Lerida Estate Canberra District Shiraz 2009
Style: Red Wine
Closure: Screwcap
Lerida Estate Canberra District Shiraz 2009
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Lerida Estate
Country: Australia
Region: Canberra District
Vintage: 2009
Critic Score: 94
Alcohol: 14.0%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: Now
Lerida Estate is a boutique winery located on the shores of Lake George, some 40 kilometres northeast of Canberra. The 12 hectare estate vineyard was first planted in 1977, predominantly to Pinot Noir. Fruit for the 2009 Canberra District Shiraz was sourced from the hills surrounding Canberra.
"The fragrant bouquet has spicy black fruit aromas, the medium-bodied palate supported by fine, slightly dusty, tannins, with good line, length and balance" James Halliday
"A classic cool climate Shiraz from the hills surrounding Canberra, which offers cool brambleberry and spice aromas with a surprisingly generous palate. The flavours are complex and refined, berries and a little pepper, with a long, fine tannin finish. With age, the wine will become progressively richer, revealing warmer, more complex flavours, riper berries and a little liquorice." Lerida Estate
Expert reviews
"Medium red-purple; the fragrant bouquet has spicy black fruit aromas, the medium-bodied palate supported by fine, slightly dusty, tannins, with good line, length and balance. Drink by: 2020." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 94 points
About the winery
Lerida Estate Vineyard near Lake George
Canberra Region's Lerida brand owes its existence to its founder's love of French pinot noir-based burgundies, but today it is also hitting the heights with shiraz reds.
Lerida came into being after Jim Lumbers returned to Australia after developing a taste for Burgundy reds. He and his wife, Anne Cairne, were attracted by the excellent pinot noirs from the Canberra pioneer Lake George vineyard established in 1971 by CSIRO scientist Edgar Riek, renowned for his research on fossil insects and yabbies, marrons and freshwater crayfish.
They first planted vines in 1977 and turned what had been a bush paddock into a fine 11.7 hectare cool-climate vineyard, added a Glen Murcutt-designed winery, barrel hall, cellar door and cafe with great views over Lake George.
Jim and Anne achieved their pinot noir ambitions and added other varieties with plantings of pinot gris, chardonnay and shiraz and, after 23 years at the helm they decided to retire and put Lerida up for sale.
Purchasers were found in Michael McRoberts and his wife Tracey. Michael, an accountant by profession, was lured by his taste for Lerida pinot gris. "I used to go through an absolute truck load of pinot gris from Lerida, and when I found out it was for sale that was one of the things that attracted me. I wanted to invest in something I cared for and was passionate about, and I like drinking wine so that's how it came about." Michael recalls.
Since their 2017 purchase, the McRoberts have recruited Andrew McFadzean as operations manager and added to their shiraz assets by leasing a four-hectare vineyard at Murrumbateman.
The wines are made by Jacob Law.
The above text is taken from an article by John Lewis in the Newcastle Herald
New South Wales
New South Wales is home to more than 500 wineries across 16 wine regions that produce a range of extremely diverse wines. The regions are Canberra District, Cowra, Gundagai, Hastings River, Hilltops, Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Murray Darling, New England, Orange, Perricoota, Riverina, Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven Coast, Swan Hill and Tumbarumba.
Hunter Valley is New South Wales' best known wine region and has long stolen much of the spotlight . It is also Australia’s oldest continuous wine region - the first vineyard at Wyndham Estate was established in 1828 using cuttings supplied by viticulturist James Busby, widely considered the father of Australian wine. Semillon is perhaps the most iconic wine of the Hunter Valley and is among the greatest and most distinctive wines of Australia - if not the world.
New South Wales' wine regions have a wide range of microclimates. The Great Dividing Range has a substantial influence on the climate of many of the viticultural areas. The regions of higher elevation, such as Canberra District, Canberra District, Orange and Tumbarumba have cooler climates with more continental influences. These regions are responsible for some of the State's most enticing chardonnay, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, riesling and sauvignon blanc. They, together with the Hunter Valley, which by contrast, is very warm, with high humidity and a large amount of rainfall during the growing and harvest season, produce the bulk of the high quality wine in New South Wales.