We must've passed a good dozen wineries before we reached Lenton Brae, which turned out to be the perfect starting point, partly because of the quality of the wines (but we were expecting that, weren't we? It wasn't as if we were visiting places where the wines were likely to be substandard) but more particularly because of cellar door attendant Chris Stott.
After extensive experience Hughesy has definite opinions about wineries and their cellar door operations.
For a start, unless there's a very good reason to go there, you can forget most cellar door operations that welcome tour buses. Leeuwin Estate proved a golden exception to the rule, but once you sight a couple of tour buses in the car park it's safe to assume that if you want to talk to someone about the wines you're sampling you're probably going to be better off somewhere else.
Second, I like to see a tasting area with room for more than two or three small groups. If the place is handkerchief-sized and there's already a tour bus on the premises it's going to be a waste of time, but even where the tour buses don't run it's nice to have room to taste without rubbing elbows with total strangers.
It also helps to be able to avoid overhearing what they're being told as they sample something a bit further down the range. You're going to hear that eventually, but these things are best happening in their own good time.
Third, and most importantly, if you're a winery that's serious about your cellar door operation, you need cellar door staff who know their stuff and will go about the business of quietly selling both your own product and your region as a whole.
We'd seen both extremes in the Swan Valley - at Sandalford the two girls in the room dispensed the tasting samples with alacrity and left you to it, while the sole dude at Houghtons engaged in a dialogue and ended up selling Hughesy half a dozen $50 reds (substantially discounted, but still at a price point where I'd usually be looking elsewhere).
Lenton Brae Dude was another out of the same mould, and a very enjoyable forty minutes or so culminated in a recommendation we visit Woodlands (just across the road because the reds are very good. You'll like them. We didn't get anything from Lenton Brae straight away, but the website will be attracting repeated visits over the next couple of years.
I started with the 2010 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc (4.5/5 $22), the regional trademark blend that is to Margaret River what Riesling is to Clare. Everybody makes one, they're rarely less than excellent and this one was firmly wedged into the upper end of the echelon and the varietal character integrated very nicely indeed. Definitely one to throw into an order.
The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (4/5 $22) wasn't quite up there, but I rated it fairly highly, along with the 2009 Southside Chardonnay (4/5 $25) the early release style, a tangy minimal-oak number that worked very well. It'll be seven or eight months before the regular Chardonnay hits the shelves, but these three definitely look like classy summer drinking as far as Hughesy's concerned.
There were also a couple of Late Harvest styles ($18) that were quite interesting with the 2010 Special Late Harvest, a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc working very nicely indeed. Definitely one to go with the curries.