Swish Wine News

A while ago we told you that we were building a new winery ready for the 2011 vintage ... well, the project is coming on in leaps and bounds. The shed itself is now finished, and overlooking the Tin Soldier vineyard and olive grove down to the dam, our new winery will have one of the nicest views in the valley, even if we do say so ourselves. It couldn't in fact be any closer to our vineyards so, next vintage when the fruit is picked, we can crush it within minutes, capturing all of the zesty, fabulous flavours that winemakers love! There might even be a bit of room for Matt to experiment with new and exciting wines ... Tin Soldier Tempranillo anyone?

But anyhow, enough of what we are going to do next year, you want to know what is happening now! Last week we finished the road from the front gate which now means the trucks have something to drive on and we can start installing all of Matt's shiny winemaking equipment; presses, fermenting vessels, tanks and of course all of our wine gently maturing in barrels.

We'll keep you posted on the developments as they happen.

2010 marks the 21st year of the Winewise Small Vignerons Awards which are open to producers who crush less than 250 tonnes for their own label.

Chaired by Winewise Magazine Editor and much respected Wine Judge, Lester Jesberg, the panel included such industry luminaries as James Halliday AM and Tim Knappstein.

But enough about them...
Swish Wine picked up a total of 15 medals, 3 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze, for our Tin Soldier, Saltire, Wandin Valley Estate and Warraroong Estate wines. Considering there were over 1500 wines entered, we were pretty pleased with our medal haul.

The wines that won are...

GOLD
2009 Wandin Valley Estate Reserve Semillon
2010 Wandin Valley Single Vineyard Semillon
2008 Tin Soldier Chardonnay

SILVER
2009 Tin Soldier Semillon
2009 Saltire Semillon
2010 Warraroong Estate Semillon
2010 Tin Soldier Semillon
2009 Wandin Valley Estate Reserve Chardonnay

BRONZE
2010 Tin Soldier Verdelho
2010 Wandin Valley Estate Verdelho
2010 Wandin Valley Estate Reserve Semillon
2010 Saltire Reserve Semillon
2009 Tin Soldier Chardonnay
2007 Wandin Valley Estate Bridie's Reserve Shiraz
2009 Tin Soldier Shiraz

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who made Swish Wine’s first Lovedale Long Lunch the huge success. We saw over 6,000 people at Warraroong Estate and from the first coach load of pirate costumes to the couple who fell asleep in the car park only to wake up to find everyone gone, all who came had a great day.  We poured the full range of Tin Soldier, Saltire and Warraroong Estate wines to accompany the sumptuous tapas menu from Matt Dillow and his team at the Verandah Restaurant.

Next

Come and see us and Wandin Valley at the forthcoming Burwood Food and Wine Festival at Burwood Park on Sunday 11th July. Local restaurants are joining up with a select group of wineries to give visitors the opportunity to taste delicious foods from around the globe, matched with the very best in Australian wine.

With celebrity cooking demonstrations and tutored wine appreciation sessions and even an outdoor ice-rink, Burwood Food and Wine is an event not to be missed.

For more information, please click here.

We’re excited to announce all the new wine that has just come out of the winery.

Amongst the newly minted wines, we have some old favourites as well as a handful of debutants.

In the Reds, we have the very first Saltire Shiraz from the successful 2009 vintage. We think it’s a cracker. A deep, brooding and intense wine: It’ll age beautifully if you can bear to put some away.

Alongside it we have the Tin Soldier Shiraz which reappears after missing the 2008 vintage due to a rotten run of wet weather right around harvest. The 2009 incarnation is every bit as good as the 2007. Crunchy, brambly stuff with touches of spiced oak and a long refined finish.

The 2009 Tin Soldier Merlot has been out of the winery for a while now and doing its best to redefine the term velvet. Halliday once said Hunter Valley Merlot shouldn’t taste this good – we think we’ve done it again.

On the white side, we’ve got some stunning wines from the exceptional 2010 vintage.

