Coldstream Hills Winery

Coldstream Hills Location and History

Coldstream Hills is situated east of Melbourne in Victoria’s beautiful Yarra Valley.The estate was established in 1985 by great Australian wine writer, James Halliday. Since its first vintage, Coldstream Hills has grown to be one of the Australia’s most awarded leading wineries.The steeply sloping, close-planted vineyards and natural amphitheatre have become a signature of the region.

Coldstream Hills founding father, James Halliday, is the world’s leading authority on Australian wine. James was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours for ‘service to the wine industry as a winemaker, show judge, author and promoter of Australian wine internationally, and through senior roles with a range of professional organisations.’ He was awarded the prestigious Maurice O’Shea Award in 1995 for outstanding contribution to the Australian wine industry.

Coldstream Hills Winemaking and Philosphy

Coldstream Hills enjoys a fine reputation for outstanding wines, particularly chardonnay and pinot noir. Coldstream Hills certainly ascribes to the philosophy that great wine is made in the vineyard.Special attention is paid to trellising and canopy management and the newest techniques are employed to control vigour and yield.The estate maintains a small batch philosophy, geared towards producing wines with regional expression, elegance and length of flavour.They show cool climate character, complexity and structure with good longevity. Most of the wine is literally hand made using gentle handling practices and techniques that have not changed with modern growth in production.Grapes are hand pruned and partially hand picked; whites are principally barrel fermented while reds are made in small batch open fermenters of 3-4 tonnes.Select parcels of exceptional fruit are earmarked for special attention and released as highly acclaimed reserve wines.

Cracka Guest Feature: Stuart Macgill uncorks Coldstream Hills