What’s new?

 

Tomboy Hill takes out Max Loder Trophy for 3^rd time!

 

The recent 2009 Ballarat Wine Show saw Tomboy Hill take out the Max Loder Trophy for the third time. This trophy is awarded for the Best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Regional Classes. In addition to fruit from the Tomboy vineyard, Tomboy Hill takes in much of its fruit from a number of vineyards around the Ballarat area. Winning this trophy for the third time is testament to the quality and consistency of both the winemaking and the fruit produced in the various vineyards. The production of high quality fruit is a factor of the climate, soils and viticultural practices of the growers.

 

Other Recent Awards and Reviews.
The potential for Ballarat to produce some great wines is also reflected in other recent awards.

 

James Halliday Australian Wine Companion (2010 Edition)

Some of the highlights from Ballarat include:

 

2007 Tomboy Hill Smythes Creek Pinot Noir (95 points)

2007 Tomboy Hill The Tomboy Pinot Noir (94 points)

2007 Tomboy Hill The Tomboy Chardonnay (94 points)

2007 Tomboy Hill Rebellion Chardonnay (94 points)

2006 Wightwick Chardonnay (93 points)

2007 Bended Knee Pinot Noir (92 points)

2007 Nintingbool Pinot Noir (91 points)

2007 Myola Pinot Noir (90 points)

2006 Wightwick Pinot noir (90 points)

For a full description of each review, please refer to the Australian Wine Companion (2010 Edition).

 

Winestate March/April 2009

The 2006 Wightwick Chardonnay was rated at 5 stars “Mid-straw colour with green hues. Nose a complexity of honeysuckle orange blossoms, florals and some malo. Bright, lively, youthful palate-great flavours, nicely textured…”

The 2006 Rokewood Junction Pinot Noir received 4½ stars “Great nose – toffee and jam like with pungent, spicy notes leading into a confectionery fruit palate with plenty of oak support. Lovely texture…”

 

Daylesford Wine Show 2008

2006 Wightwick Chardonnay, Gold Medal and Trophy for Best Chardonnay

2006 Sinclair of Scotsburn Chardonnay, Gold Medal

Is it any wonder that wines from Ballarat are finding their way onto the lists of many of Victoria’s top restaurants?

 

2009 – What a miserly Vintage!
The season started of with an incredibly dry Spring. November and January then produced no rainfall at all; a total disaster was averted only by some heavy rain in early December (75mm in 48 hours). The first week in February has then thrown a string of consecutive days of over 40°C. The challenge presented to Vignerons is how to minimize stress in vines, retain leaves and prevent shrivel in berries. The experts tell us to expect more of this type of extreme weather in the future.

Ballarat vineyards are doing it tough this season but we may be somewhat sheltered from the extremes that Mother Nature throws at us. With climate change, it just may be that Ballarat will be one of the few remaining mainland areas that can grow great Pinot. Our exploration of climate clearly shows we have one of the cooler climates in Australia – somewhere between that of Launceston and Hobart. Climate is a critical factor to the production of quality wines-in particular Pinot Noir.

“What I term the dress circle around Melbourne (Geelong, Gippsland, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley) and Tasmania have an iron grip on the production of the best pinot noirs, and there is no likelihood of that grip loosening any time soon. If climate change is the cause of recent vintage peculiarities Ballarat and Henty will join the club, albeit with relatively few producers” (James Halliday, 2009 Australian Wine Companion, pp19-20).

Post Vintage Reflection
The above paragraphs were written in the lead up to vintage in early April. At the time we expected to have reduced yields due to the ongoing drought conditions; what we didn’t know at the time was precisely how low the yields would be this year! As a general rule, vineyards in the Ballarat area picked 1/3 of the crop of 2008 – a reduction of 70%. Whilst the fruit was of very high quality and we are thankful that we escaped the direct and indirect (smoke taint) effects of the bushfires that affected so many other parts of Victoria, these incredibly low yields make it increasingly difficult for vineyards to be viable. The reason for the low yields this year? Whilst we are in the middle of an ongoing drought, what rain we did get this season (as mentioned in the opening sentence above) coincided with flowering of the vines in early December-the worst possible time!

Food and Wine Events
If you would like to discover Ballarat wines for yourself, there are a number of food and wine events that will give you an opportunity over the next few months.

These pages featuring News and Events will be updated regularly with news of awards, upcoming promotions and of course events celebrating food and wine. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. If you would like to know when we update this page, simply contact us at vintage@ballaratwineries.com  and we will keep you informed via a regular newsletter.

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