This is superb and showcases the full gamut of chardonnay complexities. Light yellow colour; oatmeal, toasted cashew nut and smoky low-level sulphide aromas. It’s intense and fresh in the mouth, multi-layered and finishes cleanly, with great vitality.
GOURMET TRAVELLER WINE – JUNE/JULY 2017
LAY ME DOWN
Most Australian tempranillos, it’s fair to say, are drink-now propositions: juicy, round, soft-edged. This one has long been an exception: deep, dark fruit and wonderful, grippy tannin crying out for cellaring. And 2015 is the best vintage yet.
GOURMET TRAVELLER – MAY 2017
“Ovens Crossing” is the former name of Porepunkah, the home of Mayford. As fond as I am of the Porepunkah name, I think I might just prefer Ovens Crossing. This is a blend of tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon. It won’t be released until July 2017.
It’s a beautifully balanced, flavoured and structured wine. Red/black berries, spice, mint, anise and earth. A slip of raw cedarwood. It just works. No hesitation. Curl of tannin is a ripping final flourish. I tasted this over the course of 24 hours and it hardly budged, and impressed throughout. It’s right up there with the best produced from this estate. Succulence, intensity, tautness and complexity combined.
Drink 2020 to 2030
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front
Tempranillo was the wine that gained fame for Mayford, and this is a worthy member of the following vintages. It is bright, juicy and fresh, with red cherry fruit to the fore, and a long, convincing finish. 13.9% alc.
4 Stars
Halliday Wine Companion Magazine
Mayford Chardonnay 2015 – 95 Points
Light yellow hue, youthful, and a very attractive complex mealy bouquet – cashew nut, lightly toasted, with well-judged low-level sulfides. The palate is likewise fresh and complex at the same time: intense and delicious, balanced and clean finishing. A superb chardonnay which is young and vital.
Drink: 2017 to 2025
Deep red colour with a good purple rim. The wine is rich and plummy, chocolate, vanilla and also spicy, with some oak clearly evident. It’s full-bodied and rich, deep and texturally lovely with fleshy extract and just the right touch of firmness. A very smart shiraz, which will benefit from more time in the cellar. Drink 2019 to 2032
Huon Hook
From the cold Victorian Alps comes a compelling wine that’s all restraint and composure. Stonefruit, spice and lemon aromas are complex and a little hedonistic, with flavours that are rich and intense. Its balance is seamless with those concentrated flavours kept in check by acid that plays a background role – every element working in harmony. Enjoy with roast chicken.
Ben Thomas, The Vine
Class 12 Other Red Varieties
Six Nations Wine Challenge, The New World Champions
Mayford Tempranillo 2015 – Gold Medal
Class 18B Tempranillo (More Structured)
Mayford Tempranillo 2015 – 95 Points
I have always had a preference for Mayford Shiraz but this Tempranillo goes pretty close. Is it the best Tempranillo in Australia? It definitely has claims. Like the Shiraz, this has beautiful balance and poise, it reminds me more of the Alpine Valley than Spain but that is not a bad thing. Drink now or over the next decade.
Mayford Shiraz 2014 – 96-97 Points
Mayford is one of the best producers of cool climate Shiraz in Australia: up with the likes of Giaconda and Clonakilla for their Porepunkah Shiraz. Grown in miniscule amounts in one of the most picturesque vineyards in Australia. The 2014 vintage release is spot on, to the point where it might be the best release yet…
Deep, dark, perfumed; so much complexity in just the nose. The palate is beautiful, so complete with layers and layers of fruit and everything in place in just the perfect way. Drink now and for the next 15-20 years. I have loved every release of Mayford Shiraz and this vintage is no exception. Want to jump on a ‘superstar of the future? Buy Mayford. This is close to the pinnacle of how great Victorian and Australian Shiraz can be. It is a benchmark in every sense of the word. It is so complete and complex it could command a $100 price tag and I think no one would blink an eyelid.
