Australian Wine Brands : Vintage Longbottom
It was so much fun to see Vintner Kim Longbottom of Vintage Longbottom at dinner yesterday.
Kim created a very powerful Australian wine brand with her Henry’s Drive Shiraz.
This Australian wine brand is founded on the true story of how the post was delivered in Australia in the early part of the last century.
Though Kim Longbottom did not major in wine marketing at university, it is very clever how she used this true, simple story of how mail was delivered back in the day to create such a strong Australian wine brand.
Last night, arrived in New York with several of her new wines.
So much has happened since I last saw her! Very exciting things too.
For Kim, possibly the most exciting thing is that her daughter Margo joined Vintage Longbottom as partner.
Margo is just 21, but already knows a lot about wine — and what she likes.
Margo grew up in vineyards so she knows vineyard management, and what it takes to grow vines and make good wine.
When she finishes university and after some time observing vineyards around the world, she’ll settle in at Vintage Longbottom.
Australian Wine Brand 101: Change in Company Name, Change in Location
As briefly discussed, Vintage Longbottom company was once called “Henry’s Drive.”
Kim has changed the company name to Vintage Longbottom to reflect her new focus. Yet she still retains the use of “Henry’s Drive” for the top Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon wines.
The white wines and first-level red have the letter “H” in front of their varietal name.
In addition to the Vintage Longbottom name change, Kim Longbottom has changed location. Her physical location, and that of her vineyards, are now in the Adelaide Hills.
So last night, beyond catching up about news of her daughter and her new life in the bigger, more dynamic city of Adelaide Hills, we tried the wines.
Australian Wine Brands: The Two Whites
Vintage Longbottom “H” Sauvignon Blanc
Kim grew up in Marlborough, and she wanted to make a “Marlborough style” of Sauvignon Blanc. This one has aromas of nettle, lime zest, and Papaya. A portion of the wine ferments in French oak barrels, giving the wine subtle aromas of vanilla and toast along with the fruit.
Vintage Longbottom “H” Chardonnay
This is a lighter style of Chardonnay with rich fruit (lemon zest, ripe peach) and also nuances of toast and vanilla from judicious aging and barrel fermentation in French oak.
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Australian Wine Brands The Red Wines
Vintage Longbottom”H” Syrah
This delicious wine is 100% Syrah with the fruit coming both the Adelaide Hills and Padthaway. It is a lighter style with perfumed violet, rhubarb, and cherry fruit. It sees 15 months in French Oak.
Henry’s Drive Shiraz
The 2017 Henry’s Drive Shiraz is characterized by spearmint, violets, and boysenberries. It is aged for sixteen months in French oak, and has firm tannins, full body, and weight.
Henry’s Drive Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon
The assemblage here is 72% Shiraz with 28% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a popular blend in Australia, and the wine is rich yet also refreshing with brisk acidity and velvet tannins.
Henry’s Drive Magnus Shiraz
This was my favorite wine – priced at $79.99 for the 2017 vintage the quality even exceeds the price. The wine is 100% Shiraz with 78% of the grapes from Padthaway and 22% from McLaren Vale.
You will find aromas and flavors like lavender, thyme, star anise as well as chocolate. After fermentation, it is transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation than matured for 22 months in new, fine-grained medium toast puncheons.
It was great to talk about Australian Wine Brands with Kim, and how she was so successful establishing her own brand.
I look forward to seeing her next time.
Below you can here a write-up about her last visit in 2017.
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“I’m here to talk about my Australian Wine Brands, including Henry’s Drive,” says Kim Longbottom.
(At the time) Kim was based in to Padthaway. Her interesting range of quality-focused wine, encompassing Chardonnay, Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon and the pioneer spirit of Australia.
Henry’s Drive is the brand named after the proprietor of the 19th century horse drawn mail coach service that once ran through their property.
The evening started out with the new “H” Chardonnay from the 2014 vintage.
I like the simple initial “H” as well as the taste of the wine with its aromas of citrus and tropical fruit like honeydew. The alcohol is 12.5% which is interesting because I was telling Kim that one of the new trends I read about in Australia is the dialing back of alcohol.
Next we moved on to the 2013 Pillar Box red, made up of 70% Shiraz, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. As you can imagine has aromas and flavors of blackcurrant, mint, and licorice which is the signature of the region. It is the 10th vintage of this wine and it was very good to taste – and a very good price, at $14.99.
The third wine was the 2015 Pillar Box Shiraz, much more focused with flavors of black berry, cherry, and violet. The fruit is sourced from different sites in the Longbottom family Vineyards.
The soils are various types of loam, and deep sand over limestone. This soil contributes the unique aromas and the structure of the wine. Following this is the 2014 Henry’s Drive “H” Syrah.
You may wonder – as did I – why Kim used the Australian grape name for one label and the French grape name for the other. Her answer was that structurally and stylistically the Syrah label had more in common with its French roots.
Next came the 2012 Henry’s Drive Shiraz which has white plum and black cherry fruit and fine grained, mouth filling tannins. This wine, at $39, is quite a quality wine a perfect match for steak.
The charred flavors of the grilled meat just really melded with the juicy acidity and structured tannins of the wine. The 2012 Henry’s Drive Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blend also pairs well for similar reasons. It has has more chocolate and dark earthy overtones.
The next two wines fit into the luxury category. The Henry’s Drive Magnus Shiraz, 2012, is $79 but you can taste the price in every sip. Lots of delicious aromas and flavors of lavender, pepper, exotic spices, star anise, and cardamom.
The Henry’s Drive Magnus Shiraz is the same price, but from the 2010 vintage. I suppose choosing between them is like choosing between your children. Some people like the nuances of flavor a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon can bring, others like that piercing purity of Cabernet Sauvignon.
The fruit for this wine is sourced from a single family vineyard and the vines are grown on a gentle slope.
It was a lot of fun seeing Kim again – her wines keep getting better and better and she’s very much a woman in step with the American and Australian market for fine wines.
I can’t remember how old her daughter was when I first met Kim, but now she’s 18 jjjjj– legal drinking age in Australia. Kim explains that she just presented her with her first line of wine.00
Whether Miss Longbottom takes Kim up on this offer time can only tell, as she is in university now. But what a refreshing change: to have a winery pass from mother to daughter.