Description
“Meadowbank’s vineyard is one of the most important in Tasmanian wine; a whole host of the best quality and most interesting Tasmanian wine brands source fruit from it. The label and winery itself has had a bit of a hiatus but renowned winemaker Peter Dredge has teamed up with the Ellis family to kick things back into life.” Campbell Mattinson
The winemaking fortunes of the Meadowbank label have, as Mike Bennie puts it in The Wine Front, “ebbed and flowed” over the years. In late 2015, all that changed with the arrival of Peter Dredge. The quality of the Ellis family’s Derwent Valley vineyard has never been in doubt. Planted in 1974 at Glenora, near the top end of the Derwent River, Gerald Ellis, with his wife Sue, purchased the property in 1976. Since that time the couple have overseen four major vineyard expansions, the most recent a 10-hectare planting of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Gamay in 2016. Moderated by the river, Meadowbank’s vines are rooted in loose sand and sandstone overlying dark brown, coffee rock, rich in iron oxides and organic matter. It’s what our gumbooted wine grower friends might call “quality dirt”. It’s a terroir that has developed an impressive fan base, ranging from Kate Hill, Domaine Simha, Glaetzer Dixon and Ministry of Clouds, to larger producers such as House of Arras and Bay of Fires.
Peter Dredge’s relationship with Meadowbank goes back to 2010 when he was the man at Bay of Fires/Arras. At that time Accolade leased a walloping 32 of Meadowbank’s then 42 hectares. Five years later, during the 2015 vintage after Dredge had left Accolade to downsize, (establishing his own Dr Edge wine label and his consulting company) he took a call from Gerald Ellis. Ellis wanted to resuscitate the historic Meadowbank label and he wisely wanted Dredge to run the show as a part owner/winemaker. The plan was to utilise the best vines in the vineyard and to do something special. It was an offer that was impossible for Dredge to pass up.
When the news of the partnership broke in 2016, Campbell Mattinson wrote, “Peter Dredge at Meadowbank? Now that should be interesting.” He wasn’t wrong. Regardless of what has come before, you can expect something completely different from this point forward. As most of our clients are well aware, Peter Dredge brings an enormous level of industry respect with him into the relationship. This is not misplaced. His first set of Meadowbank wines are seriously impressive and helped him to scoop the 2017 Young Gun of Wine People’s Choice Award. They have also received a range of glowing reviews from the critics.
Clearly, Dr Edge (the nickname given to him at Petaluma) has wasted no time in getting down to business, and Meadowbank’s 2016 releases immediately show us what we have been missing from this slumbering Tassie Titan. Of course, it’s early days, so we can and should expect even greater heights as Dredge and the Ellis family (Gerald and Sue Ellis, their daughter Mardi and her husband Alex Deane) begin to make significant changes in the vineyard. While the new regime’s first vintages are being made, under Dredge’s sole control, at the Moorilla Winery at MONA, the long-term aim is to restore the old winemaking facility at Meadowbank – once active in the 80s and 90s. Regarding the fruit source – specific parcels for the Meadowbank wines have already been identified and allocated. These particular vines are now managed without herbicides and the plan is to explore full organics – something extremely rare in Tassie and an evolution that can only result in even higher quality. And all the fruit is hand-picked.
TROPHY FOR BEST PINOT NOIR – 2017 Sydney Royal Wine Show 95 points.
The 2016 Pinot is drawn from two separate picks, two weeks apart; “one early for vivacity, and the other late for texture,” explains Dredge. Everything is hand harvested and destemmed into three open fermenters with varying levels of whole cluster (roughly 20% of the final blend) and as many whole berries as possible (no crushing). There’s a cold soak for five days before the natural ferment takes over. The wine was then pressed into French oak (15% new) at 2 baume on heavy lees, where it rested for nine months before bottling without filtration. Again this is simply an outstanding first release that shows the enormous potential of this project (the 2017 is another step up again!) Super fine, bright, pristine and pure, you can expect waves of cool, cherry, raspberry, spicy, sappy fruit and spices, a vibrant, refreshing and complex palate and a long, spicy close. 13% Alc Very limited stock!
96 points, James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2018 “There is a slight lift on the bouquet from partial barrel fermentation and long lees contact. This is a fitting complement to the power of the primary fruit flavours of strawberry and fresh berry compote. There is a softness to this Pinot Noir, the silky or satin like tannin-structure is first rate, with just enough back-palate weight from stalk use and light French oak, to hold its length.”
94 points, Campbell Mattinson, winefront.com.au “Straight into excellent territory here. This is why we’re so lucky in Australia: we get this level of pinot noir for $55, which isn’t cheap in general terms but in a world pinot noir context is a steal. So complex, so satiny, so well framed, so persistent. Woodsmoke, sulphur, tangy red/black cherry, super-fresh strawberries and fistfuls of dry spice. Sinewy and satiny simultaneously. It will develop beautifully but personally I wouldn’t be able to resist right now.”
RRP $64
(Also available in a 6 pack buy … Click Here)
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