This vineyard and label have been part of my wine inventory for nigh on twenty years. In another article on the site, I provide a historical background of St. Hubert’s. This wine continues the very fine tradition built up over forty years since the winery’s re-establishment.

Mature deep red hue with plenty of brown and red brick in the edge. As is common with the marque, the nose offers up volumes of weedy blackcurrants, leafy greens, fresh provencal herbs, cedar oak and damp earth with an attractive lifted tarry licorice top note that becomes more pronounced with extended airing. All up, quite Bordeaux-like and very impressive. Distinctly sweeter, the medium-bodied palate lifts the bar another notch or two and to its credit looks to have the stuffing for several more years evolution in the cellar. With plenty of bright acidity and seriously good firmish tannin to match the weedy blackcurrant fruit and subservient cedar oak, this outstanding wine has sufficient authority and length to merit a score of 91 points. I recommend a drinking window of now to 2014. A/V 13% and sealed with a cork. 

Mature brick hue. Drunk over many hours tonight this wine offers a melange of deep-set, savoury, aged Cabernet aromas including sandalwood, weedy blackcurrants, aged tobacco leaf, old leather, leafy greens, damp earth, minerals (iron) with just a hint of miso and blood as a top note. As the wine passes through the mouth an initial burst of sweet curranty fruit is besieged by more of these complex savoury characters found in the bouquet. There’s extract a’plenty here on a medium frame with lashings of malty oak, very sedate fine-grained tannins, low acidity and an elegant, seductive finish of some considerable duration. Now fully mature, there is no reason to hold this terrific wine any longer. I’ve drunk more than a dozen and a half of these over many years and this particular bottle looks as good as anything I’ve tried previously. Drink now or over the next year or two. 92 points  13% A/V

12.5% A/V. Cork closure. Superb level and virtually no seepage up the cork.

A brilliant offering, equivalent to a top Second Growth from a very good year. A beautiful crimson/garnet colour holding right to the edge. Wonderfully pure, savoury nose of superripe currants, blackberries, a subtle leafiness, cedary oak and a hint of licorice and spice box. Top shelf. The palate delivers an identical level of excellence - silky mouthfeel, perfect weight and a fantastic equilibrium difficult to emulate. Copious quantities of succulent fruit (aka the bouquet) mesh, seamlessly, with terrific fresh, bright acids and a gorgeous, melting fine tannin regime to produce a complete package. Finishes with such aplomb, I had to pinch myself and check that this was, in fact, from the Yarra Valley! Outstanding verging on Exceptional. What a wine! Although at the zenith, I can’t see similarly kept bottles falling over in a hurry. Wow! 94 points

Recently re-released from the Great Western cellar door, this Outstanding mature Riesling harbours a mature golden hue, heady honeyed aromas of spiced apricot, Granny Smith apples, a deft touch of toasty bottle development and the last vestige of musky florals. Honeyed and quite viscous in the mouth with abundant flavours of apple and limes, a distinctive spicy botrytis overtone perfectly counterbalanced by quite lively refreshing acidity that cleans up the presence of a little residual sugar. Finishes surprisingly crisp and with incredible persistence. Probably nearing its peak drinking window, I would opt for drinking this impressive wine over the next year or two. 90 points. 12.5% A/V and sealed with a cork. 

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc from mature vines nestled in the foothills of the Victorian Alps just north of Beechworth, this outstanding wine rekindles similarities to top-flight French Chateaux, hinting at the probing depth and structure of a Leoville-Las-Cases, the silky elegance of Pichon-Lalande with some of the fragrance and sheer class of a top Margaux. Intriguing scents of violets, sandalwood, bitter chocolate, green olives, cedar, Asian spices, forest floor and a strong undertone of cassis intermingle with well-integrated savoury/vanillan oak. In the mouth this wine displays medium body, excellent delineation, glossy blackcurrant- and herb-tinged fruit, a nice dollop of savoury oak, admirable purity and tremendous length with surprisingly crisp acidity and the finest of ripe tannins rounding off a terrific expressive conclusion. Needs another year to fully resolve and should drink exceedingly well for perhaps another five. 92 points. 13.0% A/V