Happs & Three Hills - Breaking News

The pecking order

In the 2006 Perth Wine Show Happs won the trophy for the most successful producer of an output less than 300 tons. Perth is a national competition. Three of our current release reds were awarded top of class gold medals. These wines were our Three Hills Shiraz 2003, Merlot 2003 and Charles Andreas 2002. This gave us the trifecta in the mature classes, a feat that we think has never been seen before and will probably never be seen again.

In 2006 James Halliday in his Australian Wine Companion rated Happs and Three Hills as a 5 star winery. That placed us in the top 8.5% of the 2001 Australian wineries reviewed in the guide in that year. Five star status requires a minimum of two wines with 94 points or more. In that year the 2002 and 2003 Three Hills Shiraz were rated at 95 and 94 points respectively.

We reckoned that seven wines at ninety points or better placed us 6^th in the Margaret River spectrum of 16 five star wineries with four producers ahead of us on eight 90+ wines, Moss Wood, Woodlands, Cape Mentelle and Vasse Felix. Howard Park was clearly out in front at that time with ten wines over 90 points. All of these producers were older than ourselves and had the benefit of recognition when the industry was ‘new’ and the local market tremendously curious and supportive.

In the 2007 version of James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 12.5% of the 2185 Australian wineries were awarded five star statuses. Happs and Three Hills have no less than eleven wines in the ninety plus category and we are out in front in the Margaret River rankings. Others of the 26 five star wineries in Margaret River may have better average scores but we have the depth.

Creating recognition for an iconic wine label is a slow process but our resolve is firm. We have tremendous natural advantages. That advantage relates to the viticultural end of the business and is backed up with sensitive and intelligent winemaking from Mark Warren who has a great grasp of the technology. That fits him to lecture on enology at the Margaret River branch of Curtin University.

We grow great fruit because our Three Hills vineyard is in a great place and we know how to work things to maximize that potential. It takes time to change perceptions in the world of wine but we are determined. Points are sometimes given for factors unrelated to the taste of the wine in the glass.

Our view of wine shows

Some producers deliberately steer clear of wine shows. We understand how they feel. If one already has a secure position in the market place there is much to lose. The awards sometimes go to styles that one does not like, the results can be inconsistent and some of the best wines do not get up. There is a strong tendency to reward the styles typical of heartland of Australian wine making, and that is South Australia. If one does not do well there is great disappointment and angst. The winemaker and his dog are at risk of a swift kick. However, it is not possible to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Those that elevate the winemaker to god like status live by the sword and must die by the sword. The cult of personality is the problem. It does not recognize the reality that in wine, site and climate is almost everything. Blending bits and pieces from across the country is an approach to winemaking that is appropriate when constructing F.A.Q. wines to be sold in volume in an international market. If that is what you are doing then the art of the blender is critical. If however you want to make really great wine you begin with site selection, variety matched to site and viticulture that will maximize the flavour return. Then, you have a raw material that has the flavour intensity that is needed. You then try to conserve and complex that flavour in the winery. This is not to underestimate the value of a good winemaker. You need that too, to make sure that the potential is realized.

There is very little feedback from the shows to the exhibitors and as a tool for industry improvement. Shows could be so much better if they were run with imagination. The scope is there to get a report card on the wine or at least the individual score of each of the three judges. But no: they are run by the Agricultural societies for their own mysterious purposes.

Despite all this, shows, and the respected reviewer like James Halliday who engages in the herculean task of rating 6000+ wines annually are the chief means that producers have to benchmark their wines against others. As such these are a vehicle for the ambitious producer to make his mark in that wider forum. So, we enter in Perth, Melbourne, Mount Barker, Margaret River and the Sheraton in Perth. If there was a show that used large numbers of consumers to rank wines we would enter it in a flash and with great conviction because the consumers are ultimately the best and most independent of reviewers.

Three Hills wines

2002 Three Hills Charles Andreas:

Composition Cabernet Sauvignon 92% Malbec 4% Malbec 4% Merlot.

Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2002 and 2003 vintages at Qantas Mount Barker Western Australian Wine Show

James Halliday 2006 Australian Wine Companion 93 points The Charles Andreas 2002 was awarded 4.5 Goblets and was reviewed in these words: Very fine, elegant and savoury; long in the mouth; not the typical show style at all. Drink 2012

Winestate Annual Review January – February 2006 In the taste off of four to five star wines for the best Cabernet for the year nationally the Three Hills Charles Andreas 2002 was pointed in the top five wines that also included, the following wines: Saltram of Barossa Mamre Brook Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Flint’s of Coonawarra Gammon’s Crossing Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Clairault Estate Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 and Vasse Felix Heytsbury 2002 which was awarded the trophy for the best wine of all classes tasted during the year.

It is notable that three of the top five wines came from Margaret River, one from Coonawarra and one from the Barossa. This is a generous effort from three South Australian based winemaker/ judges.

Royal Perth Wine Show 2006. Gold Medal. Class 47. Mature Wines. Dry Red Cabernet Sauvignon. The Three Hills Charles Andreas 2002 was placed at the top of the class with 18.7 points. Other Gold medals were awarded to Brookland Valley, McWilliams and Evans and Tate all on 18.5 Points. The judges remarked that this was a strong class of wines with top wines in a range of styles but all showed freshness and depth, and purity of varietal flavour. Total of 80 wines in class from across Australia.

2003 Three Hills Charles Andreas Composition: 39% Malbec, 33% Merlot, 17% Cabernet franc and 11% Cabernet sauvignon

Qantas Mount Barker Show of 2006 in the Red Blends class. Gold Medal

James Hallidays 2007 edition of the Australian Wine Companion Five goblets. 95 Points Superb Colour; A very different blend to the 04; medium-to full bodied, intense and long palate, the softness of the Malbec sustained by the other components without losing suppleness; lovely tannin and oak support.

Royal Perth Wine Show 2006. Gold Medal. Class 20 Dry red Blends. Gold Medal 18.5 Points. Judges comment: A strong class. Top awards very good examples of various styles. Other gold medals to Lake Breese wines, McWilliams and Jamiesons Run. There were 125 wines in this class from across Australia.

2004 Three Hills Charles Andreas Composition: 41% Cabernet Sauvignon 20% Cabernet Franc 18% Malbec, 15% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot.

Silver Mount Barker 2005

Silver Margaret River 2005

James Halliday’s 2007 Australian Wine Companion Five goblets 94 Points Drink 2020 Full – bodied; very powerful and concentrated, and, for the moment, forbidding; a rich well of black fruits and tannins, the latter balanced but yet to soften and integrate; good oak; 500 cases made.

Three Hills Shiraz 2002

Gold Medal and trophy for best Shiraz at the Sheraton Western Australian Wine Show.

Top Western Australian Shiraz at the annual Shiraz review by the “all about Town” magazine in Perth Western Australia.

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
2002 Three Hills Shiraz Margaret River 91 ($55) Deep, saturated ruby. Flashy oak spice from the get-go, with aromas of licorice, ripe blackberry, espresso, olive tapenade and peat. Fat and rich on the palate, showing lush, smoky flavors of berry, dark chocolate, tarry oak and clove, with a suggestion of exotic blood orange. Very ripe and concentrated shiraz, finishing powerful but also well focused.

James Hallidays 2006 Australian Wine Companion 95 points 5 Goblets drink 2017 Brilliant full purple-red; excellent structure, texture and focus; supple black fruits, subtle oak and long finish.

Three Hills Shiraz 2003

Royal Perth Wine Show 2006. Gold Medal. Class 46. Mature classes. This wine was top of class at 18.7 points ahead of Orlando, Houghton, Faber Vineyard and Annie’s Lane Copper Trail all on 18.5 points. Judges comment: An outstanding class of Australia’s best. There were 92 wines in this class from across Australia including many famous names.

Three Hills Merlot 2003

Silver Mount Barker 2004

Silver Perth 2005

Silver Margaret River 2005

James Halliday also gave this wine 4 1/2 goblets and 90 points in his 2006 guide reviewing it in these words:

Super-powerful and concentrated, somewhat over the top for the variety; exudes red and black fruits; needs taming in bottle.

