Kim Waters
BELLARINE Peninsula residents often overlook local wines when relaxing with a glass but their wineries are winning the nation-wide recognition they deserve, according to a Queenscliff hospitality buff.
Vue Grand Hotel’s Caleb Fleet said the venue had won a prestigious Gourmet Traveller Australian Wine List of the Year award thanks to the peninsula’s “long list” of fine wines.
Mr Fleet believed residents were often uneducated on the area’s “new and exciting” wines, instead opting for drops from the Barossa Valley or New Zealand.
“But in the past two or three years we’ve seen wine from the area get better and better, especially the vintage 2007 and 2008 wines,” he said.
“The pinot and shiraz coming from this region are getting Australian-wide recognition but people in the area often don’t know about it.”
Mr Fleet said 12 months of research had developed the hotel’s list of local wines.
“Currently they make up about 40 per cent of our list. My role is to get people to try the local wines they would often bypass but which offer something new and exciting.
“I try to wean people onto the wines produced into this area; to look outside the square.”
Mr Fleet said popular labels on his award-winning list included Curlewis, Bellarine Estate, Leura Park, Scotchman’s Hill and Banks Road wineries.
“A panel of Australia’s leading wine writers judged our list…so it’s really great for us and the local estates to receive this kind of recognition.”
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