Lethbridge Wines named in 2021 Vineyard of the Year Awards Top 50
Lethbridge Wines was started by uni mates 25 years ago now it’s among the country’s best.
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A GEELONG region vineyard has been named one of the top 50 in the country, and is now vying for the crown of Australia’s best vineyard
Lethbridge Wines was this week announced as one of the 2021 Vineyard of the Year Awards Top 50, all chosen for best exemplifying the values of sustainability, innovation and growing great wine.
The awards, judged by a panel of viticulture experts, will be split between four major trophies, including Vineyard of the Year, Innovative Vineyard of the Year, New Vineyard of the Year and Old Vineyard of the Year.
“In the vineyard is where the magic happens!” panellist Dr Mary Retallack said. “This is our opportunity to celebrate the innovative and regenerative approaches being taken to produce exceptional grape quality, which is reflected in stunning wines while nurturing the soil, vines and landscapes with an ecological focus.”
The 50 finalists in the 2021 Vineyard of the Year Awards include 20 from South Australia, 11 from Victoria, eight from New South Wales/ACT, seven from Tasmania and four from Western Australia.
Lethbridge Wines owners Ray Nadeson, Maree Collis and Adrian Thomas launched the vineyard in their late 20s as a trio of university friends with strong science and medicine backgrounds – making a somewhat unique entry into the sector.
“It was 25 years ago and we started when we were in our late 20s with a dream,” Ray told the Geelong Advertiser in late 2019. “It’s not a common story as most people start a vineyard quite a bit later, usually as a second career or retirement project and that is certainly not what we did.”
“What drew us to winemaking was that lovely ability to blend science with art. It’s a unique situation where you have three people with PhDs who are all artistically inspired but not afraid to understand the science [behind winemaking].”
“We decided to approach this idea of making wine from a perspective of a research project, going back to geological maps and studying the idea of terroir (soil, climate and biodiversity) quite deeply.”
Winners of the 2021 Vineyard of the Year Awards will be announced in February.
Originally published as Lethbridge Wines named in 2021 Vineyard of the Year Awards Top 50
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