SEPTEMBER 2007

Bidgeebong wins chardonnay trophy at 2007 Canberra District Regional Wine Show

Bidgeebong Wines this month won the Canberra District Vignerons Association Trophy for Best Chardonnay at the 2007 Canberra Regional Wine Show.

The winning wine was the Bidgeebong 2006 Icon Series Chardonnay, which also won the only gold medal in Class 7 (2006 vintage; dry white; chardonnay; wooded) and was produced from three vineyards in the Tumbarumba region: Keith Cook’s, Heather and Rob Johansen’s, and Mannus Farm.

It is the second vintage of chardonnay produced under Bidgeebong’s ultra-premium Icon Series label and is scheduled for release late this year or early next.

Bidgeebong’s winemaker Keiran Spencer used a broad range of winemaking techniques to build complexity and sophistication into the wine — natural-yeast fermentation, completion of fermentation in oak, and induction of malo-lactic secondary fermentation in 20 per cent of the blend.

“The 2006 vintage produced chardonnay with quite restrained flavours in Tumbarumba so we had to take particular care with our oak treatment,” he said. “With the 2005 Icon Series chardonnay, we used mainly new French oak; this time we used one-year-old to make sure we didn’t overwhelm the vibrant but quite delicate fruit.”

Chairman of Judges at the 2007 Canberra Regional Wine Show was Brian Croser AO, one of Australia’s most highly acclaimed winemakers and judges.

Bidgeebong is no stranger to major success at the Canberra Regional Wine Show.

In 2003, the Wagga-based winery dominated the red classes, taking out four trophies, including the Australian Wine Selectors Trophy for Champion Wine of the Show, which was awarded to its 2002 Gundagai Shiraz.

That wine also won the Caffe Della Piazza Trophy for Best Dry Red and the Winery Supplies Trophy for Best Shiraz, while the Bidgeebong 2001 Tumbarumba Merlot won the Acumen Alliance Trophy for Best Merlot.