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Wine Region
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Geelong, Victoria
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Wine Maker
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Ray Nadeson, Maree Collis
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Lethbridge Wines was founded by Ray Nadeson and Maree Collis who recognised the importance of terroir (soil, climate, aspect and bio-diversity) in the production of distinctive wines. Ray Nadeson states, “Our belief is that the best wines express the unique character of special places. With this in mind our philosophy is to practice bio-dynamic and organic methods in the vineyard complemented by traditional winemaking techniques to allow the unique character of the site to be expressed in our fruit and captured in our wine.”
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Lethbridge Wines grew from a friendship between Adrian Thomas, Ray Nadeson and Maree Collis. All three were busy establishing careers in science and medicine and shared a love of great wine which grew to be an obsession. Soon the afternoons sipping burgundies were replaced by weekends searching for the perfect vineyard site and then by afternoons digging holes and planting vines. For two of the partners (Maree and Ray) the passion for wine drove them to a sea change, and in 2003 after 7 years of balancing careers in science and running a vineyard and winery, they made Lethbridge Wines their reison d'etre.
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Maree Collis and Ray Nadeson are not your average winemakers of a boutique winery. Both were initially trained as research scientists and hold PhD degrees in chemistry and medicine, respectively. While combining their scientific careers with winemaking, Maree and Ray completed the winemaking degree at Charles Sturt University. Ray states, "winemaking is not really that different to science, both are creative and both involve 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration".
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Not surprisingly, the site at Lethbridge was selected based on scientific principles such as soil type, degree days and other climatic indicators, yet when the three partners first explored the property they discovered an ancient old wooden fermentation vat in one of the old sheds. Discussion with the previous owner (Ivor Perdrisat) revealed that his family, Swiss in origin, had planted a vineyard on the exact site back in the 1870's before the discovery of phylloxera in the region. The old wine vat has been reincarnated as a beautiful timber tasting bench in the cellar door. This story is compelling in the connection between traditional wisdom and modern science.
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The fruit used to produce the range of Lethbridge Wines comes from the Estate Vineyard in Lethbridge, originally planted in 1874 by Swiss immigrants (replanted by the current owners in 1996), and from another historic vineyard site in Mt Duneed, an area first planted in 1858, and the first vineyard to be replanted as the Geelong region re-emerged in 1970. To maintain true expression of terroir we keep the wines made from different vineyards and even from different blocks (soil types) within a single vineyard separate.
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What the critics have to say!
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Five Star Rating –
Indra Shiraz 2006 – 96 points
Mietta Geelong Pinot Noir – 95 points
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2010
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