We are proud to announce that several Australian Certified Organic clients have achieved success in their respective States at Gourmet Traveller WINE‘s recent Cellar Door competition.
If you are looking for somewhere special to visit this weekend, why not travel to one of these award winning cellar doors!
NEW SOUTH WALES
Windowrie Wines have taken out Australia’s Best Large Cellar Door Cowra/Canowindra 2016.
The Windowrie winery is certified organic and the practice of minimal intervention is a core focus. The O’Dea family owners are committed to discovering varietals that are suited to the region. As wine producers, Windowrie strives to make affordable wines for everyday drinking. Although not a large wine producing company, their family work hard to make the best possible boutique wines using selected fruit parcels from the vineyard. Small quantities are carefully selected for limited release wines.
Windowrie’s cellar door, ‘The Mill’, is Cowra’s oldest building, circa 1861. After the O’Dea family purchased the vacant mill in 1995, it underwent major renovations and was lovingly restored using 90% recycled materials.
Windowrie Wines Cellar Door (The Mill) hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 9am-3pm.
Phone: (02) 6341 4141
Wallington Wines have achieved success for 2016 as Australia’s Best Small Cellar Door, Cowra/Canowindra.
The Wallingtons moved from Sydney to establish their vineyard in 1990. Margaret Wallington and her 4 daughters continue to produce carefully crafted wines and have embraced the principals of organic and biodynamic agriculture. On their 400ha property, they also grow olives and raise sheep and cattle.
Wallington Wines’ cellar door is also the winery. Winemaking and tastings take place on site in their unusual Straw Bale Winery, in a commanding position overlooking the vineyard. Owner and winemaker, Margaret Wallington, produces carefully crafted wines which embrace the principals of organic and biodynamic agriculture.
Cellar door Tastings and Sales are held at the Winery, and individuals and groups interested in tasting wine and exploring wine making are more than welcome to arrange a private tasting and tour of the vineyard and winery.
Wallington Wines’ cellar door hours are 7 days by appointment.
Phone: (02) 63447153
Australia’s Cellar Door with Best Food, Mudgee 2016 has been awarded to Lowe Wines for 2016.
Robert Lowe was the first of the Lowe family to migrate to Australia, the land of opportunity, with his young family in 1812. He had a letter of introduction to Governor Macquarie who granted him 1500 acres of land at Bringelly, near Camden. Robert built his house, naming it Birling after his wife Barbara’s old home in Sussex. Despite early family tragedy and even a confrontation by a bushrangers, the Lowe family continued to thrive.
With a history of innovation in agriculture in the NSW Central Ranges, fifth generation David Lowe, the principal of the business, continues to question everything that he does in his vineyard, winery and farm.
The certified organic winery specialises in small batch winemaking, using innovative techniques. The Mudgee vineyards are untrellised, unirrigated and certified organic. They are leading the field with practical sustainable management in their vineyards and on the farm. The cellar door offers idyllic settings, with views over the vineyards, out across the Mudgee valley.
Lowe’s Wines cellar door and winery is located a short drive from the Mudgee CBD along Tinja Lane, are open open seven days from 10am until 5pm.
Phone: (02) 6372 0800
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Yalumba Family Vignerons have been awarded Australia’s Star Cellar Door, Eden Valley 2016.
Samuel Smith, his wife and children departed England for South Australia, eventually settling in Angaston. By 1849, Samuel had already started to plant his own vineyard with his son, Sidney. Becoming involved in the Gold rush in 1852 netted Samuel £300 of gold and enabled him to purchase 80 hectares of land – thus cementing Yalumba’s history. By 1853, Yalumba’s first wine was released.
The Wine Room ambassadors will guide you through Yalumba’s wines and introduce you to their story. During the week you may even be able to see the cooperage in action and experience the fragrant sweet spice of their handmade barrels. The landscaped grounds framed by the Wine Room and the historic clock tower are the perfect spot to explore before throwing a picnic rug down and enjoying the Barossa’s warm afternoon sun.
