Sarah Ahmed – The Wine Detective

Following on from my Howard Park write up here, I’ve posted  my second regional report of my Western Australia trip here.  It focuses on my September visit to McHenry Hohnen and, as you’ll gather from the picture and the title of this post, there’s more to this family-owned producer than wine.

In fact, when David Hohnen, then the driving force behind Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay, sold up to LVMH in 2003,  he initially retired to his Margaret River farm.  But it wasn’t long before he was making wine again, this time with his daughter Freya, who has recently been joined by her husband Ryan Walsh.   Fruit comes from vineyards owned by the Hohnen family and David’s brother-in-law and business partner, Murray McHenry.

But as I discovered after a day on the farm with Hohnen, he’s at least as passionate about farming rare breed sheep and pigs as wine.  McHenry Hohnen’s new Caves Road cellar door, farm shop and café just west of Margaret River township will sell McHenry Hohnen wine and Hohnen’s free range pork and lamb products.

I don’t eat meat, so I can’t personally vouch for the quality of Hohnen’s lamb or pork but, as with wine,  his aim is to provide a flavoursome and nutritious alternative to factory farmed products.  And when it comes to wine, there’s a clear-eyed quality that I admire about Hohnen, his daughter Freya and son-in-law Ryan which tracks deliciously into their vinous output.  Take 3 Amigos Red, which is aged in old oak barrels  – there’s no “varnish” of new oak to detract from varietal and vineyard character.   A vertical of Calgardup Brook Chardonnay and 3 Amigos White offered vignettes of each vintage, for example, the light and shade of 2007 versus 2006.  It’s winemaking as it should be, without ego.   Read the report and find out!

All best

Sarah Ahmed
The Wine Detective