By John Rozentals.
Adrian Sparks: current custodian of the Maurice O’Shea legacy.
One of my most memorable moments as a winemaker came in the mid-1980s, when I opened and consumed the best part of a bottle of Mt Pleasant Hunter Valley shiraz made in the 1950s by Maurice O’Shea, one the greatest and most revered Australian winemakers.
O’Shea, like Max Schubert, the creator of Penfolds’ now-fabled Grange — it wasn’t always so fabled and Schubert had to hide its continued production from execs who must have been blind to vinous greatness — was a winemaking genius.
He studied in France, purchased the Mt Pleasant property in the 1920s and joined forces with the McWilliams family in 1932. The rest, as they say, is part of history.
How I envied, years later, winewriter Campbell Mattinson the task of penning O’Shea’s official biography — and, I presume, having to taste many more of his creations.
I forget details of the exact vintage and vineyard block of the wine in question but I’ll never forget its ethereal flavours. It was, to put it mildly, a sensational old medium-bodied Hunter red that was near the end of its drinking life and providing definitely brown tinges at the edges.
But its flavours, reminiscent of a comfortable, well used, aged and loved leather arm chair, will stay with me till I die — flavours of spices and berries, teased from grapes some 30 years previously by loving, experienced hands.
They were flavours that came back to me quite recently when I had the pleasure of tasting a small selection of Mt Pleasant reds, recently made by the brand’s current guardian, Adrian Sparks.
WINE REVIEWS
McWilliams 2016 Mount Pleasant Mothervine Pinot Noir ($35): the old block of pinot in front of the Mt Pleasant winery is the source of much of Australia’s MV6-clone (Mothervine 6) pinot. The bouquet is definitely perfumed though I’m not sure I can be as precise as the winemaker’s notes and pin it down to violets and five-spice. Like most good pinot, it’s only medium-bodied and I’d certainly recommend duck as a partner.
McWilliams 2016 Mount Pleasant Philip Shiraz ($25): alongside Elizabeth Semillon, and inspired by the 1954 Royal visit, this wine has grown into a McWilliams giant killer. The flavours are predominantly of berries, both red and black, and the palate shows great balance between tannin and fruit. The wine shows strong medium-bodied, earthy regionality and the ability to live for 15 years or so under good conditions.
WINE OF THE WEEK
McWilliams 2017 Mount Pleasant Rosehill Vineyard Shiraz ($50): this vineyard was planted by Maurice O’Shea in 1946 and the ancient volcanic soil is apparently evident in the wine’s sophisticated palate structure. Whatever the origins of that structure it is there in spades — present as a melange of at least plums, spices and raspberries. It’s easy to see why this block of dirt is so highly prized and why the wine has a cellaring potential given as more than a quarter of a century. It’s quite delicious and more-ish.
