This vineyard is nestled in the hills of Donnybrook, the orchard district of South-West Western Australia. The flavours from this block are plummy and spicy. It is uncanny that the fruit flavours of this vineyard are reminiscent of the fruits grown in the area: cherries, apples and plums. This wine is a great representation of the region with a big, yet elegant middle and fine, ripe tannins.
The site is a gradually sloping north facing hill, with gravely iron stone soils. The vine shoots are tucked for maximum fruit exposure, designed at expressing the bright berry fruits.
The grapes are crushed and chilled to 6 degree Celsius into a road tanker in Western Australia. The must is then transported across Australia over 4 days to the Hunter valley. This combines cold soaking and gentle agitation to provide amazing colour extraction on arrival to the Hunter. The ferment is pumped over for 3 hours initially and reduced pump over times as the ferment progresses. This is to avoid extraction of harsh alcohol- soluble tannins. The amount of extraction is carefully managed to structure the berry fruits and tannin quality with the 80% tight-grained American oak and 20% spicy French oak from the Allier and Nevers forests.
Wines are matured in barrel for up to 16 months, with three or four gentle rackings during that time. All barrels are finally blended, lightly filtered and bottled.
| |
| Peter Howland started out as a professional musician in his home town of Newcastle. Always in search of new ways to apply his finely tuned ability to combine creativity and technique, he turned to winemaking. Enrolling in Oenology at Adelaide University in 1993, he went on to graduate with 1st class Honours, alongside Caroline Dunn (now Senior Winemaker Wolf Blass) and Brett McKinnon (now General Manager Orlando Wyndham Group) in 1996. During his studies he worked at McWilliams Mount Pleasant winery in the Hunter Valley focussing on Semillon and Chardonnay, and Cape Mentelle in Margaret River where he concentrated on the perfection of palate structure. Straight from University, his skills were tested during the 1997 vintage of Cassegrain, Hastings Valley, where as Assistant Winemaker along side Glenn Goodall, every trick was used to successfully combat 20 inches of rain in 6 weeks. Peter and (now wife) Leah travelled through Europe throughout 1997 spending much of their time visiting some of the best vineyards in the world. They spent 6 months in Puglia, southern Italy, where Peter worked as project Winemaker for the stunning (and bone dry) 1997 vintage. There he made 29 varieties including the largest crush of Chardonnay in Italy. This is where Peter experimented in every way he could in order to understand what could be done with Chardonnay. This diversity of techniques has been incorporated in working with other varieties since. Peter was invited back to Cape Mentelle for the 1998 vintage where he stayed on until moving back to the Hunter Valley to take on the role of Winemaker at Hope Estate later that year. During the three years at Hope Estate, Peter was a finalist in the inaugural Young Winemaker of the year awards. He was also instrumental in the Hope Estate purchase of the assets of the publicly listed company Vincorp including the iconic cold climate Victorian winery, Virgin Hills, thus expanding his role to the company’s Group Winemaker. In late 2001, Peter left Hope Estate to utilise his entrepreneurial skills, developing a unique business plan which minimized overheads and maximized market opportunities, while also increasing his scope as a winemaker. Peter Howland Wines was established, focussing on the US market with single vineyard wines, without the financial encumbrance of owning vineyards or a winery. The wines were an instant success, with every first release winning gold medals at major Australian or international wine shows, also attracting rave reviews from Robert Parker and James Halliday. Peter's new Suitcase range now offers his wines from around the world at accessible prices and amazing quality. ___________________ |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| Achievements Published Work Medals Reviews | 2001 selected for Royal Agricultural Show, NSW Next Generation program for young people who have made a significant achievement within the Australian food and wine industries 2001 finalist, The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year 2005 James Halliday’s Wine Companion Top Ten New Wineries “The location of 2,4,6- trichloroanisole in a batch of contaminated wine corks” Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research Vol.3 No.3 1997 2000 Sydney Wine Show Gold medal Hope Estate Chardonnay 1999 2003 Adelaide Wine Show Gold Medal Parsons Vineyard Shiraz 2002 2003 Small Winemakers Wine Show Gold Medal Langley Vineyard Shiraz 2002 2004 San Francisco International Wine Show Double Gold Medal Pine Lodge Vineyard Shiraz 2002 2004 Sydney Wine Show Gold Medal Maxwell Vineyard Chardonnay 2003 James Halliday’s Wine Companion 5 Star rating 94 and 95 points plus The James Halliday Top 100 Wine and Spirit Magazine USA 90 and 91 points The Wine Advocate (Robert Parker) 92 and 93 points The Wine Enthusiast (USA) 92 points and Editors Choice 2004 Parsons Vineyard Shiraz Winorama (Gary Walsh) 96 points 2005 Parsons Vineyard Shiraz Copyright Peter Howland Wines Pty Ltd 2008 |
