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Vogue Entertaining & Travel, for our 2008 Cortese: This Cortese bears similarities to the CoolClimate Arneis but is finer and more elegant. There's a citric twist and a mineral underlay. This is the only Australian planting of the famous Cortese grape which makes Italy's best white wine, the very expensive Gavi dei Gavi.
James Halliday 2010 Wine Companion, for our 2008 Lost Valley Cortese:
"Distinct lemon blossom scent on the bouquet and a vibrant palate to follow suit. Here is a rare variety worth pursuing and buying.Screwcap"
11.5% alc. Rating 92 Drink 2013 $29.95 Date Tasted Dec. '08.
Rated 4.5 Glasses out of 5.
Good Living - Huon Hooke - 2007 Lost Valley Cortese - Stone Fruit Aromas plus savoury nuttiness. It has depth and power beyond most of the new fashion Italian white wines. Drink now to four years. 91/100
The Sydney Morning Herald - Peter Bourne - 2007 Lost Valley Winery Cortese. The ninth release is an enticing bright 'white gold' colour with delicate aromas of lemons and wild honey. The palate is clean and precise with floral flavours and a hint of nougat. A frizzante lift carries the wine to its conclusion.
Italianicious magazine - Glynys Macri: Lost Valley Cortese 2007. Coming from central Victoria you would assume that this wine would not be as good as the real thing - the great Gavi di Gavi of Italy. Well, I'm here to tell you that I think this one is better. It has a delicate aroma of fresh citrus and flavours of assorted fruit with rosewater. Its well balanced and finishes with a hint of acacia flowers. Try it with Risotto or seafood - especially oysters.
Robert Parker gives all Lost Valley wines the thumbs up.
The world acclaimed wine expert Robert Parker has reviewed all four varietals from Lost Valley and each wine has received excellent reviews.
Not only is the average score across all 4 varietal 90, but the very complimentary language also stands the wines in good stead. Needless to say a 90 score – for all varietals from the vineyard - from the Parker stable is no small feat!
Top wine distributors in the USA point out - “we can probably count, on one hand, the number of Aussie wineries with a 90 point Parker average score, this is incredible. Lost Valley Winery has truly come of age as one of Australia’s top boutique wineries”. Chris Daniele/Wine Trade Trust.
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RRP- $32.00
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The Cortese - Score 90 - is light gold with a complex bouquet of passion fruit and pear. This is followed by a medium-bodied, layered wine with spicy, intense white fruit flavors, crisp acidity, and considerable length. Drink it over the next 2-3 years although the winery claims that it has 10 years of cellaring potential. The bottom line is that this Cortese is too good to defer gratification for any significant amount of time. Lost Valley Vineyards is located in the new cool-climate GI of Upper Goulburn located 1 hour northeast of Melbourne. All four wines are made from estate-grown fruit.
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RRP- $26.00
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The Sauvignon Blanc - Score 90 - is medium straw-colored with lovely aromas of mineral, fresh herbs, melon, and lemon-lime. Medium-bodied, in the mouth it is full-flavored with ripe fruit and vibrant acidity. There is superb depth and concentration leading to a very long, fruit-filled finish. Made in the style of a top-level Sancerre, this stylish effort will drink will for 2-3 years. Lost Valley Vineyards is located in the new cool-climate GI of Upper Goulburn located 1 hour northeast of Melbourne. All four wines are made from estate-grown fruit.
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RRP- $34.00
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The Merlot - Score 89 - was aged for 15 months in 75% new French and American oak. Purple-colored, it offers up scents of wood smoke, spice box, black currant, black raspberry, and chocolate. This leads to a medium to full-bodied wine with excellent balance, sweet fruit, and ripe flavors in its elegant personality. It can be enjoyed now but will evolve for several years and last through 2020. Lost Valley Vineyards is located in the new cool-climate GI of Upper Goulburn located 1 hour northeast of Melbourne.
