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Our outstanding 2010 Midhill Gewurztraminer, which won trophies and a Gold medal at Daylesford Wine Show in 2010 was chosen by Selector Magazine and rated in the top 14 wines in their 2011 Spring issue, State of Play matching Gewurztraminer with Asian food.
The judges described it as having, “sweet lifted aromas of spicy musk, and a natural, earthy funk with fine talc. It displayed full, zesty flavours of citrus, lychee and talc. Its outstanding character was its crisp, clean, dry finish. It was found to be gloriously harmonious with the soft shell crab, with lemongrass and chilli.”
This wine will be available for tasting and sale at our cellar door during Budburst in November.
Midhill Vineyard...rated 4 stars by James Halliday.
Midhill Vineyard is located 2km west of Romsey in the Macedon Ranges, central Victoria, just a 1 hour drive from Melbourne’s CBD.
Hew and Di Richards planted their first grapes in 1993 and the vines are now well established. Our yearly production is small in comparison to many, but the resulting wines have proven to be above our expectations.
The vineyard which sits on volcanic basaltic soils, overlooks the pretty valley of 5 Mile Creek, (original name "Romsey Creek") and faces north towards Ochiltrees Hill. The northerly aspect and the valley below assist the cold air drainage reducing frost risk.
The cold climate and elevation of Macedon Ranges is conducive to slow ripening fruit and harvest time is well into autumn. Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir are now producing premium fruit from which several trophy winning wines have been made.
The farm also is home to a herd of quiet Angus cattle which are sometimes used to graze the vineyard and control weeds.
Our entry into the wine making world has been accompanied by a few serendipitous events. We were lucky to have as a neighbour, one of the pioneer winemaker/vignerons of the district and his advice was to plant Chardonnay, which we did. Chardonnay is a multi-purpose variety used formaking a range of table wine styles and is a major ingredient in sparkling wine, called locally “Macedon”.
Initially we set out to only grow wine grapes for sale, but we were encouraged to have some of our fruit made into wine for our own label, and in particular sparkling wine, to which this region is so well suited. With only the white grape Chardonnay on hand, we made a Sparkling Chardonnay which the French call “Blanc de Blancs” (white of whites). More commonly traditional sparkling is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, in various proportions according to the winemaker’s whim.
Our Blanc de Blancs Macedon 2008 is a delightful, dry, light citrus style which has developed creamy yeast overtones after 3 years on lees. It won a Silver Medal at the Daylesford Wine Show in November 2011.
The second happy turn of events was the discovery of 3 dozen of our vines in the first planting which were not Chardonnay. The fruit were pink/brown instead of green, and were very popular with the pickers, and the birds. They ripened a little earlier and so were picked separately. Experts identified them as Gewurztraminer. “Gewurz” is a German word for “spicy”. Traminer is North Italian variety grown best in colder areas. On researching this variety, we found that fruit gave the best flavour and aromas when grown in cold areas with well drained, acidic soils of volcanic origin. This described our vineyard site precisely.
We have since planted a half an acre of Gewurz.(propagated from the first 3 dozen) and are finding there are many Gewurztraminer lovers among the wine drinking population. It has the classic Turkish delight palate and floral spice rose petal aromas, is dry and has a lively crisp acidity.
The disastrous wet season of 2011 resulted in no Gewurztraminer grapes being picked. However this year was much more favourable with the 2012 vintage already winning Silver at the recent Macedon Ranges Wine Exhibition. Hopefully it will develop to be as good as our Trophy winning 2010 vintage.
Our third variety grown at Midhill is the Pinot Noir (clone MV6). The vines are now +10 years old and the wine produced is a well structured table wine with good varietal flavour. Both vintages 2007 and 2008 have won Bronze medals at the Macedon Ranges Wine Exhibition.
"BUDBURST", the Macedon Ranges Wine & Food festival is to be held on on 16 & 17 Nov. 2013.
Midhill will be among 30 wineries opening their cellar doors over the weekend.
We will be providing a light lunch and our range of wines to taste and purchase.
Come and relax a while in our shady, scenic cellar door located overlooking the green valley of the 5 Mile Creek (Romsey Creek).
Taste our flagship wines: Gewurztraminer and Sparkling MACEDON Blanc de Blancs.
Our 2008 and 2010 Pinot Noirs have now some bottle age.They are soft and fruit driven
with a nice balanced acidity.
Our 2009 "Bubbles" Macedon Blance de Blancs is delightfully refreshing, drunk alone or with oysters/seafood.
Talk to the growers of the Midhill fruit and see where the vines are growing.
Take a look at the Budburst Website by clicking on the link below.
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your website looks great! Heather and I must find the time one of these days to come up and visit you guys, and to taste some of your fine wines whilst we catch up on all our news. I am still working, but looking forward to slowing down later next year, if not before! cheers for now, Gary Smith
Cheers, Bill
Looking forward to many more visits.
Cheers,
Annabel and Roger
Your websit looks great. You know with something like this you'll be busier than ever!
Cheers
Ronda and David Collins