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August 2006 Newsletter All text by Erl Happ unless otherwise attributed |
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August 2006 Newsletter All text by Erl Happ unless otherwise attributed |
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Middle of the week we were told that it would be nice if we were to have a There is no release date or price yet set (although it is unlikely to rise above the current level of $35) for the 2004 Three Hills Merlot. The wine is representing Australia in the Tri Nations Challenge (South Africa, Australia and New Zealand) and results will be available at the end of the month. If you would like to reserve some of this wine we are currently accepting reservations based on a $5 deposit per bottle. Ring Bill on 0897553300 with order, delivery and credit card details. James Halliday 2007 Wine Companion
In the 2007 edition on sale in bookstores this month we have Four five star wines: all 94 points or better. · Three HillsCharles Andreas 2003 · Three Hills Shiraz 2004 · Three Hills Charles Andreas 2004 · Three Hills Merlot 2004 Seven 4.5 star wines ranging from 90 to 93 points namely · Three Hills Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2004 · Happs Cabernet Merlot 2002 · Happs Sauvignon Blanc 2004 · Happs Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005 · Three Hills Eva Marie 2004 · Happs Chardonnay 2004 · Three Hills Sangiovese 2004 Another of our wines that James Halliday reviewed at 93 points last year that is still on sale is the Three Hills Charles Andreas 2002. This wine took out the Trophy for the best Cabernet Sauvignon in Mount Barker in 2004 and was selected by Winestate as one of the top 5 Cabernets of some 800 Aussie Cabernets tasted by its panels in 2005. Great Wine is made in the vineyard In 2006 many vineyards in Margaret River had trouble ripening their fruit due to the very cool spring and summer. The photo at the head of this newsletter shows cabernet sauvignon at Three Hills in Karridale taken from ground level just before picking. The grass in the rows testifies to the amount of rain that we had in March and April. The relatively dispersed canopy represents a large working leaf area in relation to crop. The fruit is well separated in twin fruit zones that are a metre apart for each row. The fruit is clearly visible. This assists drying after rain and dew. Despite low leaf activity due to the leaves senescing (due to cold nights in April and limited soil moisture at depth), sugar stored in the extensive trunk and roots of these dry grown vines flowed to the fruit enabled this crop to be harvested 2nd May at 13.5 Beaume just before a major outbreak of botrytis. The ingredients for success include the big leaf area, natural methods for reducing the incidence of disease in wet seasons, crop reduction by thinning every year so that the vine can build its carbohydrate reserves and dry grown vines so that the root system is big enough to store the carbohydrate. It is not rocket science. These methods, and the natural advantage that exists due to the cool ripening season are what lie behind the Wine Show Trophies for Three Hills Charles Andreas and Merlot, the latest in Melbourne just last week. Not all blocks will do this because the soil varies in depth and there are parts where too much moisture is available to the vines. Its nature and nurture. Preservatives in Food, Feed and Cosmetics
I was invited to address an international conference on ‘Natural
Prese The nice thing about being asked to speak at a conference is that you realize that something that you are doing is important enough to be noticed in faraway places. In respect to making wine that is free of, or has a very much reduced content of sulphur dioxide; our technology is second to none. When you have to think carefully in order to explain what to do, one realizes the work and the learning that has gone into making these wines since 1994 and how much our success in this task has influenced our approach to all our wine making. The line up of PhD’s was impressive and the expositions precise and detailed. I thank Ros for her patience in helping me to refine my talk and tell the story. What we lacked in chemical formulae we made up for in the practical ‘how to do it’ detail that we provided. A snippet from San Francisco by Ros Happ
We were beginning to
believe Mark Twain who said, “There is nowhere as cold as a summer in San
Francisco.” The winds were bitter. However, on th The 2006 Vintage By Winemaker Mark Warren Vintage 2006 is now well behind us and we have completed the first bottling run of the 2006 unwooded whites. The low yields of the vintage have produced some wines with fantastic fruit intensity – though perhaps not the volume we may have liked. Several of the wines have been sold out for some time so the new vintages of these wines are already available. We have been out of stock of these wines for some time but the 2006 wines were bottled last week and there are some glorious flavours to be had from this historically cool and late vintage. New to cellar door this week are Pale Gold, Late Picked Verdelho, Semillon Sauvignon Blanc and P.F. White. If you want more information, tasting notes on all the new releases are available on our website. Whilst I’m really pleased with all the wines we have bottled this year, I’m particularly impressed with the Chenin Blanc. This variety is often under appreciated but is capable of producing flavoursome, crisp wines with great longevity. I see the 2006 Happs Chenin Blanc exactly in this mould. The other wine that has my attention is the 2006 Marrimee ( unwooded Chardonnay ). The unusual nature of the vintage resulted in ‘very’ low crop levels for this variety and has produced a wine with so much fruit flavour that it comfortably stands up without oak. Look out for this wine a bit later in the year. The reds at this stage appear a touch lighter than is typical but are elegant and refined with great length. Thankfully the flavours are all in the ripe spectrum and we expect some very good wines to be produced. One of the highlights is the Pinot Noir. With such a cool vintage our expectation was that this could be a chance to make our best ever Pinot Noir. Looking at the wine in barrel this is undoubtedly true. All in all I think the very unusual 2006 vintage has produced some really pleasing wine. THREE HILLS Tasting Featuring New Releases including 2005 Three Hills Chardonnay Venue: The Freo Doctor - Formal Tasting Cellar 27 Arundel Street Fremantle WA 6160 RSVP to info@thefreodoctor.com Date: Tuesday 19th September Time: 6pm The Freo Doctor carries a comprehensive range of premium Margaret River Wines and will showcase the Three Hills range in their formal tasting cellar amid the barrels and leather arm chairs. Our winemaker Mark Warren will introduce the wines in this cosy setting, please register your interest with Ross at the Freo Doctor. Shakespeare Comes To Happs by Gabrielle Whirledge Bare Naked theatre
is pleased to announce their 2006 Spring Season with Happs is delighted to support this season and will be hosting daytime performances in their beautiful gardens. The entertainment package will include picnic hampers and wine. Group bookings of ten will be rewarded with two bottles of wine gratis. Information on hampers and sale of tickets will be available from September 1,
through BOCS Ticketing and BOCS ticketing outlets (transaction fees will apply) Be sure to save the dates so you can enjoy a relaxing afternoon at Happs Winery.