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RRP- $34.00
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The Shiraz – Score 91 - was aged for 18 months in 50% new French and American oak. It is a stylish rendition with aromas of smoky oak, mint, spice box, white pepper, black cherry and plum. Soft on the palate yet very concentrated, with subtle red and black fruit flavors with a hint of licorice, the wine has a 45-second, pure finish. Give it 4-6 years to fully blossom and drink it through 2024. Lost Valley Vineyards is located in the new cool-climate GI of Upper Goulburn located 1 hour northeast of Melbourne. All four wines are made from estate-grown fruit.
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James Halliday - Australian Wine Companion 2007: Cortese -Fragrant apple, pear and spice on both bouquet and palate; substantial weight and mouthfeel; best yet 4 1/2 stars. Shiraz -Bright, fresh, spicy, cool-grownblack and red cherries, sustained acidity and subtle oak. 4 1/2 stars. Merlot -Good red purple, plenty of substanceand weight, opens on the palate with primary red fruits, then a slight twist of leaf and black olive to close. 4 star. Sauvignon Blanc -Straw green, crisp, clean and well-made. Minearal and a hint of passionfruit. 4 stars.
Huon Hooke & Ralph Kyte-Powell - Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2006 - Lost Valley Cortese 2006 Quality: A marvelous wine that is so close to the top that it doesn’t matter.Value: Fair is fair, this is a win-win exchange for buyer and maker. ($32) Review: We don’t know of anybody else in Australia growing Cortese grapes, and this unique example from the Victorian High Country is a laudable example of this obscure northern-Italian grape variety.We think that this is the best Lost Valley Cortese yet. It’s a ripe and fruity wine, yet it’s less obviously so than most modern Aussie whites. Aromas of melon, passionfruit and herbs mark the nose, and the same clean and mellow fruit character makes the palate quite delectable. It’s middling in body with typically soft acidity and is an altogether friendly companion. Try it with poached chicken and vegetables.
Huon Hooke & Ralph Kyte Powell - Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2006 - Lost Valley Merlot 2005. Quality: A marvelous wine that is so close to the top that it doesn’t matter.Value: Fair is fair, this is a win-win exchange for buyer and maker. ($34).Review: The hazy mountain landscape around Lost Valley is a romantic place to grow vines. It’s a labour of love for proprietor Dr Robert Ippaso. Merlot suits this site well. A dense young wine with a smooth nose of plumy fruitcake, spice and dark chocolate, with a touch of undergrowth. The seamless palate smoothness runs on through ripe
Grant Dodd - Australian Golf Digest - Lost Valley Cortese 2004. Undoubtedly the rarest wine in Australia, usually produced in Piedmont, NW Italy, Lost Valley is the only producer in Australia making wine from this unique grape. Anyone put off is missing out on a truly interesting wine experience. It bears a resemblance to what you would expect a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris to be like, exhibiting aromas of dried pear, apple and passionfruit, followed by a zesty palate of citrus fruit with honeyed overtones. It is very good: quite composite and thought provoking, and will develop greater complexity over the short to mid term. An excellent match to seafood or even Vietnamese cusine. Price $30. Points 92. Drink now - 2010
Jeni Port - The Age - July 05 Lost Valley Cortese 04. An exotic sounding white grape from Northern Italy...you've got to be somewhat inquisitive. Love the nose and its subtle perfume of herbs and flowers. Flavours are more forward with a gentle citrus and mineral tang and nuttiness. This is a warm textural wine!
Tim White – The Age & Sydney Morning Herald Magazine - April 05. Lost Valley Cortese 04: Deep juicy-crunchy smelling: melon skin, mizuna, radish and passionfruit. Lots of passionfruit and pear on the palate and a good texture, too – gentle acidity and mealy chestnut lees characters. The only Australian Cortese and a beauty.
Tim White – The Australian Financial Review – March 05. Merlot 04
A characterful merlot is hard to find. It is hard to name a great varietal merlot, but our growers are starting to get it right. Lost Valley Winery… Merlot is so often lost in the mix … with the right care, growing conditions and winemaking, it is possible to create a great Australian merlot. So roll up your sleeves and drink more of it; you might be surprised at how good it is when it’s grown to its full potential...Lost Valley Merlot 03
On the Grapevine (Syndicated National Column by Charles Conlan) - Look for Lost Valley Winery - it's worth it! Last week I attended Wine Australia 2004 in Sydney, held every two years with over 460 exhibitors and 4500 wines from all accross the country. The Lost Valley Cortese 2004 has delicate aromas of citrus and pear, passion fruit and orange with a zesty complex finish. I found this an exciting new wine and firmly beleive it will attract many new admirers who, like me, are looking for another white wine with quality.
