Vineyard UpdateWINTERThe new seasons work has begun with pruning well under way. Five pruners will cut back 60,000 vines over the next three months, a tough but very important job which will balance the crop for vintage 2009. Prior to pruning starting the vineyard was sown with cover crops of oats and Organic Plus, a very good natural fertilizer. The cover crops look amazing with the most vivid colour of green pushing through the soil. This will be ploughed back into the soil in Springtime to give humus to the soil. The final job in the vineyard is to upgrade the old trellis posts. After 32 years the end assemblies have broken down due to the intensity of this hungry environment. Three metre Radiata pine posts, 20cm across with a steel brace will do the trick for the next 40 years. New foliage wires will be added to lift the canopy when required. The 2005 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Chardonnay is drinking beautifully with only one and a half pallets left. Be quick to sample this amazing wine! The 2008 reds are looking very stylish, they have just completed malolactic fermentation, been topped-up and 'put to bed'. 
Matt, local fencing contractor Alan Steed and David Jones
NEWSRe-release of an Icon Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz 2002
We have a very limited amount of this magnificent wine available. Contact us if interested. Price $65 bottle. REVIEWS‘It is a travesty that this wine is not actively sold and lovingly treasured in the UK. Every element of this bottle is astounding – super-smooth, velvety plum, cherry, blackcurrant, dark chocolate, tar and briar flavours, dusted sooty tannins and topped with a neverending finish. What is amazing is that this concentration and texture has all come at only 13% alcohol. Drink 2006 -2015’
Matthew Jukes, UK Wine Writer
Decanter January 2005 ‘A complex web of blackberry, leather, mocha and game; excellent tannin structure on the finish. Rating 93 Drink 2015’
James Halliday,
2005 Wine Companion PressJames Halliday's Top 100 Wines,
The Weekend Australian 10-11 Nov 2007
Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz 2005
"Dalwhinnie's shiraz vines are 30 years old, but even when young they produce outstanding wine. Floods the mouth with perfectly ripened black cherry, plum and blackberry fruit, the oak positive but seamless, the tannins likewise. A delicious wine with great mouthfeel, line and length." 96 points Campbell Mattinson 'The Wine Front'
Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz 2006
“My kind of wine. Lovely mix of ripe elegant flavour and smart oak, the perfume and style of it both delicious and enchanting. This is a wine distinguished by its complex, elongated, integrated tannin, by its fresh acidity, by its easy length of flavour. It tastes of spice, cherries, plums and musk, and after decanting it for an hour or so, a bottle of this disappeared in a flash. Drink 2008 - 2020. 94 points” Dalwhinnie Moonambel Cabernet 2006
“It's an elegant cabernet but there's enough substance to keep all-comers happy. It is a high quality wine. It tastes of pencils, currants, chocolate and eucalypt, and its balance between fruit flavour and complex tannin is impeccable. Musky oak drifts through the aftertaste - this is a medium-weight, well structured cabernet of inherent class. Drink 2012 - 2017. 93 points” Dalwhinnie Southwest Rocks Shiraz 2005
“I tasted this a year ago and wrote this “Plush, silky, mouth-filling shiraz. Bursts from the glass. Smooth plum and cedar and vanilla, with fine, light, soft tannins curling away through the finish. A wine of seduction, for sure - but also a wine of overwhelming peppermint aroma and flavour. If you like peppermint, get ready for a wine you will adore - the texture is glorious.” I rated it at 91 points. On re-tasting this now those peppermint flavours are still well and truly there, but it's become a meatier, spicier, tighter wine, with minerally tannins and perhaps even the odd gamey edge. It has become a more interesting wine in both aroma and taste, and for me a better wine. Drink 2007 - 2014. 94 points” Taste, Food & Wine 2008 , Matthew Jukes, Tyson Stelzer
Dalwhinnie Moonambel Chardonnay 2005
“Mesmerising minerality is the theme in this edgy, muscular, brittle, mountainside Chardonnay. Stone and soil appear in every pheromonal moment that this wine is near your being. It is driven by rapacious linearity and nerve-jangling, squeaky-fresh lime notes. We would advise creamy sauces and/or juicy seafood dishes (like scallops, mussels, or clams) to allow Dalwhinnie to do its fandango on your tongue. This is vital wine made with unrivalled passion.” James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2008 Edition
Dalwhinnie Eagle Series 2004
“Intense blackberry fruit with a mix of spice and savoury characters; very powerful, but not over over-extracted; good oak and tannins”. Rating 96 Dalwhinnie Southwest Rocks 2005
“Slightly more complex, powerful and grainy than the Moonambel, but the swings and roundabouts mean there is less hedonistically luscious fruit.” Rating 96 Dalwhinnie Pinot Noir 2005
“As ever, amazes with its varietal character from a region which shouldn’t produce the pinot goods. Spicy red cherry fruit and good length; may not be the world’s greatest, but it’s a dog preaching well.” Rating 90 
Matt, local fencing contractor Alan Steed and David Jones
Coming EventsIn the Cellar Door an amazing 2.8 metre 'tasting table' made from local yellow box timber with a contemporary steel base has been positioned in the tasting room. Come and join us for a glass of wine and one of our delicious cheese plates whilst overlooking the vineyard and Pyrenees beyond. Saturday 26 July
Seduction by Tastebuds Lunch at Dalwhinnie with Chef Simon Humble, Tutto Bene. Amazing food matched with some older vintage Dalwhinnie wines. Enquiries and Bookings 1800 206 622 21 – 24 August 2008
‘Taste of Melbourne’ at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Dalwhinnie will be part of this exciting Food & Wine event coming up in August. | 
