Carla Rodeghiero of Sapling Yard has won best red wine blend for the 2023 vintage of The Extrovert. Photo: Sapling Yard.
Bungendore winery Sapling Yard has once again been awarded a trophy at the prestigious Australian and New Zealand Boutique Wine Awards.
This trophy is for the best red wine blend for their 2023 vintage of The Extrovert, a blend of Mourvèdre, Shiraz and Touriga.
Winemakers Carla Rodeghiero and Malcolm Burdett also won a trophy at last year’s awards for their white wine blend, The Four Pinots.
“This is a big win for the Sapling Yard team as it is a trophy awarded back to back years. This is a culmination of 11 years of hard work and constant refining of our winemaking techniques,” says Sapling Yard owner Carla Rodeghiero.
The Extrovert took out a trophy for Best Red Blend. Photo: Sapling Yard/Instagram.
The Australian Boutique Wine Awards were founded in 1996, with New Zealand winemakers invited to participate in 2009. These awards celebrate independently owned and operated wineries. The awards are judged by a panel of 12 wine experts, including winemakers, wine writers and wine judges.
“Since its inception in 1996, the Boutique Wine Show has been a champion of small producers. To win a gold medal or a trophy is an extremely hard task. In a crowded wine market, we hope the awards provide helpful direction to consumers about labels that have a quality above and beyond others in their category,” says the awards chairperson, Toni Paterson.
Winemaker Carla Rodeghiero planted a small vineyard at Charley’s Forest in Braidwood in 2008 and was joined by Malcolm Burdett in 2019. The pair are regularly awarded accolades for their wines – the Canberra Region Wine Show recently awarded a gold medal to the Sapling Yard Gamay and eight silver medals for a range of their wines.
Sapling Yard Wines are available to taste at purchase at the cellar door in Bungendore. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Even among boutique wineries, Sapling Yard is small: to enter the Australia and New Zealand Boutique Wine Awards, you must be crushing less than 250 tonnes of grapes annually, and Sapling Yard did about 60 tonnes last year.
Carla and Malcolm are champions of low-intervention winemaking techniques that allow the characteristics of the grape varietals to shine through.
Other Canberra region wineries that were awarded included Corang Estate Wines, which won gold for their 2023 Tempranillo in the Other Reds category. Sapling Yard took away a handful of silver and bronze medals for other wines, and Lerida Estate also won a few bronze medals.
Wines from the Margaret River region in Western Australia and different South Australian wine-growing regions dominated the awards.
Sapling Yard Wines are available to purchase on their website or visit their cellar door at the Village Square in Bungendore for a tasting, wine flight or a relaxed glass with a cheese plate on the verandah.
Sapling Yard Wines Cellar Door is located at 23 Malbon Street, Bungendore. They are open from Friday, 12 pm to 8 pm, Saturday, 10 am to 8 pm and Sunday, 12 pm to 4 pm. Follow Sapling Yard on Facebook or Instagram.
See the full list of winners at the Australian and New Zealand Boutique Wine Awards.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on About Regional.
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