Established: 1863, 1976
Location: Tullamarine Freeway extension, in Sunbury.
Winemaker: Pat Carmody.
Important Varietals: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
Personal Comments:
The vineyard was originally planted in 1863 but was ripped up and returned to dairy farming in 1928. Nearly 50 years later, in 1976, the Carmody took over the old winery and replanted with Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
Directly across the road from Goonawarra winery the wine styles could not be further apart. I find the wines of Goonwarra to be rather thin and not to my liking but Craiglee has all you could want from their varietals. I tried the 1993 Shiraz in the bluestone tasting room and was astounded by the blast of black and white pepper on the palate. No-one else in our group had the same experience and I was tad worried by my runaway enthusiasm for the wine until I found out that I had tried the last of the previous tasting bottle and everyone else tasted immediately after the bung was pulled on the next. My bottle had been opened for nearly a day which told me as much as I needed to know, and gave me some useful pointers for future reference. As to the others in the tasting, the Chardonnay was elegant without the overblown wood that characterizes too many Chardonnays from other winemakers.
Best of the recent vintages:
James Halliday, in December 1996, named the 1994 Shiraz as one of his top 100 Australian wines of the year.
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This page, and all contents, are copyright © 1996-2001 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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Last modified: March 30, 2001.