Winter is Coming … it certainly hit with some great storms.

The south west of Australia has been experiencing weather conditions similar to the “Kingdom of The North” over the past week, and the vines are now totally bare armed.

They will hang out there for the next couple of weeks while the sap recedes into the trunks for winter storage.

From the middle of June, our pruning team will work their way through the whole vineyard, vine by vine and carefully prune each vine providing its structure for the next two seasons.

Release of Victory Point 2012 vintage Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our 2011 vintage rapidly sold out and the 2012 is ready for release. These wines from this great Margaret River vintage have just received Gold medal reviews from James Halliday and are delicious to drink now as well as predicted to cellar well for the next 25+ years (Cabernet Sauvignon)

VICTORY POINT 2012 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

JAMES HALLIDAY -96 POINTS

Halliday Tasting Note: Hand picked, open fermented, 27 days on skins, 18 months in French oak (50%new), when 6.5% malbec, 4.5% petit verdot and 3% cabernet franc were blended in. The time on skins has increased the tannin level significantly, but it remains in balance with the complex and intense suite of black fruit flavours.

A carefully assembled wine with a great future. Drink by: 2042

VICTORY POINT 2012 CHARDONNAY

JAMES HALLIDAY – 95 POINTS

The Victory Point Chardonnay continues to impress and we have received an early notification of our rating from the team at Halliday’s Wine Companion. The review is yet to be released.
Tasting Note: 2012 Vintage produced clean, intensely flavoured fruit from the unirrigated vineyard. This superbly elegant Chardonnay has an underlying power due to the quality of the site and the resulting grapes.

A combination of top quality fruit and careful handling, have produced a chardonnay of depth, complexity and finesse. On the nose, compelling aromas of white peach, nectarine, and lemon brioche, intermingle with hints of flint, oyster shell and toasty oak. On the palate lemon rind, white stone-fruit, and almond meal flavours draw into a savoury mineral finish that is long and moreish.

2012 Growing Season and Vintage Conditions

(notes provided by Andrew Dawson, graduate viticulturist)

The 2012 grown season was warmer than normal with the hottest average January temperature in 11 years. This was tempered by abundant spring rainfall that ensured adequate subsoil moisture that lead to healthy canopies. There was little rainfall between January and the end of March resulting in minimal disease pressure. Marri blooming leading into vintage resulted in very little damage from birds.

Warm weather meant that vintage was between two and three weeks earlier than the regional average. This extended warm weather, along with cool nights resulted in both fruit and phenolic ripeness. Berry size was slightly smaller than usual and skins were reported to be slightly thicker.

High praise has been sung for the vintage, with many seeing Cabernet Sauvignon as a particular highlight. The wines are said to have fine and long tannin, fresh red fruit flavours, length, concentration, elegance and generosity. James Halliday rated the 2012 Margaret River vintage as 10/10 for reds.

Wine dinner – Manuka Woodfire Kitchen

Renowned chef, Kenny McHardy from Manuka Woodfire Kitchen in Fremantle has invited us to celebrate the release of our 2012 vintage wines with a 5 course degustation menu.

“A Sense of Place” Friday 27th May.

Kenny is a champion of local produce and local growers in all that he creates. The single vineyard wines from Victory Point perfectly reflect this philosophy. We are excited to pair our wines, showing the true expression of terroir, with some iconic WA food producers.

$95 per person, no booking fee. Limited tickets! Contact Manuka directly for tickets on 9335 3527 or email bookings@manukawoodfire.com.au

Click here to see Kenny’s interview with Rob Broadfield, WANews

Continuing our homage to Lulu Peyraud, this is our family favourite Saturday lunchtime dish, as cooked by Gary.

1kg fresh clams (if not available canned Bibo clams work well)
Sections of fennel stalks
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 Tblspn olive oil
salt
500g fresh pasta (or equivalent dried)
3 Tbspn butter
Persillade (2 chopped garlic cloves, chopped again with a handful of parsley)
Pepper

Open a bottle of 2012 Victory Point Chardonnay and pour yourself a glass…….

Put the clams, fennel, and white wine into a large pot with lid. Place over high heat and shake the pot from time to time until the clams open. Empty the pot into a colander placed over a large bowl. Strain the reserved liquid and reduce by half.
Remove the clams from their shell and reserve.
Cook the pasta.
Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy saute pan, add the clams and saute briefly. Bring the reduced cooking liquid back to the boil, add it to the clams, and stir in the persillade. Drain the noodles and add to the clams. Remove from the heat, grind over pepper, add 2 tablespoons of butter and the remaining olive oil. Toss again and serve into heated soup plates.

Pour yourself another glass of wine, and Click Here to order some more!

Salut!