Anderson Winery sparkles

The results for the inaugural Australian Sparkling Wine Competition were announced last week. Amongst the 4 Gold medals awarded was a relatively unknown, small family owned winery, hidden away in Rutherglen in North east Victoria – Anderson Winery.

The other 3 Gold medal winners are high profile premium Australian sparkling wine brands. So Anderson Winery is in prestigious company.

The four Gold medal winners were:

Clover Hill Blanc de blancs 2006 (trophy winner), Arras Grand Vintage 2003, Blue Pyrenees Brut Rose 2002 and Anderson Cellar block Sparkling Shiraz 2002.

Anderson Winery has been a specialist in traditional method sparkling wines since it was started in 1992 by winemaker Howard Anderson. The secret behind the success is Howard’s long history with this style of wine. He started making sparklings when he joined Seppelt in 1971, so 2011 will mark 40 years of making sparkling wines.

The winning 2002 Anderson Cellar block Shiraz was made from low yielding, dry grown vines adjacent to the winery in Rutherglen. It is a rich, full bodied sparkling red, with more than 6 years maturation on yeast lees in the bottle, giving texture & complexity.

It has now won a total of 5 gold medals and a trophy (National Champion Sparkling wine at the 2009 Australian Small Winemakers Show).

Anderson Winery has performed extremely well overall at Australian wine shows in 2010, picking up a total of 7 Gold medals (for Sparkling Shiraz, Durif & Whitlands grown Chardonnay) and 11 Silver medals.