It’s hard to miss the enthusiasm about the ‘Goldilocks‘ 2023 Hunter Valley red wine vintage.
As a Sydney-based wine writer, Bruce Tyrrell sends me packets of money in a brown envelope every year to talk nicely about the wines of the Hunter Valley (I’m joking, but important to note that I’m close to these wines geographically and historically). I’ve now tasted enough (very young, not always bottled) 2023 Hunter Valley Shiraz/red wines, however, to say this is one of the great years, and up there with heroes like 2014 (the best vintage in the history of mankind, or at least that was the vibe at the time).
Today, I want to crank up the hype machine a little bit more tasting notes from a lineup of big swinging Hunter heavyweights. Here, we’re going straight to the cream from Thomas Wines, Brokenwood, Mount Pleasant, De Iuliis & Charteris with 25 fine, if achingly young, Hunter Valley wines.
This tasting was part of my 36-hour Hunter Valle whirlwind tour (which you really need to read about here). Despite being a very casual tasting to let everyone kick the tyres of unreleased wines, this lineup is deadly serious, and you couldn’t miss the subtle rivalry of the assembled winemakers.
While much of the talk was about Shiraz in this roundup, we can’t gloss over this assembled collection of Hunter Semillon. The extremely compact 2024 vintage wasn’t quite as special as 2023, but it was a solid, warm-year vintage (if very early. Picking was done by early Feb!). Hail in November was a bitch, plus some early disease pressure didn’t help, with subpar flowering conditions also driving yields down (estimations for up to 30% lower in some blocks). Semillon, however, sees some enthusiasm. There’s less love for 2024 Shiraz, but this is still a ‘good’ vintage (especially for fruit from vigilant growers).
Of course, these are just generalisations, and we’ll wait to see the reds in bottle for more definitive statements. I can see more sunshine and ripeness in these Sems and maybe a bit more forwardness.
Notes below are as they were written on the day (i.e., in a hurry), and I’ve tried to include info about wines that weren’t labelled or (possibly) unfinished. My extra thoughts in italics. Snapshot below of the winemaking posse on board for this tasting, plus a random cutout that floats around the Thomas winery as the perennial photobomber.
Hunter Valley Semillon 2024
Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon 2024
I’ve had this three times now, and it’s not just well made, it’s also a nice drinking wine.
Lightly perfumed but juicy, it feels instantly drinkable. This vintage, there’s extra stonefruit and melon over the traditional green apple, and it works—a bit more flesh without losing shape. Open, crisp, fresh, and enjoyable. 17.5/20, 91/100.
Brokenwood Tallawanta Semillon 2024
Unlabelled. Estery and just-bottled. Feels like a classic lemony style, though – great length. Moreish, high quality, if pre-pubescent. A lemony mode. There’s definitely more punch here, but it’s so ‘just-bottled that it’s hard to tell. Very primary. 18/20, 93/100+.
De Iuliis Wines Semillon 2024
Labelled. Already in a good place. There’s a nettley edge here, then green lemon and a bit of banana. Easy form, definitely more grand than the standard Brokenwood and very well priced. 17.7/20, 92/100.
De Iuliis Wines Single Vineyard Semillon 2024
Labelled. Very tight. Green apple and not much else. Acidity really closes down the finish. There’s more ripe lemons here than, say the Tallawanta, if maybe not as racy. Loads of potential, though. 18/20, 93/100+
De Iuliis Wines LDR Vineyard Semillon 2024
Unlabelled. Floral and expressive. A bit more sweetness? Offsets the chewy lemon – plenty of lemony power behind it. Chewy and crunchy lines. High quality. 18/20, 93/100.
Mount Pleasant Estate Semillon 2024
Bottled and feels all the better for it. Lifted and well-defined lemon tang to it. That sharp definition helps everything – it’s perfect for what it is, if not single vineyard-level grandiose power. 17.7/20, 92/100.
Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 2024
Says ‘Cellar Aged Semillon’ so this is intended for the cellar – I don’t know when it will be released.
Top tier. Powerful wine. Great flavour intensity, acidity feels like it has a front to back flow without being abrupt. Excellent. 18.5/20, 94/100+.
Charteris Wines Hunter Valley Semillon 2024
Unlabelled. A bit of jasmine floral lift. Very tight, tank sample-esque with a bit of reduction. Underneath it’s likely well formed, a more acid-shaped wine. Pubescent. 17.7/20, 92/100+
Charteris Wines Pokolbin Selection Semillon 2024
Unlabelled. It is a bit raw-edged and feels unfinished (but I think it is finished). Clearly some citrussy appley intensity, but a bit jaunty. 17.7/20, 92/100+
Thomas Wines Fordwich Hill Semillon 2024
Bottled and ready to go. Banana-y but approachable, there’s just a bit more round energy through the middle without being chewy. Approachable is the right word – it’s a front-loaded wine. 17.7/20, 92/100.
