April 5, 2012

Fireside Dinners for 2012

Following on from the success of our 2011 food and wine evenings, we are happy to announce the return of cellar door Winter Fireside dinners for 2012!

 

Our dinners will be held throughout the winter months of June, July and August, and our dates are as follows:

  • June 16th and 30th
  • July 14th and 28th
  • August 11th and 25th

On arrival you are warmly greeted with canapés and a glass of wine, followed by a 3 course meal which is served with 6 matching wines, tea, coffee and ‘goodies’. Dinner is held in the cellar door beside an open fire over looking our barrel hall and winery. Past and current releases of Helen’s Hill and Ingram Rd wines will be showcased, along with delicious food prepared by head chef of Vines restaurant, Stuart Harvey. Each course will be matched with two of Helen’s Hill wines,  selected for the fireside dinners by the owner of Helen’s Hill. Additionally, each guest will receive a selection of two wines on arrival- this is a total of 8 wines to be sampled throughout the evening.

Plus…

  • A short but informative chat throughout the evening on wine making, viticulture and related wine issues by the owners
  • A fun and enjoyable quiz to test your wine knowledge
    The lucky winner will receive a prize of 2 bottles of wine, of their choice
  • A bottle of wine of your choice from our Ingram Rd range of wines,
    for you to take away
  • Fireside dinner wine specials.

Cost: $80.00 pp

Time: 7.00 pm

 

So gather partners, friends and family to ward off the winter blues for an evening
of fun, food and wine. Please note that special dietary requirements must be advised one week
in advance.

To book please fill out the booking form, and either send it to us by fax or email. Alternately, you can simply call us on 03 9739 1573.


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March 22, 2012

The Helen’s Hill Easter Egg hunt is here!

Vintage is almost over with most varieties put to bed at Helen’s Hill – and that means it’s time for a celebration! This year, we’ll be playing host to an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday, the 7th April – and who’s to say a few of our vineyard helpers might not join in and help in the search?!

 

The egg hunt will kick off at 2:30pm sharp outside the cellar door, and will last until approximately 3:00pm (dependent on how long it takes for all the eggs to be found!). Vines Restaurant will be open for lunch – so why not indulge yourself, and drop by Vines beforehand?

 

Our cellar door will also be open from 10:00am, for any adults who wish to sample a few of our wines! Why not treat yourself to a platter while you’re watching the kids hunt for eggs? Our cheese and antipasto platters will be available for all adults who wish to relax on our deck and watch the hunt.

 

So gather partners, friends and family for an afternoon of fun, food and wine – and we’ll see you on Easter Saturday!

 

- The team at Helen’s Hill


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March 8, 2012

Scott goes to Sydney

Helen’s Hill has been a long term supplier to Wine Selectors with many of our wines featured in their quarterly packs. A sister company to Wine Selectors is the lifestyle magazine under the same name. If you do not already subscribe to this publication I would strongly recommend that you give it a try. I have tried a number of the recipes that they feature in their magazine but alas mine never turn out quite as picturesque (or probably taste any where near as good) as those featured in the glossy. I also cannot seem to find the time (or the money!) to go to some of the wonderful places that they feature but very much enjoy reading about them. It is without question the most read coffee table magazine at my abode.

 

The magazine is published every 2 months and has a feature section called “State of Play”. In the current addition our soon to be released Helen’s Hill 2010 Pinot Noir is featured.

 

“Helen’s Hill Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010 (Yarra Valley)- Loved by the Panel for its subtleness and texture. Ripe, floral and fruit driven with a bright strawberry fruit core on the mid palate, plush and juicy on the back palate. Beautifully balanced with fine tannins and divine smoky oak, superb length and brightness.”

 

You can read the full article here.

 

The next publication will feature a “State of Play” assessment on Cool Climate Shiraz. Our very own Scott McCarthy has been invited to be one of two “guest” judges on the tasting panel and will provide his considered opinion on where this wine style is heading. Scott is generally harder to get in the public domain than Sasquatch (Big Foot) so we are genuinely excited about this rare public citing. (In a leading national magazine no-less)

 

Anecdotally, we are seeing a significant increase in the demand for this style of Shiraz (which we call Syrah). Our distribution partners in Sydney once said back in 2009, “don’t even bother about sending any of your Syrah up here, maybe great wine but we only sell Barossa Shiraz” Now some 3 years later we are struggling to keep up with demand for our Single vineyard Syrah. It would seem that the consumers have found the lower alcohol, more elegant and less overpowering Shiraz from the cooler areas such as the Yarra Valley a more enjoyable wine with food. I’ll drink to that trend continuing!!!