The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2004/05 by Ralph Kyte-Powell & Huon Hooke. Lost Valley Merlot 2002: Vignerons in many cooler vineyards put a lot of faith in Merlot. Sometimes its rewarded, sometimes not. At Lost Valley in the Victorian High Country, it works well. This is a savoury take on Merlot with a nose of briar, olive and sweet blackcurrant. In the mouth it has a touch of sweetish-berry flavour and the feel is soft and smooth. Well integrated subtle oak and friendly tannins make it easy drinking. Four Stars
James Halliday: Wine Companion 05 - Lost Valley Merlot 02. Striking Wine. Sweet red fruits, veering to savoury on the finish. Four Stars
The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2004/05 by Ralph Kyte-Powell & HuonHooke. Lost Valley Shiraz 2001. The high altitude vineyard is in a true lost valley, miles from anywhere in the Victorian Great Divide. Everything at the winery is done simply and as naturally as possible, allowing the cool-grown fruit centre stage. In keeping with the clean alpine feel of Lost Valley, there's purity and freshness to the Shiraz. The nose is like a summer pudding of berries with a garnish of mint leaf and spice. It's not a big wine in the mouth but it has fair intensity of flavour and no sharp edges. Four Stars.
The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2004/05 by Ralph Kyte-Powell & Huon Hooke. Lost Valley Cortese 2003: The Nose has gentle aromas of herbs, nuts and citrus, follwed by a soft, subtly lemon flavoured palate. Its restraint and vinous qualities take it away from the big-fruited Australian norm, which isn't a bad thing. Variety is the spice of life. Four Stars
Gourmet Traveller Oct 04 - 'The White Fantastic' - The 2002 Lost Valley Cortese showed ripe pinapple fruit with intriguing resiny overtones.
The Sunday Times 'food & wine' - Lost Valley 03 Cortese. It was a case of love at first sight. The nose offers a potpourri of mandarin and pear with hints of honeysuckle and almond. The palate has zingy flavours of citrus and cashew, finishing with dry honey and wrapped in an almost chewable package.
The Sunday Times 'food & wine' - The 02 Merlot has immaculate structure and is chock-full of dark cherry and berry flavours complexed by hints of dark swiss chocolate.
Gourmet Traveller - "The 02 Lost Valley Cortese was an absolutely fabulous accompaniement to the white Risotto"
The Sunday Times 'food &wine' - The 01 Shiraz is a delightfully complex cold climate wine that twists the flavours of plum, liquirice and spicy white pepper around a solid core of fruit and oak tannins.
Drinking Decoded: Lost Valley 02 Cortese - Sue Dyson and Roger McShane - The Cortese grape is reputed to be a native of the Piedmont region of north-west Italy. It is the grape used for the legendary Gavi di Gavi wine from that area. The DOC of Gavi di Gavi is centered on the village of Gavi where Napoleon rested after his victory in the battle of Marengo. (The village of Gavi is almost at the centre of a triangle formed by the cities of Torino, Genoa and Milano.)And the good news is that finally wines made from this noble grape are being produced outside of Italy. The tiny Lost Valley vineyard can be found in the high country of northern Victoria near the town of Yea. It is owned by Dr. Robert Ippaso and Shane Jackman. All the wines are very good, but we got particularly excited when we saw that they had released a wine made from this rare, yet delectable, Cortese grape. The Lost Valley Cortese is a very fine wine indeed. It manages, at the same time, to be incredibly delicate yet has a fully developed flavour profile that begins with lemon and ends with honey. On the way through you pick up the normal fruit nuances associated with this variety, namely apples and pears. The crispness and the lemon overtones make it the perfect accompaniment for shellfish and chicken. It will mellow and develop over time.
