Burke & Wills Winery is a boutique husband and wife operation which was selected by James Halliday as one of the 'Ten Dark Horses' ( "...a group of wineries that have produced a particularly impressive series of wines for this edition") in his 2012 Australian Wine Companion. To quote Halliday: "Andrew Pattison is a veteran warrior of boutique winemaking, albeit with a parallel life in music making. He spent 18 years battling the inclement climate of The Macedon Ranges, before moving to Heathcote in 2004 and retaining Gary Baldwin as a consultant. He has kept a 20-year-old vineyard at Malmsbury with a mixed grill of Bordeaux varieties plus chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and planted 3 ha at his new vineyard, including gewurztraminer and shiraz. It is all coming together remarkably well."
The Burke & Wills home vineyard was planted in 2004, on rocky reddish brown volcanic soil, and the grape growing approach is very natural, low input, and biological, with minimal if any irrigation, and consequently low cropping and high quality. Being at the southern and coolest end of the region ripening is a few weeks later than much of Heathcote, bringing a hint of cool climate elegance to the wines.
Drawing grapes from three vineyards, Heathcote fruit from the home paddocks and a nearby Redesdale property, and Macedon Ranges fruit from the above-mentioned Malmsbury vineyard, the winery produces a very wide range of wine varieties, but mostly in very small quantities. Heathcote Shiraz has been a consistent medal winner, the home grown Gewurztraminer is starting to attract a lot of attention, and the Bordeaux style Cabernet / Merlot / Malbec / Petit Verdot blends remain a particular passion. There are three wine labels, Burke & Wills, Pattison Family Reserve, and the keenly priced Dig Tree.
In late summer and early autumn the winery hosts a series of concerts featuring notable national and international singer songwriters from the folk, country and blues fields, including a four day music festival over the March Labour Day long weekend.
CELLAR DOOR: The cellar door is always open on days of the music events. These are usually listed on our web site
www.wineandmusic.net. We also welcome wine interested visitors at any other time, but it is very important to phone (5425 5400) first to check if we are home, as we are often away. We can't guarantee to have all of our wines open for tasting at all times, but will happily open and share with you at least two or three wines of particular interest to you. We can also arrange simple lunches and morning or afternoon tea and coffee.
