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2005 The West Australian 29/10/05 - The West Magazine; "Summer in a Glass"
$15 - $25 category - “In this price category the quality of wines takes a significant jump”
"This was a very good vintage for Margaret River whites and this beautiful example shows why. Smoky herbaceousness with a little delicate gooseberry on the dusty palate."
Ray Jordan; 29 October 2005.
Tuggy Meyer, Huntsworth Wine Company Limited. Fermoy Estate Shiraz 2002 Margaret River, Western Australia (£12.95)
"I have to confess that I really don’t like Australians! My grandfather was a wool trader down under so I feel I can criticize without too much prejudice! Yes they won three times as many medals at the Sydney Olympics (their squad was also three times the size of ours!); yes they excel at half-a-dozen high profile sports like cricket; tennis; rugby league & swimming but the depth and cultural complexities are not exactly in the same league as us beleaguered Poms. Are they as good as us at Cinema; Television; Comedy; Rock & Pop Music; Opera & Classic; Architecture; The Arts period!; Horse Racing; Football; Rugby Union; Rowing; Angling; Motor Sports; Snooker & Darts; Aviation; Mountaineering & Exploration; Literature and a million other things? A bit like their wines I’m afraid – upfront, fruity, forceful but lacking finesse and complexity! Having been cleared out of our mature Henschke stock we have an embarrassing solitary Australian wine on our shelves. It is not for want of trying as at each Aussie tasting I go to I am bombarded with Shiraz that tastes more like cough mixture and quite frankly I am weary of it! I had high hopes at The Wine fair last week but again was left little impressed in this field. The following day however Michael Kelly of Fermoy Estate appeared in our shop and I sampled all seven of his wines. Jaundiced on arrival I was however immediately turned round by the nose of his straight Shiraz. For all those fed up with the overtly one-dimensional Shiraz of Barossa fame here is a restrained yet seriously elegant Shiraz. Lovely ripe fruit but this is as rich as it is restrained and as balanced as one could hope for. I have usually found subtlety from Australia to emanate from either Adelaide Hills or parts of Western Australia so I wasn’t overly surprised that this delightful Shiraz came from Margaret River.
This is an Aussie that won’t jump down your throat or call you a whingeing Pom; it is in my view an Aussie that is better suited to the cut of Jermyn Street or Saville Row, a rarity indeed." (Apologies to Skippy; Rolf Harris & Madge.)
June 2005
Huon Hooke, June 2005... "the ’03 Fermoy Merlot is a ripper! It is one of the best merlots I’ve seen all year!”
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