Wine award wins a corker

By DION TEASDALE
COLDSTREAM Hills winery won the top two trophies and a string of medals in the first major national wine show of the year.
The winery won the Bendigo Bank Trophy for the best chardonnay, and the CourierMail Trophy for the overall best trophy winning wine for its 2003 Reserve Chardonnay.
Coldstream Hills entered 12 wines in the Royal Queensland Wine Show, 11 of which won medals or trophies in the event which attracted more than 3000 entries from across Australia.
Besides winning the show’s top two awards for its 2003 Reserve Chardonnay, the winery also picked up a string of gold, silver and bronze medals for wines like its 2004 Reserve Chardonnay and 2004 Reserve Pinot.
“The awards are good for the Yarra Valley and for Coldstream Hills,” site manger and winemaker Andrew Fleming said.
“They bring recognition to the region and the brand, and they help with sales. “They are also recognition of the hard work and talent of the team which produces the wines.”
Mr Fleming said the 2003 Reserve Chardonnay, which previously won a number of gold medals at wine shows in Perth and Japan, was the result of good fruit and careful nurturing throughout the wine making process.
“We have treated the fruit delicately, building it to give the wine complexity and texture without pushing it over the edge.”
Mr Fleming said the wine, which was barrel fermented for 11 months in 40 per cent new French oak, exhibited classic Yarra Valley chardonnay characteristics.
“The wine has terrific fruit expressions such as white peach, quince and citrus flavours and the integrated oak gives it a wonderful cashew nut finish,” he said.
The Coldstream Hills 2003 Reserve Chardonnay was released in September last year.
The winery produced 600 dozen bottles and single bottles can be bought for about $50.