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Briagolong Estate was planted in 1975 with pinot noir and chardonnay, followed several years later by a small planting of sauvignon blanc, which was, later still, removed. More recently a small experimental planting of shiraz , which is not very common in Gippsland, was added, and sauvignon blanc was re-introduced. There have been no releases of the latter two varieties to date. In the late nineteenth century, Briagolong (aboriginal meaning - land of the rising sun) was the main vineyard area in Gippsland along with, surprisingly, Port Albert. Grape-growing lapsed in Gippsland in the early twentieth century, and Briagolong Estate was one of the earliest to show renewed interest in replanting, preceded only by Lulgra vineyard and Malcolm Winfield's experimental plantings, both of which were near Lakes Entrance, Since then there have been many plantings throughout Gippsland. |
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Our wines are very much hand made, and we were one of the first in Australia to fully ferment chardonnay in barrels. We use only high quality French oak, and both the pinot and chardonnay have marked French characteristics. The pinot has never been filtered, and we are now moving to this for the chardonnay, as the slight loss of brilliance is more than made up for in flavour. Wines are released under the names of:
As we do not irrigate the pinot nor the chardonnay, and the area is subject to drought, vintages are irregular and small in volume, but usually very high quality. We had a complete loss of the 2002 vintage due to hail. Our wines are distributed locally, and mainly go to restaurants in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. Because of the small production we rarely have wine available at wine merchants, and we supply the wine-buyers via our mailing list. Inspection is by appointment only. Contact details |
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