Daily Mail London - by Matthew Jukes - Lost Valley Reserve 03 Verdelho: (Available at Oddbins Fine Wine Shops) - "By contrast, the Lost Valley vineyards are planted at 450m, (1473ft) above sea level on the side of Mount Tallarook. This cool-climate, classy vineyard is superb real estate for vines. And it shows in the restraint and elegance throughout the supurbly long flavour of this wine. There is intensity here, but it is measured and calm. The fruit is not as brazen as the Wilkie and it would undoubtedly benefit from a few more months in the cellar. Snap this wine up now as well, as it is one of the finest verdelhos I have ever tasted. This marvelous grape is finding fans in the UK, and about time too, as it is the perfect combination of sexy, juicy fruit, little or no oak and palate clensing acidity."
Winestate annual edition 2003/4 - LVW Shiraz 2000 awarded 4.5 stars (placing it in the top 10%)
The Age - Melbourne, by Jeni Port
Australian Drinkers get smart with CULT wines.
Could Australians' taste buds for wine now be more sophisticated than the French? Our newest cult wines tell the story.
You are what you drink. Ten new classic wines of the past 10 years that reflect the adventurous, sophisticated and ever-changing Australian taste buds:
Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
Petaluma Viognier
Giaconda Chardonnay
LOST VALLEY CORTESE
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir
Charles Melton Nine Popes
Clonakilla Shiraz/Viogier
Wild Duck Creek Estate 'Duck Muck' Shiraz
Cullen Cabernet Merlot
Coriole Sangiovese
Gourmet Traveller - by Peter Bourne
The only Australian Cortese comes from Victoria's High Country, where a tiny 4ha vineyard, Lost Valley, has been planted by Dr Robert Ippaso and Shane Jackman.
Ippaso is of French Italian parentage and grew up with wine, remembering the exceptional wines of the small and specific Piedmont sub-region of Gavi di Gavi. Ippaso saw that the high, cool valley of his vineyard, with its hard granitic soils, was similar to the conditions that Cortese grew under in piedmont.
The maiden vintage of 2000 turned many heads, as has the 2001 Lost Valley Cortese. Fuller in flavour than sampled Gavi's, it nonetheless shares the same crisp, delicate fruit flavours and taut structure. Try it with grilled whiting fillets with a squeeze of lemon juice, accompanied by fennel and ligurian olive salad with a shaving of parmesan. This wine is rare but well worth tracking down.
Winetalk - London, You may never have heard of it, but Central Victoria High Country is becoming one of the premier wine growing districts in Australia. Harnessing its cool climate terroir, Lost Valley Winery produce wines of breathtaking subtlety and flavour intensity.
TASTING NOTES:
A towering, multi-dimensional 02 Merlot with blueberry, mint and vanilla all prominent. Soft and chewy with a hint of chocolate.
01 Shiraz - Vibrant aromas of spice, red berries, liquorice and plums move on to a rich, full-bodied palate with smoky vanillin notes and flavours of black cherries and chocolate.
Herald Sun - by Paddy Kendler
"We've compiled a shortlist of exciting new brands destined for future fame...situated in the Victorian Alpine country, Lost Valley Winery has recently done well with its Verdelho, Shiraz and Merlot, but its unique Cortese 2001 a Northern Italian Varietal dry white is destined for cult status. Pick it up now before the small quantities available are all snapped up."
Robin Garrs Wine Lover's Page - Lost Valley Winery is a recent entry onto the Australian Wine scene, with the 2000 Vintage being their first public release of their wines. I had the opportunity to taste the wines, and also spend some time with Director and co-founder Shane Jackman at the Exhibition of Victorian Winemakers in Melbourne.
Lost Valley Winery is sited in the Central Victorian High Country, near Yea. The wines are hand-pruned and hand-picked and the winery makes good use of solar energy and wind power rather than electricity.
It’s the Cortese grape that has caused the most excitement about Lost Valley. While I was talking to Shane at the show, as whole sucession of punters came to the stand specifically requesting a taste of the wine. The Lost Valley vineyard is the only plantings of this rare Italian Variety in Australia. Along with the Cortese, there are plantings of Verdelho, Merlot and Shiraz in the 5ha vineyard. The 2000 Cortese has made quite an impact, with high profile writers including Max Allen, Huon Hooke, James Halliday, Jeni Port and Ralph Kyte Powell extolling it’s virtues. It sold out within six weeks. Shane took me through the wines on show at this year’s Exhibition where I made the following notes.
