2006 Big men In Tights
2007 Riesling*
2005 Chardonnay*
2004 Schubert (premium Chardonnay)*
2005 Noble Riesling
(sold out)
2001 Chirac(sold out)
2004 Shiraz*
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon*
2004 Malbec*
2001 Merlot Noir (sold out)
2004 Maurice (premium Cabernet blend)*
2006 Pinot Noir*
* = new releases
e have occasionally released this luscious super-late picked
dessert style. These sweet wines usually are the result of
a preliminary botrytis infection towards the end of vintage which is
bowled over by the first cracking frosts in late April or early May.
If the weather stays cold and dry, the grapes concentrate on the vine
over the subsequent 2-3 months and are gingerly hand-harvested from the
end of May to the beginning of July. Normally (sic) botrytis takes hold
towards the end of vintage and either the sugars gradually concentrate
to around 40 Brix (40%) or the weather changes and we count our losses.
The wine itself can end up with around 11.5% Al/Vol and 150 to 180 grammes/Litre
residual sweetness. When young, the wine is a pale light green gold in
colour showing crisp apple-lime and passion fruit flower aromas with refined
botrytis influences in a palate which tends towards lively citrus acidity
and silky native honey influences. This means that it is a wine for light
crisp fruit accented summer desserts. There's also some gentle lime
and apricot in an aromatic bouquet which flows through to the palate,
and while moderately sweet, the natural lively acid of the Riesling leaves
the palate refreshed. As mentioned above, try it with any fruit based dessert
(e.g. pear flans, mangoes, berries, peaches etc. ) mid weight blue cheese
or ices such as grapefruit, or strawberry & pineapple. The important
thing to remember is that the food you choose should always be slightly
lower in sweetness than the wine itself.
Hide your sons and
daughters, Bloodwood Big Men is back in town. This wine is 95% Malbec
and 5% cabernet Franc and we think this new release can hold it's
head up in the tradition of wrestling wines of the mysterious Bloodwood
past.."Big Men in Tights" as this wine is affectionately known is the
wine for wrestlers; (and bikies grandmothers).... in fact it's for
anybody who is genuinely serious about not being too serious about
wine. It is the bastard bred earthy child of our colourful French
Malbec Clone which occupies about 1 acre of the Bloodwood Blend Block.
It's a wine which (we've been told) has been held responsible for at
least two successful pregnancies and countless seductions under the mid-summer
skies of Cremorne Point in Sydney, but it's greatest claim to fame is
that one devotee apparently witnessed Andy Warhol jitterbugging out of
his grave when he (ol' Andy) first tried it! This version will no doubt
soon be featuring discretely under the more discerning banana chairs on
a beach near you....and in some really posh nosheries! As the label reports
"About as red hot as a T3 tranche on special,
at least this frankly full dividend in your future pink drinking sureties
will yield a very palatable return replete with rose water turkish delight
and spice into an otherwise bland portfolio awash with colourless saccharin
imitation offers. And yes, there is enough bitter dark chocolate and raspberry
jujube in this lolly jar to appease every last amigo's mum. So keep the
dastards honest, stick this in the fridge, splash it in a glass and remind
yourself once more, all this will pass!" Al/ Vol 13.0% What more can we say?
Case Price including freight anywhere in Australia $222.00
At Bloodwood we pick
our Riesling on pH. If the pH is around 3.0, then the fruit and
acid balance is likely to be about right. The 2007 fruit was hand-picked
and chilled to about 1 degree C before being whole-bunch pressed
under CO2. The chilling and gentle pressing meant that there
was little sulfur 
added prior to pressing and the use of inert gasses as
a protective blanket against oxidation meant we preserved the natural
seasonal characters of the fruit during the whole wine making process.
The yield was around average and the quality of the wine in this good
growing season for aromatic whites is very pleasing. Brilliant
green gold in colour with fragrant lemon/lime infused aromas which build
in the mouth to include citrus and spice in a fruit generous and mineral
influenced racy palate finishing with pleasing acidity. With careful
cellaring look for subtle honey and straw to develop alongside the
lime and citrus over the next 5 to 10 years or so.
