Mount Avoca – Australia’s Most Highly Awarded Organic Winery
Mount Avoca focus on producing organic wine from their Victorian winery based in Pyrenees wine region. They grow, made and bottle all their wines onsite and even offer “Eco-Luxe” lodges accomodation at the vineyard. Who doesn’t love a winery escape am I right?
The 400 acre property was planted with vines in 1970 and also includes olive trees (there’s about 600 on the property today). The team behind Mount Avoca naturally went down the route of using no chemicals in the vineyard and are Australian Certified Organic (Cert No. 11470A).
What is extra delicious about Mount Avoca is that they have probably one of the best deals around for their wine club.
Basically when you sign up to the Mount Avoca Wine Club, you get 50% off the price of your wine. What the?!? I know. Pretty darn good right!
There’s a minimum commitment of three 12 bottle wine deliveries per year in order to cash in on the above awesome deal.
The below wines are all part of the Estate Mixed Dozen Wine Club case.
Mount Avoca Tasting Notes:
Disclosure: The below wines were sent to me as a sample, I was under no obligation to post about them. All opinions are based on my own taste buds and I share what I enjoy so others can discover amazing wines too. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy!
Mount Avoca 2019 Estate Shiraz
Tasted: 14 April 2021
This beauty won the Best Shiraz 2020 in Australia and NZ from Winestate Magazine! And from what I can taste, this one is only going to improve over time too. It’s one to pop a few bottles in the cellar to see how it develops over the coming years. In fact the winery suggests up to 2030!
I loved it right from the deep purple-red colour in the glass. It has a lovely perfume of violets, spice and cherries, a sprinkling of ground pepper and there’s some plum and a hint of cigars in there too. I think maybe my most favourite part of this wine is the velvety smooth texture which makes it super easy to consume. The tannins are the giveaway fact that the wine will age, however if you decant/aerate, it is drinking beautifully right now too.
100% organic grapes – Minimal SO2 added – Vegan friendly
Mount Avoca 2020 Estate Sauvignon Blanc
Tasted: 11 April 2021
Seafood and Sauvignon Blanc is just a no-brainer for me. I was making homemade sushi – the first time in so long – and I thought this wine would be the perfect accompaniment. And it was pretty darn good 😉
We also had some chicken and vegetable sushi too and it held up to all the strong flavours really well – even the wasabi!
In the glass it’s a vibrant white gold colour. On the nose there’s juicy pears, gooseberry and lemongrass, while in the mouth it’s a delicious acidity bomb which is balanced out with sweet passionfruit, and a hint of green capsicum. YUM!
100% organic grapes – Minimal SO2 added – Vegan friendly
Mount Avoca 2019 Estate Chardonnay
Tasted: 9 April 2021
This $38 Chardonnay (or $19 if you are part of the Mount Avoca Wine Club) was right up our alley as we looooove Chardonnay.
“The grapes were harvested cool in the morning then pressed into tank and oak. The tank fermented portion (70%) was cool fermented and employed burgundy yeast. Yeast lees where periodically stirred back into the wine for 11 months thereafter to impart greater dimension and textural properties. The barrel fermented portion (30%) was fermented with a more fruit driven Portuguese yeast strain followed by complete malo-lactic fermentation to enhance both layering on the palate and overall complexity.” – mountavoca.com
We found it a pretty pale lemon colour in the glass with silver flecks. On the nose there’s vanilla oak, orchard fruits, fresh lemons straight off the tree, buttered sweet corn and a bit of juicy fruit chewing gum in there too. A very interesting and rather complex nose. While in the mouth it’s super bright and fresh with plentiful citrus and pear notes, alongside a bit of tropical-ness. Highly enjoyable!
100% organic grapes – Minimal SO2 added – Vegan friendly
Mount Avoca ‘Lisa Marie’ 2012 Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine
Tasted: 31 March 2021
This 100% Chardonnay sparkling wine is named after Lisa Marie Barry, one of the family’s ancestors who also personifies grace and elegance.
