Product Information:
A proper Cool-Tassie Syrah from the talented Hughes brothers, crack it open now or set aside for the long haul. Fruit from Brinktop vineyard in the Coal River Valley. Harvested on May 2nd at 12.5 Baume. Predominantly whole berry, 7% whole bunch, natural yeast, held on skins for 21 days while getting gently pumped over once a day while the ferment was most active (4-5 times in total). Pressed directly to and matured in oak (20% new). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Maker:
Brothers Matthew and Jonathan Hughes have already enjoyed meteoric success with their acclaimed Mewstone Vineyard, established on the banks of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in South Tasmania in 2011. Here they create expressive single site wines with a minimum of intervention in the winery. The vineyard is a former cherry orchard and with some new plantings going in this year will expanded to a final size of 5.2 hectares.
But for Jonathan to scratch his creative itch he also make wines under the Hughes & Hughes label. Selecting fruit from predominantly Southern Tasmania, the project gives the Jonathan a platform for creativity and experimentation in the cellar. Hughes & Hughes aims to produce bright wines with strong natural acidity, drinkability, that won't break the bank.
Philosophy:
Sourcing quality grapes from other local vineyards, the more daring Hughes & Hughes sees Jonathan bring together techniques he encountered from his world travels. It comes in three levels, the Tasmania blends, single-site expressions and the most playful of this range is lo-fi, living wines made without any sulphur adds.
The Tasmania blends seek to champion varietal expression. Building texture and complexity but not at the expense of enjoyment and purity. The winemaking can be a little experimental and playful. Your sneaky mid-weeky Pinot. As for the single sites expressions. These wines are chosen for their quality and expression of place - these are special parcels from growers that represent something a bit special. With the diverse growing conditions around Tasmania the brothers have a 6th sense for which patches will stand out after vintage. Once selected they are matured a little longer before bottling and release. Lastly the most wild expressions are made with a minimum of intervention in the winery. No added sulphur, no fining or filtering. Seasonal wines that explore texture and continue to evolve after bottling.
Hughes & Hughes are produced in small amounts means he can put a whole lot of love into these unique creations. Don't miss the opportunity to snap these up while you can.
Nose - Spicy, Dried Herbs, Peppercorns
Sweet violent perfume, dried herbs characters laid on, mezcal and peppercorns.
Palate - Ripe, Black Cherry, Musk
A bed of deep, ripe, black cherry and raspberry flavours, which lifts and boosts all that savouriness, and if you look there are blueberry, violet and musk notes here too.
Finish - Cacao Nibs, Powdering Fine Tannin, Cool Herbs
As it unfurls amaro/bitter chocolate character sitting on the aftertaste. More prominent will cellaring or decanting.
Tasmanian shiraz, when it’s good, is a beautiful thing. This is good. It wears the coolness of its climate on its sleeve with peanut shell and dried herbs characters laid on, not to mention mezcal and peppercorns. It presents a bed of deep, ripe, black cherry and raspberry flavours, which lifts and boosts all that savouriness, and if you look there are blueberry, violet and musk notes here too. It’s a parade. A cohesive parade. Personally I would hook into this now, but it will be better again from next year onwards; the extra time will give the slight amaro/bitter chocolate character sitting on the aftertaste a chance to bed itself in. - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 94 Points.
The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Syrah
Country - Australia
Region- Tasmania
Vintage - 2022
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13.2%
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