Tempranillo from Porepunkah in the Alpine Valleys wine region. North-east Victoria. Where the mountains meet the sky. I don’t live in Porepunkah anymore but I was in the area earlier this week and after a solid winter/spring of rain, the place is looking magnificent. It is, truly, one of the most beautiful places in Australia. Made me want to move back. Not, of course, that you can ever step into the same river twice. Re: this tempranillo – it’s released in mid-october-ish, I believe. Mayford tempranillo has been on an excellent run and this 2015 is as good, arguably, as any release thus far. Tannin is the key here. It’s bold and beautiful with fruit and oak, its luscious cherry, redcurrant and dry spice characters seducing at every turn, but it’s the rocks and stones of dry tannin that really set the wine off. Serious future ahead.
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Chardonnay rarely misses at Mayford. Indeed, none of the wines do. There’s a lot to be said for only having a small portfolio of wines. This too is released in mid-october. This is juicy. It’s tasty. It’s sunny but sophisticated. It’s the kind of chardonnay most people love to drink: plenty of zippy but more than anything it’s about deliverying a good dose of flavour. Stonefruit, pears,, gunsmoke, grapefruit and spice. A flinty edge. It’s a beauty.
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Mayford Shiraz from a tiny vineyard in the Alpine Valleys. In particularly fine form it is, too. It was released to the mailing list earlier this year but won’t be on wider release until October. It just has that little more power, and yet that little more finesse. This is arguably the finest Mayford Shiraz to date. It’s rich with ripe plum and cherry, has a healthy coating of smoky/cedary oak, shows highlights of clove and boysenberry, and pushes juicily out through the finish. Tannin is particularly well handled. This wine is still arranging itself, still smoothing out its kinks, but its future looks terrifically bright.
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Many years of Tempranillo experience has gone into this wine, made with a bit more oak influence than others in the same genre. Herbal notes, black cherry flavours, and a good mid-strength tannin profile suggest this ensemble will relax in the bottle for several years, or decanter now for a few hours. In Spain, this would register between “reserve” and “gran reserve”.
Tony Love, Herald Sun
Trophy Best Alpine Valleys Wine
Gold Medal, Class 8
North East Victorian Wine Challenge 2016
Tempranillo Class 17
North East Victorian Wine Challenge 2016
Wine of the week. A candidate for Australia’s best tempranillo. Smoky red and black-cherry, aniseed and mixed spice aromas combine with great elegance. Intense and mouth-filling. An impressive wine. (14 per cent alchol; screw cap.) Ageing? No to 13 years. Food: Aged roast beef fillet. Stockists include: Boccaccio Cellars, Balwyn (Vic); Bond’s Corner, Northbridge (NSW).
Huon Hooke
Light straw colour and a buttery, butterscotch nose, the palate soft and rich, round and honeyed, with again a lot of malolactic character. A delicious wine, buttery and utterly charming. Lots of character and a very traditional Burgundy-style chardonnay, with that obvious malo character. Silky smooth and gentle in the mouth, with seamless acidity. Drink 2016 to 2024.
Huon Hooke
There are no pretensions to fashion with Mayford’s chardonnay, this is all about texture, flavour and body, complex yet neatly composed. A fuller-bodied although not a big wine, it’s still tight offering up stone fruit, citrus and preserved lemon, quite intensely citrus actually with hints of oak spice, nutty, mealy leesy nuances fleshing out the palate so there’s texture too balanced out by neat acidity. As with the best chardonnays, this is moreish, savoury and a real palate pleaser. While Mayford’s tempranillo usually takes centre stage, its chardonnay has well and truly found its groove. Cellaring: 2016 to 2026.
Jane Faulkner, Winematters
Mayford has morphed into one of the leading lights when it comes to Australian tempranillo – and this 2014 is the most detailed to date. It’s dark purple-garnet and enticing in a big glass. While in the savoury spectrum, at its core there’s really juicy, good fruit serving up an amalgam of tempranillo flavours from sarsaparilla, Redskins lollies to fresh raspberries plus some oak spice and florals. Full-bodied, complex with distinct grainy tannins and refreshing sorbet-like acidity ensuring the end result is a superb drink. Cellaring: 2016 to 2028+.
