Mercer gives it a nudge with new cellar door

A full six months since Mercer finished up at their former cellar door site - Wine House on McDonald's Road - the new complex on Hermitage Road opened on June 8.

It is at the former second cellar door of Scarborough, opposite Keith Tulloch Wines.

"It's still the actual winery for Scarborough, so we'd like to thank them for sharing this space with us," winemaker Aaron Mercer said. "They've always been great supporters of ours."

Aaron and wife (and co-founder) Alison were delighted with the response.

"We've been overwhelmed ... there has been a lot of traffic, including locals dropping in to check it out," Alison said.

The Mercer brand has emerged over the past 12 months as prodigious trophy-winners on the show circuit.

"We've picked up 13 in the last year which we're very proud of," Aaron said.

"Just recently, our barbera won the trophy for Best Italian Variety at the 2024 Winewise Championship.

"It's really rewarding when you can present a trophy-winning wine at our prices.

"That barbera is $32 ... our members are getting it for $24. That's great value, and those prices are pretty consistent across the range."

Mercer sources his fruit from a variety of regions ... the Hunter (Upper and Lower), Orange, Hilltops, Tumbarumba, Central Ranges and Gundagai.

While he does the regular varieties, he also loves to play with lesser-known wines - picpoul, vermentino, nero d'Avolo, montepulciano and barbera to name a few.

"It comes down to the quality of the fruit," he said. "Then I make it with as little intervention as I can. Just nudge it along a little here and there.

"I want all my wines to be pretty smashable as young wines."

It would seem the show judges are in total agreeance.

One of the more popular events on the Hunter winter calendar is Glandore's annual Burning of the Barrels.

A regular fixture since 2012, it's basically a massive bonfire, ideal in mid-winter, with live music and good food. The Glandore people are understandably quick to point out that it has been voted in the 'top 50 wine experiences worldwide'.

This year it will be held on June 29, from 3pm till late, and tickets are now on sale.

If you want to meet Glandore's winemakers and cellar door team while drinking some quality wine, get cracking.

A few months back I wrote about Savannah Peterson doing a rather creative pie and wine matching at her quaint Hunter cellar door.

She's now opened a second cellar door in the heart of Pokolbin, between Blaxland Inn and Pokolbin Distillery on Broke Road.

With a nod to the region's history, she has used convict bricks sourced from Kaluda Estate at Lochinvar.

The bricks were preserved by her father, Colin, to be used on a worthwhile project. The new cellar door, with its huge timber beams is certainly impressive and absolutely worth a look.

The fruit for this well-known Italian variety comes from the Central Ranges. This is typical Mercer style ... soft, plush fruit, generous and round, followed by supple tannins. In short, highly drinkable. Red fruits, medium-bodied with a floral and cedar nose, there's dried herbs, a dusting of cocoa, blueberry and raspberry.

This sits smack bang in the easy-drinking category, a beauty for the backyard barbecue. Having said that, there's enough going on to keep the hard-to-please wine person happy. It has an earthy, leathery nose and that leads to soft, round berry flavours - dark plum and raspberry, with chocolate and mocha - and a peppery finish.

Howard Park does a range of chardonnays with their best topping out at $100. This isn't at that level, but at $30 it's a lot easier on the pocket and rock-solid quality. Straw coloured, there's grapefruit, melon and nashi pear flavours with some citrussy green apple. It has a steely, mineral note and the acid is lively.