Mount Pleasant is a Hunter Valley legend and a flagship of Australian winemaking.
Mount Pleasant Estate is one of the first Hunter Valley wineries. The estate boasts some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world, including Old Hill Vineyard planted in 1880, and Old Paddock Vineyard planted in 1921, the year the estate was founded by revered winemakers. But it wasn’t just the old vines that made it a legend, it was also the people and their achievements, like Adrian Sparks, a noted Valley Winemaker and former Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year.
Weekend trips
Mount Pleasant wines were also a first for us in Australia. The wine we bought in the wine shop that we liked was from the estate, from their vineyards. On our way to Hunter Valley Gardens, we also visited Mount Pleasant, which produces iconic wine and premium wine known for being expressive wines and wines of longevity.
Mount Pleasant is one of Australia’s leading estates that maintains a pristine heritage spirit by creating Hunter Valley benchmark wines. Its wines are now some of the most awarded in Australia, with an incredible five championships, 128 trophies, 500 gold, 500 silver and 1104 bronze medals won since the late 1970s.
Founded in 1921 by the late Maurice O’Shea, Mount Pleasant is part of the McWilliam’s Wines Group, Australia’s largest family-owned 100 per cent Australian wine company. Mount Pleasant produces a wide range of classic Hunter Valley wines, including Elizabeth Semillon, Australia’s most awarded white wine, and highly regarded individual vineyard wines, Lovedale Semillon and Rosehill Shiraz.
History
Well, a little bit of history, which is sure to be familiarised with if you take a tour when visiting this estate. So, English immigrant Charles King planted vines and established Old Hill Vineyard on rich volcanic soil in the Pokolbin area of the southern Hunter Valley back in 1880.
Mount Pleasant founder and legendary winemaker Maurice O’Shea studied viticulture and enology before lecturing at France’s Montpellier University. At the age of 24, Maurice O’Shea persuaded his widowed mother Leontine to purchase the King family’s 16.3-hectare property and two adjoining parcels of land on which Old Paddock Vineyard is planted. Maurice O’Shea calls the property Mount Pleasant. It was at Mount Pleasant that Maurice began his pioneering work in table wines.
He was a gifted winemaker. Maurice O’Shea’s blending methods, sophisticated use of oak (it must be said that French oak barrels are still used), and talents acquired while studying oenology at the French University of Montpellier – were applied to the production of red table wines of immense flavour.
Interestingly, in the 1960s, Semillon was called Riesling, so Mount Pleasant has Aucerot Riesling, Anne Riesling, Victoria Riesling, Margaret Riesling, Florence Riesling and Elizabeth Riesling.
The McWilliam family
Then headed by Keith McWilliam, recognised the talent and potential of this great winemaker. They joined forces with Maurice O’Shea in 1932, buying 50 per cent of the winery, and acquired the remaining share in 1941.
The sixth largest winery in Australia, McWilliam’s Wines has a long history and tradition that dates back to the earliest days of the Australian wine industry. The current CEO of McWilliam’s is Geoff McWilliam.
McWilliam’s is one of Australia’s pioneering wineries, having been perfecting the wine craft since 1877 when founder Samuel McWilliam first planted vines on the banks of the Murray River in New South Wales.
With over 140 years of history, six generations of the McWilliam family have endeavoured to be at the forefront of Australian wine innovation.
Lovedale and Rosehill
With financial support from the McWilliam family, Maurice acquired Lovedale and Rosehill vineyards and focused on his winemaking. To this day – more than half a century later – the O’Shea wines of the 1940s and early 1950s continue to show the character for which their producer was known. In 1956, aged 59, Maurice died of lung cancer at his flat in Newcastle and was buried according to Catholic rites next to his parents in Gore Hill Cemetery in Sydney.
Maurice O’Shea was undersized and nearsighted. His thick glasses had a widening effect, enlarging his eyes. A photograph by Max Dupain captures this as Maurice gazes into a glass of wine.
For 35 years O’Shea produced some of Australia’s most colourful table wines, using grapes from Mount Pleasant vineyards and wines bought from Hunter Valley producers such as Tyrrell’s, Tullochs and Elliotts, who did not then sell wine under their own labels but sold their products to larger companies.
In 1990 McWilliam’s established the prestigious Maurice O’Shea Award as a tribute to O’Shea’s remarkable innovation and foresight.
Maurice O’Shea named many of his wines in honour of his friends. Names included – ‘Elizabeth’, ‘Henry’ and ‘George’.
Brian Walsh was appointed head winemaker and manager at Mount Pleasant and in 1967 the now famous Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon emerged. The wine was named in honour of the reigning monarch’s first visit to Australia. In 1978 Phil Ryan was appointed Chief Winemaker of Mount Pleasant, later to be named a Living Legend of the Hunter Valley in 2009.
A few words about Lovedale. The site of Lovedale Vineyard was chosen in 1939 by legendary founder and winemaker Maurice O’Shea. The vineyard was planted after World War II, in 1946, and the first Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon was made in 1950.
Of course, Mount Pleasant Lovedale Vineyard is a paradox. Only when you consider the simple aesthetics of Lovedale Vineyard and the realities of the Hunter Valley climate can you truly appreciate what a visionary Maurice O’Shea was; to see beyond adversity, plant a vineyard and create a wine that some consider Australia’s greatest white wine.
Phil’s career, which began in 1965 in Sydney as a lab technician at McWilliam’s and led to him becoming the second man after Maurice O’Shea as head winemaker at Mount Pleasant, has many significant moments. For example, in 2005 James Halliday in his Australian Wine Companion named Mount Pleasant 2000 Maurice O’Shea Shiraz the best red wine and best shiraz. In 2006, Phil received the Graham Gregory Award. Well into 2007, McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon was recognised as the world’s best white single-vineyard and best semillon at the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition in London.
I've been there for a very long time
My career started at McWilliam’s in the ‘60s, and I was involved with Mount Pleasant from day one, in the offices in Pyrmont. My first trip to Mount Pleasant was in 1967, and then Hunter Valley had no restaurants, no lodging, no back roads, and only six wineries. It was very small and different from what it is today. What I enjoyed most was being a part of this huge development.”
Phil Ryan
Mount Pleasant Winery was named Winery of the Year by James Halliday Wine Companion 2017, and its 2011 Maurice O’Shea Shiraz was named Shiraz of the Year in the 2015 edition. The ‘14 vintage proved to be the best since 1965 and elevated the range and quality of red wines to Maurice O’Shea’s glory days.
Now for the tour and tasting. Tours of the estate are available from 10:30 a.m. daily – priced at $5 Monday through Friday and free on weekends.
The tour begins in the Maurice O’Shea Room, which tells the story of the creation of Mount Pleasant Manor. There you can see awards, old ledgers, bottles of wines from years past, and photographs capturing formative moments.
Maurice O’Shea made these wines without electricity, with imperfect equipment – his winery, Mount Pleasant, never turned a profit during his 30-year run. What he achieved on this hillside is one of the wonders of winemaking.
