Joe Fattorini
The Herald, 26 Oct, 2002
Scotland


"I’m sure that eventually I’ll get over the horse’s bottom thing. Just not yet. I promised, well, assured, Jane Wilson that I wouldn’t mention her in the same sentence as horses’ bottoms. But I’m afraid I just can’t resist.

Readers with long memories may remember Jane from a column I wrote three years ago. Originally from Oban and a vet who specialised in horses (hence the thing about their bottoms), Jane moved to Australia where she has become a highly regarded wine maker.
Her partner David Lowe is the chief winemaker at the Rothbury Estate in the Hunter Valley. They set up on their own with Lowe Family Wines, a small, top-quality winemaker in Mudgee, drawing their grapes from outstanding vineyards in Mudgee, the Hunter Valley and Orange. They work with their unirrigated, untrellised vineyards in Mudgee to produce small quantities of top quality grapes. And the "best" is often not what you’d expect from Australia. They may be big or small, but they are the very antithesis of the "international" style of in-your-face wines favoured by so many Australian winemakers.

And at long last you can get them. Or at least you don’t have to scour the country to get them. Jane’s sister-in-law Amanda Wilson has jumped every hurdle placed in her way to set up Strathardle Fine Wines, supplying Lowe Family Wines to restaurants and private customers. And I can’t recommend enough that you give them a try. They are premium, but affordable, wines.

Lowe Semillon 2000 – a toned down nose of toasted nuts and lanolin, followed by a complex palate with prickly acidity, intense fruit and a ripe finish.

Lowe Chardonnay 1999 – a ripe sweet nose with subtle tropical fruit, but dig deeper to find secondary aromas, toasty and a touch earthy. Here the balance is the other way round, initially sweet, followed by a developing acidity and very long finish.

Tinja Chardonnay 2000 – Tinja is the second label of Lowe, and the nose is more openly sweet and fruity, forward and balanced by fresh acids.

Lowe Hunter Shiraz 1999 – glorious Shiraz fruit flavours with spiciness and sweet berries. Forward on the palate, waves of savoury tannin, this is complex and soft on the finish.

Lowe Merlot 2000 – plumy, soft and juicy, but balanced with greener tones. The mouth feel is great, dry, firm and spicy. A wine with spine and grip. The finish is a wonder of damsons, cherries and bitterness.

Lowe Orange Red Blend 1999 – this reminded me of Christmas, full of cloves, ripe spearmint and woody spice. It’s a fantastic palate, rich Cabernet, long and firm with perfectly balanced tannins.

Tinja Sangiovese-Merlot-Barbera 2001 – wild, with aromatic fruit, almost rubber and balsamic with sweet and sour.

Joe Fattorini
The Herald, 26 Oct, 2002