Orange is ideally suited for Riesling provided it is not grown on too rich a site and the cropping levels are limited to around 7 tonnes per hectare. This was the first Riesling style to emerge from the Orange Region and we believe it shows great promise in years when the fruit is not over ripened and the natural pH of the must is around 3.0. The deep, free draining warm gravels of Bloodwood give Riesling an austerity and fruit density which remains rare in Australian styles. Bloodwood Riesling, while attractive when young, with careful cellaring will show its best over a decade or so.... For example, the 97 is still very complex and rewarding current drinking.
We find it goes wonderfully well with fresh asparagus spears and capsicum mayonnaise and practically anything Asian.
2007 " Gentle green gold in colour with a complex bouquet of crushed kaffir lime leaf, talc and citrus blossom, this Bloodwood Riesling shows a generously flavoured, fine palate, infused with the textures of ripe lime, native honey and a racy minerality so distinctive of this vineyard. Excellent drinking now, this wine will fully repay careful medium term cellaring." Al Vol 12.5%
Case Price including freight anywhere in Australia $270.00
"An enticing bouquet of dark berry fruits, violets,mocca chocolate
and delicate French oak announces the finely balanced, fruit rich palate
of this fragrant Bloodwood Cabernet Sauvignon. The closely woven very
fine tannins add definition and balance to the long focussed palate of
this wine and ensure it has the elegance and structure to fully repay a special
place in your cellar." Al/Vol 13.5%.
The 2003 vintage was very dry and warm at Bloodwood. The drought conditions meant the fruit was fully ripened in what was a typical stable clear Orange autumn. These conditions led to an early vintage with true varietal character in keeping with the mid weight style which will compliment many foods.. . Rhonda recommends a bacon and venison terrine for starters, lamb for main or interestingly, asparagus and prosciutto pasta (basil, caper & butter with grated parmesan tossed through).
Case Price including freight anywhere in Australia $320.00
Packed with
aromatic rich berry fruit and violets, this premium Bloodwood red
exhibits vibrant colour and palate textures underlain with sweet new
French oak. A seductive style of red which we are proud to recommend.
The Maurice represents a selection of the best half dozen barrels
of red produced from the vintage. As a consequence the composition of
each wine varies from year to year. For example, the 98 was 100% Merlot
Noir while this release is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon. In order
to release a Maurice from a vintage, the red wines in prospect undergo
an exhaustive selection process which eventually allows us to put together
a parcel of wine which is of the quality our concept of Maurice demands.
The wine is named in honour of that great Australian wine maker Maurice
O'Shea. 2004 "Deep ruby in colour, the fine bouquet of
cedar and mint infused blackberries and dark chocolate complement the hints
of vanillin char from extended gentle maturation in tight grained French
oak hogsheads. Blackberries and sweet vanilla suffuse a long textured and
intense palate of lively fruit framed with graceful tannin. Careful
medium term cellaring will add to your enjoyment of this wine." Al/Vol 13.5%
Case Price including freight anywhere
in Australia $390.00
Pinot Noir is about as annoying as any wine can be. It is difficult to grow, variable in crop level and appallingly difficult to make with any consistency of style in Australia. Although we have made and largely consumed ourselves quite a few Bloodwood Pinots over the years, this is only the fourth one we've let loose on society. We think it's at least as good as the 2005. We only made a very small parcel of Pinot in 2006, so there are only 20 cases left as of 31/05/08. If you have pinotfile tendencies, get in quick!. "This fragrant hand crafted Pinot Noir with its perfect garnet hues and enticingly lifted cherry blossom and spice aromas will invite you into an alluring and savoury blood plum world laced with subtle mocca oak char infused into an early autumnal forest floor. Those ladies old handbags are lurking there again, complementing the fine persistent tannins and distinguished bouquet of this fine Bloodwood Pinot Noir. " Al/Vol 13.5%
Case Price including freight anywhere in Australia $520.00
"Light green gold in colour, this generously flavoured wine has a splendid bouquet of peach and pomelo blossom seamlessly merged into a long, lively fruit dominant nectarine and citrus tinged palate. It was gently fermented and matured in new and second use premium French oak hogsheads for twelve months, and the resultant fine butterscotch char beautifully compliments the racy and refreshing structure of this fine Bloodwood Chardonnay. With appropriate cellaring, it will continue to develop for several years." Al/Vol 13.5%."