Sunday October 15 performance of As You Like It The Capes Long Lunch – held Sunday 20th August - by Jacquie Happ We had a great time putting on this event that was attended by over 150 people. It was a fabulous gourmet celebration. The wineries put on superb spreads complemented by a selection of extraordinary wines. Here is what the locals said: “It really is my favourite event of the year! Don't tell any other event organisers that though”. “There are lunches and there are long lunches. And there are very long lunches, as scores of food and wine enthusiasts found last Sunday when they took part in the Capes Long Lunch,” Rob Bennett, Busselton Dunsborough Mail. “Eat, drink and be merry was the catch cry of this year’s Capes Long Lunch. More than 150 guests enjoyed a culinary ride through the Margaret River Region stopping at Cape Naturaliste vineyard, Sandstone, Swings & Roundabouts, Happs (with Goanna Gallery), Lamonts and Amberley.” Busselton Margaret Times. Watch out for the next event in August of next year! To reserve your place for next year please contact Jacqui@happs.com.a Orders Think. You may need to give yourself or a friend a real treat this very night. Are you prepared? Your wine rack will look a lot more impressive with our Trophy winning Three Hills Charles Andreas installed. Improve your living standard very directly and do it now. Our faxable order form is available here. For a secure online credit card purchase please click here. For instant action ring 08-97553300. New
If you don’t have a
wine rack be sure to come to cellar door and inspect the combination bar/wine
rack from a 225 lire barrique made by our
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representative at the Awards presentation dinner in Melbourne on Friday night.
Casting around for a person willing to make the trip we found Jim Watt who is
the husband of our hard working secretary Liz who some of you may have met at
cellar door a couple of years ago. Jim was traveling to Melbourne with three
mates just for the weekend to take in three games of AFL, Flemington
Racecourse and other stuff important to blokes. Being a rugby man Jim was not
that keen to see that many games of Aussie Rules and agreed to attend the Show
event on our behalf and make the acceptance speech if required. Jim knows a bit
about vines because he is the principal of Injidup Vineyard Services. It transpired that our Three Hills Merlot
2004 was awarded the trophy for the best Merlot of the show.
(No, that's not Jim holding the trophy, but Mark Warren our wine maker, who
gleefully took possession of it once it arrived back in WA)
We don’t know how
many classes of young and old wines were involved. Our exuberance was tempered
by the knowledge that this wine had performed the same feat in the Perth Wine
show last year. However, that did not prevent it from coming second to the
current release Three Hills Merlot 2003 in the review of Western Australian
wines conducted by ‘Winestate’ magazine earlier this year. It is wicked of me to
tell you these things but I feel you deserve the truth. Personally, I think that
‘Winestate’ got it right. The 2003 is the more elegant and balanced wine. 
e
day of our big tasting, where the important and beautiful people of SF were
gathered to taste our delicious West Australian wines at a fine restaurant
on Fisherman’s Wharf, the sun shone gloriously. We were privileged to
be in that part of the room with the bay behind us, glistening in the
sunlight with the bridges visible in the distance showing the might of
American engineering. And our mighty wines were causing a stir. People
were being told that ‘they must try those Happs and Three Hills’ wines. One
serious journalist, and I’m afraid I didn’t get his name, waxed lyrical
about the Three Hills Shiraz as he was doing a comparative Shiraz tasting of
all those in the room. He declared that it was definitely the best in
the show. At the end of the event, he appeared again to repeat the
message. It was a very enjoyable event. The people of SF have a talent
for personality dressing and they are practiced conversationalists. 
performances around the South West of Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Romeo &
Juliet. Using just the bare essentials, Bare Naked is a professional theatre
company presenting wonderful storytelling in a highly entertaining fashion! 
cellar hand Benjamin Stroud. Price is
$380 picked up from the cellar door in
Dunsborough, $30 picked up from a Perth transport depot or $50 for door to door delivery.
We can also supply these barrels (Full $80, Half $40) for normal household use.