Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
  • Meet your Pilots
  • Events
  • Advertise
  • Contact
large logo Wine Pilot
WinePilot_Banner Ad
  • Stories
  • Casual
  • Entertaining
  • Special Occasions
  • Beer & Spirits
  • Home
  • Stories
  • Wines
    • Trophy Wines
    • Casual
    • Entertaining
    • Special Occasions
  • Beer & Spirits
  • About
  • Meet your Pilots
  • Events
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Menu
  • Home
  • Stories
  • Wines
    • Trophy Wines
    • Casual
    • Entertaining
    • Special Occasions
  • Beer & Spirits
  • About
  • Meet your Pilots
  • Events
  • Advertise
  • Contact

The Richardson legacy at Blue Pyrenees

Home » Stories » The Richardson legacy at Blue Pyrenees

Jeni Port

Read More

Colin Richardson was a wine man of vast appetites.

It has been said that such a full and abiding zest for life – for wine, for food, for people – was the result of his Vietnam War experiences. 

Every day mattered. Every wine mattered. He was the most positive judge of wine you could ever meet. And the happiest.

He sure did like to laugh. His was a deep bellow that started somewhere near his toes and rumbled through his body, his tummy wobbling, before his whole frame was in motion with the sound.

He called me Tawny. I called him my mentor.

I often think of Colin, who died in 1999 at just 53, as the archetypal wine man.

He taught me and many others everything about its enjoyment, of flavours, emotions and fun – wine was an utter joy to him – his language rarely venturing into pH levels, volatile acidity or all those other things that so consume some wine people. 

That’s what made him one of the best wine educators Australia has ever produced. 

To Colin, no Country Women’s Association get-together was too small, no town too isolated and no beer drinker too stubborn to be converted to the joys of wine. By day in his role as manager of the Wine and Brandy Producers’ Association of Victoria he would tour country towns in the 1970s and 80s talking wine, doing tastings. By night (five nights a week at one particularly hectic stage) he would hold classes at William Angliss College and the Council of Adult Education in Melbourne. 

In his long career which started in 1969 he also had a bunch of roles he happily filled, of wine show judge, wine commentator, secretary of the Wine Press Club of Victoria, wine industry representative and fine wine manager. 

I think of him every time Blue Pyrenees Estate releases its set of Richardson wines – a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Shiraz – made in his honour at the Western Victorian winery where Colin was working when he died.

As the flagship of the company the wines cut a suitably sombre and serious picture in tall, elegant bottles and royal, dark blue livery.  The wines are the winemaker’s selection of that year’s best Cabernet or Shiraz. Serious, yes, but the fun is still there.

I sometimes imagine the way Colin might have talked about the wines that take his name.

The 2018 Cabernet is all sweet fruit and juicy, like blackberry pie oozing with charm but there’s also another side to the wine; one that is fine-textured and aromatic with ripe tannins. Spice? Of course, this is Western Victorian fruit, after all. There’s clove and aniseed and that gentle riff of menthol on the finish is pure Pyrenees. 

Balance, that’s a good word and one Colin used a lot. Yes, the 2018 Cabernet has balance. 

The 2018 Richardson Shiraz is a slow burn, a quiet starter at this stage, one to air before serving or better still, put down (Colin did believe in cellaring and had a marvellous, if slightly chaotic cellar). It’s built for the long run.

Black and red fruits on nose, quiet, vanilla, red fruits, spice is faint but telling – this wine is in building mode. 

Generous in tone, but not too much, the concentrated tannin spine keeps things tight and focused, the Shiraz sings with fine-edged black fruits and class.

Yes, Colin Richardson would be pleased.

Blue Pyrenees Estate Richardson 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon
95 Points
Price: $72
Drink: 2020-2035

Blue Pyrenees Estate Richardson 2018 Shiraz
96 Points
Price: $72
Drink: 2020-2038

All the Blue Pyrenees Richardson range, including some back vintages, can be found here.

