Updates #2

I finished my write-up on Winburndale Winery and Vale Creek. After much thought, I have decided to send my Vale Creek for publication instead. If it were to be rejected, I would put it on the website. Sorry for the delays. I overused my internet limit and the bandwidth slowed down significantly. Too much time was being wasted just for everything to load.

From now on, I will be taking longer to put up articles on the website as I will be sending them to publications first. I wouldn't call this website a website for rejected stuff that I write. I think that being able to write stuff here gives me a lot more freedom to be more technical, informal and personal in my views. It's a different flavour from an article written for a publication. Anything published will go on the website in pdf format.

There are more interesting stuff being lined up but I am going to keep a tight lip on it. It's going to be educational and I hope fun for people to read.

I also want to put in a few lines for a group of friends who are doing wine and food reviews in Singapore. The link is http://singapore.wineandonly.info/

The content on that website does not reflect my opinions or thoughts. I will neither contribute to that website or interfere in what they choose to write as long as it relates to wine or food. I hope the Wine & Only Singapore group will have much fun writing about wine and food as I do.

Winburndale Vineyard and Winery@Bathurst, NSW pt 1

Winburndale Vineyard is located at the end of a dirt road called Saint Anthony's Creek Road. Ten kilometers from Bathurst and fifty from Lithgow, it lies somewhere along the Great Western Highway. Without signs to assist me, I typed its address on my GPS, but even technology didn't help. Using my mobile, I dialed a number given to me. Loretta, the resident's viticulturist picked up the call and instructed me to turn into Glanmire Lane and keep going straight. It took me two phone calls to her before I finally found the place.

Cellar Door

In the cellar door

Unfortunately, the winemaker, Mark, just left that morning for his holidays. As Loretta and I talked, I learnt about the history of the vineyard. The name Winburndale is an alteration of the name Winbourn-Dale. This was the name given by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to the valley when he came here in 1815.

"This used to be a gold mining area," she said. According to her, Gold was discovered here by an Italian prospector named Carlo Fontana in 1864. The hill where the vines were planted in 1998, was called Mount Fontana in his memory. It was ironic that 145 years later, an American with Italian descent is making Fontana's wines. It would have been more ironic if the wines produced and labeled as Fontana were Italian varietals instead of Bordeaux blends.

Basket press, the machine used to extract out all the juice in the grapes after the grapes are crushed.

Loretta showed me around the winery. We did some barrel tastings of the wines-in-progress.

Where all the red wines are quietly aged to maturity

Winburndale produces only four wines under their label:

The Solitary Shiraz, which is considered their first and signature wine, won six trophies and seven medals including a Gold at the 2007 Sydney Royal Show for the 2005 vintage.

The Lost and Found label is considered as their second wine. Their 2005 vintage is made up of 50% Shiraz, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Fran, won a bronze at the 2006 National Cool Climate Wine Show. It was fermented for six months in French and American oak barrels. I did a tasting on the 2005 vintage of this label and found aromas of earth, pepper and redcurrants, typical of a cool climate Shiraz. The tannins were soft and plums were evident from the finish to the end. It would taste better with lamb racks.

The Fontana label which Winburndale produces is a classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet, Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. According to Loretta, they will not be producing anymore Fontana as they will be replacing the Merlot with more Shiraz.

The Alluvial Chardonnay is the only white wine produced at the winery.

Where the wines are crushed and produced

When I asked her about the significance of the names of the Label and the logo, she laughed.

"It's a catholic joke," she giggled, "Saint Anthony was the patron saint of finding lost things. That's why as you travel along Saint Anthony's Creek, you have to go through the Lost and Found Bridge." She was referring to the bridge that I drove through to get to the winery.

The Shiraz plot

"That's how the names came up. Solitary, Alluvial and Fontana are the names of the gold mines that were discovered here. That's why our logo is the pick, shovel and pan," she added.

Next time, if I come back to the area, I will try and call the winery to see if Mark is in. It would be great to know more about how he makes his wines. The story doesn't end here for this vineyard with a long history.

Beautiful vineyard

Tasting Notes

Many thanks to Loretta for showing me around and allowing me to do a barrel tasting.

Please note that the wines below are still in progress and not the final product. They have not even been blended or bottled yet and is still in its very infant stage of development.

Whatever tasting notes are produced for these wines are only a snapshot of what the raw wine is like at this stage and does not represent the final product. There is no guarantee that any of the flavours described in the wines at this time will be present in the final product.

Fontana 2008

This one was French barreled. It was fruit driven, with vanilla and cedar. On the palate, it had good structure but a little overbearing. I believe it will be alright after bottling. Hints of spice, redcurrant and peppers.

Solitary 2008 Shiraz

Deep purple core. Lots of meat, gamey notes but still muted on the nose. Needs more time. Darkcurrants, ink and dusty tannins are present. Good acid structure but still a little overbearing for me. Flavours of pencil lead, meat, game, spice and a meaty finish. It has aging potential.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2008.

This is the juice from the pressings.

Clear deep purple core. Aromas of vanilla, redcurrants, capsicum and slight floral, lead and nuts. Good acid structure with medium to full tannins. Spicy with a toasty finish like coffee.

Shiraz 2009

Bright inky purple. Still closed on the nose but a good sense of fruit and meat. Has good acid on it and the fruit flows through. Flavours of ink, custard, herbs, and plums.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

This is free-run juice aged in French oak. Aromas of coffee, toast with chewy tannins. Blackcurrants, an overwhelming acidity and finishes with coffee. Full bodied and no greenishness to it.

Chardonnay 2009

Wild-fermented and has gone through malo. Aromas of peach, banana, citrus fruits, sawdust, lees. Buttery on the palate, creamy with good acid. Flavours of stonefruit and citrus. Not overly creamy and the tang is still there.

Chardonnay 2009

Yeast fermented. Slightly cloudy. Aromas of lanolin and stone fruit. Still muted on the nose. Tangy grapefruit, not as creamy or buttery as the wild ferment. Grape fruit finish.