This bubbles spends 2 years on lees, before being released. We enjoyed it with some friends and we all loved it very much from it’s brioche, grapefruit zest and popcorn aromas on the nose to it’s smooth and silky texture in the mouth. It’s crisp, fresh and 100% enjoyable.
Organic – Minimal SO2 added – 12.5% alcohol
Mount Avoca 2017 Estate Tempranillo
Tasted: 30 March 2021
We enjoyed this Tempranillo with some Charlotte Piper chocolate which we bought through Just In Time Gourmet… sooo yummy!!
The recommended matches from the winery are cured ham and salami – so next time I’ll be sure to whip up a charcuterie board to match.
In the glass this Victorian Tempranillo is a black-red plum colour. It has a lovely perfume of fresh blackberries and cherries, with hints of anise and sweet mixed spice. In the mouth its super juicy, refreshing and has a decent length finish. There is a hint of minted blackberries and also some juicy strawberries too. Delish!
100% organic wine – Minimum SO2 added – Vegan – 14% alcohol
Mount Avoca 2010 Cordon Cut Sauvignon Blanc Dessert Wine
Tasted: 3 April 2021
I am just going to be honest here. I am not a huge dessert wine drinker. It’s. not something Mr Spittoon and I would typically open on the regular. However we recently went out for dinner and we were asked to bring a dessert wine. We’d just received this sample bottle of the Mount Avoca 2010 Cordon Cut Sauvignon Blanc – so it was meant to be!
If I am going for a dessert wine, I do typically choose something like this. I have had a few ‘stickies’ made from Sauvignon Blanc and I just love how the acidity of the grape variety brings such a freshness and balance to the sweetness in this style of wine.
So what exactly does Cordon Cut mean? It’s all to do with how the wine is made:
“The canes with the fruit (called “cordons”) are cut and left to hang on the trellis for three weeks prior to harvesting. This reduces the grapes to about one third of their original weight, not only concentrating the sugars but also intensifying the flavours. Assessed daily, the grapes were harvested and pressed into stainless steel in late March 2010. After cold settling for a week, a small percentage was racked off for barrel ferment and the rest was co-inoculated and fermented in tank. Specialist yeast strains were used to accentuate the already abundant aromas and lift the fruit. After eight months of storage and barrel ageing, the 2010 Cordon Cut Sauvignon Blanc was carefully blended and bottled in January 2011, and bottle-aged for a further 10 months prior to release.”
We enjoyed it with some caramel Lindt chocolate and berries for dessert and it went splendidly. Definitely the perfect tipple to match dessert or a cheese platter if you ask me.
In the glass it definitely has a golden sheen to it, some could say it slightly looks like a cape gooseberry – see the pics above. In the mouth it’s clean, fresh and makes me think of lime brûlée, slightly charred pineapple and it even has a bit of a pvc whiff to it. In a good way! In the mouth it definitelt has the perfect balance of fruit sweetness and acidity and actually tastes a bit like cape gooseberries with an abundance of citrus fruits. YUM!
Mount Avoca Estate 2019 Estate Merlot
Tasted: 7 April 2021
This is one of those O.M.G. merlots! You hear people telling the story of when they fell in love with Merlot and this is one of those wines which turns you into a die-hard merlot lover, trust me!
I literally savoured every drop while snuggled up in bed with Mr Spittoon and as you can see in the picture, our two cats. Haha the romance!
It’s a garnet brick colour in the glass and oh my it is super aromatic. As soon as Mr Spittoon poured the wine about a metre away from me I could smell it! Think juicy blueberries, blackberries, milk chocolate and some earthiness. in the mouth it’s full bodied and rich, yet has supple tannins and a wonderfully long finish. There’s juicy berry fruit and some cocoa dusted cherries in there. Ahh I can’t do justice to describing this wine. It’s pure deliciousness.
Australian Certified Organic – Minimum SO2 added – Vegan Friendly
