Place Of Changing Winds New Releases
We’re onto something special here. The wines are wonderful, complex and considered, mostly made with chardonnay and pinot noir but also with (Heathcote) shiraz...the hunt is worth it, the crusade. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries.
BEST NEW WINERY 2022 - HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION AWARDS
If you haven’t heard about Place of Changing Winds yet then it’s time you jumped on board. This is one of the most ambitious new-ish wine estates to pop up in the southern hemisphere in the last few decades.
Sure, it sounds a little like the name of a flatulent Indian chief in a Mel Brooks western, but this is one super serious, no-expense-spared, no-rock-left-unturned pursuit/crusade by owner Rob Walters to create something that he hopes transcends what has gone before, particularly from the home estate in the Macedon Ranges near Bullengarook. The early releases of pinot noir in particular, have created quite a stir in the trade and savvy collectors now hit us up weeks before the next vintage to grab a piece of the tiny release each year.
Alongside those estate wines is the less well-known, but equally compelling ‘Grower Series’ of releases, drawn mostly from Harcourt and Heathcote in central Victoria. The most recent set of wines is utterly lovely.
Here, Walters and his team don’t just buy fruit, they are intimately involved in the farming of the individual plots, making sure the key philosophical cornerstones they use at home base are replicated in these sites. Pruning, composting, hydric stress and vine competition are all part of the playbook. They say, this is all about reaching full ripeness without excessive alcohols.
As I said, the new releases are wonderful. Here, there’s a primacy and vividity of fruit. Chiselled, finely etched. These aren’t bombastic wines, they carry the story of their respective sites with energy and perfectly pitched textural profiles. Textures created (in part) via a myriad of different maturation vessels from concrete vates, to small and larger oak and even glass. Each chosen carefully by winemaker, Remi Jacquemain, to best compliment each varietal. I noticed Campbell Mattinson uses the word considered in his review above, and I like that. They feel like wines that came from a clear vision.
The blended white (Rousanne, Marsanne) from Harcourt is everything so many other examples of this kind of Rhone valley blend are not. Gorgeous orchard fruit, spice buffered by nice bracing minerality and enough texture to make the wine relaxed and slippery rather than fat or oily. I'm not sure this isn't my favourite in the range.
The No. 2 blend (Heathcote and Harcourt) Syrah is a ripper. You get all the earthy bush track elements of a Heathcote shiraz without the high-octane elements and the Harcourt seems to deliver a red fruited and floral lift. The two work beautifully in tandem. As Mike Bennie writes, it’s a pleasure zone red of evenness and general syrah-isms.
Finally, the Harcourt Syrah 2022. Red fruits, elevated by heady florals and red apple skin. Mid-to full bodied but not overbearing, the texture brings some cuddle while the granite site parries with pulsing energy. Savoury nuance further complexes. My style of modern Aussie syrah.
I think these three epitomise where the wines of Heathcote and central Vic should be heading. The days of the 15+% alcohol, teeth stainers are gone. Punters are voting with their feet on that one, believe me. In their place are a new breed of wines that leverage the undeniable terroir of the region without surrendering clarity. They give you a hedonism without the headache amplifying fruit, texture and savouriness. You won’t find three better examples of that than these three banging wines.
Cheers
Michael
BEST NEW WINERY 2022 - HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION AWARDS
If you haven’t heard about Place of Changing Winds yet then it’s time you jumped on board. This is one of the most ambitious new-ish wine estates to pop up in the southern hemisphere in the last few decades.
Sure, it sounds a little like the name of a flatulent Indian chief in a Mel Brooks western, but this is one super serious, no-expense-spared, no-rock-left-unturned pursuit/crusade by owner Rob Walters to create something that he hopes transcends what has gone before, particularly from the home estate in the Macedon Ranges near Bullengarook. The early releases of pinot noir in particular, have created quite a stir in the trade and savvy collectors now hit us up weeks before the next vintage to grab a piece of the tiny release each year.
Alongside those estate wines is the less well-known, but equally compelling ‘Grower Series’ of releases, drawn mostly from Harcourt and Heathcote in central Victoria. The most recent set of wines is utterly lovely.
Here, Walters and his team don’t just buy fruit, they are intimately involved in the farming of the individual plots, making sure the key philosophical cornerstones they use at home base are replicated in these sites. Pruning, composting, hydric stress and vine competition are all part of the playbook. They say, this is all about reaching full ripeness without excessive alcohols.
As I said, the new releases are wonderful. Here, there’s a primacy and vividity of fruit. Chiselled, finely etched. These aren’t bombastic wines, they carry the story of their respective sites with energy and perfectly pitched textural profiles. Textures created (in part) via a myriad of different maturation vessels from concrete vates, to small and larger oak and even glass. Each chosen carefully by winemaker, Remi Jacquemain, to best compliment each varietal. I noticed Campbell Mattinson uses the word considered in his review above, and I like that. They feel like wines that came from a clear vision.
The blended white (Rousanne, Marsanne) from Harcourt is everything so many other examples of this kind of Rhone valley blend are not. Gorgeous orchard fruit, spice buffered by nice bracing minerality and enough texture to make the wine relaxed and slippery rather than fat or oily. I'm not sure this isn't my favourite in the range.
The No. 2 blend (Heathcote and Harcourt) Syrah is a ripper. You get all the earthy bush track elements of a Heathcote shiraz without the high-octane elements and the Harcourt seems to deliver a red fruited and floral lift. The two work beautifully in tandem. As Mike Bennie writes, it’s a pleasure zone red of evenness and general syrah-isms.
Finally, the Harcourt Syrah 2022. Red fruits, elevated by heady florals and red apple skin. Mid-to full bodied but not overbearing, the texture brings some cuddle while the granite site parries with pulsing energy. Savoury nuance further complexes. My style of modern Aussie syrah.
I think these three epitomise where the wines of Heathcote and central Vic should be heading. The days of the 15+% alcohol, teeth stainers are gone. Punters are voting with their feet on that one, believe me. In their place are a new breed of wines that leverage the undeniable terroir of the region without surrendering clarity. They give you a hedonism without the headache amplifying fruit, texture and savouriness. You won’t find three better examples of that than these three banging wines.
Cheers
Michael