2000 Lost Valley Cortese
Pale straw colour it’s Italian parentage was clearly evident on the nose with complex green pear and apple with some mild spice/nutty elements. The palate is crisp with good acid up front, medium-lean mouthfeel and a long finish. Delicious now and I think it would develop nicely for 5-7 years.
2000 Lost Valley Verdelho
The Verdelho is more fruit-forward, again the mouthfeel is complex showing more spice alongside passionfruit and melon. Balanced acidity before a long finish.Should develop nicely to about 5 years.
2000 Lost Valley Merlot
Red-purple in colour with lovely rich young fruit. Being just 8 weeks in the bottle it has still a way to go to integrate the good fruit with the oak (70% french/30% american). With the dark berry is good dark chocolate, it’s quite tight on the finish. A wine with heaps of potential, it should develop nicely for many years.
2000 Lost Valley Shiraz
This wine sees 50% new french and 50% new american oak, and this release also had not been long in the bottle. It’s elegant cool climate style, showing rich spice and plum over the dark berry. The oak is nicely balanced to the fruit with acid also in balance. It is showing all the hallmarks of a fine wine that needs a long rest in the cellar to show it’s full potential.
Victorian Regional News 2002
"When the whites were first released a year ago they were described by Australia's leading wine writers as 'top-quality', 'delightful stuff', 'indulge yourself', and 'you're going to have to broaden your horizons and try it'. These high-country wines are highly sought after, with the Cortese selling in just 8 weeks and now, with the Merlot and Shiraz available for the first time, you'll really have to join the mailing list so you don't miss out!
Lost Valley Wines are exported to the UK and showcased by winemakers around the world, with the whole range catching the attention of wine lovers in Australia, Europe as well as Asia. So from the wonderful valleys of Murrindindi, one thing is for sure, the wine is fantastic and you will undoubtedly hear more about the outstanding Lost Valley Wines".
Victorious
By RALPH KYTE-POWELL
Lost Valley - Dr Robert Ippaso stumbled on the site of this tiny vineyard after taking a wrong turn, hence the name. Everything at the vineyard, at Strath Creek near Yea in Victoria's High Country, is as simple and natural as possible. Rainwater, solar energy and wind power are used instead of electricity, with pruning and picking done by hand. The approach suits the pristine environment well and the first releases of white wines, a cortese and a verdelho, were fresh, flavorsome young things of good character. The fragrant, nutty cortese was particularly fascinating, the first release of an Australian wine made from the Piedmontese variety responsible for the wines of Gavi. The first reds should be worth looking out for at the forthcoming Victorian Wines exhibition.
Strange fruit
By JENI PORT
Company? No thanks, is the reaction of Dr Robert Ippaso of Lost Valley Winery, which makes Australia's only Cortese, a seriously good version of the Italian white grape variety at home in Gavi in Piedmont. Dr Ippaso, a Doctor of Economic History, has been asked many times to share his vine material. He refuses - for now.
"We want to establish the grape and the quality parameters," he says. He wants to avoid producers jumping on the bandwagon and possibly making inferior wines.
The Cortese vision for Australia is his. It is the wine he remembers best from his Turin childhood, and the variety he went in search of and spent years developing when he became interested in making wine in Strath Creek, near Yea, in the Central Victorian High Country.
"We get hot summers, very cold winters, no frosts and the most blistering winds," says Dr Ippaso. "We also have no mains water and no electricity". Obviously hard on humans, but Heaven for Cortese with its light honeysuckle scent, citrusy flavor and pronounced dryness - as it thrives in these hard conditions.
Grape varieties such as cortese and Lagrein offer an alternative to the overt fruitiness and alcoholic sweetness of our usual Aussie wine diet. More and more it seems to be Italians offering us the choice.