Thanks to everyone at Wine Selector for a wonderful review! If you’re keen to try our Pinot Noir for yourself, you can order it through our wine shop.


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March 2, 2012

New release – Our 2008 Cabernets is finally here!

After not seeing the light of day since 2008, our Cabernets is finally poised to be released to the general public.

 

Here’s what we wrote about the Cabernets 2008 a few years back:

 

“Our Cabernets blend (we would call it a Bordeaux but the French won’t lets us; the English would know it as a Claret) combines the 5 traditional Bordeaux varieties; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Primary ferment of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are done as stand alone batches and we combine the Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot into another stand alone batch for primary fermentation. Each batch spends up to 12 weeks soaking on the skins after fermentation to extract full color and tannins. The juice is then pressed off to barrel (100% French oak, 50% new) for 18-20 months.
At the end of this barrel maturation period the real fun begins. Each barrel is tested and ranked. We then take only those barrels that are marked over 4.5 out of 5 and put them into the final blending selection. Each separate batch is then combined at varying ratio’s to determine the best “final” blend. In general the blend comprises 50% Cabernets, 30% Merlot and 20% of the combined Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. This does however vary a fair bit from year to year. As you can imagine, this process takes a quite a while, days in fact, and we tend to disregard any decisions we make after on the wines after about 3.00 pm, although further “trail testing” does place after 3.00!! In 2008, we have selected a total of 8 ton (24 barrels) to make it through into the final blend.
To put this into perspective in general terms out of a 10 ton batch (30 barrels) we usually end up with about 3-4 ton (9-12 barrels) making it through to the final blend. So 2008 is really a stand out vintage. 2006 was very good and I thought at the time that it would be very hard to beat but 2008 is really a stand out. Unfortunately, due to the fact that good Cabernets, (because of the natural attributes of the varieties in the blend) takes time to develop and mature in the bottle this outstanding blend will not be ready to be enjoyed for another 2-3 years. But as they say, good things are worth waiting for!”

 

The 2008 Cabernets is now available in our cellar door, and through our wine shop for $35.00 per bottle.


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From the Tasting Bench

Allan has been in the museum cellar again, and just had to let you know he uncorked 2 cracking wines- the Chardonnay ’06 and the Cabernets ’06. So for those of you who happen to be lucky enough to still have these wines in your cellar, treat yourself for the Festive season and crack open a bottle of these wines for yourself.

 

Tasting notes on 2006 Helen’s Hill Cabernets


For those of you who have some of this wine still in the cellar I think you will have been rewarded by the passage of time. Now turning 6 and starting to get into the window of “best drinking” age I was excited to see how the wine was ageing. Wasn’t disappointed.

 

After 10 minutes in glass;

The nose has aromas of boysenberry, raspberry, bramble fruits, earth and lovely cedar, vanilla and tobacco oak. It smells fragrant and clean yet woodsy and spicy at the same time. On the palate medium bodied and very fine with boysenberry, cassis and fresh raspberry fruit backed with light spicy cedar oak, leaf and more earthy tobacco and cigar box flavours. Clean fresh acidity and fine light, but firm tannins. Beautifully balanced. Finishes dry and leafy with fresh red fruit flavours.

 

After 45 minutes in glass;

Not a huge amount of change, fruit flavours probably a little more pronounced than earlier. Fruit and tannins a little more integrated than earlier. A little more seamless from front to back than when first opened which is to be expected. The bramble fruits coming to the fore on the mid-palate. Cracking wine from a good vintage.

Best to decanter this wine and let sit for about 30 minutes. Loved drinking it now but it has definitely got another 4-5 years of aging left in it. (probably 6-8 years)


Tasting notes on 2006 Helen’s Hill Chardonnay


Gotta love Yarra Valley Chardonnay. I was amazed at how well the colour has held together. From pale straw when first released 5 years ago, it has taken on a slight deepening, probably now best described as straw with hints of pale lime/lemon.

 

After 10 minutes in glass;

The nose has the aromas of slight yeasty characters, a little fresh bread, hints of lime, dried fig, lychee and burn match. I would expect the burn match, sulphide character to blow off in a little while.

 

The palate is very similar to the nose, the primary fruit flavours have been dulled with the passage of time and been replaced with toasty nut, bready, dried fig, white peach and grapefruit flavours. Firm tannins and smokey oak flavours. Still amazingly fresh firm acid’s on the finish. Wine is looking great. All I needed to add was something out of the ocean, scallops, prawns or calamari and I would have been in heaven!