There are two Chardonnay vineyards at Bloodwood. The "Schubert" vineyard is planted to an I10V5 clonal selection, is trained to a
split canopy, each vine occupies 4.5 square metres and
the row orientation is North South. 
The 2005 Chardonnay comes from the original Chardonnay planting in Orange
which originated from an old mass selection of Montrachet vines, (P58?)
, and is trained to a VSP (Vertical Shoot Position) in the traditional
French style. Each vine occupies 2.4 square metres and the row orientation
is East West. No wonder the "Schubert" and the Chardonnay are two different
wines. 
This Chardonnay traditionally has a fruit driven
bouquet rich in citrus, melon/fig notes and cashew nuts in a
smoky new French oak nose. The palate is silky smooth and very
well balanced, and goes on forever. This is an Australian Chardonnay
you will want to drink more than one glass of and you'll want to live
to tell the tale. Rhonda recommends sea foods, prawns or just fish and
chips; chicken or pasta dishes or simple mushroom pate with that squeeze
of lemon.
This is
a robust wine from a very warm, dry vintage at Bloodwood, nevertheless
the really attractive bouquet and balance through the palate are
outstanding features of this Bloodwood Shiraz .
"Brilliant
red purple in colour, the bright black fruit and amaretti bouquet of
this wine runs through a balanced, generously flavoured fruit rich palate
of spice and subtle licorice. Fine grained, persistent Burgundian
oak influences enhance the structure and length of this bright Australian
Shiraz. Careful medium term cellaring will add to your enjoyment of this
fine wine." Al/Vol 14.0%
2001 Merlot Noir (Sold Out)
Our Merlot Noir is not a blend of Pinot Noir
and Merlot. To quote Jancis Robinson's introduction to Merlot in her
excellent publication Vines, Grapes and Wines, p 91 "Merlot,
or more properly, Merlot Noir as there is a distinctly different variety
called Merlot Blanc, is one of the worlds great underdogs" And
so to raise this unfortunate puppy to it's rightful place in the wine
pack, the least we can do is give it it's correct name. Merlot Blanc
as a variety does exist, and there are even examples of Merlot Noir being
grown in too cool sites in northern Italy and southern Switzerland which
have been chemically stripped of their less than exciting pink colour
and marketed as Merlot Blanco. So let's strike a blow for one of the better
varieties in the Orange vineyard (after all it was the first variety
planted at Bloodwood 20 years ago) and change the face of Australian labeling.
At three years of age, this wine is really living up to early expectations
of quality we have always held for it. I thoroughly recommend this wine
as a finer style of Australian Merlot Noir.
"Mid-green gold in
colour, this complex textured wine was entirely barrel fermented and matured
in new French oak hogsheads. It's appealing bouquet provides layers of tropical
citrus, native honey and hints of spicy oak which announce a tightly structured
and elegant palate of subtle power. Appropriate medium term cellaring will
add to your enjoyment of this complex Bloodwood Chardonnay." Al/Vol 14%
The "Schubert" is named
in honour of Max Schubert. We were beginning the breaking of the
soil for this vineyard on the day he passed away (6th March 1994)
and although the wine is white it has flavour aplenty. We are only able
to make about 220 cases of this wine from the Schubert vineyard
so quantities will remain limited. Because the secondary malo-lactic fermentation
(during which the bright malic (apple) acid in wine grapes is converted
into a softer lactic (milky) acid) is limited in this Chardonnay style),
the natural acid balance and fruit richness of this wine copes well with
dishes like traditional roast pork. Yum.
The Biggest Fizz In The Pacific! (Sold Out) Next
vintage release in the 2009 Bloodwood bible"
An aromatic ooze of Pinot Noir in the bouquet and palate builds
texture and richness to this classic dry sparkling wine, while 48
months spent on lees in this bottle prior to disgorgement in March 2005
adds a layered creamy complexity to the underlying bright Chardonnay
pink grapefruit and pear characters so typical of this style's persistent
crisp acidity" Al/Vol 11.5%
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