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The Staniford wine company
CHARDONNAY Great Southern Reserve CABERNET SAUVIGNON

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Welcome to the new collection of premium Western Australian wines from winemaker Michael Staniford

THE JULY 2016 VINTAGE RELEASE

2013 CHARDONNAY AND

2012 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

I've just released the wonderful 2013 Chardonnay and 2012 Cabernet, and I'm very excited by the quality. Both the wines are available for sale now, to order them follow this link to the ORDER WINE page.

2012 and 2013 were both excellent vintages, with lower than average yields which meant that the fruit had lots of concentrated flavours. My belief in The Great Southern as an ideal place for the classic French varieties is again upheld. The old vines, cool climate, the weathered soils, the individual "terroirs" have given me fruit to make exactly the style of wine that I want to make. The styles that I want to drink.

The 2013 Chardonnay has an opulence of fruit and a richness, but is fine and sleek, quite "Puligny" like, delicious. And this year 40% of the blend comes from a mix of the four new Burgundian clones from the Bally Fionan Vineyard in Mt Barker. These clones give an extra dimension of fruit flavour to the wine with even more opulence and texture.

The 2012 Cabernet is truly a Bordeaux blend. A small amount of Petit Verdot and Merlot have been added and has given the Cabernet an added depth and vibrance with lovely rich tannin balance.

Both the wines are drinking beautifully now but will cellar for many years.

To order the wines go to the order wine page

We Care About the Environment .....

.... We use "lean and green" bottles that substantially reduce energy inputs in both the production and distribution. Our packaging is all unbleached helping to reduce organochloride contamination in the environment. Organic methods are employed throughout the production chain to ensure the highest quality possible.

James Halliday awards The Staniford Wine Co.

2013 Great Southern Reserve Chardonnay
97 points

2012 Great Southern Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
95 points

in the 2017 edition of The Australian Wine Companion!

The Story So Far ....

Michael moved to Western Australia in 1995 to take up the position of senior winemaker at Alkoomi wines at Frankland, one of the original vineyards in the emerging Great Southern wine region. He went to this most isolated of areas because it was one of the few places in Australia that could make Sauvignon Blanc with true varietal flavour similar to those from Sancerre in France, the home of Sauvignon Blanc. And if the Sav Blanc was good then surely other varieties would be too. Michael's Sauvignon Blanc's became an Australian benchmark for the variety.

He quickly established a reputation amongst his peers & wine lovers generally for making fine and elegant whites & reds not only for Alkoomi but for many other producers such as Old Kent River, Castle Rock & Chestnut Grove to name a few winning many awards & trophies and gaining high praise from national & international wine journalists. His wines were consistently rated as 5 stars by James Halliday and have often featured in “the best of the best” in his Australian wine companion. His wines were in demand, recognised as being among the best in Australia.

He began his career in the Hunter Valley spending 8 years at Lake’s Folly where he was inspired & encouraged by Dr Max Lake who shared his passion for making Cabernet Sauvignon & Chardonnay in Australia that would stand up to the great wines of France. It was immediately clear that the Great Southern had the potential for growing exceptional fruit but being such a large area with diverse climates & soils some varieties were more suited to some areas than others. With years of research, analysis and tasting he pinpointed the areas that were best for each variety.

So in 2009 he set about to realise his life long dream of making a world class Cabernet Sauvignon & Chardonnay using all the knowledge gained from 30 years experience in the wine industry. So with perseverance & some luck, the fruit was found and in 2010 his first wines were made.