Wine of the Year award crowns off a stellar year!

Wine of the Year award crowns off a stellar year!


We are super excited to announce that our 919 Classic Muscat has been named Winestate Fortified Wine of the Year from a field of five finalists, including our 919 Classic Topaque.  Our winemaker, Eric Semmler has been named runner up for Australian Winemaker of the Year, topping off a stellar year of results. 

These luscious fortified wines are made in the traditional manner: the grapes are harvested when they are heavy with sweetness and highly perfumed, then fermented slowly on skins for maximum flavour extraction, before being fortified and matured in barrel for many years. 

When we bottle the wine it is ready to drink, since we have already aged it for you. The wine stays fresh for about a month when opened, so when we open one at cellar door, we put a date on the label to let us know if it's still fresh. 

Classic Muscat is sweet and aromatic, perfect for Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruitcake, and decadent with blue or triple cream cheese and glazed fruit. Here is the perfect recipe to glaze summer stone fruit.

Classic Topaque is honeyed and luscious, pairing with maple glazed ham, hot smoked trout and grilled figs. (Split fresh black or white figs and place a drop of rosewater and a teaspoon of Happy Bee Honey on top. Cook under a hot grill until the honey is slightly caramelised. Serve with sweetened whipped marscapone or cream flavoured with a drop of rosewater or orange blossom water.)

Close up of fig

Eric Semmler was awarded runner up for Winemaker of the Year, an award he has won previously. This award is bestowed by Winestate Magazine for consistent high quality winemaking, based on the average score of wines submitted for assessment.

This outstanding result would not be possible without a solid and passionate team behind us. We would also like to acknowledge Winestate Magazine, who continue to be an important forum for assessing Australian and international wines for stylistic excellence.

Eric Semmler pouring wine in the vineyard while sitting in a canoe in the vines