Jane Faulkner, Winematters
John C. Brown Memorial Trophy
Best Dry White Wine made from fruit grown in North East
Region of Victoria
Rutherglen Wine Show 2015
Though planted throughout Australia and used by about 340 winemakers, Spain’s tempranillo remains a niche variety. Our vignerons harvest just 4-5000 tonnes of it annually, depending on vintage conditions – about one 10th the volume of pinot noir, or 100th of shiraz. However, it makes instantly appealing red wines in a spectrum of styles. At a recent tasting from six producers, Mayford stood out as the most complete red. Its ripe blueberry-like varietal flavour came packaged in strong, savoury tannins that gave a chewy, satisfying richness to the palate and an assertive, dry finish.
goodfood.com.au
This cooler climate version of the variety celebrates not only the place it is grown, with subtle aromatics of mint and eucalypt, but also a “house style” that has been arrived at over close to a decade out of this site. While dense with superbly ripe, dark berry flavours, the main attention here is its spice and savoury layers and lead to a dryish, chewy textural finish. Released next month.
Taste – Herald Sun
This 2013 Mayford Shiraz follows in the footsteps of the superb 2013 Mayford Tempranillo. It takes time to come up in the glass but the depth of fruit here is the best I have seen from a Mayford Shiraz. It takes quality and stakes it firmly in the ground. It’s rich with dark cherry plum, smoky oak, chocolate, game and Asian spice, though it’s the stretch of dry tannin pulling through the luxury of flavour that really sets it apart. On the first day I tried it I wasn’t quite sure. On the second, I was certain. It’s a wine of presence and command.
The Wine Front
Buttery, creamy, complex bouquet, with suggestions of lees and malolactic. Some vanilla and butterscotch notes. A superbly fine yet rich chardonnay. There are grapefruit, mealy, peanut brittle and even passionfruit nuances. Intence grapefruit palate, fine and compact, delicate and long. An outstanding wine. Drink 2014 – 2022.
Huon Hooke
The colour is deep and dark, the bouquet is fresh and already quite complex, with a lifted floral, spicy perfume – with an inviting brightness. It builds cherry liqueur notes as it breathes. The palate has very good depth and intensity, fleshiness and medium to full body, with tight, fine-grained tannins. A superb tempranillo. Mayford’s had more density and extract than most Aussie versions. Drink 2014 – 2031.
Huon Hooke
This is the tempranillo Australia had to have. This is a truly stunning wine. It’s been a long, hard journey for Mayford Tempranillo to come of age but here it is, of a sudden, all grown up, and it’s better than anyone may well ever have imagined. Kudos to Bryan Nicholson and Eleana Anderson, the folks behind the growing and making of it. It’s a super savoury wine, super tight, ripped with muscular, earthen, smoky tannin and yet perfumed, spicy, intriguing. The flavours extend into tomorrow. Graphite and chicory, red earth and redcurrant, fennel. At heart and in essence though, this wine is dry and structural, a rocky outcrop, a dare, a climb, a step into the hitherto unchartered. Previous vintages of Mayford Tempranillo have been good; some have caused a splash; this release builds on all those previous steps, and yet its quality rises far over the ruck of them all. I’ve followed Mayford closely over the past handful of years but I have to say: I didn’t see a wine like this coming.
The Wine Front
Contrary to how it might seem, the reviewing of wines grown locally to where I live is one of my least favourite tasks. A wine like this chardonnay from Mayford however makes life quite a bit easier.
It’s an effortless wine and yet it lingers beautifully through the finish. Drinking it is a pleasure. Lemon, barley, pears and apple, with smoky/spicy/wheaty notes on the tips. Balance is spot on. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The Wine Front
From the back label: “This special release celebrates the eightieth birthdays of Leonard George and Lesley Rose Nicholson, champions of Mayford and respected clan elders”. It will be released next week. It’s clearly from a favourable season. It shows classy, smoky oak and quite a deal of it at first, but given time to breathe it opens into a beautifully integrated wine, shot with coffee, spice, woodsmoke, and the pulp of boysenberries and plums. Prominent acidity gives the wine a succulence, a liveliness. Ripe, intricate strings of tannin act as the puppeteer. It’s a confident release, and will reward cellaring.
