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Bunnamagoo Revisited Bunnamagoo Estate wines are the outcome of a long-standing personal interest on the part of the directors of Paspaley Pearling Company in artisinal wine-making. The intention is to apply the same sort of discrimination and patience to wine-making that brought them success with their pearls. With this venture, however, the Paspaley family intends to remain small producers specialising in individual traditionally-made wines. The historic homestead and 5,000 acres of prime grazing land at the Bunnamagoo Estate lie between Bathurst and Oberon; the other Paspaley vineyard is at Eurunderee, in the Mudgee district, 200 kilometres away. This Central Tablelands area of New South Wales was chosen as the site for some of the earliest vineyards in the colony including the first plantings of chardonnay by Adam Roth in 1858 on a land which now forms part of the Eurunderee vineyard. It is hardly surprising that the area has found its place among the best wine regions of Australia. With their over-riding interest in quality, Paspaley’s vineyards are kept to a low yield. The grapes destined for Bunnamagoo wines are hand-picked into small bins, to save the first juice. Each vintage is pondered and the vigneron’s personal responses discussed while the grapes are still on the vine. Choices are made among old and new French and American oak barrels, and the origins and proportions of these. Finally, the wines are given the vital ingredient so often omitted in modern wine-making, time; time to slowly mature and develop before bottling and release. The procedure is as far as possible from factory methods with each decision from the timing of the harvest to the selection of the cork (or whether to use cork at all) being made with a view to ensuring the integrity of the wine rather than being driven by economic considerations. Each of the wines is released in very small quantities. The vintages regularly sell out within a few months and may be hard to find.
The grape varieties planted at the vineyards are those that are best adapted to their terroire - that elusive combination of micro-climate, soil type and orientation of the vines to the sun - whether that of the western slopes of the Blue Mountains or of the open valleys beyond. Bunnamagoo has that rarity in Australia, a genuinely cool climate. Its elevation of 850 metres makes it regularly colder than Tasmania. The vines have a long and beneficial period of winter dormancy usually accompanied by high rainfall continuing into spring. The summers are generally dry with long hot days and cool nights ensuring even ripening of the fruit. Bunnamagoo looks out into immense light over rich river valleys. Its soils are deep volcanic basalts. The conditions there bring great complexity to wine. Cold weather clarifies and formalizes the attributes of a vintage, making subtleties more elegant and penetrating, while warmth produces generosity, roundness and openness. The combination of these qualities results in memorable wine.
Bunnamagoo released its first sparkling wine in late 2005, a pinot noir-chardonnay made from the 2003 vintage. This sparkling wine was made according to traditional methods and finished by some of Australia’s foremost sparkling wine experts under the supervision of Andrew Hardy at Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills. At Eurunderee the tawny landscape is similarly saturated with light. The vineyard lies on rolling slopes above the Cudgegong River at an elevation of less than 450 metres. Warmth arrives sooner in the year, with all its associated attributes. But there is still a subtle structure to the wines originating there, due to heavy inland frosts in much of the season and cool summer nights. There is a range of soils underlaid by limestone and ample subterranean water. Particular grape varieties have been matched with the most appropriate soil. There are alluvial sandy loams on the lower slopes and higher up there are classic red earths derived from a shale base.
In early 2006 Bunnamagoo released a fusion of shiraz, merlot and cabernet sauvignon made exclusively from Eurunderee fruit. Blending different grape varieties follows the approach employed in Burgundy and Bordeaux where the focus is on ultimate quality rather than on varietal consistency. 2006 sees the release from Eurunderee of a merlot, a cabernet-merlot and a shiraz. The Paspaley vineyards are producing wines that bring highly pleasing nuances into the Australian market. While the wine-maker has followed the meticulous methods and judgements of European artisans, local conditions mean the results are without direct equivalents in other countries. In his Australian Wine Companion James Halliday describes the wines as “well-priced”. The company is deliberately keeping the prices low while their individuality and quality become generally known. Visit the Paspaley web site. |
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Stories from Bunnamagoo
Bunnamagoo wines are made under the passionate supervision of Robert Black who was born in the region and learned his wine-making skills there and in France. He brings to his task an understanding that wine-making involves a complicated blend of experience, science, tradition, intuition and luck. Single-vineyard wines such as Bunnamagoo Estate are subject to the vagaries of season and each vintage will have its own distinct character. Skillful wine-making ensures that the promise of each vintage can be fully realized. The wines have received many medals on the rare occasions they have been shown and have received consistently high ratings from the critics. 
Bunnamagoo produces a truly great chardonnay of depth and complexity. The elegant cabernet sauvignon has an individuality rarely seen in these times of mass-produced wines. Those with the patience to allow it time to develop in the cellar will be rewarded as it opens up to reveal its full character. 
Outstanding semillon, shiraz, and chardonnay are being produced at Eurunderee as well as highly distinctive merlot and cabernet sauvignon and a richly flavoured autumn semillon with botrytis complexity.