Home > Wines We Love > 2011 Ben Haines ‘Flowers’ Flor Marsanne

A decade in barrel, first under flor yeast, then on ullage (an oxidative environment), it’s fair to say this is a unique wine for this country. This bristles with briny Sherry notes, roasted nuts and linseed, an explosion of orange-skinned citrus and spice riding the uber-dry and saline palate.

Producer
Ben Haines
Region

Yarra Valley
RRP

$100
Vintage

2011
Variety/Varieties

Marsanne
Alc./Vol.

16%

A decade in barrel, first under flor yeast, then on ullage (an oxidative environment), it’s fair to say this is a unique wine for this country. Although inspiration has been taken from the great Vin Jaune wines of France’s Jura region, this is firmly its own beast. Made from marsanne, this bristles with briny Sherry notes, roasted nuts and linseed, an explosion of orange-skinned citrus and spice riding the uber-dry and saline palate.

Tasting note

With a slightly hazy burnt orange hue, this is highly individual, though it reflects the familiar, with intense briny sea spray Fino Sherry notes dipping into Amontillado, along with rancio tones reminiscent of Rutherglen Topaque. There are cracked walnuts with linseed oil, toasted sesame, furniture wax, cloves and a suggestion of cloth-bound cheddar. The palate reveals layers of bright fruit, flushed with orange blossom, fresh cumquat eaten whole and cracked mustard seeds, a pillowy richness, plumped with lifted alcohol – from natural evaporation of the wine over time – giving apt warmth, the lingering drying saline finish an umami-laden affair, escorted by those citrus notes through a long finish.

Themes of this wine

Sous voile/flor yeast

Literally translated as ‘under a veil’, sous voile is a method of maturing wine where the barrels are not topped, with a film of flor yeast developing on top of the wine. This ‘veil’ protects the wine from oxidation, while converting the acids to aldehydes, which give dry Sherry its characteristic nutty and briny notes. The same process is employed in France’s Jura region to make the famous Vin Jaune (literally, yellow wine).

Marsanne

A grape most commonly associated with the Northern Rhône, though it features in the south, marsanne has also carved a small be significant niche in Australian wine folklore. With vines planted in 1927, Victoria’s Tahbilk lays claim to some of the oldest, if not the oldest, marsanne vines in the world. And the wines have proved to age incredibly well, as they can in the Rhône. Flavours can range through pear, apple and citrus, with nutty and toasty development over time, as well as a varietally distinctive honeysuckle character.

Yarra Valley

The Yarra Valley, about 50 km north-east of Melbourne, is one of Australia’s premier wine regions, and one of the country’s coldest viticultural zones. The regional champions are chardonnay and pinot noir, with cabernet and shiraz in more than able support. Aside from the vinous pedigree, the Yarra is also one of the best serviced wine regions for visitors, with a wealth of cellar doors and restaurants, and ample accommodation across the price spectrum.

Home > Wines We Love > 2019 Place of Changing Winds Marsanne

A textural, flavour-intense but light-footed wine, this is loaded with orchard fruits, smoky minerals and waxy notes.

Producer
Place of Changing Winds
Region

Heathcote
RRP

$38
Vintage

2019
Variety/Varieties

Marsanne
Alc./Vol.

13%

Place of Changing Winds’ Rhône-inspired Heathcote venture is anchored in syrah, but – even though it’s just the first release – marsanne is certainly not taking a backseat. A textural, flavour-intense but light-footed wine, this is loaded with orchard fruits, smoky minerals and waxy notes.

Tasting note

Golden in colour, the nose opens with ripe orchard fruits, rich golden apples, poached pears, roasted nuts, waxiness, honey and smoky mineral notes. This has a saline slip to the texture, with a generosity of flavour and texture that reads as neither big nor broad, just loaded with mouth-filling flavour and a silky gliding quality to the way it drinks, acidity a gentle but present guide.

Themes of this wine

Marsanne

A grape most commonly associated with the Northern Rhône, though it features in the south, marsanne has also carved a small be significant niche in Australian wine folklore. With vines planted in 1927, Victoria’s Tahbilk lays claim to some of the oldest, if not the oldest, marsanne vines in the world. And the wines have proved to age incredibly well, as they can in the Rhône. Flavours can range through pear, apple and citrus, with nutty and toasty development over time, as well as a varietally distinctive honeysuckle character.

