5 STAR WINERY RATING – WINE COMPANION
Mount Pleasant has had some of our finest winemakers at its helm, turning out some true classics, but the recent releases stake fair claim to being the best since Maurice O’Shea – arguably our best winemaker of all – worked his instinctive genius on the grapes, without even the benefit of electricity. Winemaker Adrian Sparks has simplified things in the most thoughtful of ways, relying on the best fruit, dialling oak well back and never tinkering unduly. Younger vines planted and managed for quantity were removed, with the direction narrowed to the exemplary farming of some of the best vineyard assets in the country, including the Rosehill and Lovedale vineyards. That focus is key, with the winery that used to process over 600 tonnes now only working with about 120. The quality gains are clearly in the glass, and so is Adrian’s considerable skill, intimate familiarity with site and lack of ego and showiness. From top to bottom, the Mount Pleasant wines are sublime, evocative of history and place and unburdened with winemaking artefact. WINE COMPANION