Vineyard Update

SUMMER

Well Christmas has passed and the New Year is well under way. It looks like the growing season for 2009/10 is the best I have seen for 10 years. We actually received above average rains, 563mm or 22.5 inches for the year and with cooler temperatures than normal everything looks set for a cracker of a vintage, estimated to start around the end of February 2010.

On the wine front we have just released our 2007 Dalwhinnie Chardonnay and what a wine it is. Tight, creamy and long on the palate, a very exciting wine. We have a little of the 2007 Dalwhinnie Shiraz left, but have sold out of the 2007 Dalwhinnie Cabernet and 2007 Dalwhinnie Pinot Noir.

The ‘Vintage Release’ newsletter for 2010 will be sent out to Eagle Eye members in mid March. Watch out for the 2008 reds, all are under screw cap and they are very exciting wines.

The ‘Eagles Nest’ is open with weekend and mid week rates available. Click on our accommodation link for a unique experience overlooking Dalwhinnie Vineyard.

David Jones
Winemaker

NEWS

Press

JAMES HALLIDAY TOP 100
The Weekend Australian Magazine
Nov 14-15 2009
Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz 2007
The 28th vintage of this wine, which owner and ,vinemaker David Jones believes to be the best to date, and I won't argile about that. Brilliant crimson colour; a marvellous combination of elegance and intensity, the rippling red and black fruit flavours supported by silky tannins and oak; extreme length and great balance.
From: Pyrenees, Vic
Drink: to 2020 with braised oxtail 97 Points, 13.5% alc

THE BIG RED WINE BOOK 2009/10
Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh
Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz 2007
‘The Dalwhinnie shiraz vineyard is one of Australia’s great wine treasures. It has hit top form here. As good as perfect. Here’s that rare beast: it has smoothness, length of flavour, layers to its personality and deliciousness to boot. It has the tannin to age long-term, the balance to make it drink terrifically at any stage of its life and the class to make it stand out. Aged beef, thanks.’ DRINK 2010 – 2020. 97 points

Wine Business Monthly 100 (May 2009)
Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz 2007
‘This is a great expression of Dalwhinnie Shiraz which transcends the drought season in this elegant, structured wine, honed down to a streamlined shape. It's tightly structured palate has fresh acidity and sinewy tannins to tie together its black cherry, plum pudding and mixed spice fruit.’ 94 points

Wine Business Monthly 100 (May 2009)
Dalwhinnie ‘Eagle Series’ Shiraz 2004
‘This is an exceedingly graceful Eagle which is set to soar in a decade’s time. It’s remarkably complex, with lifted lavender freshness, charcuterie, roast game, oregano, roasted tomato and hints of smokehouse complexity. With sensational length and line, it brings flashbacks to the greatest vintages on the hill of Hermitage.’ 96 points

Uncorked Ralph Kyte-Powell ‘Epicure’ The Age Tuesday 26 May 2009
Dalwhinnie ‘Eagle Series’ Shiraz 2003
‘This flagship from an outstanding Pyrenees maker is a deeply coloured, very concentrated wine that, like most Dalwhinnie reds, doesn’t show regional eucalypt character. Instead light mintiness edges, aromas of juicy mixed berries, spice, blueberry and deep, beef-stocky richness. Trimmed in restrained oak, it is deeply flavoured with lovely texture and balanced ripe tannins.’ Ageing - Drink over 10 years. Food ideas: Rare roast beef.
5 stars... $$

Tyson Stelzer, Wine Business Magazine
2006 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Chardonnay
“This is a phenomenal Chardonnay, even by Dalwhinnie’s standards. It’s restrained and compact and at the same time very powerful but in no way luscious or alcoholic. Instead, it’s all about minerality and complexity, with an almond meal suppleness. A wine to contemplate for hours. 95 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”

Eagles' Nest Deck

Coming Events

26 – 29 August 2010
‘Taste of Melbourne’ at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Dalwhinnie will again be part of this exciting Food & Wine event in August. Come in and see us, we will have all our current wines available.

Saturday 13 November 2010
‘Seduction by Tastebuds’ Lunch at Dalwhinnie with Chef Adrian Richardson, La Luna. We look forward to welcoming Adrian again to Dalwhinnie where amazing food will be matched with some magnificent vintage Dalwhinnie wines. Enquiries and bookings 1800 206 622