Heathcote

Heathcote is rugged country, a tinder-dry landscape of rusty iron-rich soils littered with sculpturally stacked granitic boulders. It’s mythical territory, ancient land, and home to some of the world’s oldest viticultural soils. But as a wine region, it is a relatively young one, which saw an explosion of growth in the 90s. Shiraz led the charge, and it became Victoria’s answer to the Barossa or McLaren Vale, producing wines of significant power. But Heathcote is very different to both those places, and it is not that easily defined. Today, shiraz finds myriad expressions, and many other varieties are taking a firm grip, especially those suited to dry and warm climes.

Home > Wines We Love > 2019 Bertrand Bespoke ‘Field Blend’

A field blend leaning on Rhône white varieties, this is all barrel fermented, then raised on lees to build texture and harmonise the varieties into a seamless whole of orchard fruits, granitic minerals and nutty winemaking notes.

Producer
Bertrand Bespoke
Region

Bendigo
RRP

$30
Vintage

2019
Variety/Varieties

Marsanne Roussanne Viognier
Alc./Vol.

13%

A field blend leaning on Rhône white varieties, this is all barrel fermented, then raised on lees to build texture and harmonise the varieties into a seamless whole of orchard fruits, granitic minerals and nutty winemaking notes.

Tasting note

Any overt varietal scents are kept off centrestage here, with a subtle medley of coolly ripe apple, pear, peach and apricot, with a nutty, saline accent and savoury mineral drive. Oak’s there, but it’s not the first time the barrels have held wine, with a rounding of fruit and a gentle plushing of texture the result, rather than adding any oak flavour. This is bright, subtle and harmonious, with that salinity, granitic structure and fine acidity driving a mineral, fresh but gently savoury wine.

Themes of this wine

Bendigo

The Bendigo wine region is characterised by warm to hot days with cool nights. It extends around the city of Bendigo to Bridgewater on Loddon, Marong and Mandurang, and to Harcourt, which is at the base of Mount Alexander, and was famously an orchard area, best known for growing apples. As a wine region, it is best known for flavoursome red wines, principally cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, which account for nearly 70 per cent of the total plantings.

Marsanne

A grape most commonly associated with the Northern Rhône, though it features in the south, marsanne has also carved a small be significant niche in Australian wine folklore. With vines planted in 1927, Victoria’s Tahbilk lays claim to some of the oldest, if not the oldest, marsanne vines in the world. And the wines have proved to age incredibly well, as they can in the Rhône. Flavours can range through pear, apple and citrus, with nutty and toasty development over time, as well as a varietally distinctive honeysuckle character.

Roussanne

Famously blended in the Northern Rhône with viognier and marsanne, roussanne also features in the white blends of the Southern Rhône. It has been present in Victorian vineyards since the 19th century, but has never been a major player. Here, it is typically blended with its Northern Rhône companions, though varietal bottlings are not unheard of. The flavours of Roussanne can tend to the herbal, but more sage-like than grassy.

Viognier

Viognier is perhaps as well known for red wines as it is white, even though it rarely occupies more than 5 per cent of a blend with shiraz. The opulently apricot-scented grape was most vocally championed by Yalumba in the 1990s, with there now near to 800 hectares planted across the country. A highly aromatic grape, viognier is very distinctly scented with apricot, which can vary from the flesh, to the kernel, to apricot blossom, and those characters can be extremely exotic when quite ripe. It is also a grape that is quite phenolic but with low acidity. So, ripe examples will tend to be luscious and rich with high alcohol. Picked earlier and the apricot notes are more delicate, with acidity more of a feature.

Sauvignon blanc

When you think of sauvignon blanc, it’s hard not to think of New Zealand almost immediately, and the pungently expressive examples from Marlborough. But sauvignon also contributes to some of France’s most noble wines, as well as a huge diversity of expressions in Australia, both bottles solo and in blends. One of the most aromatic of grapes, sauvignon blanc is not shy for flavour and typically is quite high in acid. On the leaner end, those flavours will be very grassy and herbal and advance through passionfruit to some quite opulent tropical characters, like guava, as the fruit gets riper.

2011 Ben Haines ‘Flowers’ Flor Marsanne Yarra Valley

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Sous voile/flor yeast

Marsanne

Yarra Valley

Place of Changing Winds’ Rhône-inspired Heathcote venture is anchored in syrah, but – even though it’s just the first release – marsanne is certainly not taking a backseat. A textural, flavour-intense but light-footed wine, this is loaded with orchard fruits, smoky minerals and waxy notes.

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Marsanne

Heathcote

A field blend leaning on Rhône white varieties, this is all barrel fermented, then raised on lees to build texture and harmonise the varieties into a seamless whole of orchard fruits, granitic minerals and nutty winemaking notes.

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Bendigo

Marsanne

Roussanne

Viognier

Sauvignon blanc

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