SOMMELIER'S CHOICE Sydney Morning Herald - Lost Valley Cortese, 2002, $30. Italy's Piedmont comes to the Central Victorian High Country. The grape variety of Gavi is replicated in the Central Victorian Highlands, producing a truly deliciously dry white showing pear and apple characters with a crisp acid farewell. Enjoy with prawn ravioli with cumin seed.
Winewise;- Lost Valley Cortese. Looking for something a little different? Lost Valley has the first commercial planting of Cortese in Australia. The wine is vibrant, dry and full of interesting flavours hinting of citrus and stone fruit, and finishing with crisp, racy acidity. Well worth seeking out. 'Recommended'
The Weekly Times - by Paul Sellars
"Cortese gets the thumbs up"
Some people ask Dr Robert Ippaso if he planted The Italian Grape Cortese in Australia because it came from his birthplace - Piedmont. But he says...it was the variety's outstanding qualities rather than nostalgia which prompted the move.
The release of their 2000 Cortese and 2000 Verdelho at the Wine Australia exhibition in November captured a disproportionate amount of attention among the countless other wines on display.
The wine, produced by leading winemaker Alex White, made such an impression on a visiting director from a leading British wine merchants, he later wrote urging Dr Ippaso to allocate a portion for the UK.
"I want to offer my loyal customers something different from the stereotypical wines they have been buying with such passion for over 14 years now" the director wrote. "Don't get me wrong, these have their place and are vital but for the Australian brand to continue, it's got to develop and be more complex in it's offering. That's why I am so keen to develop a relationship with you and your wines. They fit the bill perfectly." Dr Ippaso adds:
"I knew that if we managed to produce Cortese the way I thought we could, it has such a unique taste it would become a huge hit. We in Australia have a reputation that can only be upheld by points of difference and peaks of excellence, even if only in small quantities."
Grape Expectations with Max Crus - The year in review, National syndicated column. "Lost Valley Winery Verdelho 2000, $23. Must be a devil's own job trying to find the cellar door of Lost Valley. Maybe you have to be Indiana Jones or really good at cryptic crosswords. But the wine is really great, if you can find it. 8.5/10"
Max Allen - The Australian Weekend Magazine
"From a new Vineyard near Yea, in the Central Victorian High Country, Lost Valley Winery's Cortese absolutely screams top-quality Italian white wine. Actually, somebody handed me a glass of this at Wine 2000 in Melbourne without telling me what it was, and I swear that it smelled and tasted for all the world like a really good Gavi - really nutty, savoury, dry and a slatey seafood-friendly texture. Really exciting stuff, swimming totally outside the mainstream".
Jeni Port-The Age Epicure 'Best New Grape Variety of 2000'
"It arrived on the tail of the Italian wine phenomenon but it wasn't red. It was Cortese, a white grape originally from NW Italy, with a most promising future in the Central Victorian High Country. Claiming dibs for the first Aussie plantings is Lost Valley Winery near Yea, which released its first Cortese at Wine Australia 2000. A delicate, citrussy wine that gets the gastric juices flowing, with loads of mouth-filling texture, Cortese could be big!"
Grape Expectations by Max Crus - Syndicated throughout Australia,
"Lost Valley Winery 2000 Cortese $28. How do you pronounce Cortese? Cortays?Cortazy? Frankly, who really gives a fig? I've never had it before, you've probably never had it before, and it's a crime against winedom that we haven't. It is delightful stuff, falling somewhere between Chardonnay and Riesling in the white wine spectrum except a little off to the side, which of course is no help at all. So you're going to have to broaden your horizons and try it for yourself. 8.5/10"
Simon Plant - Herald Sun "Best known for The Man from Snowy River, Victoria's High Country is fast earning a reputation as a rich source of premium wine. Gaspsted, Delatite, Lost Valley. They may not be as famous as the legendary horseman, but the people behind these cool climate wineries show the same strength of charachter. Lost Valley's Director Shane Jackman calls it "High Country Spirit". "People up there are independent and ready to have a go," she said. Having a go means striking out on your own. Staying small or medium sized and putting quality ahead of quantity. It is a message high country vignerons have been selling this week at Wine 2000 and judging by the way drinkers have embraced Lost Valley's Verdelho...the message is certainly getting through".
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