Bendigo Advertiser's Anthony Pinda reports on the 2018 Heathcote vintage
A warm and dry start to the beginning of the year has delivered significantly lower yields than an average harvest in the Heathcote wine growing region.
However, there is a trade off. The quality of the fruit this year will provide significant amounts of flavour for winemakers at Tellurian Wines.
James Halliday wrote at the weekend in The Australian of the techniques used on producing acclaimed Heathcote shiraz by Hanging Rock Winery.
His said: It’s fitting that my tasting notes from Hanging Rock’s 30th anniversary lunch disappeared from my desk (my Bermuda Triangle), but happily they reappeared without explanation.
John Ellis has worn many hats in his career, starting as chief winemaker at the fledgling Rosemount Estate, then flying winemaking stints in Burgundy (’81 and ’82), thereafter a rollercoaster ride at Tisdall Wines, established by Dr Peter Tisdall, who tried to fly too close to the sun.
In 1983 John and his wife Ann (née Tyrrell) decided to strike out on their own, buying and planting a vineyard in the Macedon Ranges, and leasing another in Heathcote. In 1987, the first wines were made: a Macedon Ranges sauvignon blanc, a base wine for Macedon Brut Cuvée, and a Heathcote Shiraz. In 1992 the shiraz vineyard expired due to salinity, but through a stroke of luck John Ellis had become a firm friend of Athol Guy (of The Seekers). Guy bought what became Athol’s Paddock, planted to 8ha of shiraz coming on stream between 1997 and 2000.
