This is lucky John ...

If you live in southern Tassie and you're reading this while wearing glasses chances are they were prescribed by John Rees. If they are the least bit fashionable chances are the frames were not prescribed by John Rees. "I left the fashion to my staff" he jokes.

You don't have to talk to John for long before being struck by the amount of good fortune he has experienced. He readily agrees "I was  born under a lucky star" he told us. Aside from meeting Gough Whitlam and being in the same train station as Bill Clinton, which is enough luck for anyone, he can boast an almost endless list of other fortunate events. 

He married his childhood sweetheart Joy. Not only can he truly say 'my life is full of joy' but he's had no excruciating courting experiences. He hasn't had to spend hours at the pub yelling his 'best' pick up lines in the vain hope that they will be successful. Nor has he enjoyed the 'it's not you it's me' conversation.

That's lucky.

He was introduced to wine when he and Joy purchased a house from a fellow optometrist who happened to be a wine judge and who, being 'an extremely generous fellow', left his extensive wine collection when he moved out.

That's very lucky.

When he had to leave his first practice in Toowoomba due to the effect of a severe drought on the practice's revenues he 'landed on his feet' in Tasmania and joined a industry leading practice that celebrated it's 100th birthday in 2005.

That's amazingly lucky.

The land he purchased upon which the Nandroya vineyard was planted sits on the last bit of fertile soil in that valley. The good soil ends on the topside of the Nandroya vineyard boundry. John didn't know that until his son discovered this as part of his PhD.

That's staggeringly lucky (ok, ok we get it! - Ed).

However, the luck ends when it comes to the wines. The quality and consistency are the result of hard work.

Nandroya, an aboriginal word meaning family in harmony, has ended up being something of a Sauvignon Blanc haven. Originally John intended to produce the world's best cool climate sparkling. To that end he planted chardonnay vines. "Thankfully they didn't grow" he said.  A mate then told him about a fail safe chardonnay clone. "Grows like a weed" he was assured. They didn't grow either. 

John took this as a sign to leave the sparkling to other folk and decided to produce a Tassie version of the Cloudy Bay (New Zealand) style instead. 'Luckily' the Nandroya terrior had other ideas. Rather than a short lived fruit bomb, what you find is a completely different take on the wine known by it's distinctive 'cat's piss' aroma.

Nandroya sauvignon blancs are now made by Alain Rousseau (Frogmore Creek) and are known for their low alcohol, good balance and acid spine that allows them to age. This is a nice change to the 'drink now' reputation normally enjoyed by sav blancs. It also means they are the perfect wines to drink at lunchtime. No chance of returning to work and giving the boss some 'honest feedback'!

They also have a curious but effective blend of chardonnay and riesling characteristics. Imagine what would happen if a chardonnay and a riesling get drunk at the office party and go home with each other. Their 'love child' is what you sample at the Nandroya cellar door.

If you are a sav blanc fan visiting Nandroya should be on your list. Getting there is pretty easy. It is one of a few vineyards within commuting distance of Hobart. Once there you will get to taste the following: 

2004 Nandroya Sauvignon Blanc

Like a good bitzer dog this wine has inherited the best of everything. It starts like a chardonnay, has the sauvignon blanc mid palate and finishes like a crisp riesling. Initially a slow seller John was seriously considering selling it as a clean skin. 

Unfortunately we talked him out of that, and worse a marketing guru 'helped' by recommending a price increase. As a result the wine is now selling very well. So any chance of purchasing this excellent wine on the cheap has passed. Sorry about that.

2006 Nandroya Sauvignon Blanc

John happily calls this a punters wine. People buy this wine far more frequently than the more critically acclaimed 2007. The first thing you notice is the nose. You can smell this wine from across a room. What follows is lots of lemon, acid highlight with a lingering straw back end.

John mentioned that it took nearly four years for the acid and fruit flavour to come into balance. He went on to point out it shows the benefit of not having a bank manager breathing down your neck which allows you to have a 'we sell it when it's ready' policy.

If you are curious about food matches John suggested that this wine would be an excellent accompaniment to sushi.

2007 Nandroya Sauvignon Blanc

John refers to this as his 'critic's wine'. He has received very good reviews and we can understand why. It is an amazing wine and like the others in the Nandroya range has those unoaked chardonnay and riesling characters.

It also has what we call 'good butler' acid. The acid is there and makes sure that the wine works smoothly but doesn't bring attention to itself. Anyone who's had excellent restaurant service will know what we mean.

Talking about restaurants, if you want to try the 07 you need to go to the Peppermint Bay restaurant. They bought the lot which is quite selfish. However, since they are 'good payers', at least John has done well out of the deal.

All is not lost however the 06, being more edgy, mimics the 07 in all the important ways but is better. Think of the 06 as the Steve of the Waugh brothers. 

2006 Nandroya Pinot

This wine has a slight brown tinge to its colour which just means it's starting to show it's age (that's why I don't look in a mirror - Ed). It is a very tidy pinot that does all the right things. It is a wine that requires some time in the glass to show it's best. The tannins are quite strong initially but soften up after a while.

Interestingly John described it as 'lacklustre'. After getting over our surprise we asked him what he meant. "Oh it's good enough otherwise it wouldn't be for sale' he said "it's just we've done better".

We thought that John was being a bit harsh but it indicates why we respect him. He has high standards and isn't afraid to be honest with people even at the risk of missing a sale.

2009 Nandroya Pinot

This wine isn't for sale yet so we were chuffed when John brought it out. It is a lovely drop with lots of fruit and a soft tannin back end. To say it was impressive is an understatement.

Paradoxically this completeness so soon after bottling has left John with some reservations. Usually the winemaker tells him not to taste his pinot for a month after bottling.

"You don't of course. I am usually opening the bottle as I come down the driveway" he laughs. "Usually it's terrible but this one ... is it going to last until I start to sell it?".

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