When it came to stories about wine that caught Hughesy's attention it's hard to top the one about micro surgeon Max Lake sharing a 1930′s Penfolds Hunter Cabernet Petit Verdot with Dan Murphy and Johnny Walker. Lake's enthusiasm for the wine prompted the suggestion that he'd love to have a try at replicating the style. The suggestion was, for all practical purposes, laughed off by the other two because you couldn't make decent Cabernet in the Hunter. Max Lake apparently refined his ambition towards what became Australia's first boutique winery, and reactions to his stated intent to produce two wines, a Cabernet blend and a straight Chardonnay prompted the choice of Lake's Folly as the name for the enterprise.
A fling with The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter, who'd come out of a divorce with a house, a cellar with stocks of Lake's Folly whites and reds and a spot on the mailing list gave me the chance to sample these truly legendary drops fairly early on, but when we lobbed in the Hunter in early December 2005 I duly noted the location of the winery even though I had no expectation that we'd actually get there.
Over the course of our three day stay in the Valley, frequent journeys along Broke Road took us past the place several times before I happened to spot a sign by the gate indicating they were open for business. That prompted a predictably quick U-turn!
Arriving in the tasting room, I discovered the Open sign would only be there until the limited stocks on hand went out the door, and after trying the two wines on offer I was only too happy to do my bit by taking a 1999 Cabernets off their hands.
I'm still not in the habit of buying $60 bottles of wine, but on the occasions when I have I've never experienced anything like what followed this particular decision to purchase.
An enquiry regarding the destination of the bottle and the means by which it would get there produced answers of Bowen, north Queensland and car, which had the cellar door attendant off to find a styrofoam box, followed by detailed instructions about due care and attention.
And I must admit that the decision to buy the wine fridge after our Melbourne Cup windfall in 2006 was substantially prompted by the need for safe storage of the contents of the container we'd developed a habit of calling Max.
Subsequent research in Halliday delivered a suggested drink by date of 2010, which meant that the bottle was pencilled in for Hughesy's birthday celebrations that year, and, in any case Max had spent a while in less than ideal cellaring conditions, so I wasn’t keen on pushing the bottle age envelope. Since that occasion has now passed, so has the bottle.
From the start of the winery operation in 1963 it seems that things have continued more or less as Max Lake intended despite changing management and winemaker in early 2000. It's still a small operation (around 4,500 cases, three-quarters of them red) emphasizing quality fruit from well-established low cropping vines and "attention to detail from vineyard to bottle" (their words, not mine).
I think I’ve cited a perfect example of that attention to detail from our visit to the Cellar Door.
The grapes are hand-picked, crushed gently, fermented in the traditional manner, matured in small French oak barrels and bottled by hand.
So, what did I find?
Lake's Folly 1999 Hunter Valley Cabernets (5/5 n/a) Fragrant earthy berries on the nose, savoury palate with well defined length. Wonderful event wine where the drinking experience more than matched the anticipation and reputation. Would like to think I can try other vintages, but am not holding my breath. That said, if I see one I'll more than likely be buying,