Hunter Sem would not be Hunter Sem were it not bottled by now and knocking socks off all round with its citrus punch and grassy freshness. We have three that fit the bill across the Saltire, Tin Soldier, and Warraroong ranges. And another that we think is so good, we’ve locked it in the cellar for a couple of years.

The 2010 vintage also marks the debut for a new face in the Tin Soldier ranks – Verdelho. Those of you who like your wines intense and fruity ought to line up because you won’t be disappointed. Have it with meringue and it’ll be like you’re eating Pavlova!

All these hot-off-the-bottling-line wines will be available online shortly, but not before we’ve given our Swish Wine Club members an exclusive look at them.

Before a packed house at the Barrel Room at Tempus Two in late May, Matt Burton, Winemaker for Wandin Valley Estate, was named the Hunter Valley Rising Star of the Year for 2010. This year, the awards focused on winners who not only excelled in their individual fields, but also who work tirelessly to promote the Hunter Valley, ‘paving the way for the future in our region.’

Matt joined Wandin Valley Estate as Assistant Winemaker in 2003 after working vintages in some of the world’s greatest wine regions. He became Winemaker in 2004 and began managing the estate as a whole in 2006.

Matt has been pretty busy, juggling Wandin Valley with his roles as wine show judge and Vice President of the Lovedale Vignerons Association – who work so hard to put on the fabulous Lovedale Long Lunch each year. He has also picked up 29 trophies and medals for his wines at shows around Australia, and with the current crop of stunning 2010s already showing great promise the future looks very bright for this rising star.

After nearly a year of planning and preparation, well it is the first time we have staged a Lovedale Long Lunch, we are finally ready to set up Warraroong Estate for what will be our biggest weekend of the year. Work started early this morning with a cavalcade of trucks bringing everything from tents, kitchen equipment, chairs and of course a stage. The weather was perfect and augers well for tomorrow!

Have a look at the piccies and see how we transformed the field outside Claremont House into a venue fit for 5000 food and wine lovers.

Swish Wine owners Russell and Katrina Leslie are proud to announce the purchase of Wandin Valley Estate in the heart of the beautiful Lovedale area of the Hunter Valley.

The acquisition of Wandin Valley Estate reinforces Russell and Katrina’s passion for and commitment to Lovedale, its wines and its people and adds a fabulous, historic brand to the Swish Wine stable.

Established in the 1970s the Wandin Valley Estate vineyard is now over 30 years old and has a reputation for producing high quality fruit and award winning wines.

Alongside this impressive winemaking tradition, the former owners James and Philippa Davern, winemaker Matt Burton and his talented team have worked tirelessly to create a unique tourist destination.

Wandin Valley offers self-contained villa accommodation, a restaurant, and a country cricket ground complete with pavilion. A beautiful property with incredible potential, Wandin Valley is considered the definitive wedding and conference venue in Lovedale.

Check out Wandin Valley here.

Swish Wine is proud to announce that we will be sponsoring the Miss Country Girl Australia National Final competition.  Celebrities, models and members of the media will all enjoy a cruise on Sydney Harbour whilst sipping on some seductive, silky reds, vibrant juicy whites or a cheeky glass of Claremont Bubbles! The event will be covered by the Ten Network, so keep an eye out for us on the red carpet!  

So there we were, our noses pressed against the window of Dymocks, waiting with baited breath to read our entry in the latest 2010 James Halliday Australian Wine Companion. Well, we weren’t disappointed!

Before this latest edition of the guide, James had never heard of us or our wines...he has now and we have bounded firmly to the head of the class with a 5 star rating for Tin Soldier. The glowing reviews include…’a remarkable run of wines’, ‘skilled winemaking was apparent in every wine’, ‘The Hunter Valley is not supposed to make Merlot this good’…we could go on but I fear we are looking a little big-headed!

 Our recent purchase, Warraroong Estate, has also earned 5 stars, for the first time! James finds the ‘quality of the current range of wines outstanding!’ and we wholeheartedly agree.