Lerida Estate now a Halliday 5-Star Winery

We have just been notified that Lerida Estate has been ranked as a 5-star winery in James Halliday's 2011 Australian Wine Companion. This prestigious rating puts us amongst the top wineries in the country, and is a tribute to wonderful Lake George fruit and the skilled winemaking of Malcolm Burdett, assisted ably in the vineyard by Michael Thompson. Stand-out wines are the 2008 Shiraz (95 points), the 2008 Shiraz Viognier (94 points), and the 2008 Josephine Pinot Noir (94 points), but quality is there across the board (see Club Lerida for information about a special tasting of back vintages of these wines). The James Halliday Wine Companion 2011 is now available, so pick up a copy to see the full list of our wines reviewed by James.

Lerida Estate Wine Dinner, Quadrant Restaurant, Quay Grand Hotel, Sydney, Wednesday 4 August, 6.30 for 7pm  BOOK NOW!

This is a wine dinner with a difference. Not only do you get to enjoy some great food and beautiful wine (at a very reasonable price) at a fabulous venue - you get two chances to win wonderful prizes. Lerida Estate is offering a chance to win a 3-bottle pack of Lerida Estate wine (2009 Chardonnay; 2008 Shiraz Viognier & 2008 Botrytis Pinot Gris, valued at $132), and the Quay Grand Hotel is offering a chance to win a $150 Gift Voucher for a dinner at the Quadrant Restaurant. How could you resist!  Jim & Anne are looking forward to seeing you there.
View the menu here...

Cost: $119 per head
Bookings: 9144 6911 (Vintage Cellars, St Ives)

Lerida Estate Wine Month, Gundaroo Colonial Inn (Fireside Festival event)

Our good friends George and Carol, owners of the Gundaroo Colonial Inn, will be featuring Lerida Estate wines by the glass and bottle during the Fireside Festival in August.  The wines will also be featured at Crowes Restaurant. Jim & Anne will be attending the Italian dinner at Crowes Restaurant on Saturday 7 August and will talk about our wines being featured.  Live music on Saturday 7 August will be provided by the Adam Hole and Marji Curran Band, a blues/ roots band. The band has been described as 'one of Australia’s most exciting new roots acts'.  See:   http://www.gundaroocolonialinn.com.au/3764/Whats_on_Calendar/ for other live music nights at the Gundaroo Colonial Inn during August..
 
Each week there will be a draw to win a 2 bottle pack of Lerida Estate wines valued at approx $60 (wines in draw will change each week). This is a special promotion for Lerida Estate Wine Month. To qualify, you need to purchase a bottle of Lerida Estate wine at the Gundaroo Colonial Inn (includes Crowes Restaurant) sometime during the week, and complete an entry form which staff will provide to you when you purchase the bottle of wine.
 
Winner drawn: Close of Business Sunday each week  
Bookings for Restaurant:  6236 8155 or 0411 039 505

Lerida Estate Wine Workshops (Fireside Festival events), 2.30-5.00 each Saturday in August, Lerida Estate Winery

For the Fireside Festival, owner of Lerida Estate Jim Lumbers, and winemaker Malcolm Burdett, will be looking in detail at four styles of wine including Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz/Shiraz Viognier and Pinot Gris. They will explore some history about these grape varieties, discuss how the grapes are cultivated and the wine is made and prepared for bottling. Participants will have the opportunity to craft their own style of wine from barrels ageing in the Lerida Estate barrel room, and then taste these blends against some benchmarking wines. Afterwards, afternoon tea will be served in front of the fire. Bookings required. See more on the Fireside Festival here...

Workshop sessions are as follows:

7 August: Pinot Noir
14 August: Bordeaux Blends (Merlot, Cabernet Franc)
21 August: Shiraz/Shiraz/Viognier
28 August: Pinot Gris
 
Cost: $75 ($55 for Club Lerida members; please quote your member number when booking)
Bookings: 6295 6640

Club Lerida

We have had a great reception for our new wine club, with nearly 30 members signing up in the first couple of weeks! Not only are the wines offered some of the best in Australia - but the prices are very special. You can sign up to Club Lerida via the website here, or you can do this when you next visit the Cellar Door. You can even sign up over the phone. One of the advantages of becoming a member of Club Lerida is that we will be offering some special events for members only. The first members-only event will be a tasting of all of our previous vintages of Pinot Noir (back to 2001). The date for this has not been set yet - but it will be around October/November. Later events will include a tasting of all of our back vintages of Shiraz/Shiraz Viognier. We also offer discounts to members for some events (e.g. Fireside Festival Workshops).

Truffle Festival at Café Lerida

For the last couple of years, Lerida Estate has participated in the Capital Country Truffle Festival. What this involves is organising an event or two involving truffles, and featuring truffles on the Cafe Lerida menu during the short truffle season.

We are still serving the local black truffles at Cafe Lerida - but the season will be finishing in a few weeks. Why not visit us on a weekend and try our Creamy Truffled Scrambled Eggs on Toasted Sourdough, our fresh pasta with truffles or some of our hot Truffle Bread. The black truffle dishes go beautifully with a glass of Pinot Noir! See our truffle menu view these here...

Botrytis Pinot Gris

Stocks of this wine are now very low. We really hate to do this - but we have to impose a limit of one bottle per customer per transaction (it was previously a 3 bottle limit). We don't want to run out of stock before we bottle the 2010 vintage. We did not make a Botrytis Pinot Gris in 2009 because the conditions in the vineyard were not suitable, and the 2010 Botrytis Pinot Gris will not be bottled until later in the year. Some of the Club Lerida packs include this wine, so we have put stocks aside to enable us to continue to supply Club Lerida members.

