Sign up to ‘The Thirsty Hounds’ Mailing List for news, special offers and exclusive event invitations
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Valley boasts one of the most unique climates of any premium Australian grape growing region. High summer temperatures, humidity, and rainfall make the area unsuitable for many late ripening grape varieties, but are critical elements in the success of the Hunter’s most important variety, Semillon.
Flavour and sugar is accumulated early in the season, allowing us to pick our Semillon before much of the rain arrives from the North. This early harvesting also ensures the grapes have a high natural acidity; the most important attribute in the ageing potential of this unique wine style.
We source our Semillon and Shiraz from four key sites in the Lower Hunter Valley; the Vernon vineyard in Mount View, and Somerset, Tinklers and Will’s Hill vineyards in Pokolbin. These vineyards are situated on some of the best terroirs in the Hunter, offering a range of aspects and soils to deliver a diversity of style.
Canberra District
In 1998 Canberra District officially became one of 56 G.I.s, Geographic Indicators, which define the most significant wine growing regions, and zones, within the Australian continent.
Anyone who has experienced Canberra winters would not argue against the further definition of “cool climate wine region” to best identify the style of wines that the 40 or so wineries within the region so successfully produce.
Vineyards situated in Murrumbateman are our principle sources of Shiraz, and consistently deliver some of the highest quality fruit we have the pleasure of working with.
On the Gundog Estate vineyard, we cultivate Cabernet Sauvignon for the specific purpose of making our Rosé. The vineyard is located close to the historic village of Gundaroo, just to the north of Canberra.
Across these sites, the irrigated vines thrive on loamy clay pre-Cambrian era soils, amongst the oldest on the planet. Combined with a classic continental climate of low rainfall, freezing winters and a wide temperature range during the growing months, the regional terroir is truly unique and expressive.
Hilltops
Situated in South Western NSW at an average altitude of 540m, the Hilltops region could once boast significant vineyard plantings going as far back as 1860. However, most of the vineyard area was significantly reduced following disruptions caused by World War II and the subsequent labour shortages. Since the late 90’s, the region has seen considerable increases in vineyard area, and wine quality.
We currently source Shiraz from two of the leading growers in the region; Brian Freeman (Freeman Vineyards) and Jason and Alecia Brown (Moppity Vineyards). While each vineyard delivers a distinct and contrasting style of Shiraz, both highlight the unique regional qualities of extraordinary fruit drive and richness of flavour, coupled to fine tannin and a medium bodied frame.
