a short rest in bottle — perhaps a year or two — to settle and lose its edge. Rather delicious wine. Mitchell Harris
Price: $A29.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Sangiovese 2010

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Julian Coldrey

Sangiovese is an interesting varietal in the Australian context. Early attempts tended towards Shirazification in style; whether this is a good or a bad thing probably depends on whether you feel adherence to Old World stylistic models represents the path to quality. As I back away from that particular can of worms, I will note that I have enjoyed the robust tannin structure and bright fruit character of many a Chianti, and wouldn’t say no to a few Australian Sangioveses that had these elements alongside whatever our local conditions might add.

Happily, this wine fits broadly within these ideas of style. The nose shows very bright red fruit, somewhat confected perhaps, but clean and varietal. There are some lightly reductive notes around the edges that, in my view, contribute positive complexity to the aroma profile, which would be otherwise a little simple. Oak, old-smelling and nougat-like in character, flits around the edges without ever intruding on a core of cherry fruit notes.

The palate is where this wine comes alive, quickly showcasing a tannin-driven structure that is pleasingly firm. Fruit first, though, which lands fast on entry and moves quickly through to the middle palate, all brightness and crunch. Structurally, this is where acid has a primary role, and it’s certainly bright, though not so much as to compete with tannin later in the line. Again, the fruit is a bit confected, creating a sense of simplicity of flavour. Body is light to medium, movement brisk, all befitting a wine that should be drunk with food rather than on its own.

I can imagine this going down a treat at lunchtime on the weekend, it’s that sort of casual, “throw it back” style. If some work were done to the fruit character of this wine to tame its brighter, simpler side, this would be even better.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A24.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mount Avoca Merlot 2009

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Julian Coldrey

And so I return from university sans a few layers of tooth enamel after tasting my way through a week’s worth of wines with solidly pedagogical intent; not entirely a pleasure, but I do feel in the zone. I may write up some of those tastings later on but, for now, I’m eager to try this new Mount Avoca release and see how it fits into the confusing, incoherent, yet lovable landscape that is Australian Merlot.

Thankfully, it doesn’t occupy the little stagnant pond where overripe Merlot goes to ferment and die. No, this is satisfyingly savoury on first sniff, with nary a hint of crassly pumped up fruit, an impression reinforced by tasting. Quite dark in character, the aroma presents black fruits and sour cherries, twigs and brown spice. It’s quite a generous nose and, at the same time, one that communicates restraint, as if the fullness of the fruit is somehow kept in check. Oak handling is especially good here, adding complexity and framing the fruit sympathetically.

The palate is quite friendly, and it’s here the wine becomes more like what some drinkers may expect from New World Merlot. There’s a softness to the black berry fruit that registers early on the palate and expands through the middle, at which point vanilla and spice oak pick up the line. Acid is certainly present but not firm enough to bring things out of relaxed territory. Tannins do a bit more in this regard as they settle on the tongue through the after palate and lightly dry the finish. What really makes this wine for me is the decided savouriness of the fruit; it turns what might have been a caricatured style into something adult and interesting.