Fair dinkum Spanish style offerings

WINE .... with David Bray

Spanish food is in favour in the restaurant business right now so it is timely that the wine industry in Queensland can match the trend with wines made by Argentine-born and Spanish-trained Paola Cabezas Rhymer.

Winemaker for the Summit Estate, she knows what she wants and she is getting it. After nine years in charge of vineyard and winery, recognition of the quality of the work and that of her team has begun to roll in. It is European-style winemaking, and it can be a revelation.
Most recently James Haliday’s 2011 Australian Wine Companion recognises Summit Estate as a five- star winery, giving both the Queensland Cabernet and Alto Monastrell Blend top marks. The only other Queensland winery awarded five stars is neighbouring Boireann.
The same edition also included the Summit in its list of top-10 special Australian wineries, the only Queenslander to achieve this status. Summit Estate is at Thulimbah, 12km north of Stanthorpe, 50 south of Warwick and nice and high at 920 metres, high enough to score plenty of frosts.
It is the property of the Stanthorpe Wine Co, owned by a group of Brisbane professionals who in 1977 chose Queensland’s oldest, cool climate wine region in which to produce premium wines and to enjoy the experience. The winery’s goal is to grow and produce some of Queensland's finest red wines.
It operates the Stanthorpe Wine Centre, which offers wine education as well as selling wines from other makers in the region. The 17-hectare vineyard produces quality grapes from which are made European and Spanish style wines: Verdelho, Marsanne, Viognier, Chardonnay, White Muscat, Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot, Monastrell, Malbec, Garnacha, Tempranillo, Tannat, Petit Verdot and Pinot Noir.
A good deal of the vineyard work, pruning and harvesting, is done by owners and their friends, who also are invited to blending sessions. There is a small, specialised contract winemaking facility. Summit Estate says it treats grapes as a most precious resource.
“Using the best winemaking techniques our dedicated team hand picks the grapes, de-stems, hand sorts on our selection table and then gravity feeds the berries into the press for whites, fermentation vats for reds or new French oak fermentation barrels for premium reds.
“We manually plunge the fermenting red grapes and after maceration the wine is then gravity fed into the basket press.” In charge of all this, and more, is Paola (left). Trained in Spain, she worked as winemaker and senior winemaker at various wineries there until moving to Queensland where she was winemaker for Heritage and Summit Estate 2002 to 2005, when she moved fulltime to Summit.
Here is part of James Haliday’s comments on the Summit operation: “That a region, whose entire southern and eastern boundaries mark the border with NSW, can produce such good wine is due to one factor: its altitude (which varies little) of 810 metres. “The downsides are spring frost and late summer rainfall; when these do not strike, the Granite Belt is capable of ripening all of the major varieties plus many alternative varieties.”
Extracts from Mr Haliday’s tasting notes in the 2012 Australia Wine Companion: “Summit Estate Alto Spanish Collection Monastrell Garnacha Shyra Tempranillo Cabernet", 2009, 94 points, while you might expect red fruits to dominate, the opposite is the case, aided by the savoury tannins and oak.
“Summit Estate Alto Spanish Collection Tempranillo, 94; an attractive example of the variety with spicy dark cherry aromas and flavours, the tannins precisely balanced, the length seriously good.
“Summit Estate The QC Queensland Cabernets Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot Malbec, 2009,94, a highly fragrant bouquet of cassis/blackcurrant, then a light- to medium-bodied palate that has excellent balance and length; 15 months in French oak has brought the components together and not diminished the fine dusty tannins.
“Summit Estate Limited Release Shiraz Garnacha, 2009, 91; an 80/20 blend, but the grenache plays a disproportionately important role; only light-to medium-bodied, yet the wine has a complex array of spicy/earthy characters around the core of fresh and poached red fruits, followed by persistent, superfine tannins.
“Summit Estate Ryan’s Daughter Reserve Pinot Noir, 2009, 91. A wine that demonstrates positive varietal expression can be achieved in the Granite Belt; there is a considerable underlay of savoury forest floor and a strong tannin backbone – this is a pinot not to be taken lightly.”
“Summit Estate Barrel Ferment Chardonnay, 2010, 89, a delicately framed chardonnay, with gently ripe melon and stone fruit aromas and flavours, given a whisk of oak.”
The cellar door is open every day 10am to 4.30pm. There’s a coffee shop and look out for the Primavera Spanish Tapas, Saturday, November 12 from 5.30 and Sunday breakfast. All up: $90, members $75.

• More at www.summitestate.com.au

Disclaimer: The author holds shares in Stanthorpe Wine Company.