Miramar Blitzes Wine Show AGAIN!
At the Wine Show Trophy Presentation Dinner at Craigmoore Restaurant on Friday evening a convivial crowd saw Miramar Wines walk away with 2 Trophies, 4 Gold ,6 Silver and 7 Bronze medals. On the usual formula of 1 point for a bronze, 3 for a silver and 5 for a gold, Miramar amassed an overwhelming total of 45 points. The next highest score was Petersons Glen Esk Estate with 1 Trophy, 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 5 Bronze adding up to 26 points. Close behind was Robert Stein Wines with 1 Gold, 4 Silver and 8 Bronze, 25 points. Miramar once again proved the ability to produce wines which age well winning the Trophy for both the Best Dry White, 5 to 9 years and the Best Dry White, over 10 years old. Other Golds were for the current 2005 Semillon and the 2003 Shiraz. Miramar also had the highest point score last year and was second to Huntington Estate in 2004.
All Miramar wines are grown and made on the estate by owner/winemaker Ian MacRae who also owns Secret Garden Wines with partner Carol Cook. The multitalented MacRae recently won the prize for the third year running in the Mudgee Wine Celebration “Art of the Barrel “contest for his spectacular glass topped table made from radiating barrel staves. Since the sale of Huntington Estate and Pieter Van Gent Wines, MacRae is now the longest practicing winemaker in Mudgee having come to manage Montrose Wines in 1975 with the first vintage at Miramar in 1977.
Although the competition at the Mudgee Wine Show includes several large multinational winemakers, it is almost unique in that it is open only to wines produced from grapes grown in the Mudgee GI region. It is truly a competition between peers. Even more special are the Museum classes where old wines are assessed to find the ultimate quality achievable as they mature without the need for the winery to hold large stocks as is required in other classes. These wines show just how good Mudgee can be.
