“Interrupting my train of thought
Lines of longitude and latitude
Define and refine my altitude” – Wire
At a recent public tasting that included the 2011 Bicknell FC Pinot Noir one of the audience asked if the initials stood for “Football Club”. I couldn’t help but mention that if they had Dave Bicknell wouldn’t want to know about it anymore given the year St Kilda have had. In point of fact Bicknell FC is short for Bicknell Family Company wines; a “guerrilla” project that allows David a degree of exploration outside of the realms of Oakridge. The inspiration behind the 2011 releases? “One of the coldest years in the history of the Yarra Valley so I thought let’s head up to one of the coolest sites – the Bastard Hill Vineyard – and see how far I can push the envelope.”
A couple of alternative names that spring to mind when sampling the Chardonnay? Bicknell Eau de Parfum or Essence of Carlos. There’s a lot of the winemaker’s personality in this wine. A fair bit of the biting cold that results from Bastard Hill’s 400 metre altitude and steep as fuck slope too. It’s uncompromising, rigorous and intense. The grapes were picked about the same time others were collecting fruit for their sparkling bases. Extroverted restraint on both palate and nose. Freshly squeezed lemon, green apples, dwindling campfires in snow, vanilla sponge and flint. Arctic acidity and refreshment. Lines and angles. 92
“Crystal palaces for floral kings
A widespread waving span of wings
Witness the sinking of the sun
A deep breath of submission has begun”
Region: Yarra Valley
Alcohol: 12.7%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $32
Tasted: August 2013
FWIW, just happened to be up the bastard last week and the top part of the vineyard is actually at 620m. So this block would probably run from 610m down to a lowly 450m.
Who knew! Obviously not me…
Or Langton’s. I was doing some research for another piece and noticed that on their website they list the Yarra Valley’s altitude as varying between 50m and 400m…
Do you find that there’s significant altitude derived variation in the fruit over those 160 odd metres?
I think we are getting feet and meters mixed up here
Maybe Timo but it sounds more impressive if you mix it up
It would be impressive if Timo was 4m tall, but I guess we’ll have to defer to feet on that one…but metres it is. Yes, there is a bit of variation, but a lot less in that deep red soil versus the alluvail clays closer to the floor. Is Langtons the Wikipedia of vineyard knowledge?
Ha, is that measurement with hair or without? Yep, something like that re Langton’s. It’s what you stumble upon using Google when you’ve left your maps and books at home.
Sounds like someone hasn’t taken his suppository of altitude and is rewriting the topographic map of the Yarra Valley
I haven’t taken a suppository of any kind for a long time now and I’m kinda proud of that