Hunter Valley Archives - Young Gun of Wine

2023 The Vinden Headcase Chenin Blanc

This chenin blanc from the Hunter valley not only challenges preconceptions about what the Hunter can achieve – it also shows a new facet of chenin blanc as an endlessly fascinating variety.

Valentina Moresco

What happens when you take a talented young winemaker from Piedmont, Italy’s premier wine destination, then train them in the scientific, precision-oriented ways of New Zealand, before landing them in the uniquely challenging subtropical environment of the Hunter Valley? You might end up with a figure like Valentina Moresco, whose journey from Montà to Krinklewood Estate has given her a love of both traditional winemaking and technical virtuosity that perfectly suits the unique demands of the Hunter’s climate. Taking over the reins at Krinklewood since vintage 2017, she crafts a suite of classic Hunter wines – semillon, chardonnay, shiraz, and verdelho – alongside more adventurous drops such as skin-contact gewürztraminer, lightly pétillant off-dry rosé, and traditional and Charmat-method sparkling wines. Reverential towards the Hunter’s storied past, but with an eye firmly on the future of the region, Moresco makes wines that have a lot to say about the present moment.

Rojer Rathod & Millie Shorter

What happens when you take two experienced hospitality professionals with no formal winemaking training, get them to fall in love with both winemaking and Sicilian grape varieties, and let them ferment wine in traditional Indian clay vessels? You might end up with something like Majama Wines, an exciting new Hunter Valley-based project by Rojer Rathod and Millie Shorter, whose second vintage release – a tight lineup of zibbibo, inzolia, and nero d’avola – has already turned heads in the wine trade. With a minimal-intervention philosophy in the cellar that’s been dialled in with a clear focus on Sicilian varieties and fermentation in clay, as well as some of the most striking packaging currently on shelves, Rathod and Shorter are setting themselves up to become a striking new voice in the Australian wine landscape.

Andrew Duff

Can you teach an old dog new tricks? If Andrew Duff’s wines are anything to go by, you certainly can. Duff brings all of the operational nous he’s garnered over a lengthy career in large-volume corporate winemaking to bear on the wines he crafts for two labels – reinvigorated Hunter Valley stars Briar Ridge, and his own Duff Wines – while shaking off the corporate strictures and profit-loss calculations. With a palate freshly honed by the infamous Len Evans Tutorial and a winemaking vision sharpened by the Wine Australia Future Leaders program, Duff is ready to flex his muscles and write the second act of his winemaking story.

Alisdair Tulloch

When lovers of Australian wine talk about the Hunter Valley, they tend to focus on two aspects that make this region unique: its humid subtropical climate, about as warm and wet as you can get for quality wine production, and its focus on semillon (with maybe a nod to its shiraz and chardonnay). If the subject of history comes up, they might talk about its important role as the cradle of the Australian wine industry, or the birthplace of Australia’s first table wine made from 100% chardonnay. What’s usually left out from the conversation is the prehistory of the Hunter Valley itself, and the geological forces that created the soils of the Hunter over aeons. Alisdair and Kenisha Tulloch’s Aeon Wines label plans to change that, by putting soil front and centre – quite literally – of everything they do. With a compact collection of three syrah-based red wines, two of them single-site, Aeon Wines offers a unique and compelling take on the Hunter’s hallowed terroir.

Meagan & James Becker

Meagan and James Becker of M & J Becker Wines have carved a distinctive niche in the winemaking world by bridging the vinous landscapes of two continents. Their journey spans regions of New South Wales, Australia, and the renowned wine regions of California, USA. In Australia, their offering includes a dozen wines, ranging from Tumbarumba Pinot Noir and Hunter Valley Chardonnay to Hilltops Nebbiolo. While their commitment to transmitting terroir extends to managing a vineyard in Hunter Valley, where they converted to Certified Organic through ACO late in 2019. All the M & J Becker Wines from Australia are made in a collaborative winemaking facility shared with the other rising stars of the Hunter Valley.

Andrew Ling

Andrew Ling’s foray into the winemaking world was serendipitous – his transition into the field in 2001 as a vintage lab assistant, a favor from his soccer coach, prevented this star player from leaving Mudgee. It didn’t take long for the wine bug to bite, and his career has since spanned roles with leading names across Mudgee, Orange, and the Hunter Valley. In 2017, Ling assumed the role of Senior Winemaker at Carillion Wines, a position he retains to this day. His own venture, Agitate Wines, was launched in 2021 with a Pét-Nat Riesling, and the label has since expanded to include five wines. The Agitate wines embrace a minimal intervention approach: unfiltered and unfined, they are “raw and textured,” in Ling’s words, yet “generally bottled in their youth” to capture their brightness and freshness, resulting in eminently gluggable wines.

Aaron Mercer

Starting in the wine game some 20 years ago on a low rung, cleaning out tanks, Aaron Mercer has since worked broadly in his beloved Hunter valley and around the world. Now in its fourth vintage, Mercer Wines is a blending of two of his greatest passions: wine and the environment. Working from sustainable vineyards across the state, the wines are built with approachable drinkability as a key driver, with varieties both established and adapted – such as chardonnay, semillon and shiraz – and those emerging – including nero d’avola, montepulciano and vermentino – to best fit our changing climate.

2023 The Vinden Headcase Chenin Blanc Hunter Valley
This chenin blanc from the Hunter valley not only challenges preconceptions about what the Hunter can achieve – it also shows a new facet of chenin blanc as an endlessly fascinating variety.