The Wine Front
Mayford Wines Rating 5 Stars & 5 Wine Glasses. The roots of Mayford go back to 1995, when forester Brian Nicholson planted a small amount of shiraz, since extended to its present level with 0.8ha. Chardonnay (1.6ha) and tempranillo (0.6ha). In the words of their backgrounder, in-house winemaking commenced shortly after he selected his seasoned winemaker bride in 02, and the first Mayford wines were released in 07. Wife and co-owner Eleana Anderson became a Flying Winemaker, working four vintages in Germany while completing her wine science degree at CSU (having much earlier obtained an arts degree). Vintages in Australia included one at Boyntons Feathertop (also at Porepunkah), where she met her husband-to-be. Initially, she was unenthusiastic about the potential of tempranillo, which Brian had planted after consultation with Mark Walpole, Brown Brothers viticulturist, but since making the first vintage in 06 she has been thoroughly enamoured of the variety. Eleana practises minimalist winemaking, declining to use enzymes, cultured yeasts, tannins and/or copper.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion
Close to the pinnacle of how great Victorian and Australian Shiraz can be: 97 points. I will put it out there: I have loved every release of Mayford Shiraz and this vintage is no exception. Want to jump on a ‘superstar of the future? Buy Mayford. The 2012 vintage release of Mayford Porepunkah Shiraz is every bit as good as the 2010 release and is up there with the best from the region (include Giaconda if you will) and just shows you how good Alpine Valley Shiraz can be.
Anthony D’Anna, Boccaccio
2012 Tempranillo wins Stewards Choice Trophy at 2013 Australian Alternative Varietals Wine Show.
Australian Alternatives Varieties Wine Show
“Oh so fine, is this the future of Australian Tempranillo?”
Jeni Port, The Age 1.10.2013
Mayford Tempranillo has fast become a sought-after wine. It’s made by Eleana Anderson in tiny volume to meticulous standards. It’s a leader of the Australian tempranillo pack. It’s from a few years ago now but if you haven’t read of the Mayford story, you can do so here. Mayford Tempranillo is of course from a small hand-tended ampitheatre-like estate at Porepunkah in the Alpine Valleys region of north-east Victoria. This 2012 version will be released in October 2013. The 2012 season wasn’t the easiest for red wine in these parts but it has produced some excellent results. This is one of them. Balance and texture are its calling cards. So too is a deceptive firmness of tannin. Polished, cedary, smoky oak, sweet-sour cherry, fistfuls of assorted dry, woody spice and a whisper of eucalypt. Oak has been beautifully managed and applied. It’s the most seamless tempranillo from Mayford yet. It’s infantile; it will be much better in 3-4 years. But it’s definitely a goodun’. Rated : 93 Points, Alcohol : 14%, Price : $35, Closure : Screwcap, Drink : 2015 – 2020
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front
“Winemaker/vignerons Eleana Anderson and Bryan Nicholson have developed an exciting small range of wines from their Porepunkah vineyard. Tempranillo tends to steal the most attentiion, but I find their chardonnay equally exciting – full in flavour and character without being bloated or to weighty; developed, but with toned muscle definition. From the cooler 2011 ripening season, the fruit gives luscious aromas of ripe peaches and honey, with just a pinch of spice and spikey struck-match sulphides. The rich, fleshy palate combines elegance with generous flavours of nashi pears, limes and traces of flinty minerally trailing through a long finish. This sensual style shows precisely why chardonnay is now back in fashion.”
Alpine Style Magazine
Mayford from Porepunkah in the Alpine Valleys is one of the few winemakers in Australia to get tempranillo consistently right. A very pretty style from the cool 2011 vintage with savoury wild cherry, earthy fruit, lifted dried thyme and spicy edges. A great drink now but will also cellar well for five-plus years.
