Wine
Love, Legacy And Labour - Ascending Mount Mary
'On our success in wine, Dad used to say that it had nothing to do with luck, more like 10% inspiration, 10% desperation and 80% perspiration.' - David Middleton.
There are very few wine businesses in Australia that have developed, survived, and thrived purely on a dedicated core of customers, via an annual mailing list. In counting the actual number of such unicorns in Australia, you could keep one hand in your pocket.
When you ponder that loosely formed fact in the context of what is required these days in the wine business to keep all the plates in the air - a cellar door, a retail strategy, distribution arrangements, a digital strategy, and a cellar door club and events - that packet of Panadol in the bathroom starts to look appealing.
Mount Mary, a mostly north-facing vineyard, winery and homestead situated in the middle of the Yarra Valley, Coldstream, Lilydale triangle is one of Australia's truly special vineyard and winery estates.
For nearly five decades, the Middleton family have been crafting wines revered by wine lovers not only for their quality, but for their unique and unwavering expression of variety and site that has only gotten better year by year, decade after decade, generation after generation.
A less celebrated, but no less important, component of this icon is how the family have consistently gone about their business over their nearly 50 years of winemaking; quietly, passionately, perennially curious and considerate of the world around them. These traits are only bolstered by a deep respect for their site, their history, craft, and the people that appreciate and buy their wine.
ORIGINS OF MOUNT MARY AND THE YARRA VALLEY RENAISSANCE
The colour progression of Mount Mary Triolet in the glass.
Mount Mary begin in 1971 when John and Marli Middleton purchased the Mount Mary property with the intention of planting and producing mid weighted, elegant wines like the ones from Bordeaux and Burgundy that had captivated them over the years. John was a doctor with a practice in Lilydale, a passionate and deeply curious wine lover. He was great friends with Colin Preece, the-then winemaker at Seppelts Great Western, and it was from Colin that John and Marli acquired the cuttings to plant the property.
Inspired to make a truly great Cabernet-based wine, as well as the noble Burgundian varieties of Pinot and Chardonnay, the Middletons planted nearly 20 varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Muscadelle, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The first wines made it into bottle in 1976.
The Yarra at that time had only a handful of wineries, after the original industry that first started in 1838 eventually dwindled and died in the early 1920s due to the popularity of warm-climate-driven fortifieds. From the early 1960s to the mid-70s, families like DePury (Yeringburg) and names like Dr Bailey Carrodus (Yarra Yering), Peter McMahon (Seville Estate), Darren Kelly (Kerrybrook), Paul de Castella (Yering Station) and Reg Egan (Wantirna) were the only serious players that were planting and making wine in the Yarra.
At that time, the table wine industry was just restarting, and the work for the Middleton family at Mount Mary and others in the valley was done at night and weekends around their day jobs. 'Dad had bought into the whole romance of wine, he just loved it and became virtually obsessed by it,' explains David Middleton, son to John and Marli and second generation Mount Mary custodian.
'He wanted to make really good wine, and as he weaned himself away from his general practice, he became more and more obsessed,' he recalls. 'When I was young he tried to get me interested at the same level but I had other interests, nevertheless I supported him growing up in his plans to make world class wines.'
It was a labour of love for his father. 'He was self-taught, but he knew what he was doing. He knew the chemical and the botanical processes and when he started doing it at scale at Mount Mary and those first wines were starting to mature we knew we were onto something.'
Mount Mary, along with previously mentioned founders of the modern Yarra picture, started a rebirth of wine, especially in Melbourne, and soon began to build a reputation with people who knew and appreciated wine, especially those who had some understanding of European wines.
'By the time the 1980s came round, we had a pretty good reputation,' Middleton recounts. 'We didn't have a huge commercial following because we hadn't really promoted our product. But people that enjoyed wine got switched on to us fairly early and we've actually never chased any sort of commercial success. It's not that we don't enjoy it, but we've never chased it.'