Thomas Wines Braemore Semillon 2024
My equal favourite of the Sems along with the Lovedale.
Bottled. Just-bottled and estery though. The mid palate fruit sets this apart – power and punch, a bit more melon fruit in among the layers of green. Excellent acidity. Feel like it will get better as it settles in. 18.5/20+, 94/100.
Hunter Valley Shiraz 2023
Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz 2023
Labelled. 13.5% alcohol. Gummy and bright. Feels very Hunter Valley, a bit more oak richness to this, red berry fruit smoothness all the way. and obviously appealing. Slightly squeaky acidity, This is a great wine to be ‘entry level’. 17.7/20, 92/100.
Brokenwood Verona Vineyard Shiraz 2023
Labelled. 14% alc. Intoxicating nose – dark red fruit, black gummy bears, brightness and juicy fare. Smoky milk chocolate, chocolatey oak tannins and an excellent fruit/oak sexy flare. Excellent riper style. Will be even better when the oak folds in. 18.5/20, 94/100+.
Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz 2023
Labelled. 13.5%. Sexy time. Superstar concentration. Extra tannins too. So much more back palate grunt. A bigger, riper Graveyard and plush factor. Amazingly sweet fruit juiciness. Acid is just a bit punchy, but otherwise incredibly good. I could be underrating this – it’s superb. 18.7/20, 95/100.
De Iuliis LDR Vineyard Shiraz 2023
Unlabelled. Bright and tastes finished. Purple fruited. Quite pretty and skinsy juicy purple thing. Carbonic? Lighter frame here, but glossy and juicy red. 17.5/20, 91/100.
De Iuliis Steven Vineyard Shiraz 2023
Bottled. 13.8%. Plump and punchy, bright red fruit and much more of a juicy wine, maybe a bit too glossy but so enjoyable and juicy. 17.7/20, 92/100.
De Iuliis Limited Release Shiraz 2023
Labelled. You take the last wine and make it richer, more plump, with a bit more tannins. A real core of red, rasperried and blackberry fruit. Really bright and lively, if just a little too glossy at times (when I want a bit more savouriness). 14.1% alcohol. 18/20, 93/100.
De Iuliis LDR Vineyard Shiraz Touriga 2023
Labelled. Like the grunt and purpleness of this style. It feels a bit more savoury too. The Touriga gives this a purple violets thing that just works. I really like this. 13.3% 18/20, 93/100.
Charteris Hunter Valley Shiraz 2023
Unlabelled. A plush wine. Compared to the other berried wines here, this feels more powerful and less singular. Great lines – plush flavours, purple brightness, and the oak only add to the silken style. Very good, if coming together still. 18/20, 93/100+.
Charteris Pokolbin Selection Shiraz 2023
Unlabelled. Excellent. Definitely aligned to the Graveyard in style and power. It’s a powerful, plush, phenolic wine – a bit more chocolate oak through this. Boldness, oak tannins. Pretty grand for Hunter Shiraz. High quality, if pubescent. 18.5/20, 94/100+.
Mount Pleasant Rosehill 1946 Shiraz 2023
Excellent. 14%. Feels like the perfect package, a bit jubey red fruit, there’s a classic sweet/savoury Rosehill vibe here. Really good. A bit of sausages in there too. Red fruit. Excellent. 18.5/20, 94/100.
Mount Pleasant Old Hill 1880 Shiraz 2023
The red wine of this lineup and just edges out the superb Graveyard. Interestingly, the winemakers in the house loved it less, but I think it’s a special wine—a bit more oak and power, but such is the vintage.
Superb. 14% There are layers here – it reveals a vanilla line, and then the deepness and the tannins. Less of a bright red wine and more of a darker moody Hunter red. Grandiose dark fruit and so fresh. Touch and go for 96 points – it’s that good. 18.7/20, 95/100.
Thomas Wines DJV Shiraz Pinot Noir 2023
Labelled. 13.2%. The odd wine out here is a Shiraz Pinot, but it is immediately pure and juicy, without feeling candied. Silken. Acid makes this a fresh wine too. Good drink. 17.7/20, 92/100.
Thomas Wines Sweetwater Ridge Shiraz 2023
14.5%. Epic colour. Super power. Has big strong ripe fruit. Easily the most upfront ripe power fruit here, big purple density. Maybe a bit light on the tannins and a bit fruit forward but wow this will win hearts and minds. 18/20, 93/100.
Thomas Wines Kiss Shiraz 2023
Excellent flavour, though it feels just bottled (which it is). Very primary, probably the most youthful looking wine in this lineup, but also a bit bound up in itself. Love to see this in six months to see when the x-factor will drop into place. 18.5/20, 94/100+.
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