picardy wines now at the vine press

In his travels through WA late in 2008, Rhys Connery of The Vine Press visited Picardy Estate(1½ hours drive south east of Margaret River ). Meeting Bill Pannell and his son Dan and tasting their superb wines reminded him why The Vine Press works with family owned producers who are so passionate about what they do. Tasting each of their wines calls for celebration – they are so damn good! Bill was a pioneer of Margaret River and started the iconic Moss Wood and sold it to start again with Picardy in Pemberton.

Established in 1993, Picardy are a premium boutique winery producing wines of intense structure and flavour. Concentrating on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and a Merlot/Cabernet blend, the Pannell’s single vineyard property in Pemberton is unirrigated, hand picked, low yielding and family run.    The Pannell’s bring a strong Burgundian tradition to Picardy with its aim to produce wines that not only drink well now but reward the patient cellarer, ageing gracefully for 10 years or more.  You’ll see what we mean in their reds – vibrant in colour with intense fine grained tannins. And their whites, especially their Chardonnays which are a delicate and refined style in keeping with the great wines of Burgundy.

Leading Australian wine writer, Peter Bourne wrote in the SMH’s Sydney Magazine in 08:

“Picardy wines show the individuality and style that set them apart from more pedestrian winemakers.”

 

Another wine writer Rick Einstein, and self confesed “Red Wine Bigot” wrote of Picardy’s reds:

“There are a few other pluses with the wines from Picardy.  Firstly, without exception they are all well-balanced. Secondly, the house style is 100% consistent across the entire range. Whilst I’m not necessarily a great proponent of terroir, when you nose all of these wines, there is a certain consistency that goes beyond the winemaking style. Finally, they are all well-made and best of all, represent real value. Every cellar should have some Picardy wine in it, even the most diehard red bigot’!”

And lets not foget James Halliday who rated Picardy 5 stars in the 2009 Australian Wine Companion, or “the Bible” as we refer to it!   Halliday says of Picardy “Consistently one of the best wineries in the region.”

The Vine Press are currently stocking Picardy Chardonnay 07, Picardy Pinot Noir 06, Picardy Merlot Cabernet 05 and Picardy Tete de Cuvee Pinot 06.