Middleton cites the eye-on-the-basics mentality the family abides by. 'We've always just concentrated totally on growing a good grape and not mucking it up in the winery. We just love seeing people enjoy our wines.'
Enjoy they did, and do. Mount Mary focused specifically, in those days, on four wines, and those wines were available only on allocation via mailing list. Mount Mary's wines were soon sought after, and as a collectible, benchmark wine, supply never satisfied demand. They were and remain still inexpensive in comparison to other icons that gained traction in the 1980s and 1990s, but were unique in that they were less about power and weight, especially at a time when bigger was best.
Mount Mary's flagship, Quintet, a five-variety Bordeaux blend, has remained at the top of Langton's Classification (Australia's version of a Bordeaux, or Burgundy Cru Classification), and is one of only three reds that have entered and remained at its top tier '1st Classified' since its inception 30 years ago. Mount Mary's Pinot has since joined the Quintet, making for two of the three Yarra wines on Langton's loftiest list.
Each wine is a pure singularity: Nothing in the Yarra, Australia ot the world tastes like Mount Mary.
GENERATIONS AND CUSTODIANS
Second and third-gen Middletons, David, Claire and Sam.
Middleton is now joined by son Sam and daughter Claire, who are driving Mount Mary forward with principles that founded the estate, specifically, minimal intervention sustainability and respect for the legacy and craft that they grew up with. Sam is senior winemaker with degrees in Agricultural Science and Wine Science, and Claire is Mount Mary's business manager, bringing a Bachelor of Commerce, Engineering studies, and a decade of corporate experience to bear on the Mount Mary legacy.
Says Claire, 'We very much respect and know where we've come from and understand why our business works in the way it does. It's different to a lot of other businesses. Sam and I are both really conscious and have always taken a very measured approach to continuous improvement, making sure we remain, you know, world class in everything we do. And that's definitely a vision that John had right from the start.'
For Claire, it's about ensuring Mount Mary is poised to continue its success for the next 50 years. 'There's always lots of opportunity for us to build on the history and evolve what we've got.'
Sam, meanwhile, always felt bound for the vineyards. 'I think it's something that has stuck with me for so long, even when I was eight, nine years old, when I'd be running around, I could feel that kind of energy around vintage, which I'll never forget.'
School holidays were spent in the vineyard, pruning, Sam trying 'to earn as much money as I could.' It continued through his university years. 'I'd come back and I'd work in the vineyard,' he says. 'I still feel so fortunate to have had that kind of start in the industry, where I had a good grasp of the viticulture before I came into the winery.'
That connection remains important to Sam. 'I couldn't imagine living or working anywhere else - being able to just walk out the front door and walk into the vineyard and look at a block and get a sense of how things are progressing during vintage.'
Quality is non-negotiable. 'We're so in tune with the quality, at the end of the day,' he says, stating that he wants 'to make sure that every single wine we're making now and moving forward is as good as we've made if not better. I want the wines to be selling by quality of what we're making now, and not necessarily the reputation of years gone by.'
THE WINES OF THE TASTING
Mount Mary Triolet
2022 | 2012 | 2004
Mount Mary Chardonnay
2022 | 2012 | 2006
Mount Mary Pinot Noir
2021 | 2010 | 1997
Mount Mary Quintet
2022 | 2015 | 2010 | 2000 | 1996
MOUNT MARY - WINES OF SINGULARITY AND LONGEVITY
Following our conversations, it was time to explore the wines that have made the Mount Mary name what it is: both past, and present. Overall, the elements that characterise each of the four wines in its core range are their ability to age, and their uniqueness. Each wine is a pure singularity: nothing in the Yarra, Australia, and possibly the world tastes like Mount Mary Quintet, Chardonnay, or Pinot. As these wines slowly age their rarity only becomes more emphasised - part of the reason why they are so loved by wine folk.
