Mount Mary

When Dr John Middleton and his wife Marli planted Mount Mary in the early 1970s, the Yarra Valley's first wine era was long gone and its second had barely begun. Their ambition was specific and, at the time, unfashionable: elegant, low-alcohol wines from French varieties, with Bordeaux as the benchmark. Half a century later, that idea has become one of the reference points of Australian fine wine, and the estate is still in the family's hands.

One estate, one vineyard

Mount Mary was founded in 1971 near Lilydale, with the first plantings completed by mid-1972. It has never bought in fruit. Every wine comes from the estate's own vineyard, and everything is made and bottled on site — a discipline that keeps the wines tied to a single place rather than a house style assembled from many.

Three generations of Middletons have now worked the property. David Middleton has been involved since the beginning and runs the business; his son Sam, the founder's grandson, has been head winemaker since 2011, after time at Coldstream Hills and Dominique Portet. The estate was named Halliday's Winery of the Year in 2018.

In the vineyard

The farming is careful rather than dogmatic. Mount Mary describes its approach as compost and organic fertilisers, cover crops, less machinery and sprays only when absolutely necessary. Since 2008 the estate has also run a long-term vine-improvement programme, gradually converting to a fully grafted vineyard — the kind of work that pays off for the next generation rather than the next vintage.

The wines

The estate's reputation rests on four wines. Quintet is the Bordeaux-style red that made the name: typically around half Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot making up the rest, in proportions that move with the vintage. Triolet is its white counterpart, built on Sauvignon Blanc with Semillon and a little Muscadelle. A Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir complete the classic line-up.

Quintet is not a wine that shows everything on release. It is restrained and perfumed in youth, with the structure folded in rather than pushed forward, and it opens slowly over a decade or more. That is the point: it was designed by a founder who measured himself against Bordeaux, and it rewards the same patience.

At Winetrust

We hold Mount Mary Quintet 2020 and Quintet 2022. Bought together, the two vintages are the best way to see how the estate's character carries through different seasons — one to open over the coming years, one to leave alone.