Multiple Awards for Lerida Estate!

Lerida Estate had a great day last Friday 25 November. Not only did the Lerida Estate 2009 Shiraz Viognier receive the top Gold medal at the National Wine Show in the Shiraz Viognier class (which included the top Shiraz Viognier's from around Australia that had won gold at other significant wine shows), but also the top point score for any table wine at the show. We have not released this wine yet but expect to release it in a few weeks.

Also on Friday Lerida Estate won the award for the best 'Tourism Winery'in the Canberra & Capital Region Tourism Awards. This is a great achievement as the Canberra & Capital Region Award process is a very rigorous one because the finalists in all the different categories from the region go through to the Qantas National Tourism Awards selection process in Cairns next March where we will all be up against the top tourism operators in Australia. Thanks to Sue our Office Manager and Tilly Higenbotham (a University of Canberra student studying Tourism) for all their work on the Submission.

Brilliant results for Lerida Estate at the 2011 Canberra Regional Wine Show

Lerida Estate wines performed brilliantly at the 2011 Canberra District Regional Wine Show. Results were announced on Friday 16 September. Winning Lerida Estate wines were as follows:

• 2009 Shiraz Viognier - Gold (and just 0.5 points below the Champion Wine of the Show!)
• 2010 Botrytis Pinot Gris - Gold*
• 2006 Chardonnay - Gold
• 2006 Shiraz Viognier - Gold
• 2010 Pinot Grigio - Silver*
• 2010 Shiraz  - Bronze*
• 2010 Shiraz Viognier - Bronze

Some of these wines are now in our reserve stock and some are not released. Wines with an asterix are currently available at the Cellar Door and online.

New Releases

The 2010 Shiraz was released on the weekend of 24/25 September because we have sold out of our 2009 Shiraz which had a 94 rating from James Halliday.
 
Also released on that weekend was a new style of red wine that we have made for the first time this year - our 'LGB' (stands for 'Lake George Blend'). The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz and a little Viognier. The wine will sell for $19.50. We have done a few tastings of this wine and the reports coming back are all good!
 
Jim's tasting notes for the wine are as follows:
 
The Lake George Blend is a bit naughty, but also very nice. It is crafted to an ancient French recipe used in cooler years when the classic Bordeaux varieties, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, failed to ripen fully. In a practice banned under the Appellation Controllée rules, winemakers would source warm southern Shiraz and even a little white Viognier to flesh out their tight tannic wine. This is what we did in 2010, a cool year for Lake George (it is not illegal here!). The wine is very light in style, but with a luscious, almost cheeky fruitiness with red berries, plums and the elegant long Merlot tannin. Drink it with all red meat dishes, and Pizza and Pasta.. Enjoy it now and for the next 3-5 years.
 
For more on French wine creativity, Google “Bordeaux scandal” or go to http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945112,00.html

Gourmet Traveller Wine features Canberra & Lerida Estate

I don't know if you are a regular buyer of this stylish publication - but whether you are or not, I would recommend you obtain a copy of the April/May 2011 edition if you want to learn more about how well Canberra District wines are going at the moment. Go to pp 106-113 and see what Nick Stock has to say about the district. Perhaps his view can be summarised in one of the lines in the article: 'These folks are punching above their weight'.
 
At the end of the article Nick recommends wines you should purchase from the leading wineries in the district when you visit their cellar doors. He recommends the Lerida Estate 2008 ‘Cullerin’ Pinot Noir from our range of wines. This is probably because it is drinking superbly at the moment. Why don’t you come and taste it yourself?
 
There have been a number of other publications which have featured the Canberra District wines recently including Australian Liquor News and Delicious magazine. It’s about time more people discovered some of the great wines coming out of the district.

If you have not seen the article you can also read it online, click here...

Lerida Estate 2008 Brut Rosé Chosen for Launch of First Canberra Class Ship

A sparkling wine from Lerida Estate at Lake George in the Canberra District wine region was chosen as the wine to launch the first of the Navy’s Canberra Class ships at the Navantia shipyard at Ferrol in Spain yesterday (17 February 2011).

The Canberra Class ships are the largest ships that the Navy has ever owned. Each of the ships will be able to transport 1000 troops with their vehicles, along with 12 helicopters. The ship is designed for combat as well as humanitarian roles.

The Lerida Estate 2008 Brut Rosé was chosen by the Australian Navy because it was a beautiful wine from the Canberra District, and because the name Lerida Estate has a Spanish derivation.

The name ‘Lerida’ was first given to the Lake George region by the Scottish-born explorer and surveyor of South East Australia, Major Thomas Mitchell who had travelled in Spain. In 1827, Mitchell took up the position of Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and in this position, he travelled to the Lake George region. He named a creek a few miles north-west of Lake George ‘Lerida Creek’ because it reminded him of Lerida in Spain. Subsequently, another explorer, Hamilton Hume, called his first property on the creek ‘Lerida’ which then gave its name to the Parish. Lerida Estate picked up the name ‘Lerida’ from these local landmarks.

Club Lerida

Keep in mind if you are fond of our wines, that purchasing them through our wine club - Club Lerida - is the cheapest way to buy our wines because we offer significant savings. Commitment is only a 6-pack of wines twice a year (or one bottle a month!). Call us at the office or visit the cellar door to get details.