It started 40 years ago with a group of blokes with a passion for wine. They built an Australian icon brand, then a benchmark wine with Hunter Shiraz, today they won the 2009 NSW Wine of the Year with a wine from NSW’s most exciting new region, Orange.
 
Wondering who we’re talking about? Brokenwood and the 2009 NSW Wine of the Year, the 2007 Brokenwood ‘Forest Edge’ Orange Chardonnay $30. Many of Australia’s prominent wine identities “did their time” in the vineyards at Brokenwood during the seventies which today produces exceptional wines at the hands of winemaker of ten years, PJ Charteris, who tonight stood before the who’s who of the wine industry, including MC Simon Thomsen, at the NSW Wine Awards Gala Presentation at Catalina to accept the most coveted wine award in NSW, flanked by the 12 Trophy winners of the 2009 NSW Wine Awards:
 
NSW Wine of the Year and Best Young Chardonnay - Brokenwood 2007 ‘Forest Edge’ Chardonnay (Orange) $30.00
Best Sparkling ~ Charles Sturt University 2005 Limited Release Pinot Noir Chardonnay (Tumbarumba) $19.80
Best Young Riesling ~ Yass Valley 2009 Riesling (Canberra) $18.00
Best Young Sauvignon Blanc ~ Printhie 2009 ‘Mountain Range’ Sauvignon Blanc (Orange) $17.00
Best Young Semillon ~ Hungerford Hill 2007 Semillon (Hunter Valley) $35.00
Best Young White Other Varieties ~ Westend Estate 2008 ‘Richland’ Viognier (Riverina) $12.00
Best Mature Dry White ~ Allandale 2003 Semillon (Hunter Valley) $26.00
Best Young Shiraz ~ Ridgeview 2006 ‘Generations’ Reserve Shiraz (Hunter Valley) $40.00
Best Young Red Other Varieties ~ Grove Estate 2007 ‘Sommita’ Nebbiolo (Hilltops) $30.00
Best Young Red Blend ~ Westend Estate 2008 Cabernet Shiraz (Riverina) $15.00
Best Mature Dry Red ~ Freeman Vineyards 2004 Rondinella Corvina (Hilltops) $30.00
Best Sweet White ~ Lerida Estate 2008 Botrytis Pinot Gris (Canberra) $34.00
Organic Wine Award ~ Thistle Hill 2009 Riesling (Mudgee)  $30.00
 
One of NSW’s most celebrated producers, Brokenwood has seen the transformation of wine lovers into wine industry icons. Founded in 1970 by a trio of Sydney-based solicitors – among them a bloke by the name of James Halliday who has since made quite a name for himself – the first vintage in 1973 was a labour of love for the partners and the friends they conscripted to help. The grapes were carried to the winery in buckets in the back seat of Len Evans’ Bentley, and while none of the original partners claimed to know anything about viticulture, the inaugural vintage of 75 dozen Shiraz-Cabernet received praise and attracted a loyal following.
 
By 1975, a new winery was required to accommodate the growing production and the exhausted bodies of the many helpers who came to stay at Brokenwood. Iain Riggs, Chief Winemaker and Managing Director, joined Brokenwood in 1982 with a commitment to produce single vineyard wines. Iain's skills in white winemaking revolutionised Brokenwood, which, when Riggs joined, produced only red wine. A year into his tenure, with the 1983 vintage, production levels changed to 70% white wine and 30% red (but did include a rather important red wine... the inaugural vintage of Graveyard Shiraz).
 
In the 1990s Riggs began to explore other premium regions to follow the single vineyard philosophy. Orange was an obvious choice for Chardonnay – widely recognised as one of Australia’s premium cool-climate regions. The result ~ the 2009 NSW Wine of the Year.
 
The 2007 Brokenwood ‘Forest Edge’ Chardonnay is classic, impressive, Brokenwood white at its best, made by PJ Charteris with a definitive hands-off approach. Wild ferment characters and char oak combine to give a complex start while tropical fruit, mango and lime aromas give a strong fruit background.  Lovely textured palate of rich tropical fruit with good glycerol weight that gives richness. Excellent fruit concentration with oak being a well-handled accompaniment adding cashew and char accents.