Mount Pleasant Mountain D Full Bodied Dry Red, Hunter Valley
The Mountain Range wines pay homage to Maurice O'Shea's talent as a master blender. He had an astounding ability to make and recognise small unique parcels. And depending on what style they were, light-bodied, medium-bodied or full-bodied, O'Shea gave each of them different code names: Mountain C, Mountain A and Mountain D.
Glorious fruit and sweet-spiced oak combine to mesmerising effect. It's medium in weight but it feels rich; it's syrupy smooth in a seamless and seductive way; it's rippled with firm-handed tannin and it carries it with ease. If you look hard you'll find all manner of flavours and nuances; the next few decades will sort them all out.
97 points, Wine Companion (January 2019)
Very deep red/purple colour with a powerful, ripe, plum-essency bouquet. Fruit is to the fore, and it's very ripe, concentrated fruit at that. The wine is full-bodied and fleshy, dense and supple, a mouthfilling powerhouse of a shiraz. This is a whopper shiraz by Hunter standards - about as big as Hunter shiraz gets.
96 points, The Real Review (January 2019)
Showing a bit of oak, dark fruits, liquorice, spice. Full-bodied, it is, with deep fruit and grainy tannin to match, it’s pretty ripe, but not over the top, moving into light soy sauce flavour, almost. A lot of tannin and grip on the finish, and the length is really very good. Some raspberry and red things pop up on the finish. Thunder on the mountain here at present, but with time, should be a pretty impressive wine.
94+ points, Wine Companion (August 2018)
A very taut, detailed and fresh red with ripe raspberries, red plums and cherries. The tannins are gently creamy, very supple and silky. Polished and seamless red plums abound.
94 points, JamesSuckling.com (June 2019)
The Hunter Valley is the most important quality wine-producing region in New South Wales, even though it represents only a fraction of the state’s production. Established in the early 1800s, the first vignerons recognised that the coastal fringe north of Sydney was too wet and humid for viable viticulture and thus took the decision to move into the hinterland. Although the region can be particularly hot, the cloud and rainfall patterns significantly modify the microclimate. The Hunter Valley is maritime influenced, with afternoon sea breezes funnelling up through the Hunter River and Goulburn River gap. Rainfall is very erratic and can arrive at the most inopportune time. Soils are generally rich volcanic and alluvial. The best vineyard sites are located within sight of the imposing Brokenback Range that is exposed to the cool sea breezes. Further inland, the maritime influence gives way to a greater degree of continentality. The Hunter Valley is best known for exceptional age-worthy Semillon and fresh savoury medium-bodied Shiraz, although Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay also perform well.
