The highlight of the year was the very exciting award of a gold medal and trophy for the best red wine blend at the 2009 Cowra Wine show where there were over 2500 entries. This award was the culmination of the CEV team’s commitment to excellence over many years.
Ida and I were invited to the trophy presentation dinner at Cowra, a splendid affair and one of the best organised events we have ever attended!
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Our 2007 Botrytis Semillon and 2006 Shiraz were rated 90 by James Halliday in the 2010 Australian Wine Companion.
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Our 2009 vintage produced some very good Chardonnay whilst the Botrytis Semillon shows great promise and is maturing in the highest quality French oak.
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Part of the vineyard has been replanted with the best root stock available to ensure high quality grapes and the subsequent production of premium wines.
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For your information, the property is 14.97 hectares in total, of which 5.1 hectares are planted with vines as follows:
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1.25 Cabernet Sauvignon, 0.69 Chardonnay, 1.23 Semillon, 1.21 Shiraz & 1.13 Verdelho
New Book
“CONSTABLE ESTATE VINEYARDS “second edition by
Another important milestone in the last year was the second edition of “Constable Estate Vineyards,†a history of the property, by David Constable. The book, which has been enthusiastically received, is available from the Cellar Door, phone 02 49987 887 or email hunter@constablevineyards.com.au
Garden Report Head Gardener, Barry Cuthbertson
The gardens are looking beautiful and well worth a visit. You will notice new plantings of advanced trees, including a Robinia, Golden Ash and two varieties of Magnolia.
The excellent weather conditions during the past year have produced considerable growth in the garden as a whole and some of the larger trees are now very well established, with sweeping canopies offering much-needed shade and a rich habitat for birds.
Don’t forget that members are welcome to use the gardens for picnics [please book].
Please contact the Cellar door by email hunter@constablevineyards.com.au or phone 02 4998 7887 if you wish to stay in the valley midweek and we will try and obtain a discount for you at selected locations.
Organic Vegetable Garden
This walled garden, inspired by classic European designs, was built in the spring of 2006. It is large, measuring 28 x 14 metres and produces a great quantity of fruit and vegetables. This garden is divided into sections and one part contains soft fruits - raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, persimmons and gooseberries. Of these, the blueberries are proving most difficult to grow. After 3 years, they are still small bushes but recently started producing more fruit.Â
The espaliered trees on the garden walls have done really well. These trees, including pomegranate, cherry, peach, nectarine and apricot, clearly love the warmth of the brick wall. As the trees are espaliered, they don’t shade the rest of the garden plants from the sun. A number of garden beds contain beans, garlic, spring onions, zucchini, asparagus, broad beans, potatoes, chillies and a variety of herbs. Peter Anderson, who looks after our vegetable garden, is an authority on vegetables and was previously in charge of a commercial organic garden in Victoria.
Broad beans grow in profusion and we have to ensure they are picked early when still tender. However, the young bean pods are often concealed by masses of leaves on these luxurious plants and are easily missed.
Below is one of our favourite broad bean recipes: very simple, wonderful flavour affinities and a good accompaniment for meat, chicken and fish. If the skins of the beans are tough, they can be easily peeled.
Broad Bean Salad Recipe
Young, broad beans removed from pods
Crushed garlic, ground cumin and lemon juice to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepperÂ
Cook broad beans briefly in boiling salted water until tender, then drain. Add garlic, cumin, lemon juice, salt and pepper Add olive oil to moisten
                                                                     Serve and enjoy!!!!!
 The Constable Cow
For those of you who have not seen the Constable Cow, you may be wondering how a cow found her place in the cellar door?
Well, she was acquired specially for the Constable Estate Vineyards sculpture collection and was bought during a visit to Switzerland. Unlike the other sculptures which have settled happily outdoors, the cow has her home inside, like a special pet.
She is a work of art, delicately and lovingly painted by Swiss artist Greg Holt, who carried out detailed specifications. The fibreglass shell is covered with vibrant vineyard images, including grapes, bottles of red and white wine and also musical notes, which represent the “Music in the Hunter†chamber music festival, sponsored annually by Constable Estate Vineyards.
Many Cellar Door visitors have had their photos taken with the Constable Cow and sent them to us to be included on our website. Visitors who travelled overseas have sent photos of painted cows from all parts of the globe.
The Constable Cow has become one of the major attractions at the vineyard and a great favourite with children. Some of them have tried to climb onto her back, especially when their parents weren’t looking and we were concerned they might get hurt.
Initially, our team thought about erecting a low fence around the cow to keep over-friendly children (and some adults) away from the temptation of climbing onto her large, shiny body but decided against it because many people want to get close enough to stroke and take photographs standing next to her.
We found some useful ways of distracting children by letting them 'milk' our cow or colour pictures of cows. As for the adults, we try to distract them by tasting some of our premium wines!
 
You might also like to see
The Constable Man. He is always on the phone and his presence surprises many visitors who expect him to start talking!
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In The Barrel
Our 2009 wines are looking extremely promising, Liz Jackson, Winemaker, was very enthusiastic when she guided us through a structured tasting in late October and we are very excited at the potential these wines are showing.
2009 Chardonnay delicately handpicked, ensuring the highest quality fruit flavours are captured and matured in new French oak barrels for six months. Aromas of lovely elegant tropical fruit and buttery oak. The Palate reveals rich peach fruit flavours enhanced by the buttery oak finish. (to be released at a later date)
2009 Botrytis Semillon a light bodied wine matured in new French oak, revealing a rich lemon and tropical fruit bouquet. The elegant palate displays an intense citrus lime flavour with a perfect clean finish. (to be released at a later date)
2009 Rosé NEW RELEASE FOR XMAS!
Many members have asked us for rosé and this is it!Â
Produced in 2009 from Shiraz grapes, the colour is strawberry red with a bouquet of Turkish delight and ripe rock melon. It is a wonderful, easy drinking wine with finely balanced flavours of citrus and Turkish delight and is best served chilled. Perfect for summer drinking and Xmas celebrations.
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BUY YOUR ROSÉ FOR XMAS NOW!!!
SPECIAL OFFER
“Buy 5 & get 6th bottle FREEâ€
