Ratings and Awards

Silver medal and 91 points, Australian Small Winemakers Show

92 points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com

Every Hatherleigh Chardonnay has received either Silver or Gold ratings or medals - 91 to 96 points.

94 points, Huon Hooke, therealreview.com

92 points, Silver Medal Class 12 Canberra and Region Wine Show

2015 Hatherleigh wins Top Gold medal in the 2016 Canberra and Region Wine Show, Class 10, 2016 and 2015 Pinot Noir

In gaining this award, it was judged as superior to a gold medal wine from the Canberra district and to many Pinot Noirs from elsewhere in Southern New South Wales, including Canberra, the Southern Highlands and Tumbarumba.

2013 Hatherleigh won a Bronze medal in the same show, Class 11, 2014 and older Pinot Noir.

Jancis Robinson MW, The Financial Times, London 30th May 2014

‘It is remarkable that, at the recent eighth Masters of Wine symposium, a full 20 of the MWs were able to show off wines they had made.’ … ‘None was disappointing, as one would hope, and a few constituted some of the most exciting discoveries I have come across in a long while.

‘Pinot Noir is seen by wannabe winemakers as the Holy Grail and two more of my standout wines were Pinots, both Australian. … Wine consultant Nick Bulleid MW’s Hatherleigh Pinot Noir is made in a region 100km north of Canberra so high (910m) and so unexplored that it doesn’t have an official name. His funky, grainy, herbal 2009 has to be labelled vaguely as Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.’

Huon Hooke on a complete vertical tasting in November 2016

Winemakers are herd animals – they tend to hang out in packs. It takes a special breed to plant vines in a place where there are no existing vineyards. Think Brian Croser at Parawa on the Fleurieu Peninsula with his Foggy Hill pinot noir vineyard. Or Andrew Pirie when he first planted Pipers Brook Vineyard in northern Tasmania.

Back in 1994, Canberra-based master of wine Nick Bulleid found himself living at a little place called Laggan, near Crookwell, not far from Goulburn in the NSW southern tablelands. His wife grew raspberries and sold them fresh or as jam; Nick decided to plant a couple of acres of pinot noir vines, just for fun. His vines were planted between ’96 and ’99 and the total is just under one hectare. That’s enough for about 250 dozen bottles of wine a year.