Winter 2009

Our vineyards have now gone to sleep, resting up before again bursting to life in Spring. Rain has turned the hills verdant green as our pruning team braves the misty mornings. One of the most important activities in the vineyard, pruning involves the careful removal of the previous year’s growth, and the design of how the vine will grow in Spring. Our team prunes by hand, specifying the number of buds (and therefore the number of bunches) that each and every vine will produce for vintage 2010. Expert pruning produces healthy vines and the immaculate fruit that is so important for the production of Shelmerdine wines.

Smoke curls from our granite open fire and wood-fired oven, signaling the warm welcome that awaits inside our Cellar Door. We have embraced winter as our wood-fired oven shares centre stage with our warming winter red wines over the coming months. Our 2006 Heathcote red wines are drinking beautifully; the kitchen is busy serving up steaming bowls of hearty soup; rolling out handmade pasta; baking delicious pies; and the coffee machine is always on. What a great time of year to visit Tooborac!

Smoke curls from our granite open fire and wood-fired oven, signaling the warm welcome that awaits inside our Cellar Door. We have embraced winter as our wood-fired oven shares centre stage with our warming winter red wines over the coming months. Our 2006 Heathcote red wines are drinking beautifully; the kitchen is busy serving up steaming bowls of hearty soup; rolling out handmade pasta; baking delicious pies; and the coffee machine is always on. What a great time of year to visit Tooborac!

UK consumers continue to be impressed with our wines.

The 2008 PHI Yarra Valley Sauvignon and 2007 PHI Yarra Valley Chardonnay have been included again in Matthew Jukes Top 100 Australian Wines. It is quite rare for a single producer to have two wines included in Matthew’s annual list, let alone several years running. PHI is in good company, with the other favourite Chardonnays including Leeuwin Estate, Cullen, Penfolds Yattarna and Eileen Hardy. Matthew tastes pretty much every bottle of Australian wine available in the UK to compile his ‘hotlist’, described as ‘the most relevant, bang up to date buyer’s guide to the crème de la crème from Down Under for consumers and trade buyers alike’. Visit www.matthewjukes.com.au for the full list.

2008 PHI Sauvignon Blanc, Lusatia Park, Yarra Valley
‘Every year this wine makes it into our 100 Best and every year we marvel at the devastating danger and beauty in the glass. This is visionary winemaking and it is sensory stimulation of the highest order when you pour this wine for your friends. Spread the word – this is very PHI-ne wine!’

2007 PHI, Chardonnay, Lusatia Park, Yarra Valley
The Lusatia Park vineyard should have won three slots this year (2007 PHI Pinot Noir is every bit good enough to be included) but we have only given two places away to allow another wine a chance. PHI Chardonnay has edged ever closer to its Corton-Charlemagne pretensions in 2007, parading gracefully as it does it’s breathtaking poise and elegance in the glass.'

Shelmerdine has also had success at the London International Wine Challenge, considered the world’s most prestigious and influential independent wine competition, with our 2007 Shelmerdine Yarra Valley Chardonnay being awarded a Silver Medal. (The reason you don’t hear about our awards as this is really the only show we enter). The judges said ‘Crunchy biscuit aromas, lovely lees character on apple fruit flavours. Super freshness and terrific wine, potential to age for 4-5 years.’