Trentham Estate

2015 Vintage Wrap Up By Trentham Estate Posted May 1, 2015

From the Winemaker…

The highlight has been Renee joining the company on a full-time basis. She brings to this new position enthusiasm and flair and will greatly enhance our marketing potential.

We have also just completed our 2015 vintage with nearly 3,400 tonnes crushed in 8 ½ weeks – a very smooth and mostly problem free harvest. The new wines look very good with good fruit flavours and vibrant colours in the reds.

We did some exciting Pinot Noir trials with Angela Sparrow from the University of Tasmania which was great to be a part of.

We also made a trial batch of partially dried Nero d’Avola and Saperavi (a deep coloured Georgian variety) – an “Amarone” wine style which looks very interesting with great colour, flavour and length. I’m sure you will be hearing more about this wine in the future.

Our launch of the River Retreat range of wines has also been a highlight for a cause we feel very passionate about.

~ Anthony Murphy

Trentham’ s winery has been operating since 1988, where it has grown from the initial 30 tonne crush to a minimal but state-of-the-art facility handling up to 5,000 tonnes of premium fruit each vintage. It allows the flexibility to perform different winemaking styles, resulting in the diverse and always consistent Trentham Estate wines.

Today, Anthony is assisted with the making of Trentham’s wines by Winemakers Shane Kerr and Mark Holm, along with a dedicated team of cellar and laboratory staff.

The winemaking philosophy at Trentham Estate has always been to produce high-quality varietal wines at an affordable price, with an emphasis on full fruit flavour and palatability.

Over the years Trentham Estate has produced a good balance of classic wine styles mixed with a number of alternative varieties. Anthony and Patrick have a passion for producing wines true to their natural varietal character, as well as experimenting with grape varieties that are lesser-known yet likely to thrive in the Mediterranean climate Mildura and the Murray Darling wine region are known for.

The awards received by many of these wines attest to the well-considered selection of varietals together with careful winemaking.

Trentham Estate is proud to export half of its annual production to a range of countries. The wines are available throughout Australia and of course in the Estate’s own Cellar Door and Restaurant – all for you to enjoy!

The 46 hectares that make up Trentham Estate’s vineyards sit on a winding riverbank at Trentham Cliffs. The ideal terroir of red loam over limestone soils combined with nurturing water from the Murray River allows the vines to flourish.

Meticulously managed by viticulturist Patrick Murphy, the vineyard today comprises over twenty different grape varieties. The oldest vines were planted over half a century ago.

Harvest typically begins at Trentham in mid to late January – slightly earlier than most wine regions of Australia due to the warmer climate of the Murray Darling. Grapes are picked and crushed at optimum ripeness to produce the perfect flavour. The fruit for the sparkling wine base and the varieties made into lower-alcohol styles, such as Semillon, is harvested first. The other whites and reds follow during February and March according to their levels of ripeness. The very last variety to go through the crusher is the Taminga in April or May. This allows the fruit for the Noble dessert wine to develop good levels of botrytis which encourages sugar concentration and development of flavour.

The fruit for Trentham’s Family Reserve range of wines is transported from its growing region direct to Trentham Estate as soon as harvesting is complete. This allows the grapes to be loaded into the crusher within hours, and the winemaking process promptly begins with the juice then pressed, fermented and the wine transferred to French and American oak barrels for maturation.

Trentham Estate also sources parcels of high-quality fruit from a number of local growers each vintage.

One of the most important decisions in the winemaking process is the harvest date. The ripeness level of the fruit largely determines the flavour and style of the wine. To pick the grapes at their best involves lots of testing and tasting of the fruit from each individual block to get the timing right. All the fruit is machine harvested which results in the fruit getting to the winery quickly and in top condition.

The fruit is put through a de-stemmer to remove the stalks from the grapes. The next step depends of the fruit type. For white varieties, the grapes are gently squeezed using an air bag press to separate the juice from the skins and seeds. The juice is then fermented with cultured yeast at cool temperatures in refrigerated tanks. Fermentation takes 2-3 weeks.

Unlike the white grapes, reds are pumped directly into the tank to ferment on their skins as much of the flavour, tannin and colour lies within the skin. The fermentation last 7-10 days, during this time the tank is regularly mixed to help extract as much colour and flavour as possible.

Maturation time depends on the style of the wine. Most of our white wines are bottled young and fresh shortly after vintage. A couple of exceptions are Chardonnay and Taminga. Chardonnay is matured in French oak puncheons in our underground barrel cellar and the Taminga in stainless steel tanks where time improves flavour and complexity.

Other than Maestri, all of our red wines are matured in French and American oak to soften the wine and add complexity. Trentham Estate red and white wines are bottled under screw cap for preservation of quality. The final result is a range of high quality varietal wines with an emphasis on full fruit flavour and palatability. Taste our wines in the Cellar Door, enjoy a glass or two with lunch in our Restaurant, or share at home with family and friends. Our Life, Your Wine.

Anthony Murphy, Managing Director/Chief Winemaker

Anthony graduated from Roseworthy College in 1978 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Oenology and began his winemaking career at Mildara Blass before establishing Trentham Estate with his brother Patrick in 1988.

In 2006 Anthony and Pat were nominated for Australian Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine’s ‘Winemaker of the Year’ award; the brothers were the first grapegrowing-winemaking team from an irrigated Murray region to be nominated. Another highlight of Anthony’s career has been receiving the Trophy for Shiraz at the 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition.