60 bottles available.
Opens with plenty of spicy ginger oak over bright grapefruit and nectarine fruit, a little almond nougat and a wisp of struck flint. On the palate it is coiled tight, spring loaded and intense with flavours of grapefruit, nectarine, green mango, almond and spicy oak. Lithe and energetic. Sparks of flinty minerality flying, a lightning bolt of pure acid arcing from front to back palate crackling all the way to the crisp lemon and spice finish. A wine of great clarity and finesse but in desperate need of further cellaring to show its best. Drink : 2010 - 2016 96 points Gary Walsh, Winorama
Hillcrest Vineyard is a micro-boutique maker of individual, classically styled wines. Its owners, David and Tanya Bryant, look to the best producers from the famous French regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy as both their inspiration and benchmark.
The style of the wines is clearly influenced by the art of Old World viticulture and winemaking, yet retains the richness so distinctive in Australian wines. Drawing on their small 33 year-old vineyard in Victoria's famous Yarra Valley wine region, David and Tanya have joined forces with one of Australia's most highly regarded winemakers, Phillip Jones of Bass Phillip.
Phillip's guidance sees the vineyard farmed on organic principles with herbicides and pesticides, together with other systemic spraying, eliminated. Canopy management is critical and season-long attention is provided to each vine. Tiny yields of as little as half-a-ton to the acre are targeted, resulting in intensely flavoured fruit which is a clear expression of its unique terroir.
In the winery classic techniques prevail. Use of wild yeasts and minimal intervention winemaking maximise the potential of the wines, and the resulting quality is stunning. The wines are unique with personality, structure and complexity.
