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King ValleyVictoria
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Zilzie
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Whodunnit
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Scotchmans Hill is a family owned vineyard and winery based on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia
Established in 1982, Scotchmans Hill has become a producer of some of Australia's most complex, elegant and consistent wines. Scotchmans Hill is located on Mount Bellarine which was named by the Scottish immigrants who settled the Mount Bellarine area in the 1840s. Mount Bellarine was formed over 30 million years ago by tectonic movement which formed Port Phillip Bay and the surrounding volcanic region of Geelong and Mount Bellarine.
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The Long Paddock wines honour the ingenuity and courage of the early Australian drovers
Inflicted with cruel and regular droughts, these men and women faced the option of giving up and starving along with their cattle and sheep or flinging open their boundary gates and allowing their stumbling, starving stock to roam the bush roads and tracks in the desperate hope of finding food and water. Somewhere. Anywhere. This was known as “droving the Long Paddock”, a task that could take them away from their family and home for months and months. Sometimes even years. Fortunately some stock was saved. Unfortunately for some, when the rains didn’t come the heartbreak of seeing their stock die became a regular occurrence. This was the beginning of the Long Paddock tradition.
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June 1955 Roberto and Rosa Pizzini, their three children, Elena, Rinaldo, Alfredo and a baby on the way, embarked on a journey from Trento Alto Aldige in the Italian Alps for a new life in Australia
The four brothers and their families continued to grow tobacco together and progressively grew their business to eventually become the largest tobacco producing company in the southern hemisphere, which at one point was able to employ and support seventeen share farmers as well as the four brother's families.
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Traditional vignerons, Marc Scalzo and Lisa Hernan established a homestead vineyard by planting their own Chardonnay and Shiraz vines on a picturesque site in Beechworth
Piano Piano vineyards are located on a highly sought after golden mile amongst some of Beechworths most notable wine producers. They focus on making premium, estate grown single vineyard wines, vintages with a strong sense of place. Rather than impose his own personality on the wines, Marc has always strived to let the vineyard tell its own story. Marc started his wine education around the kitchen table at home. His father Mario introduced him to a wide selection of local and Italian wines. After graduating with a Science degree from Monash University and working for IBM for five years, the lure of wine was strong. Marc then studied Wine Science at Charles Sturt University and has many years of practical experience, including seven years as a winemaker at Brown Brothers and vintages at Giaconda, Seresin Estate (NZ), Delegats (NZ) and John Gehrig Wines. Marc is also Chief Winemaker at Rutherglen Estates.
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Paparazzi
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Nugan Estate is a story of inspiration about a premium producer of estate grown wine based in Griffith New South Wales
The Nugan Group was founded in 1940 when a young Alfredo Nugan emigrated from Spain with his family to start a small fruit and vegetable packing operation in Griffith, New South Wales. Nugan's daughter in-law Michelle became responsible for the Group’s renaissance into one of Australia’s most successful agricultural enterprises. Looking beyond Australia’s shores, Nugan became the largest exporter of niche juice products to Asia in the Southern Hemisphere with production in excess of 70,000 tonne per annum.
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Sam Miranda is the third generation of a prominent winemaking family who moved from Italy to Australia in the 1930s
Sam grew up amongst the vines in Griffith but he eventually became aware of the quality of King Valley fruit as growers would drop by to sell their harvests. Sam became highly enthused by tales the growers would tell him of the natural beauty of King Valley and the excellent conditions for growing world class fruit. Griffith and King Valley share a vibrant culture of Italian migrant agriculture, in 1991 Sama made the journey and fell in love with the picturesque beauty of Victoria's high country. Sam loved the fresh style and complex structure of King Valley wines. He acquired a 70 hectare property in 1997 on the corner of Snow and Whitfield Roads. He made his King Valley operations complete when he established a winery and cellar door in the following year.
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John Gehrig is a fourth generation winemaker, a descendant of Victoria's oldest winemaking family which settled in the late 1850s at Barnawartha in North East Victoria
John learned his trade from his father. John spent sixteen years working on the family estate before a three year exposure to commercial and retail business whilst actively pursuing a vineyard investment. He has a passion for wine that stretches over 60 plus years (not giving too much away!) and can tell you many a story about his experiences in the wine industry over that time.
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Innocent Bystander create wines that are delicious expressions of what they love to make and to drink, perfect for exploring the iconic styles and varieties of Yarra Valley
Innocent Bystander dont make single vineyards wines, but they do know that great wines need great fruit, so they source the best grapes they can from some of the top vineyards in Yarra Valley. If theres a variety they want to make that doesnt grow well in the valley, they'll go to where the quality fruit is. Their winemaking team treat every parcel of fruit individually to ensure the outstanding varietal characters shine through in the finished product, showing off the very best of the region and sites they represent to make flavoursome, balanced and delicious wines.
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The Gracebrook brand has evolved from the passion David and Rhonda Maples have for the land and what it has to offer
David and Rhonda acquired very early in life the horticultural skills that would later become invaluable when applied to the vineyards of Gracebrook. Both being from farming backgrounds, Rhonda's parents owned and operated a dairy farm here in the King Valley, across the road from what is now their home farm. During Rhonda's holidays and weekends she would work in the local vineyards, either handpicking fruit or pruning vines. David's parents also owned and ran dairy farms as well as growing beef cattle, pigs and later on growing tobacco on a small farm located at Edi. This is when David left school and started farming with his parents.
