Mountain X Wine Co

Mountain X Wine Co is a modest and loose partnership between part-time wine writer Gary Walsh and friend and full-time wine writer Campbell Mattinson. It is more or less the direct outcome of Campbell's research for and writing of The Wine Hunter, the story of Maurice O'Shea of Mt Pleasant. Says Campbell, ‘It's no secret that during the research and writing of the Maurice O'Shea story I came not only to love the man, the land he worked on and his wines, but Hunter Valley reds fullstop.' Discussions over appropriate glasses of wine with Gary made them wonder why shiraz/pinot blends were so rarely made, and the only rational conclusion was that they should have wines made for them to their own specifications: the best possible grapes, large format French puncheons (only 25% new) and a percentage of pinot, which could only be obtained outside the Hunter Valley. In a fine display of flexibility, Campbell has released a Hilltops blend of Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon. -JAMES HALLIDAY