St Hugo has extended its range to include the winery’s very first white variety, the St Hugo Eden Valley Riesling 2017, as well as an annual ‘Legacy Range’ release that pays tribute to Hugo Gramp.
The two new wines were showcased at an intimate media dinner in Sydney last night, which was also attended by St Hugo’s Chief Winemaker Daniel Swincer.
Guests had the opportunity to taste the new wines as well as sample back vintages of the St Hugo range, expertly paired with a seven course degustation menu designed by St Hugo Executive Chef Mark McNamara and Pier One’s ‘The Gantry’ Restaurant Executive Chef Joel Bickford.
The St Hugo Eden Valley Riesling 2017 is the winery’s first foray into white varieties, and although it was only bottled four weeks ago, it has already won two trophies – enjoying success at the recent Barossa Wine Show.
Described as having “intense aromas of white blossoms, kaffir lime leaf and lemon” and a palate that is “intense and generous with great length, showcasing flavours of lime, white pepper and subtle talc… supported by taut acidity and minerality”, The St. Hugo Riesling will be followed by a St. Hugo Chardonnay release in 2018.
The first release in the new St Hugo Legacy Range was also unveiled, with the first in the series a Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 called ‘The Last Letter’ that pays tribute to Hugo Gramp – former Managing Director of Gramp & Son’s winery from 1920 to 1938.
As Katherine Candy, National Wine Specialist at Pernod Ricard Australia explained, the name of the wine comes from the last letter that Gramp sent to his son before being tragically killed in a plane crash in the Dandenong Ranges in 1938.
Chief Winemaker Daniel Swincer describes the St Hugo ‘The Last Letter’ Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 as “on the power side of the power and elegance scale” – having benefited from a “big, rich and ripe year” – and adds that it will have great cellaring potential.
The releases follow the opening of a new, luxury cellar door for St Hugo in the Barossa which opened late last year, as well as a set of ‘Prestige Experiences’ that range from $5000 to $150,000 aimed at luxury travellers.