Not just great wine but pumpkins as well

2010 Vintage Report

Jim Lumbers has posted his latest vintage report, you can read it all here...

Wine Master Classes during August

On each Saturday in August, Jim Lumbers, proprietor, and Malcolm Burdett, winemaker, will be lifting the covers on wine making by conducting master classes on how to make and blend wine.

Each week Jim and Malcolm will focus on a different grape variety grown at Lerida Estate, and how wine made is from that variety.

Each master class will finish with canapes, gluhwein, hot chocolate or tea or coffee  - all served in front of the fire!

 See the full Fireside Festival program here...

Winner, Sydney Good Food & Wine Show Promotion

The winner of the 3-pack of wines was Maria from Northmead. This winner was drawn on Sunday at 5PM at the end of the show. Thanks to all those who participated in the draw.

Winner, Monthly Mailing List Draw

Winner for June: Michael from O’Connor, ACT
Winner for July: Tony from Alexandria, NSW

Upcoming events

17 June, Thursday, Lerida Estate Wine Dinner, Como Restaurant, Blaxland. 7pm SORRY, this dinner is now BOOKED OUT.

25 June, Friday, Pinot Noir Dinner, Senso Restaurant, Fyshwick Markets.  $145 per head, 7pm.  Bookings (02) 6295 7722 - view the menu... - Everyone attending has a chance to WIN a great Door prize valued at $137
 
12-15 July, Mon-Thur, Canberra District Wine Week, various Sydney venues.  Phone 02 6295 6640 for details

4 August,  Wednesday, Lerida Estate Wine Dinner, Quadrant Restaurant, Quay Grand Hotel,  $119 per head, 7pm Bookings (02) 9256 4044 or qgss_conc@mirvac.com.au.

These Clouds may have a Silver Lining!

Courtesy of the recent rain, Lerida Estate is looking forward to a bumper year for its 2010 Botrytis Pinot Gris.

After winning three trophies and numerous other awards for its 2008 Botrytis Pinot Gris, the Lerida team are excited by the prospect of making a 2010 Botrytis Pinot Gris. The relatively dry 2009 summer prevented us from making any, so we are relying on the last remaining cases of 2008 and a limit of 3 bottles per head to maintain supplies at the cellar door.

Conditions in the vineyard currently look like being perfect to make this style of wine, with several wet spells followed by dry, sunny conditions. These conditions allow the evolution of grey mould into the pure Botrytis cinerea, or the famous Noble Rot.

Noble Rot is responsible for ultra-sweet, unctuous wines such as the famous sauternes from Bordeaux and Sélections de Grains Noble from Alsace, both in France, and the insanely expensive Trockenbeerenausles from Germany and Austria. The grapes involved vary, but principally include Semillon, Riesling and, of course Pinot Gris.

The basic action of the fungus is simple.  It breaks down the skin, allowing water to evaporate, and so concentrating the sugars and other solids, including acids and minerals.  The fungus also inhibits fermentation, producing wines that may have as little as 6% alcohol.

These intensely sweet wines, often with characteristic marmalade and honeysuckle aromas, are typically not served as a table wine. They can be drunk by themselves in place of dessert or complementing a dessert like crème brulee, or they are served with rich savory foods like foie gras or blue cheeses like Roquefort or Gorgonzola.

Most Australian botrytised wines are made from Semillon or Riesling grapes, so the Lerida Estate Botrytis Pinot Gris is unusual for this part of the world. It was an experiment when we first attempted the style in 2004, and a great triumph when our  winemaker Malcolm Burdett first made a  really notable Botrytis Pinot Gris in 2007.  The more generous 2008 vintage proved the success of the experiment,  really putting the Canberra District (and Lerida Estate) on the Australian sweet wine map.

Botrytised wines are often more expensive than table wines. This is due largely to the high cost and risk involved in their production.  The volume is generally less than a quarter of a normal table wine.  Many hours of hand tending are needed whilst the fruit hangs for an extra 8-10 weeks, constantly risking disaster from early frost, hail and/or excessive rain, and then only the noble berries are selected.

So while the recent rain may have caused a few headaches for local winemakers – it may contribute to another great Lerida Estate Botrytis Pinot Gris!

Vintage 2010

Vintage kicks off 2010 with a bird banding project in the vineyard , some botrytis affected fruit and the pumpkins coming along nicely... click here to view a few photographs...

February 2010 Rain

As you may know there was widspread rain across the inland and the Canberra District was no exception! We have included here some photos showing the dramatic effect of too much rain at the wrong time... February 2010 Rain Photos...

2009 Awards for Lerida Estate Wines

In 2009 Lerida Estate wines collected four Trophies (including two Champion Wine Trophies) and 56 gold, silver and bronze medals.  Every single wine we have for sale has won one or more medals. While medals are not the only thing that most people consider when they are buying wines, it is reassuring to know that wine judges around Australia have recognised the quality of the wines made at Lerida Estate. Why not come and taste some of the wines we have released in the last couple of months. I am sure you will be impressed with the quality. View the full list of our awards here...

Vintage Cellars Stores

Lerida Estate now has 6 of our wines ranged with Vintage Cellars stores in the ACT, NSW & Melbourne in Victoria. If you are near a Vintage Cellars store, why not go in and see what is available. They often have pretty good specials on, and you never know what savings you might be able to make purchasing our wines as part of one of their specials. You are of course always welcome to ring us, email or visit us at the cellar door if you want to purchase our wines, as we have the full range available (unlike the Vintage Cellars stores).