MOUNT MARY TRIOLET
Inspired by the white Bordeaux blends of Graves/Pessac-Léognan, Triolet is a barrel-fermented combination of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle. It's savoury, crisp and dry, but with an impressive depth and length. Generally, these blends in Bordeaux - and even similar antipodean examples of SSB - are drink-now prospects, and carry a dominance by either Semillon or Sauv Blanc.
When young, Triolet is bright and textural with layers of grapefruits, lemon zest, pear and guava, accompanied by honey and ginger perfume. The 2022 was tight, fine and primary with wild, exotic musky aromas. The 2012 was in the zone with a glorious mix of baked figs and creamy citrus layers, and the 2004 was treat to taste; delicate, regal and like nothing else.
MOUNT MARY CHARDONNAY
Mount Mary's vine vista across the Yarra Ranges.
Brains trust, Sam and Claire.
Fine boned, barrel-fermented with no malolactic fermentation, this Chardonnay strikes a perfect balance between richness and restraint. Mount Mary's Chardonnays are lean and focused, but with depth and complexity that belies its weight and mouthfeel. Citrus-tinged stonefruits, brioche, and minerals showcase its elegance and purity with great focus, balance and length: built for the long haul. The 2022 is an elegant, youthful and delicate wine with knife-edge, ripe layers of tightly wound nectarines, white peach, pears and lime. The 2012 is a glorious wine: full and fleshy with a delicious, mouthwatering minerality; and the 2006, at nearly 20 years of age, was incredible deliciously sweet, savoury and nutty with fuel still in the tank.
MOUNT MARY PINOT NOIR
Mount Mary's Pinot Noir captures the ethereal beauty of the Yarra Valley but in a darker, broodier way than most other Yarra Pinots do. Pure, dark-fruited, refined, intense yet delicate, these wines are a dance of small, black-bramble berries, spice, and earth, supported by silky tannins through to a fine, wispy finish.
The 2021 is a pure, pretty wine with a youthful balance of dark red and black berries with a silky-sweet finish. The 2010, like all Mount Mary wines at 10-plus years, is beautifully poised; silky-sour savoury layers and a beguiling, long and concentrated finish. The 1997 was glorious - creamy layers of secondary and tertiary development mingle together to build a highly complex mix of fruit, spice, and earth that flows through to a pleasant, charry finish. A truly magical wine.
MOUNT MARY QUINTET
Under the nets: Sam Middleton and Paul Diamond survey the potential of Mount Mary's 2025 crop.
Mount Mary's crown jewel, the Quintet is a Bordeaux-style blend composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. This wine exemplifies the harmony between power and finesse, offering layers
of dark fruits, floral notes, and subtle oak influences.
Renowned critic James Halliday once described the Quintet as 'a benchmark for Australian red blends', praising its structure and ageing potential. We have to concur. The 2022 is fresh, full of energy and impressively complete with juicy, complex layers offering a glimpse into what a great wine can look like while still a baby. The 2015 is a lovely, silky wine f lushed with well defined layers of blackberries, cassis and soft earth. The 2010 is open, youthful and fleshy with delicate seasonings of spice, earth and oak, and many years to go yet.
The 2000 was astoundingly creamy, fine, pure and sumptuous, easily one of the best Australian Cabernets made this century. The 1996 is a show-stopping wine; highly concentrated and vibrant with a magical mix of aged and complex secondary characters evolving and growing in the mouth with each taste. A medium-bodied, creamy and supple unicorn of a wine with a very long finish. Wow.
A LOVE THAT LINGERS
Mount Mary occupies a unique position within the Australian wine industry. While many producers prioritise volume or experimentation, Mount Mary remains steadfast in its pursuit of perfection. Its wines serve as a reminder of the importance of heritage, patience, and respect for the land. In an era dominated by bold, fruit-forward styles, Mount Mary offers a refreshing alternative - wines that speak softly yet leave a lasting impression.