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Carlei Green Vineyards
Victoria, Australia

Upper Goulburn, Victoria

Tasting Notes:
Lifted blue and blackberry fruits dominate the bouquet with cedar and varietal leafy nuances. Ripe and rich in flavor, the mixed fruits and earthy notes are framed by fine tannins and integrated French oak. The decomposed “granitic” soils contribute to the earthy notes, which add further richness and complexity to the wine. This is a classic Central Victorian Cabernet Sauvignon, ripe but balanced with persistent acidity and varietal character.

Winemaker’s Notes:
The grapes were totally destemmed and the whole berries were not crushed. They berries were transferred to open wood and stainless steel fermenters. The different vats were fermented with either natural yeast or cultured yeast to express different fruit aromas and flavors. The wine was pressed and transferred to new and used French oak for eighteen months, then blended and bottled. The result is a balanced wine of lovely fruit, oak tannins and acid with complex aromas and flavors. Such a wine will benefit from further aging over the next 7 to 10 years.

Alc: 14.5%       Production: 300 dozen          Harvest date: 10th April, 2002     Cellaring: 5 to 10 years

Yarra Valley

Tasting Notes:
Light yellow in color with a green hue, the wine is showing lifted stone and citrus fruit along with some nutty aromatic nuances. There are aromas of roasted nuts, slight match strike and a hint of vanilla oak covering up the fruit. The palate shows white peach, melon and grapefruit mingling with hazelnuts. This is wrapped in a creamy texture that is dry with crisp but gentle, firm acid at the finish. An elegant wine with balance and finesse that has the potential to age and develop further complexity in the bottle.

Winemaker’s Notes:
The fruit was harvested from four different locations from low yielding vines in the Yarra valley. The different parcels of grapes were processed using either whole bunches and air bag pressing or crushed and basket pressed – the resulting juice being oxidatively handled and racked to French oak barrels after overnight settling. The whole bunch juice was directly transferred with its “solids” to the barrel for primary fermentation. Each barrel was treated as an individual batch; ferments were either cultured yeast or natural, resulting in different flavour profiles. Each barrel was bâtonnaged and blended after 12 months maturation in new and used French oak. Small parcels of malo-lactic fermentation were performed in some barrels for added complexity.

Alc: 13.5%      Production: 1400 dozen   Cellaring: 3 to 5 years         Harvest:  3rd, 5th & 10th April, 2004

Awards & reviews:
“ Winemaker Sergio Carlei has come up with a chardonnay whose tangy acidity helps give food compatibility. The shy aromas recall pear, fresh cashew and dusty oak; the palate has weight and while not especially complex, it has a softly flowing texture, finishing with crisp acid. ”
Sunday Life UNCORKED - WHITE WINES OVER $25  Huon Hooke, Ralph Kyte-Powell and Sally Gudgeon THE AGE, Melbourne, Sunday 16 th October, 2005

Yarra Valley

Tasting Notes:
A warmer year provided Pinot Noir at the riper end of the spectrum. Dark red fruits and cherries are tempered with fresh beets and typical Yarra earthy notes. The palate follows this theme, everything wrapped in fine ripe tannins, finishing with very good acidity. The wine has a medium weight, is long and balanced with a silky texture and excellent structure. A luscious, juicy wine that will build more complexity over the next 3 to 5 years.

Winemaker’s Notes:
The fruit is from low yielding vines from three different sites in the Yarra Valley. After harvest, the grapes were totally destemmed and the berries were not crushed. The fruit from the different sites were divided into two batches and transferred into open wooden and stainless steel vats; the first part was fermented with introduced yeast, the other was allowed to naturally ferment with its indigenous yeast for up to thirty days on skins. From the different locations, each batch produced different flavor profiles, which were blended after 14 months maturation in new and used French oak.

Alc: 14.3%            Production: 500 dozen        Cellaring:  3 to 7 years              Harvest date: 5th, 13th, 15th & 25th April, 2003

Awards and Reviews:
Grand Winner – 2005 Cathay Pacific Taste of Australia Wine Challenge, Hong Kong
Best of Pinot Noir – 2005 Cathay Pacific Taste of Australia Wine Challenge, Hong Kong
Top 100 New Releases – Gourmet Traveller Wine - Dec 2005, Huon Hooke
Bronze Medal Class 21 – 2005 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards

Heathcote, Victoria

Tasting Notes:
Very deep red with a purple hue, the aroma has intense ripe red and black fruits avoiding any over-ripe elements. Hints of spice and savory notes lead to a palate that complements the aromas, rich and round with intense, juicy and chewy fruit, framed by soft but persistent tannins and a touch of oak. A lingering, balanced mineral acidity finishes a complex wine representing the classical Cambrian terroir in a warmer year. Although the wine is rich, it shows a focused structure and will therefore continue to develop with further bottle aging.

Winemaker’s Notes:
The Shiraz fruit (two different clones) is from low yielding vines and was harvested over a period of a week to ensure optimum balance, ripeness and intensity of flavor. They were destemmed; berries not crushed or pumped to preserve their physical integrity and transferred to a majority of open 3800 L wooden and some stainless steel 3000 L vats. A combination of different maceration times (mainly pumping over) from 12 to 24 days on skins and a majority of the batches were naturally fermented. The wine was aged in new and used French and Hungarian oak for 22 months.

Alc: 14.2%          Production: 2000 dozen     Cellaring: 4 to 8 years      Harvest:  14th to 21st April, 2003

Awards and Reviews:
Blue Gold – Top 100 – Judged with food 2006 Sydney International Wine Competition
Bronze Medal Class 26 – 2005 Victorian Wines Show

“This is a blend of three parcels of carefully selected fruit, sourced from Heathcote, there’s some earthiness on the nose, quite a spicy overlay, particularly white pepper and again those juicy plums are at the fore. Tannins are firm but there’s that distinctive roundness on the palate making this an enjoyable drink now.” Good Drinking – The Age July 30 th, 2005 – Jane Faulkner

Cardinia Ranges, Victoria

Tasting Notes:
The wine is complex with lifted aromas of minerals, pear, citrus and spice. The palate is rich and textured as a result of some barrel fermentation; pear and lime flavours combine with a juicy, fruit sweetness all balanced by crisp and vibrant acidity. Beautifully fresh with superb mouth feel and length.

Winemaker’s Notes:
The fruit was gently crushed, airbag pressed and cold settled. The juice was divided into separate 1 tonne stainless steel fermenters and barrels with different yeast strains introduced to the batches. Post primary fermentation the wine was lightly sulfured and fined, cold stabilized, filtered and bottled under screw cap.

Alc: 13.5%       Production: 500 dozen      Cellaring: 3 to 5 years             Harvest: 27th April, 2004