Strange bird snares wine show honours
A FORMER cavalry soldier says he was gobsmacked when a rare Italian red wine variety he bottles won the trophy for Champion Wine of Show at the Queensland Wine Awards.
David Broadbent from tiny Wyberba in the Granite Belt snared the victory with his 2015 Balancing Rock Wines Sagrantino ($59) - perhaps the strangest of the “strange bird” alternative varieties in the state.
“As far as we know we are the only vineyard in Queensland growing the variety,” he said. At 950m Balancing Rock is one of the nation’s highest vineyards. He said the vines producing the grapes for the winning wine were planted 12 years ago.
He said he had only 300 bottles left.
Mr Broadbent and his wife Lori purchased the 40ha property two years ago. It came with 8.5ha of vines including other alternative varieties like carmenere, petit verdot and mourvedre.
Their winning wine was made by Mike Hayes, who said it was an outstanding vintage. The wine features aromas of fresh flowers and displays a dark-fruit palate.
Mr Hayes was named winemaker of the year.
Ballandean’s Hidden Creek Wines was named winery of the year - a personal triumph for detective turned winemaker Andy Williams. He won gold medals for his tempranillo and barbera. His tempranillo was also named the show’s outstanding wine of provenance.