Great Wine Estates introduces Leogate Estate

PRESS RELEASE

Monday, 28 May 2018, London, United Kingdom (for immediate release)

Great Wine Estates is very pleased to introduce a new, family-owned, sustainable producer Leogate Estate Wines to the United Kingdom, in time for summer. 

Lynne and David Levin MBE visited the sustainable Hunter Valley estate in early 2018 and were delighted by the complexity of the wines, meticulously crafted at the foot of the Brokenback Ranges, in Australia’s oldest wine producing region.

“I remember walking the rows of the Brokenback Vineyard when it was first planted 40-odd years’ ago by my great friend Len Evans. It is wonderful to see how well those old vines are being looked after today,” David recalled.

The vines were first planted at Leogate in the early 1970s by ‘one of the founding fathers of the modern Australian wine industry’, Len Evans AO OBE. Current custodians, vignerons Bill and Vicki Widin bought the original 50-hectare (123-acre) Brokenback Vineyard in 2008, with Hunter-born head winemaker Mark Woods at the helm since 2010. Mark brings an inherent sensibility for the region’s gorgeous, waxy, lemon-lime acidity of semillon and the graceful, red-berried and spiced shiraz. (See over for wine notes.) 

The estate is in the heart of Pokolbin in the Lower Hunter Valley, some 170 kilometres (105 miles) north of Sydney. A blue, eucalyptus haze hangs over the Brokenback Range with its ridges’ red volcanic soils sloping into the gentle undulations of the valley floor, which sits on gravelly sandy loam over clay and limestone, with fossils still visible on the surface from the ancient seabed.

Leogate Estate has been recognised both at home and abroad. The winery has been awarded a 5-Star rating from James Halliday’s 2018 Australian Wine Companion for the seventh year running. It has won the IWC Trophy for Best New Wine and medals at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show and Hong Kong Wine & Spirits Competition. Qantas First & Business class have served the wines over the past four years.

Leogate Estate Wines are one of the most recent additions to the exciting Great Wine Estates portfolio of regionally authentic, sustainable, handcrafted and family-owned international wine estates. 

Available from 1 June 2018 across the United Kingdom market. 

CREATING A STORY ON THE WINE LIST

Great Wine Estates portfolio has been curated to bring the story to the wine list, addressing the gastronomic movement toward food and wine origin, sustainability, vineyard-to-table traceability and thoughtful consumers.

GWE offers deep background on the origin story, producer character, regionality, site and vineyard profile, technical notes, vintage, sustainability, viticulture and winemaking and awards – with WSET Approved Programme Provider wine education to convey the story to staff.

Foundation partners Lynne Levin and David Levin MBE – with deep experience in British hospitality and their own certified organic, family-owned, Loire Valley domain LEVIN Wines – have assembled a portfolio of like-minded collaborators, including:

Voyager Estate (Margaret River), Levin Wines (Loire Valley), Roco Winery (Oregon) Leogate Estate (Hunter Valley), Wanted Man (Heathcote), Valderiz (Ribera del Duero), Vin CERVEAUX (Loire Valley) and Verjus by Nathan Outlaw (Loire Valley).

For more information, media samples or images, please contact Lynne Levin on +44 (0) 779 522 44 55 at sales@greatwineestates.com or visit www.greatwineestates.com. 

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WINE LIST

2014 LEOGATE ESTATE ‘BROKENBACK VINEYARD’ SEMILLON SRP £ 13.50

2017 James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion – 95 points

The grapes grown on the original Brokenback Vineyard planted in 1972, were handpicked and allowed minimal skin contact to retain the purity of the fresh fruit characters. After cold settling, the clear juice was racked, inoculated with selected white wine yeast and fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel to capture the characteristic Hunter vibrant citrus notes.

Pale straw with green-tinged hues, it displays mineral notes of oyster shell, with lemon peel and citrus oil viscosity. An excellent spine of ripe lime acidity and palate length promise classic honeyed notes in maturity; with lemongrass, snow pea, artichoke and mandarin.

2015 LEOGATE ESTATE ‘BROKENBACK VINEYARD’ CHARDONNAY SRP £ 16.25

New release

The Brokenback Vineyard chardonnay was handpicked, and cold settled in stainless steel before being divided into five components. The first 10% was racked into new French oak (300 L hogshead barrels) and allowed to undergo wild yeast fermentation. The next three components were racked, respectively, into 1-year-old, 2-year-old and 3-year-old hogsheads barrels and inoculated for a cultured ferment. The last parcel was fermented in stainless steel to bring a fresh character in the final blend. After seven months of maturation, the parcels were blended, fined and filtered. Malolactic fermentation was not encouraged.

Pale straw green, this pretty chardonnay displays an oyster shell, silex-minerality with white peach, mandarin blossom and balanced, ruby grapefruit-acidity guiding the integrated, cashew characters of the French oak.

2015 LEOGATE ESTATE ‘BROKENBACK VINEYARD’ SHIRAZ SRP £ 17.50

2017 Qantas International and Domestic In-Flight Service – BUSINESS CLASS

2017 Harpers UK, ‘Wine Stars Australia’ – 4 Stars (out of 5 Stars)

From the original Brokenback Vineyard planted in 1972, this shiraz was handpicked and fermented on the grape skin in open-top stainless-steel fermenters. A combination of hand plunging and pump over techniques were applied during the fermentation resulting in vibrant colour extraction with elegant medium bodied fruit flavours. The wine was then pressed off the skin and matured in a combination of new, one, two and three-year-old French oak hogshead barrels for 12-months. 

Bright crimson; the classic, Hunter-savoury nose follows onto the palate with white pepper, sweet spice and layers of bright, ripe, red berries balanced by quality French oak. A complex flavour profile opens presenting savoury charcuterie, mulberry and damson plums, forest floor hummus and turned earth.

2016 LEOGATE ESTATE ‘GATECRASHER’ MERLOT Certified Organic SRP £ 14.50

New release

From Leogate Estate’s Central Ranges, certified organic, high altitude (450-600 metres) vineyards planted along the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, the merlot was fermented on skins in open top, stainless steel fermenters for 12 days. Gentle juice irrigation over the grape skins during the fermentation period allowed for the extraction of ripe varietal characters while ensuring soft and supple tannins. After the alcoholic fermentation, the wine was matured for 12 months in French oak. 

Shiny, plum-red hues; this plush, silky merlot is full of Christmas pudding spice and ripe damson plums, ripe raspberries and mulberry, with a gentle spine of high altitude acidity, fine dusty fruit tannins and white pepper spice.

2014 LEOGATE ESTATE ‘WESTERN SLOPES’ RESERVE SHIRAZ SRP £ 59.95

2017 James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion – 95 points 

2017 International Wine Challenge, London – SILVER

From a west-facing, sloping plot on the original Brokenback Vineyard planted in 1972, this shiraz was handpicked, and fermented on skins in open-top stainless-steel fermenters. A combination of hand plunging and pump over techniques was used during the fermentation resulting in a robust and persuasive wine, but with an elegant, linear tannin shape. The wine was then pressed off the skin and matured for 15-months in new French one and two-year-old 300 L hogshead barrels. 

Dark crimson-purple in colour; the nose shows dried bouquet garni herbs and earthy-hummus, with intense raspberry and plum fruits evolving into black cherry kirsch, smoky bacon fat into saddle leather. The wine has a silky and ample texture, flinty minerality, white pepper and star anise spice and long, focused tannins on the complex, well-balanced palate.