Mount Mary: ‘We want to become a global wine brand’

Mount Mary head winemaker Sam Middleton tells db in an exclusive interview about his plans to make his Yarra Valley wine estate world-famous, and why Bordeaux grapes are the basis for his region’s flagship blends.

Middleton, who heads up the winemaking at the family owned, single vineyard estate in the Yarra Valley, came to London last month to present a selection of wines from Mount Mary to trade professionals, following the winery’s appointment of Pol Roger Portfolio as its UK distributor.

After the tasting, db sat down with Middleton – who is a third-generation winemaker from Mount Mary’s founding family – to find out why he had chosen London to host his first trade event outside Australia.

Speaking about himself and his sister, who works alongside him at the estate, he said, “We feel it’s our responsibility to build more global exposure for these wines,” adding, “We want to be better represented in the global market and we want to become a global wine brand.”

To do this, Middleton has chosen London as a launch pad. He explained, “The UK is such an important market, and when talk about global exposure and we absolutely need exposure here to be a truly global brand.”

Before signing up Pol Roger Portfolio as Mount Mary’s importer and distributor in the UK, the high-end Yarra Valley winery was distributed internationally via La Place – the global wine distribution system run by Bordeaux’s some 300 négociants.

During the tasting, Middleton told db why he had moved away from this system of distribution, increasingly used by international fine wines, which are disseminated worldwide during an autumn campaign.

“A winery like ours is better working with a distributor who knows our brand and can sell our story,” he said.

Continuing, he commented, “The sales network with the négociant system is enormous, and through them our wines are now in 35 different markets, but we don’t know where they are and who is drinking them, so lose you lose that control and that is sad.”

Making Mount Mary suitable for selling via La Place was not only its high-end status, but also specialism: age-worthy fine wines made from Bordeaux grapes – both reds and whites.

Considering the international acclaim for Burgundian grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley – and the first-rate wines Mount Mary makes from these two varieties – db also quizzed Middleton on why he had chosen to make a red and white Bordeaux blend his flagship expressions for each colour, called Quintet and Triolet respectively.

Middleton said, “When you think about the reputation of the Yarra Valley in the 70s [when his grandfather founded Mount Mary], it was built on back of Bordeaux blends… and a lot of that revolves around fact the valley floor was first area to be planted.”

He continued, “Over the last 10-15 years we [viticulturalists in Yarra Valley] have worked a lot more on the sub regions of the valley – and thinking more about where certain varieties should be planted in terms of quality – and we [viticulturalists in Yarra Valley] have the Upper Yarra Valley, which is fantastic for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.”

He added, “But really I think the most compelling and most ageworthy wines wines that most consistently stand up against best wines in the world are the Bordeaux blends [from the Yarra Valley] when they are planted in the right spots.”

As for Mount Mary’s Grave-like white Bordeaux blend, called Triolet, Middleton commented, “it is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle, and a wine seen as unique and quirky by Australian standards: there are not many that make a barrel-fermented wine in a textural style with those grapes, but we do.”

He then said, “It’s a very small component of what we do – we make just 400 cases every year – and in some ways it’s the least understood of the four wines [Mount Mary make on an annual basis], but the people who have collected it for the last 25 years understand how it evolves and ages – and a lot of trade professionals say that Triolet is their favourite of our four estate wines.”

Established in 1971 in Coldstream, Yarra Valley, by Dr John and Marli Middleton, Mount Mary was the pioneering producer of the region.

Now at the helm are the third-generation Sam and Claire Middleton, brother and sister, with Sam running the winery and Claire managing distribution and sales.

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