WE’RE FIVE STARS AGAIN (Dec 2009)

James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion is the most comprehensive directory of the best wineries in Australia. In the 2010 edition Were Estate is rated as a five star wine producer, deeming us an outstanding winery capable of producing wines of very high quality and placing us in the top 15% of Australian producers.
He also awarded our 2007 Single Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay and 2008 Sauvignon Blanc with 94 points, naming the Sauvignon Blanc as one of the best of the best in its variety. That makes it one of the best sauvignon blancs in the country!
It’s wonderful to see that the hard work of our small team is paying off and being recognised by Australia’s leading wine writer. We continue to focus on creating unique, estate-grown wines that are representative of the Wilyabrup sub-region. From Jim who works tirelessly in the vineyard, to Steph at the cellar door and Clive in the winery we are striving to ensure excellence at every step and to deliver wines of exceptional value for money.
After the tragedy and upheaval that we experienced in 2009 we are looking forward to a prosperous 2010. With a wonderful sales team in place in Perth, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and in recent months Beijing and Shanghai, Were Estate will be available in more and more places. We also hope to expand back into New South Wales this year and venture into Queensland for the first time.
Thanks to everyone for their support throughout the year and we wish you a very safe and happy festive season.

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NEW RELEASE WHITES (Dec 2009)

We’re delighted to release our 2009 whites expertly crafted by the illustrious Clive Otto! All three wines are delightfully fruit-driven and crisp with great intensity and length. Certainly a great way for Clive to kick off his winemaking for Were!
The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc has already been awarded a silver medal at the 2009 Small Vignerons Awards. A small amount of barrel fermentation has resulted in a luscious wine with wonderful texture and length. Already in high demand, be quick to secure some before we run out.
The 2009 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is a 50:50 blend with fresh flavours of lemongrass, pineapple and orange blossom. It has nicely balanced crisp acidity with great structure and a long elegant finish. An ideal wine to accompany food.
The 2009 Rose is only our second attempt at producing a rose style wine. Made from Cabernet Sauvignon fruit and with a hint of sweetness. It’s a beautiful raspberry red with pink hues. It has wonderful aromas of cherry, strawberry and rosewater; a palate full of red berries and a long finish. Again, an ideal wine to have as an accompaniment to food, particularly at lunch time. Don’t be put off by thinking that rosé is a ‘girls’ drink - this wine is complex, luscious and made from the king of grapes.
The 2009 white wines are now available at our cellar door, online and through mail order. You’ll also start to see them popping up in independent retailers and restaurants.

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VINEYARD REPORT - TOWARDS 2010 (Dec 2009)

There is plenty happening in the Were Estate vineyard this year. A section of our original Cabernet Sauvignon block and Shiraz block are being grafted over to Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc respectively. This is in response to a national trend of increased white wine consumption which is being mirrored in our own sales. As the vineyard has historically produced more red fruit than white, we decided to align the vineyard production to reflect our sales trends.
The beauty of grafting is that it allows you to change grape varieties without having to pull out existing vines. It also means that there is only one year where there is no fruit production versus 3 to 4 years if we were to plant new vines. At this stage the old Shiraz and Cabernet vines have been cut down below the crown and the bud-grafting will begin in November/early December. We have gathered some fantastic bud material so we are really excited about the fruit that we will harvest in 2011.
We’ve had a wet winter this year, the wettest in recent memory and the waterholes are overflowing. Spring has also been particularly soggy and the vines are having a field day and growing like crazy. They are certainly having a great kick start to the growing season this year.
The vineyard looks immaculate due to hard work of Jim, our vineyard manager, and the team at AHA. A lot of the vineyard has been spur pruned this year apart from the Sauvignon Blanc which has been cane-pruned. Cane-pruning the Sauvignon Blanc helps to keep vigour under control and results in better quality fruit. This year we have laid a second wire so the Sauvignon Blanc now has four canes so we expect plenty of premium quality fruit this year.
All we can hope for is a steady warm summer to ripen the fruit. Be good to us Mother Nature!

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In Memoriam (March 2009)

We were devastated to learn that Rob Davey, his lovely wife Tash and their two young girls were victims of the fire at Kinglake. Rob had distributed Were wines for 6 years and had become a good friend. We were first introduced to Rob in 2003 when he was a sales agent selling a few wine brands throughout Melbourne. He visited our cellar door and enjoyed our Cabernet so much that he drank a bottle of it during the couple of hours that he was there. Since that visit, Rob had grown his business, employing several other sales reps and expanding into the Sydney market. His portfolio became an eclectic mix of Australian, New Zealand and French wines. Rob’s passion and enthusiasm for wine, in combination with his boisterous personality and tenacity, ensured the growing success of his distribution company. He was known to be a bit of a larrikin but with a heart of gold. The business would not have been a success without Tash, who looked after the books and administration.Rob and Tash lived in a beautiful part of Victoria, just to the west of Kinglake. They loved their home surrounded by native Australian forest and invited everyone to stay when they were visiting Melbourne. It offered plenty of space for their other love, their Malamute dogs, which Rob would race on the weekends.
Rob was an integral part to the Were Estate team and he, Tash and the girls will be sorely missed.

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Were Estate 2008 Sauvignon Blanc wins GOLD medal at Qantas Wine Show (March 2009)

Were Estate 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was one of two out of a line-up of 73 Sauvignon Blancs to be awarded a gold medal at this years Qantas Wine Show of Western Australia. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is a special wine - different to our previous vintages and very limited in quantity. Some of the wine was fermented in new French oak barriques to add complexity, texture and length. The wine has been skilfully crafted by winemaker Amanda Kramer and is a testament to her fastidiousness.

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New winemaker for Were (March 2009)

Were Estate is thrilled to announce the appointment of Clive Otto as winemaker. After 16 years of winemaking at Vasse Felix, Clive moved on to make wines at Fraser Gallop Estate, Margaret River. At their state of the art winemaking facility he makes wines not only for Fraser Gallop but other select boutique producers - Were Estate now being one of them.
Clive is an impeccable winemaker with a great deal of experience. In 2005 he was named Winestate’s Winemaker of the Year and Vasse Felix’s flagship red Heytesbury (2001 vintage) was selected as the magazine’s top Australian and New Zealand wine from the 10,000 samples it  reviewed that year.
The winemaking facility at Fraser Gallop is second to none with temperature control and winery hygiene being of utmost importance.
Clive is joined by assistant winemaker Kate Morgan.

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Were Estate Gold Wine Club

This year we are thrilled to introduce a loyalty program for our regular customers. Just spend $700 or more on our wines within a calender year and you will become a lifetime gold customer, automatically receiving 15% off all future wine purchases at the cellar door, mail order or online. That equates to about three cases of wine in one year to then receive 15% off for life. Your gold discount will also be activated on your web profile so that you automatically receive your discount when placing web orders. Many customers have already qualified and are now enjoying this benefit. For more information please contact Alison on 0403 264 016 or ali@wereestate.com.au.

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