Wish, The Australian
Mayford Tempranillo 2011
This is just pre-release though I’ve had the good fortune to taste/drink it a couple of times. The first time I was impressed by its aromatics, the second by its tannin structure. It was a tough year in the Alpine Valleys (there will not be a shiraz release) as it was in many parts, but Eleana Anderson and Bryan Nicholson run such a meticulous estate that the tempranillo has sailed on regardless. Screwcap sealed. Whoa. Incredibly vibrant, juicy, alive. More-ish and then some. Cherries, musk, peppers. Perfumed. But for all its up-front deliciousness, it maintains a strict, filigreed, tannic line. Pitch perfect. No need to cellar it though I suspect it will cellar remarkably well. It certainly opens up beautifully as it rests in the glass. Some cola characters minus the sweetness. Such a gorgeous/pretty wine. I thought it was a (admittedly delicious) short termer when I first tried it but I now don’t think it is; it has legs.
The 2010 Tempranillo has just been awarded a Double Gold at the 2012 Five Nations Wine Challenge.
Mayford Wines 5 Stars.
Porepunkah Shiraz 2009 Rating 95.
Porepunkah Tempranillo 2010 Rating 95
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2012
Consumed this over a couple of nights and was sad to see it go. Immense drinkability and a real future ahead of it. Characterised in some ways by its dry, succulent, rippling tannin, though there is a fair show of flavour preceding it. Fruit-wise it does a gorgeous rendition of sweet-savoury: here it’s squishy, ripe, liqueurous cherries with spicy wood, soy and undergrowth. Feels both pure and precise through the finish. More-ish but intellectual. Beautiful wine. Rated: 95 Points.
The Wine Front
This is an exciting chardonnay release for Mayford and the Alpine Valleys. Its a wine of style and charm and, most importantly, pure enjoyment. I loved the 2008 Mayford Chardonnay but for my own drinking pleasure, this is the one. It’s got both flavour and refinement in spades. Fennel, gunsmoke, nashi pears and limes. There’s a drift of tinned pineapple-like flavour but it soon turns flinty and dry. Mealy, leesy elements and complexity. But it’s not the individual components so much as the overall effect; it smells and tastes delicious and as it breathes in the glass it just gets classier and classier. Rated: 94 Points.
The Wine Front
Many of Australia’s exciting new wines are being made by Victoria’s next-generation grape-treaders…
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Based in the Heart of Porepunkah, winemaker Eleana Anderson produces a teeny amount of wine – around 500 cases, including some terrific shiraz and chardonnay. But her tempranillo is standout. It’s a dense plush wine, full-bodied and quite opulent with rich savoury nuances, sweet leather and exotic spice, liquorice and a hint of menthol. Fleshy on the palate with ripe sweet tannins offset by cleansing acidity on the finish. Will need decanting and a Moroccan-spiced roast leg of lamb as its dining partner. Available Europa Cellars, East Melbourne.
By far the best Australian Shiraz that has passed my lips for a long long time. Eleana Anderson has a magical touch should be included in the same breath as Tim Kirk from Clonakilla as the best winemaker of cool climate Shiraz in Australia…
“2010 Mayford Tempranillo, Alpine Valleys. This is one of the better examples of tempranillo that Australia has produced. With a deep purple-red hue and aromas of dark berry, subtle oak and mint, it’s full bodied and firmed up by tight tannins which are in good balance with the fruit and weight. Delicious Drinking. 8”
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“TOP AUSSIE RED – Mayford Tempranillo, Alpine Valleys 2010, $38. Deep red-purple colour introduces a most stylish tempranillo with charm and balance. Dark berries, subtle oak, traces of mint and spice. In the mouth, delicious berry flavours with spice, mint and herb adding extra dimension. Harmony and drinkability galore. Best now to 2020. 14% alcohol. 92/100. Food: Grilled lamb chops.”
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“2010 Mayford Tempranillo, Porepunkah Vic $35
This would have to be a contender for the best tempranillo yet produced in Australia. Surperb depth of glossy black fruit, but also terrific complexity of cocoa-dust tannin. Drink with slow-roast lamb.” Max Allen
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AAVWS – Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show
Anderson & Marsh won GOLD!!
2018 Mayford Tempranillo – Winners of Winewise Championship 2020 – Best Other Red Variety!!!!
