Awards: Trophy Most Outstanding Wine of Show,2002 Mudgee Wine Show Trophy, Best Red Wine,2002 Mudgee Wine Show Gold Medal, 2002 Mudgee Wine Show Silver Medal, 2002 Cowra Wine Show.

After awarding the A Reserve 2001 Shiraz Cabernet two trophies at the 2002 Mudgee Wine Show, including Most Outstanding Wine of Show, leading critic and judge, James Halliday declared Mudgee one of the top six red wine propducing regions of Australia.

The wine is nicknamed the Vignerons Cuvee because it is a blend of the fruit of several local growers who supply fruit to large companies. They are Abercorn - Shiraz, Lynwood -Shiraz and Merlot, Njilla -Shiraz and Rosby - Shiraz and Cabernet.

The fruit for the blend was identified in the vineyard and further selections take place in the winery to ensure the particular style of the wine.

Fruit ripeness fo9r the blend varied between 12.5 beaume and 14.0 beaume.
Parcels are kept separate throughout the winemaking process until final blending just prior to bottling.

Approximately half of the wine completes ferment in new and old barrels of both French and American and less than 30 per cent new oak is used. It is racked frequently toensure no filtration is needed prior to bottling.

Final blending is critical as the desired style is highly fruit driven with only moderate oak influence.

The dominance of fine tannin is also critical and a silky mouthfeel is desired rather than roundness.

Finally the blend must be complex with layers of fruit and oak obvious throughout the wine.

The blend is 60 percent Shiraz,35 per cent Cabernet and 5 per cent merlot.

The Vignerons Cuvee as it is nicknamed is unique to Abercorn and is a specially selected blend of small parcels of growers grpaes that are mostly sold to large companies. The wine is full bodied and displays traditional soft Mudgee fruit characters of dark berries and cherries. The palatre is long and complex with flavours changing through the length of the wine. Cellaring for up to 20 years is recommended. Just 250 cases were produced.

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