 

After 45 minutes in glass;

As suggested that burnt match nose is gone, replaced by a sweeter melon, ripe peach, stone fruit character. Indicates that the primary fruit characters are far from dead.

 

This transformation with added time in glass is even more prominent on the palate. Wine has developed some richness of fruit with the hallmark stone fruit characters really becoming more pronounced and balancing the firm acids, silky tannins and smokey oak flavours. Loving it!

 

In my opinion if you have some of this wine in the cellar I would drink it NOW.

Best to let it breath for a good 30 minutes in glass to allow it to show its true colours.

 

Note to readers: If you have a wine from our back vintages that you would like us to try please email me and I will be happy to rummage through the cellar and give it a crack. I can call it work!!!


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February 15, 2012

Win tickets to an exclusive dinner with Puffing Billy and Helen’s Hill

On Friday, March 9, Puffing Billy will be playing host to one of our owners, Allan Nalder, for an evening filled with great food and wine.

 

Travel aboard this century-old steam train and taste local wines, accompanied by a sumptous three course dinner to match!

 

The evening will begin at 7:00pm, at Puffing Billy’s Belgrave Station, and the train will depart at 7:30pm. Over the next few hours, guests will be served a variety of delicious entrees, mains and desserts – each meal perfectly matched with one of our wines.

 

And to top it off, one of our owners, Allan Nalder, will be on board the train to chat about the history of our winery, and talk guests through the variety of wines being served.

 
We’re offering two free tickets to this dinner – simply tell us in 25 words or less:

 

“Which character from Thomas the Tank Engine would you wine and dine, and why?”

 
All entries can be submitted by emailing info@helenshill.com.au. Please include your name, address, and a contact phone number. Entries close next Wednesday, 22 February at 10:00pm.

 

When: Friday, March 9, 2012, from 7:00pm
Where: Puffing Billy Belgrave Station platform
Cost: $109 per person

 
Bookings are essential- to make an enquiry/reservation please contact Puffing Billy’s customer service centre on 03 9757 0700. Alternately, you can book your tickets online.

 
Just in case you weren’t already convinced, we’ve included a copy of the menu below -  need we say, it sounds delicious!

 
Arrival:
Canapes on arrival: home made mini pasties, scallop, fetta and honey dew hors d’oeuvres, and smoked salmon and blue cheese on a tiasted base topped with dill.

 

Entree
Platter of cured meats (vegetarians will be served dips).

 

Main
Polle Verde – Free range chicken breat stuffed with pine nuts, fetta, sun dried tomatoes and spinach, topped with a creamy sage sauce, and accompanied with seasonal vegetables.
or
Beef tenderloin servied with a Bordelaise Sauce, accompanied with seasonal vegetables.

The vegetarian option for the main meal is a vegetable stack.


Dessert
A delicious variety of Petit Fours


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January 13, 2012

An update on the vineyard and vintage!

Since the beginning of spring, the grape vines have been slowly, but surely, doing their thing. Ever since we pruned, back in the middle of winter, I’ve been waiting for that first touch of green to arrive on the vines. And finally, it did!

At first it was the tiniest hint of green:

 

 

… and after a little bit longer, we had this:

 

 

 

And where are we up to now? Well, the grape vines are no longer just showing a hint of green – in fact, it’s hard to spot the actual vine underneath all the foliage!

 

 

That’s a (rather stern!) photo of one of our owners, Robyn, who took me on a brief tour around the vineyard yesterday. I was asking quite a few questions about what’s happening in the vineyard – being the newbie that I am, I got quite excited to see the grapes growing on the vines, and was a bit indignant when I saw the vineyard workers pulling every second bunch off the Merlot vines!

 

 

As it turns out, there was a good reason for this. It’s known as ‘green harvesting’, but we call it bunch thinning (as does almost everyone else!). By cutting off every second or so bunch of immature green grapes, this induces the vine to put its remaining energy into the rest of the grapes – resulting in a more healthy, vigorous bunch! It originally seemed a waste to me (all this potential wine!) but Robyn explained it perfectly – we don’t necessarily need all the juice that these extra grapes will produce, but what we do need, we want to be strong and robust – not weak and diluted.

 

Robyn then showed me some of our Pinot Noir vines. Now I (along with anyone else who has watched ‘Sideways’) is aware that the Pinot Noir grape is difficult to grow. It’s a little like Goldilocks – it doesn’t like it too hot, but it also doesn’t like it too cold. It has a tendency to over crop (meaning it grows too many bunches), and so it needs its bunches trimmed in a similar fashion to the Merlot.

