Hoosegg Seven Heaven Chardonnay 2018
Philip Shaw's long and extraordinary career has seen him running some of the country's largest wineries, pioneering Orange as a serious wine region and finally founding Hoosegg, a tiny high-quality, hands-on venture.There are of course many gaps to fill in.
Philip started working at Penfolds and Wynns Magill at the age of 14 and post-school attended Roseworthy College, graduating as a winemaker in 1969. At the age of 23 he was employed by Lindemans, at the time Australia's largest wine company, to build their massive 200,000 tonne capacity Karadoc winery, the biggest in the country. In 1982 Philip was appointed winemaker for Rosemount and oversaw an increase in production from 20,000 to 6 million cases. When Rosemount was taken over by Southcorp in 2000, Philip became head of production for Southcorp (think Penfolds, Lindemans, Wynns, Rosemount, Seppelts, Coldstream Hills... and more). At this time, Southcorp was producing 23 million cases of wine from 17 wineries across the globe, making it the largest premium wine company in the world. Mind boggling.
During this time, accolades included:
- Twice wining the coveted International Winemaker of the Year at the London International Wine & Spirit Competition (1986 & 2000).
- Awarded 1999 Qantas Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine’s Australian Winemaker of the Year.
- Awarded the 2000 Graham Gregory Trophy for his outstanding contribution to the Australian wine industry.
In 1988/89 whilst still at Rosemount and after considerable searching for what he considered to the best site to make premium wine, Philip planted the Koomooloo vineyard at Orange at an altitude of around 900m. In the initial years Rosemount took fruit from the vineyard, but by 2004 having left Southcorp and moved to Orange, Philip released the first vintage of his own Philip Shaw Wines. In 2015, after sigificant success and growth, Philip handed the reins of Philip Shaw Wines over to his two sons, Damian and Daniel, and started Hoosegg, with HOO being Philip and EGG symbolising a new beginning.
Hoosegg is the distillation of Philip's 60 year career in wine. It's hard to fathom all that experience and knowledge! From overseeing some of the largest winemaking facilities in the world, Philip now literally hand-tends fruit from the best sites in the now 30 year-old Koomooloo vineyard, to make a range of extraordinary wines from his tiny, but state-of-the-art winery.
Hoosegg Seven Heaven Chardonnay 2018
100% chardonnay from a selection of French clones. 25-year-old vines grown on a steep easterly slope. Fruit handpicked early in the morning and then chilled overnight. The grapes were pressed using hydraulic basket press which is slow but extremely gentle. Wild yeast ferment. Transferred to 100% new French oak barrel, held for 16 months before bottling.12.5% alcohol. Screwcap. 900 bottles produced.
“Excellent bright light straw with hints of green. The aroma very fresh varietal fruits very integrated oak adding complexity. Very vibrant fresh fruit flavours with a great length of flavour. The wine is a lovely drink now but will age and complex for a considerable length of time.”
Winemaker Philip Shaw.
Gold Medal - Global Chardonnay Masters 2022.
Gold Medal - Global Chardonnay Masters 2023.
“Remarkably reserved, light yellow colour, with a strong matchstick sulfide aroma coupled with taut, concentrated fruit and nicely harmonised oak. The wine has intensity and precision, the flavours focused and long, the aftertaste clean and very dry. An appetising food wine. Still young for its four years, with time ahead of it, but probably at its peak now for drinking complexity balanced with freshness and verve.”
95 points. Huon Hooke. (A great score from him).
“Assorted clones. Hand picked. Kicked off with wild yeast before 15 months in all new French wood. This would be better crushed oxidatively than whole-bunch pressed. For my money, it needs more chew to impart texture to this hot year, no matter how high the elevation. Stone-fruit allusions, creamed cashew and almond-powder lees notes. Toasted hazelnuts and truffle. A great aromatic spectrum. The finish, slippery and classy all the same.”
94 points, Ned Goodwin, Halliday Wine Companion.
| SKU | 2HOOSHCHAR18 |
| Brand | Hoosegg |
| Shipping Weight | 1.5000kg |
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