Yalumba’s Cellar door is open Monday to Sunday 10am-5pm
Phone: (08) 8561 3200
Mount Horrocks Wines is very excited to be awarded Australia’s Best Small Cellar Door in the Clare Valley in 2016.
This is the 2nd year in a row that they have been presented with this award and the third in total, also being awarded in the same category in 2013.
Owner, Stephanie Toole, re-opened the Auburn Railway station following substantial renovation, as Mount Horrocks’ cellar door. Stephanie produces outstanding quality grapes from her own vineyards. Her persistence with classic, no-compromise winemaking and a fully integrated organic approach to growing and making sets Mount Horrocks wines apart from the mainstream. Stephanie carefully crafts essentially hand-made food wines with emphasis on structure as well as generous fruit flavours. Only estate grown grapes are used and these are hand-picked and gently handled under conditions that ensure the varietal and site-specific flavours in the resultant wine, as well as its organic status, are retained.
Pop in and enjoy all the new releases and the occasional museum wine carefully selected by Stephanie for cellar door customers.
Mount Horrocks is open for tastings and cellar door sales every Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays from 10am-5pm.
Phone: (08) 8849 2202
Petaluma Wines were awarded Australia’s Best Large Cellar Door, Adelaide Hills 2016.
Petaluma, founded in 1976, crafts ultra-premium wines by carefully selecting the best sites within a particular region suited to a chosen variety. This is their ‘distinguished vineyards’ philosophy.
In 2015, Lion officially opened its new Petaluma Winery and Cellar Door in the Adelaide Hills, set on 30 hectares of land complete with an expansive view of Mount Lofty. Petaluma’s new Winery and Cellar Door are a fantastic addition to South Australia’s vibrant tourism industry and they look forward to welcoming visitors from near and far to explore the vineyards and, of course, taste their wines. Their 2015 certified organic Shiraz and White Label Shiraz will soon be available.
Petaluma’s Cellar Door is open to visitors for wine tastings four days a week from Friday to Monday.
Phone: (08) 8339 9300
TASMANIA
Stefano Lubiana Wines have been awarded Australia’s Star Cellar Door, Southern Tasmania, in 2016.
Established in 1990 in the village of Granton in the South of Tasmania, resides Tasmania’s first and only certified organic biodynamic vineyard, Stefano Lubiana have established a modern, well equipped, gravity fed winery.
Steve and Monique Lubiana’s vineyard has been the source of some of Tasmania’s most refined boutique wines for more than 25 years. The wine portfolio is large and growing, but is handmade by the Lubianas in small quantities. Their state-of-the-art onsite facilities enable them to ensure the highest quality is retained at each stage of the process, from grape sorting to bottling and packaging.
Their recently built Osteria, a small Italian farmhouse eatery with rustic menu, is a must see.
Cellar Door & Osteria Hours: Thursday to Monday 11am-4pm
Phone: (03) 6263 7457
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Awarded Best Additional Experiences (Restaurant, Biodynamic Spiral Garden) Margaret River, 2016 was Cullen Wines.
Wine growing began on the Cullen property in Margaret River over 40 years ago. Chief Winemaker and Managing Director, Vanya Cullen, has been working on the farm most of her life and has been winemaking at her family’s Wilyabrup estate since 1983. During that time she has been rigorously experimenting in the vineyard (especially with soil and trellis management) and in the winery all the while looking to give her wines greater complexity. Cullen Wines, while remaining family owned, has since evolved making quality wine from a certified biodynamic, carbon neutral and naturally powered estate.
Cullen Wines Biodynamic Spiral Garden Tour – In response to the level of interest in biodynamics from visitors to the winery, in 2013 the Self-Guided Spiral Garden Biodynamic Tour was installed. As the name suggests, the intention is for people to be able to stroll through the garden at their leisure and follow the fascinating biodynamic process that is employed throughout the winery and the gardens at Cullen. Visitors can touch, feel and read about the actions and concepts for themselves, from the development of Steiner’s preparations, to the flowform series of vortexes.
Cullen Wines Cellar Door is open 7 days per week 10am – 4:30pm
Phone: (08) 9755 5277
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