Mel Hollick from Hollick Winery comes to Jersey!

I am a little behind in my blogs (Neil never seems to have the time to write them these days) but I just had to let you know about a food and wine dinner we held in September at the Atlantic Hotel. 

We were very fortunate to have Mel Hollick from Hollick Winery, Coonawarra Australia visit Jersey as part of her whirlwind tour around other merchants and restaurants in the UK.  Mel admitted that she wasn't too sure what to expect of Jersey but almost fell in love immediately and promised to return soon.  Makes you really think about what we take for granted every day living on such a beautiful island.

Hollick is a small independent, family owned winery located with vineyards located on the famed terra rossa soils of Coonawara.  The first wine under the Hollick label - a Cabernet Sauvignon - was released in 1983. Successful vintages followed, and the wines across the Hollick range have won numerous trophies and medals including the coveted 1995 Jimmy Watson Trophy. The quality of their wines is very high indeed and we were very much looking forward to trying them out against Mark Jordan's beautiful food.

The Gallimard Brut Cuvée Reserve (such a great small house Champagne) was a beautiful start to the evening and we all wondered outside to enjoy the warm (ish) evening. 

After being seated in the wonderful Italian Room (always a favourite of ours for dinners) and the official welcome from Neil, Mel told us a little about her family and the winery itself.  The winery was established in 1984 after 22 Hectares of prime Terra Rossa soil was purchased in 1974 by her father, Ian.  In 1985 they won the Jimmy Watson Trophy for the best one-year old red wine in the Royal Melbourne Wine Show.  So, they realised that there was massive potential and the winery grew to 100 hectares by 1987.  In 2007, after the purchase of a further 24 hectares and the celebration of their 25th Anniversary, Ian's daughters, Kate and Mel came on board to work at the winery.  They also run a very successful restaurant at the winery called 'Upstairs at Hollick'.  It was actually the first winery restaurant in the whole of the Coonawarra!  It sounds amazing with stunning panoramic views over their vineyards as well as into their barrel store.  I would love to visit there one day!


The risotto starter (Risotto of Jersey Crab and Sweetcorn with Parmesan Shavings and Basil Oil) worked particularly well with both the Sauvignon/Semillon 2008 and the Chardonnay 2006 but my personal favourite of the two, with the food was the Chardonnay.  The full and complex palate of fresh fruit and mineral notes compliment by a soft, creamy mouth feel really worked well with the creaminess in the risotto. A succulent and balanced wine with an elegant structure, fine texture and excellent persistence. No wonder James Halliday and Matthew Jukes love it so much. 

The main course (Baked Fillet of Irish Beef Wellington with Truffle Pomme Puree, Buttered Vegetables and a Red Wine Jus) was a delight.  Perfectly cooked beef, flaky pastry and a lovely jus that was gently poured by Sergio.  The room was divided over which wine they liked best with this course, one of the reasons why we served both.  The Cabernet/Merlot 05 was complex and intense with lashings of sweet black fruits and chocolate notes. Its fine and velvety tannins combined well to give the wine a soft and lingering finish.  It worked very well indeed with the food.  We didn't get a chance to ask Mark, but it looked like the filling in between the meat and the flaky pastry was within a thin pancake, a technique I had recently seen on TV that helps to 'mop' up the meat juices and helps keep the pastry flaky.  The technique certainly worked.  Well done Mark and his team for a perfectly executed dish.

The straight Cabernet Sauvignon 04, my personal favourite, offered a wonderfully intense and vibrant mix of dark berry fruit aromas, laced with hints of mint and dark chocolate. This is a big, slightly more rustic red with excellent length and texture that worked so well with meat as well as with the creamy mashed potato. It was divine.


The Hollick Ravenswood 2002 was much anticipated with the cheese course (Gouda and Parmesan). A very classy wine that showed great depth of fruit and fine tannins especially against the parmesan and oat biscuit.Very complex and concentrated.  We all loved it but it would have been great to have tried this against the beef wellington as it could have been a real stunner with the beef.

The Hollick Botrytised Riesling 'The Nectar' 2008 was stunning with the Thin Crispy Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream.  It is not called 'The Nectar' for nothing. Its luscious palate of concentrated apricots, and citrus fruit mingled particularly well but I have to say that the brush of chocolate and the chocolate stick that accompanied gave the wine it's wow factor - even Mel was surprised at how it brought out the flavours in the wine. It was mouth-coatingly complex with a fresh and vibrant palate revealing undertones of lemon and mandarin. Yum!

All-in-all, a fabulous dinner with extremely enjoyable wines.  Hollick winery has a wealth of talent for creating award winning wines from many different grape varieties.  Having recently taken on a much larger range of wines from them, we very much look forward to their future vintages.  This is certainly a winery to watch!  Huge thanks go to Mel Hollick who not only was charming but enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable.  She was a delight to listen to and we look forward to her visiting Jersey again sometime in the future.  Also, thanks to Mark Jordan and his team for the wonderful food and to Sergio and his team for looking after the wines.

Jane