Visy Great Australian Shiraz Challenge Success

McLaren Vale Wine Show Trophy Shock

Vincognita James Halliday ratings

Vincognita wins Best Shiraz Trophy

Wine writers impressed by Vincognita

Individual vineyard Gold Medals for Vincognita Wines

Vincognita Shiraz takes on Australia's best

Vincognita Bullseye Shiraz wins Shiraz Challenge II 2007 Vincognita Vintage Report

Vincognita Nangkita Shiraz wins Gold

2006 Madeleine's Viognier awarded two Trophies

November 2006

Red Handed Newsletter 

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Exciting news for Vincognita customers - we are receiving great feedback from the trade, from customers, Wine Shows and from  independent wine magazines including Winestate and Wine Business Monthly.

 We will continue to produce some of the best wines at the best prices from our distinguished Nangkita vineyard and McLaren Vale old block.   It is our mission to continue delivering exceptional wines at great prices.

We are now maturing wine from the 2008 Vintage - all indications are for a very good  vintage with great flavours.

For more interesting news and developments, read and subscribe to our 'irregular' newsletter, Red Handed.

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Just when we thought it was slowing down - in a huge field of 368 Shiraz wines from many of Australia's most well regarded wineries, a little known handmade Shiraz has clinched a Gold medal and Second place.  The wine:   Vincognita 2006 McLaren Vale Shiraz.  Not only that, but it was awarded the ASA Trophy for Best Shiraz Under $25.00, giving it three Trophies in three different wine shows this year - a truly exceptional result for a $19.50 Shiraz.  As expected, the demand has been strong and we've now run out at the winery, however some bottle shops still have stocks (please email for stockists).  For the future, all we can suggest is to email sales@vincognita.com.au and ask to join our reserve list for the 2007 McLaren Vale Shiraz.  In the meantime, we have a little of the 2005 McLaren Vale & 2006 Nangkita Shiraz left, so no-one need go thirsty!

Vincognita Vigneron Peter Belej celebrates another Trophy win

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When we first entered McLaren Vale Wine Show in 2006 and came away with two trophies for our Viognier, we never thought we could shake the foundations of the McLaren Vale winery 'establishment'. However, with the blessing of our great fruit and a textbook 2006 vintage - plus time in the bottle, it looks like Vincognita has taken on the Shiraz masters on their on turf and beaten them at their own game!

In a huge field of 218 Shiraz wines, the judges led by Chairperson Louisa Rose awarded Vincognita’s 2006 McLaren Vale Shiraz one of McLaren Vale’s most sought after trophy’s - Vinpac International Trophy for 2006 and older Varietal Shiraz (RRP<$25). 

At the 2008 McLaren Vale WIne Show Trophy Presentation night, vigneron Peter Belej was delighted, but his night was far from over.    International Judge and Singapore based wine writer Ch'ng Poh Tiong, was asked to select the wine that most stood out in quality and style during his two days of judging.  In the end after tasting over 300 wines, the result was the Vincognita 2006 Nangkita Shiraz, which was awarded the International Judge's Choice (Shiraz) Trophy.  Then, in the scoop of the Show, the 2006 Nangkita Shiraz went on to win another four Trophies:

·         Fleurieu Peninsula Dry Red Wine Trophy

·         Small Producer Dry Red Wine Any Style Trophy

·         Single Vineyard Wine Any Style Trophy

·         Single Vineyard Viticulturalist Trophy Any Style – Peter Belej

After 40 years of viticulture, Peter Belej said in particular  it was fantastic to be awarded the single vineyard and viticulturalist trophies in recognition of his hard work & expertise in the Nangkita vineyard.

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After much anticipation, the James Halliday Wine Companon 2009 has hit the bookstores and we are proud to announce Vincognita's inaugural entry in the Bible of Australian Wines.  We are pleased to announce that all of the Vincognita Wines sent to James have received over 90 points with our 2006 Madeleine's Viognier being included in James Hallidays Best of the Best other white varietals with 94 points.

Vincognita's winery rating was an impressive 4 1/2 Stars and described as 'Excellent winery able to produce wines of high to very high quality'.  James Halliday and Sommellier Ben Edwards said of Vincognita 'The sheer consistency of the quality of the wines is as impressive as the sub-$20 price tags".  

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Lester Jesberg, Editor of Winewise Magazine & Chairman of Judges for the 2008 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards has just sent his congratulations.  The Vincognita 2006 McLaren Vale Shiraz was awarded the Best Shiraz Trophy amongst strong competition from Australia's leading Small Vignerons processing under 250 tonnes each year.