 

What really excited me when we visited the Pinot Noir vines was this:

 

 

“Look, they’re turning purple!” I said. “But why are they purple if the Merlot grapes are still unripe and green?”.

 

Robyn looked at me like the true amatuer that I am, and proceeded to explain the obvious: that different grapes ripen at a different pace. In our case, our Pinot Noir and our Chardonnay will ripen first, followed by everything else in dribs and drabs. She also told me that this ‘colouring’ of the grapes actually has a technical term: veraison. Veraison means, ‘the onset of ripening’, and is a good indicator that vintage is not far off. In our case, Robyn estimated it will still be close to a month or so before these grapes are ready.

 

My final question for Robyn was regarding the weather: what we hoped for in terms of weather over the next month or so. Her response was that she wanted close to no rain, because this would lessen the chance of pests and disease, but also because water could potentially dilute the flavour of the grapes. But, additionally, she wouldn’t like a string of days over 40 degrees – fussy! At this stage, we’ve had a bit of rain, but nothing too damaging. I’ll keep updating this over the next few weeks, as we get closer to vintage – it’s always exciting to work in a winery around this time!

 


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January 12, 2012

Helen’s Hill Pinot Noir 2010 – a few reviews

Our Helen’s Hill Pinot Noir 2010 has received a litle bit of attention lately. Firstly, it was recently reviewed by Winefront.com.au, and we’re happy to say that Gary Walsh was pleased with it!

 

“Terrific vintage for Pinot in the Yarra Valley.

Forest berries, spice, a touch of earth and vanilla perfume. It’s ripe and sweetly fruited with a lovely set of powder fine silky tannin, but shows a little too much warmth through the finish. Seductive style of wine that’s going to hit the P spot of many a drinker. May have a trick up its sleeve with a little more bottle age, but pretty much good to go. “

 

Then it popped up in The Age’s ‘Epicure’ section:

 

“A single-vineyard pinot from a strong vintage in the Yarra Valley with sweet, juicy fruit to the fore: dusty beetroot, black tea, stewed cherries. Warm in the mouth with a generous, fine tannin smoothness.”

 

And finally, it made an appearance in today’s Canberra Times, as Chris Shanahan’s ‘Wine of the Week’:
“When they established the vineyard, the owners paid great attention to matching grape varieties to soil types and microclimates – successfully, judging by this wine. There’s a floral high note over the ripe, cherry-like varietal aroma. The cherry character follows through on a ripe, juicy palate, with earthy savoury undertones and firm but velvety tannins.”

 

It’s always nice to get a bit of validation in the form of good reviews! If you’d like to try our Pinot Noir for yourself, it’s available through our online wine shop.


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December 15, 2011

Ingram Road Chardonnay 2010: Wine of the Week!

We were very excited to open our newspapers this past weekend, and spot that our very own Ingram Road Chardonnay had been picked as Huon Hooke’s Wine of the Week!

 

The review was published in the Sydney Morning Herald, under the ‘Good Living’ section, and reads as follows:

 

“Ingram Road is the second label of Helen’s Hill Estate, which has a sizeable vineyard, winery and restaurant in the Coldstream area. I’ve found the white wines to be particularly good. This inexpensive chardonnay, from a standout vintage, is great value for money and, being uncluttered by oak and artefact, makes great summer drinking. It tastes unwooded and positively sings with brightness and energy. Youthful light-yellow in hue, it has fresh cashew and almond aromas, with passionfruit and grapefruit touches. It’s very youthful, clean and restrained on the tongue; light and tight with very modest alcohol and great drinkability. Drink now to four years.”

 

Additionally, Wine Business Magazine posted a review under their ‘Mixed Bunch’ section:

 

“Warm spicy oak presence, then rockmelon and nougat aromas. Sits in the mouth with finesse and is gently slippery with neat composition of oak, spice, mandarin acidity and pure fruit with faint mineral/slate. Delicious.”

 

 

 


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December 9, 2011

Cabernets 2008 featured in Australia’s Wine Business Magazine

We were thrilled to discover that our Cabernets ’08 was featured in the ‘Mixed Bunch’ section of Australia’s Wine Business Magazine this month!

 

The review reads as follows:

 

“Violets, mint, mulberry, nougat oak. Palate and bouquet double up on descriptors, with the texture fine, smooth and shapely with lingering spice to finish.”

 

Sounds delicious! Read more about our Cabernets here.


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