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Pass over the Buckland Gap, turn left at Tobacco Road, and cross over Snowy Creek to arrive at Gapsted's Victorian Alps Winery
Gapsted Wines is the premium brand from the Victorian Alps Winery. Small parcels of fruit are hand selected and crafted into these meticulous wines of distinction. The range focuses on single varietals and innovative wines, including the Gapsted Ballerina Canopy series, Gapsted Limited Release and Gapsted Valley Selection. The Victorian Alps winery was established in 1997 by six great friends who were also wine professionals. Their extensive experience in the industry and their passion for the region were central to the success of the winery over its relatively short existence. In 1999 the first wines were released under the Gapsted brand and in 2001 the stunning and award winning Cellar Door was opened.
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De Bortoli is an exciting, innovative family owned wine company, having enjoyed spectacular success throughout it's entire range of wines
The winemaking team is overseen by third generation winemaker Darren De Bortoli and his brother-in-law Steve Webber who is married to Leanne De Bortoli. The dynamic duo has been responsible for many winemaking innovations and developments. Darren De Bortoli is the creator of the world acclaimed Noble One. Steve Webber, recently awarded Gourmet Traveller WINE's 2007 Winemaker of the Year, established the Yarra Valley winery, the King Valley vineyards and oversees the Hunter Valley winery and vineyards.
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The story of Dal Zotto wine begins on the other side of the world in the town of Valdobbiadene in north eastern Italy
A traditional high-walled Italian town of stone houses and citadels surrounded by mountains, Valdobbiadene is a region renowned for wine-making. Owing to its generous soil and mild climate, vines hundreds of years old blanket the landscape.
It is here that Ottorino Dal Zotto was born and raised on his family’s vineyard. The love of viticulture, appreciation of fine wine and dedication to the highest standards was instilled from an early age, his education steeped in the practices of traditional Italian winemaking. And so began Otto’s lifetime passion.
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The Mornington Peninsula was scarcely associated with wine when Garry planted his first vines at Dromana in 1982.
As a key figure in the region's pioneering wave of vignerons, Garry was instrumental in forging for the Peninsula a reputation as a distinguished producer of cool climate wine.
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Cleanskin
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Chrismont's location at the base of the Victorian Alps is undoubtedly the most defining feature of the King Valley
Chrismont Wines incorporates the winery and cellar door operations, in addition to the estate vineyards, owned by Arnie & Jo Pizzini. The beautiful, undulating property in the heart of the agriculturally rich and diverse King Valley initially was dedicated to tobacco production in the 1960s. Chrismont founder Arnie Pizzini, along with his father Arnold, transitioned the property focus to wine grape production in the late seventies. Over the twenty years since then, the King Valley and Chrismont vineyards have become synonymous with the production of high quality wine grapes for red, white, and sparkling wine.
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Domaine Chandon Australia was established in 1986 as part of Moet & Chandon's expansion into New World sparkling wine production
Based at the Green Point winery operations located in the Yarra Valley, viticultural region which enjoys a wide range of cool to cold climate vineyards, ideal for sparkling wine production. The group of wineries was brought together as Chandon Estates in 1997 and formed a division of Moet - Hennessy. The winery is also well situated to draw fruit from other cool climate vineyards throughout Tasmania, Coonawarra, the Strathbogie Ranges and the Victorian Alps. Domaine Chandon produces premium quality Methode Traditionnelle sparkling wines from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
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After a distinguished career in the Royal Australian Navy, Reginald Langdon Buller in 1921 took up land at Rutherglen in the winegrowing region of North East Victoria
The Rutherglen winegrowing region was then, as it is now, famous for its fortified wines, Muscats, and full bodied red wines. Reginald Buller called his vineyard Calliope after the British warship. Producing delicious luscious wines and gutsy, full-bodied reds, the backbone of this vineyard is Rutherglen Shiraz. Old Shiraz vines at Calliope are not irrigated so yields are low at about one tonne to the acre. Consequently the fruit from this vineyard produces intensely flavoured wines, but in rather small quantities, that Andrew Buller crafts into wines of great depth and elegance. There are also small plantings of some of the rarer varieties including Mondeuse and Cinsaut.
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In 1885 John Francis Brown, aged 18 planted ten acres of mostly Riesling, Muscat and Shiraz grapes on his Milawa property, located in the lower reaches of the King Valley in North East Victoria
Milawa Vineyard is the birth place of the Brown Brothers company, the first Brown Brothers wines were released in 1889. Surrounding the cellar door, Milawa Vineyard is the fruit source for renowned wines such as Patricia Noble Riesling, Shiraz Mondeuse & Cabernet and Dolcetto. It is also home to Brown Brothers’ winemaking facilities where grapes are received, crushed and made into quality wine. The current expanse of Brown Brothers vineyards, now located throughout Victoria, are as varied as the wines and wine styles.
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Armchair Critic
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