And in a double whammy, the 2006 Nangkita Shiraz was awarded its third Gold medal, after a previous Top Gold at the 2007 Hobart and Gold at the 2008 Sydney wine shows.  The 2007 Madeleine's Viognier was also awarded a Silver Medal at the Winewise Small Vignerons Awards to add to its Gold Medal from the 2008 Sydney Wine Show.   The Awards were judged by leading industry wine judges including James Halliday, Ian McKenzie, Ian Riggs (Brokenwood), Tim Kirk (Clonakilla), Stephen Pannell (S.C. Pannell) and Nick Stock.

Vincognita vigneron Peter Belej is extremely proud with the result, saying "this is wonderful - the widespread appreciation of our wines over the years from so many in the wine trade and from customers has been spectacular".  The winning wine comes from an exceptional vineyard site in Willunga - the vines are also thought to be the oldest Shiraz in the area.  Low yields and small scale fermentation have created a wine of exceptional quality.  Vincognita will maintain its retail price at $19.50 per bottle.

Vincognita Vigneron, Peter Belej

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Well, not quite, but we have just received indications from Hardie Grant Books, publisher of James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2009, that Vincognita has been recognised with an award in the latest publication.  The book is due for release soon in early August - we wait with bated breath (in between sipping and tasting!).

In recent news, the 2006 Nangkita Shiraz was highly rated with 92 points by Nick Stock in the June WBM100 awbm.com.au/wbm100.

Coming up soon in September is Winestates Shiraz Challenge III.  Last year we won the $10 - 15 Category with our 2004 Bullseye Shiraz.  This year our wines have again been highly rated, with the 2006 Nangkita Shiraz gaining four stars and the 2006 McLaren Vale Shiraz awarded four and a half stars and Equal Top in Category for the $15 - 20 category.

The 2006 Nangkita Shiraz and 2006 McLaren Vale Shiraz have also been rated by Nick Stock & Tyson Stelzer in WBM100 in the soon to be released August issue.

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The 2007 Madeleine's Viognier and 2006 Nangkita Shiraz has both won Gold Medals at the 2008 Sydney Royal Wine Show, the first wine show of the year.   This continues our tradition of quality wines at a great price.

Both wines were successful in the Individual Vineyard classes where wine must be from grapes from the named vineyard - in this case Nangkita Vineyards.

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The 2005 Nangkita Shiraz has just won Gold at the 2007 National Wine Show held in Canberra, beating numerous “iconic” Australian wines.  Highlighting our high quality at a moderate price mantra, the Nangkita outscored wines priced at three to four times the price.

At the 2007 Royal Hobart International Wine Show the 2006 Nangkita Shiraz has just claimed Top Gold in the single vineyard section.  This is the second year in a row, our Nangkita Shiraz has won gold in this class, highlighting consistent quality.  The 2006 Nangkita will be released in early 2008.

In other news, the 2006 McLaren Vale Shiraz won a Silver medal in Hobart and at the 2007 Rutherglen Wine Show.

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In Winestate magazine's biggest tasting of the year, the World's Greatest Shiraz Challenge II, Vincognita's 2004 Bullseye Shiraz was named Category Winner for the $10 - $15 price category.  The wine was awarded four stars, outscoring 48 other shiraz wines.  The Bulleye was previously named in Wine & Spirit Insider's July/August issue as a Top 40 Best Buy.

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Well it was a dry growing season for most of South Australia, with poor spring rains affecting the vigour and resulting in low yields.  For Vincognita, this was most evident in our old McLaren Vale block at Willunga, where the bunches and berries were tiny, giving us huge concentration, but only three barrels of Shiraz for 2007.

On the upside, our Nangkita vineyard had a wonderful year with ample water available to supplement the minimal rains.  Yields were lower than normal at around 1.5 tonne per acre, yielding an earlier vintage of rich ripe Shiraz, Cabernet & Merlot with lovely ripe tannins that are a little monstrous at the moment.  We also have first selection of the blocks, meaning our tonnage was not affected, we just picked from a larger area of the blocks!  

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Premium Southern Fleurieu and McLaren Vale winemaker Vincognita Wines has again demonstrated their excellent grapegrowing & winemaking skills.  The boutique winery won one of only three Gold Medals awarded for 2005 Shiraz at the recent 2006 Royal Hobart International Wine Show with their 2005 Nangkita Shiraz.  This came only weeks after the Vincognita Madeleine’s  Viognier won two Trophies and a Gold Medal at the 2006 McLaren Vale Wine Show.

Then, last week at the 2007 Sydney Royal Wine Show, the Vincognita 2005 Nangkita Shiraz, the 2006 Madeleine’s Viognier and the 2005 Nangkita Cabernet Sauvignon all won Silver medals in the Single Vineyard category.

The wines were handmade from estate grown fruit from Vigneron Peter Belej’s Nangkita vineyard property in the Southern Fleurieu.  Nangkita is located in the heart of the Fleurieu between McLaren Vale and Currency Creek.

Vincognita Vigneron Peter Belej said “I am delighted to achieve this success as it demonstrates the quality of a diverse range of varieties that can be achieved in the Nangkita district”.

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