Clive Hartley
Situated high on the slopes of Mount Macedon sits Mount Towrong. The vineyard was planted by George and Deirdre Cremasco in 1996. Coming from strong Italian heritage, George has focused on Italian varieties and planted Glera, Pinot Bianco and Nebbiolo alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It is an extremely cool site so production is marginal and to support the business they also buy fruit from Mildura and Heathcote regions which is fairly common with producers in the Macedon Ranges.
Recently, the team from ‘Put a Cork in It” from Hepburn Radio went out to the vineyard and we sat down with Adam Paleg, the winemaker at Mount Towrong, to taste a few of his wines.
Vivace 2022 ($50) is a co-fermented, bottled fermented estate grown blend of Nebbiolo and Chardonnay. That is a unique blend, but it works well. The wine has cherry notes and is dry with strawberries and cream flavours. There are some nice autolytic characters and nuttiness on the palate.
Next we tried the newest edition to their line-up, a 2023 Grillo which is sourced from just outside of Mildura. There are only two plantings of this white grape variety in Australia. Native to Sicily it is a variety that is used to make Marsala as well as table wines. It survives in the heat of Sicily well, so you see why it is grown in the hot Mildura region. The wine displayed honeydew melon with herbal notes and was light and fresh on the palate with plenty of lemony acidity. It will be released in a few months, around the same time as the next wine we tasted.
The 2023 Giovanni is a co-fermented Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo blend which is named after George’s father. Nice low alcohol – around 12%. Extremely floral at this stage with some fresh natural acidity. Tannins build as it sits in the mouth and produces a velvet finish. Plenty of style and elegance here, and I’m looking forward to its release.
What you can drink now is their 2022 Nebbiolo ($45) sourced from Heathcote. It spends 30 days on skins and is then aged in new Hungarian oak puncheons. The wine displays typical varietal characteristics with strong red cherries supported by floral hints and touches of dried fruits. Palate offers raspberry and cherry flavours, fresh acidity on a light bodied framework with soft tannins that build to a warm, medium finish. This attractive wine goes well with a plate of cured meats.
The Mount Towrong cellar door is open weekends and their restaurant is open for lunch. For more information see their website: mounttowrong.com.au.
Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer, educator and consultant. Check out his fortnightly radio show on Hepburn Radio called “Put a Cork in It”. Want to learn more about wine? Try his book the Australian Wine Guide (7thed) – available for purchase from Paradise Books in Daylesford or through his website – www.australianwineguide.com.au
