Queens Pinch Vineyard
Mudgee Australia
The Wines
With its rich volcanic soil, cool nights and reliable summer sun, Mudgee's terroir is perfect for wine-making.
The winemaker for Queens Pinch is Frank Newman, a very experienced viniculturalist who moved to Mudgee from South Australia, after spending almost 16 years with the revered Penfolds and a total of 14 years with Angoves and BRL-Hardy. His philosophy is simple: respect the fruit, and let it dictate the techniques. His goal is to create wines that display regionality, character and elegance. The wines of Queens Pinch do this brilliantly.
Queens Pinch Rosé 2009
The key to a good Rosé is bringing crispness and freshness to its natural lightness. Taste Queens Pinch Rosé to see how it should be done.
Made, like all Queens Pinch wines, from grapes grown on low-cropped vines on north facing slopes, this is a delicate, refreshing choice.
The perfect summer lunch accompaniment, it's also well suited for balmy evenings or indeed anytime you want to be transported to a relaxed, weekend state of mind.
Queens Pinch Chardonnay
There is, as Alan Bennett wrote, no period so remote as the recent past. When it comes to wine, nowhere is this more evident than in the 1980s' view of chardonnay. In those recent, yet oh so distant days, the oakier a chardonnay, the better. Even the bouquet was like a club to the head. No wonder there are people who haven't taken a sip of it since.
Thank goodness, then, for Queens Pinch and its talented winemaker Frank Newman, who has used the winery's enviable terroir and climate and its gorgeous grapes to rehabilitate the reputation of chardonnay.
Fruit, not wood, is the keynote of its aroma and flavour. The judicious inclusion of ten percent sauvignon blanc brings out the wine's "minerality", its distinctive silhouette. This counterbalances the melon and peach flavours of the chardonnay and gives the palate wonderful length.
If you're still shaken by the bully-boy wines of the bad old days, you owe it to yourself to try Queens Pinch Chardonnay, just to see how sophisticated this variety can be. Indeed, its quality was recognised in its very first year, with a Bronze Medal at the 2010 Mudgee Wine Show.
Queens Pinch Cabernet Sauvignon
Full-bodied and with a depth of taste that only comes with the long, slow ripening for which the region is famed, Queens Pinch Cabernet Sauvignon is made from fruit grown on low-cropped vines on north facing slopes. In other words, ideal conditions for producing outstanding grapes and, in turn, very special wine.
There's a good reason that cabernet sauvignon is often seen as the most 'noble' of grape varieties (and it's not just old-world snobbery). The wine that it produces is complex and layered, with a rich, heady flavour. At its best — as in the Queen Pinch Cab Sav — it is characterised by blackcurrant and licorice.
Cab sav is a classic match for a great steak or lamb dish, but Queen Pinch Cabernet Sauvignon is also perfect for enjoying unaccompanied by anything other than good conversation — shady verandah and view of the rolling Mudgee hills optional.
Queens Pinch Select Cabernet Sauvignon
Even more luscious than the regular vintage cab sav, the Queens Pinch Select Cabernet Sauvignon is, as its name suggests, something very special indeed.
Its deep, rich colour and heady bouquet promise much. One sip is all that's needed to know that the wine delivers effortlessly on those promises.
Savour it now over a memorable meal or exercise your willpower and cellar it — this beautiful and complex drop will continue to develop with age.
Winning trophies for Best Red Wine of the Show and Best Cabernet Sauvignon, and a gold medal in Class 19 Open Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2006 Queens Pinch Cabernet Sauvignon was only one point short of taking out the award for most outstanding wine of the Show. Read more in our newsletter