$35 for 13 Years of Cellaring- One of Wine's Biggest Bargains

Hunter Simeon is Australia's gift to the world of wine, but you really need to have an aged example to understand why. We recently held a blind tasting of aged Simeon from the Hunter Valley, part of our deep dive series at younggunofwine.com. Our panel of winemakers and sommeliers picked their favourites, tasted completely blind. And this one, the 2013 Holly Dean Simeon was selected as one of the top wines. And in the glass, the wine shows its development with a distinctly golden colour. There's aromas of peach and white flesh fruit and dried florals and beeswax. And on the palate, you get honeyed and toasty characters along with a little marmalade. And it's seriously interesting. At around $35 retail price via Holly Dean's museum programme for a wine that's been cellared for 13 years, this is unreal value. It's ridiculously good value. This is a great example of why Hunter Simeon is one of Australia's, indeed, the world's wine treasures. It's a regional star born of Terroir. Its warm and rainy climate calls for an early harvest, resulting in grapes with high natural acidity. And traditionally styled Hunter Simes are bright and fresh and relatively neutral wines on release. But after years in bottle, they start to develop layers of complexity, building rich notes of honey and toast and nuts. And examples of the style look remarkably fresh after decades of ageing thanks to that high natural acidity. And that's why Holly Dean maintains an extensive museum release programme with back vintages available from 2010 onwards. Karen Williams and her husband, Gary, established Holly Dean in the mid 2000s after purchasing vineyards that had been planted in the 60s. And today their daughter, Emma, runs the business. And most Hunter Simeons hit their stride between five and 15 years of age, and some can go decades. And this 2013 is right in the sweet spot, complex but still fresh. And this is one of the biggest bargains in the world of wine. For our full deep dive into Hunter Valley aged Simeon, head to younggunofwine.com and check out the deep dive. Cheers.