Hoddles Creek Estate: James Halliday’s $20 riesling pick
Since 1960, Hoddles Creek Estate’s glorious pinot noirs and chardonnays have flowed at irresistible prices.
By sheer chance I had just read a story on Richard Geoffroy’s move from Dom Perignon after 28 years as Chef de Cave of the world’s most famous Champagne house when I sat down to write this article. Geoffroy came from a Champagne family but studied medicine before switching to oenology. He worked for Domaine Chandon in California, returned to Champagne (the place) to accept a position of technical adviser to Moet, moved to Dom Perignon in 1990 and became Chef de Cave for Dom in 1996. You would guess his retirement was the next card in the pack. But no. He has moved to Japan to make sake.
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I could go on, but this isn’t Geoffroy’s story. It is that of Franco D’Anna of Victoria’s Hoddles Creek Estate. His career began at 13 with odd jobs in his uncle’s liquor store, becoming the store’s chief buyer at 21. Next came a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Melbourne, after which he enrolled in a viticulture course at Charles Sturt University.
Fortuitously, in 1960, the D’Anna family had purchased a steeply forested 25ha property which in 1997 they set about planting. A vintage at Coldstream Hills, advice from Mount Mary, and two years at Witchmount Winery, and the erection of a split-level winery followed. Almost overnight, glorious pinot noirs and chardonnays started to flow at prices that were irresistible – and still are.
Production of 30,000 cases a year isn’t a walk in the park. And the business is on a growth path, with 42ha of estate plantings, predominantly pinot noir and chardonnay, plus a network of growers. So what came across my tasting desk the other day? The rare 1er Pinot Blanc, a pinot gris (both estate) and a riesling from Yea, the first time he has tackled this variety. And Yea? It’s well and truly off the beaten track, but closer to home than Gippsland, whence the second label of Wickhams Road largely comes.
2022 Hoddles Creek Estate Wickhams Road Yea Valley Riesling
Franco D’Anna’s first riesling (with advice from an old mate) fermented in a used Austrian foudre after 12 hours’ skin contact. Crammed full of Meyer lemon and Granny Smith apple flavours, with a mouth-watering aftertaste. 11.5% alc, screwcap 94 points, drink to 2032, $20
2022 Hoddles Creek Estate Yarra Valley Pinot Gris
The salmon-pink colour reflects 48 hours’ skin contact for 70%, and 12 days for 30%. A scented, crushed rose petal bouquet and luxuriant palate, welcome acidity shaping the structure and length. 12.5% alc, screwcap 95 points, drink to 2030, $25
2022 Hoddles Creek Estate 1er Yarra Valley Pinot Blanc
The 1er range is for the best parcels of estate-grown fruit, here 25-year-old vines. Pinot blanc is all about texture, structure and lingering mineral acidity. Fresh peach skin and kernel inputs complete the story. 12.8% alc, screwcap 95 points, drink to 2032, $35