5 stars in Winestate's Southern W.A. review" in 2006 ahead of the double trophy winning 2004 Three Hills Merlot.

Royal Perth Wine Show 2006. Class 48 Dry Red Merlot. Mature classes. The only Gold medal awarded in this class with 18.5 points. There were 21 wines from across Australia in this class. If makers are serious about making long lived wines from this variety that is the backbone of some of the worlds most lauded wines where are the wines?

Three Hills Merlot 2004

Gold medal and Trophy for the best Merlot of the show at the Royal Perth Wine Show 2005

Gold medal and Trophy for best Merlot in Royal Melbourne Wine show 2006

June 2006: Selected by James Halliday to represent Australia in the Tri-Nations-Challenge where the best of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are judged together. Results to be announced.

June 2006: Selected by James Halliday with the Three Hills 2002 Charles Andreas as two of the nations best wines to be autographed by the Prime Minister John Howard and sold at a charity auction in New South Wales.

Happs Wines

Happs produces varietals and blends at a price that meets the expectation of the Western Australian consumer for everyday drinking. The label bears my family name and I see it as not necessarily being tied to a particular terroir although in practice the wines are made from grapes that derive in the main from the Three Hills vineyard and secondarily from our Dunsborough vineyard where the winery and cellar door is located. In the past we grew beyond the point where the Dunsborough vineyard could supply all our fruit so we purchased grapes from neighbours or exchanged our wine making services for a proportion of product. In the early 1990’s I set out to find the best terroir to plant grapes and that is when Three Hills was born. Whereas any wine that is released under the Three Hills label must originate from the Three Hills vineyard and secondly be capable of impressing consumers from anywhere in the world who are familiar with very good wine, I have more modest aspirations with the Happs label. That is not to say that wines under the Happs label have not done well in wine shows over the years because some in fact have done very well. One could mention in particular our early Ports the Cabernet Merlots and straight Merlots. In truth, the north of Margaret River is a little warm in the ripening period for best results. The market for fine wine is small and finite. Great wines appear under the Happs label, the fruit will more than likely come from the deep south and the value will be fantastic.

The largest volume wine sold under the Happs label is Fuchsia, a light pink wine made from red grape varieties that has a pronounced spritz. It is a unique style that no-one else seems to be able to make. This wine is never shown because there is no category that it fits. It leads sales at cellar door and grows by virtue of customer insistence. As such it spreads like a fungus, infecting at the margin. Fuchsia has not yet crossed the Nullabor into South Australia but isolated centres of infection are present on the eastern seaboard in the U.K. and in Japan. The wine is very fruity, fresh and aromatic and reputedly, is responsible for the falling down of many a maiden.

We produce a blended white called Marrimee. It is founded on Chardonnay and Semillon. Our red blend at the extreme value end of the spectrum is called Tintanello.

Under the Happs label we also sell varietal Shiraz, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Verdelho and blends of Semillon Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Merlot. These are the wines that we sell to the trade and also export. There are many others that are sold only in the cellar door that is our product proving ground and market research centre. These include some great sweet wines and some fortifieds.

One of the fastest growing product lines in the Happs portfolio are the sulphite free wines PF Red and PF White. The technology that we use to make these two wines informs all our wine making. These are not ‘organic’ wines even though our viticultural practices are more consciously driven by the principles of organic culture than most that are certified as such. They are wines that forgo completely the use of a substance that is a known allergen and to which many people, including the writer, have intolerance.

Recent ratings for Happs wines

Happs Cabernets 2001

James Halliday 2006 Australian Wine Companion

Quite rich; an amalgam of black fruits, chocolate and sweet earth; medium to full bodied; good tannins rating 92 Drink 2014

Happs Pinot Noir 2002

James Halliday 2006 Australian Wine Companion

Light bodied style, but very well balanced and long; gently savoury fruit, skilled winemaking Rating 90 Drink 2007

Happs Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2004

James Halliday 2006 Australian Wine Companion

Light to medium bodied; clean and fresh; gooseberry/ grassy flavours; partial barrel fermentation giving more to texture than to flavour; good length Rating 90 Drink now

Happs Cabernet Merlot 2002