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John Fordham

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

body+soul With her partner Jeffrey Grosset, one of the Clare Valley’s kingpins, Stephanie Toole has always relished the challenge to make wines every bit as good, and vintage after vintage she continues to cut the mustard. Her 2005 Mount Horrocks Semillon ($27), 2004 Mount Horrocks Shiraz and 2002 Mount Horrocks Cabernet Merlot (both $32) are all delicately tuned and stunning expressions of excellent fruit selection and smart winemaking.
May 21, 2006

Mount Horrocks wins Decanter Magazine’s (UK) Gold Medal & Regional Trophy for the 2003 Cordon Cut Riesling

The Decanter (UK) Magazine has just announced its 2004 World Wine Awards and the 2003 Cordon Cut Riesling not only won gold, but was awarded the Australian Regional Trophy for the Best Sweet White over £10. The wine was described by the judging panel as “bright gold. Lifted botrytis. Great Acidity balancing the intense sweetness.

2003 Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling

The Ten Most Exciting Names to Watch
Decanter, UK, February 2004

Max Allen states the case for taking wine more seriously, and picks out 10 top-quality producers who show just what’s possible.

For the Sweet Tooth – Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut 2002

Although many people are familiar with Australia’s rich, unctuous botrytis-affected Semillon, not so well known are producers such as Stephanie Toole in the Clare Valley who also make much more refined dessert wines like this super-aromatic, pure, crystalline sweet Riesling.

Mount Horrocks Wines Features in UK Website

Jamie Goode, a UK based freelance writer has reviewed Mount Horrocks wines on his website. Go to www.wineanorak.com for his comments on wines available in the UK.

US Wine & Spirits Magazine Special Issue

Fall 2002
Annual Buying Guide – 85 Wineries of the Year
MOUNT HORROCKS – by Joshua Greene

There are any number of ways to sweeten grapes for dessert wine. Some German growers leave the fruit on the vine to freeze, extracting water and leaving precious drops of juice for eiswein. Some in Italy lay their ripe grapes in straw mats to dry in buildings open to the breeze. Then there’s Stephanie Toole, in the Clare Valley, who cuts the cordons between the grape bunches and the vine, letting the tendrils hold the drying grapes to the trellis. With gentle breezes the result is a wine of honeyed richness, its high-toned spice lifted as if by the breeze. Should the wind pick up, however, much of the crop blows through the vineyard along with it.

Toole took a similar risk when she left wine sales in 1993 to move to the Clare Valley town of Watervale, bought the train station, and set up shop as Mount Horrocks – but it didn’t hurt that she was able to strike a deal with Bunny and Yvonne Peglidis, whose ancient, dry-farmed wines in Watervale produce the exceptional fruit for her wine. This year we recommended Toole’s entire production, from the 2001 Cordon Cut at the top the game, to the tart, citrusy, 2001 Watervale Riesling and the deep-toned, succulent Cabernet-Merlot blend from 1998, a great vintage to Clare. These three wines all performed at exceptional levels, while the ’99 Shiraz, not as perfectly ripe as the ’98 blend, still had a soft elegance to charm. If you’re in South Australia, you owe it to yourself to drive north to Clare. Pay Toole a visit at her restored train station tasting room, just around the corner from Jeffrey Grosset, at the head of Clare’s Riesling Trail.