Stories You Might Also Like

Dreaming of a Wine Christmas

Dreaming of a Wine Christmas

View
The Pleasant Mountain

The Pleasant Mountain

View
Digging Deep

Digging Deep

View
A long way from home at Apricus Hill

A long way from home at Apricus Hill

View
Margaret River’s latest rising star

Margaret River's latest rising star

View
Stalin’s Cellar

Stalin's Cellar

View
Who’s coming for dinner?

Who's coming for dinner?

View
Krug – Champagne of Kings

Krug - Champagne of Kings

View

SIGN UP TO WINEPILOT

Follow US

Facebook
Instagram
Youtube
Twitter

Drinks adventures podcasts

FEATURED POSTS

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Winepilot
Winepilot
“If you are a real dirt nerd, a real Burgundy freak, and you want to just drink pure rock wines, then these are for you” ⠀
⠀
@tloveeeeee explores the concept of terroir in Australia with this fascinating conversation with the team behind @alkinawine ⠀
⠀
Link in bio 🍷

“If you are a real dirt nerd, a real Burgundy freak, and you want to just drink pure rock wines, then these are for you” ⠀
⠀
@tloveeeeee explores the concept of terroir in Australia with this fascinating conversation with the team behind @alkinawine ⠀
⠀
Link in bio 🍷
... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Winepilot
Winepilot
Drink better wine in 2021 - https://mailchi.mp/372f8a39969c/winepilot-13010852- Relax with Winepilot Summer Sessions and features on organic wine, Deep Down, riesling, durif, Ashton Hills Winery and Ata Rangi

Drink better wine in 2021 - mailchi.mp/372f8a39969c/winepilot-13010852- Relax with Winepilot Summer Sessions and features on organic wine, Deep Down, riesling, durif, Ashton Hills Winery and Ata Rangi ... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Winepilot
Winepilot
Looking for organic, vegan, low intervention wines?⠀
⠀
Deep Down is an exciting new range that lets the quality of the fruit do all the talking - Angus Hughson’s reviews on Winepilot ⠀

https://winepilot.com/story/deep-down-stylish-wines-that-are-almost-good-for-you/

Looking for organic, vegan, low intervention wines?⠀
⠀
Deep Down is an exciting new range that lets the quality of the fruit do all the talking - Angus Hughson’s reviews on Winepilot ⠀

winepilot.com/story/deep-down-stylish-wines-that-are-almost-good-for-you/
... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Load more

WINE CELLARING PARTNER

MEET YOUR PILOTS

Angus Hughson

Angus Hughson

Jeni Port

Jeni Port

Tony Love

Tony Love

Jane Skilton

Jane Skilton

Ken Gargett

Ken Gargett

Melissa Moore

Melissa Moore

Ray Jordan

Ray Jordan

Annette Lacey MW

Annette Lacey MW

Morgan Dunn

Morgan Dunn

Nicole Bilson

Nicole Bilson

Dave Brookes

Dave Brookes

Shanteh Wong

Shanteh Wong

Matt Dunne

Matt Dunne

Erin Larkin

Erin Larkin

Andrea Infimo

Andrea Infimo

James Atkinson

James Atkinson

Regan Drew

Regan Drew

Simon Curkovic

Simon Curkovic

Andrew Graham

Andrew Graham

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on pinterest
Share on linkedin
Share on tumblr
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
  • Cullen Wines Mangan East Block 2019
  • Cullen Wines Mangan Vineyard ‘Red Moon’ 2018
  • Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart of the Barossa Shiraz 2019

ABOUT US

To help you drink better every time, Winepilot is your good times passport – a personal drinks guide to the greatest sips and nips from Australia and around the globe.

OUR NETWORK

Drinks Adventures
Australian Wine Vintages   
Wine Intuition

Envelope
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

WINEPILOT WANTS YOU!

Join the Winepilot community
today for your one-way ticket to better drinks.

© 2020 WINEPILOT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

TERMS & CONDITIONS | PRIVACY POLICY

Welcome to Winepilot.com

Winepilot is your ticket to better drinks. We are out and about in the bars, wineries and breweries every day checking out what's good and not so good so you don't have to. Sign up now and get onboard for your trip through through our world of the best drinks everyday.

Check out our latest reviews
John
Smith
[email protected]

Never see this message again.