Our Cellar Door Series featuring Craiglee Vineyard
Craiglee Vineyard stands as one of Victoria’s most historically significant sites, and we are excited to bring their wines to our restaurant on Flinders Lane for daily tastings.
The vineyard as we know it today was planted in 1976 by Pat and Dianne Carmody, with a focus on Shiraz and Chardonnay, yet the story of Craiglee stretches back much further.
Sunbury was one of Victoria’s earliest wine regions, and in 1863, Melbourne businessman James Stewart Johnston first planted vines on the property and established a gravity-fed bluestone winery still in use today. By the 1880s, the state was cresting the wave of Gold Rush prosperity and Victorian wine production was in full swing. Johnston’s ‘Hermitage’ Shiraz quickly earned international acclaim, cementing the site’s early reputation. An outbreak of the vine louse Phylloxera ravaged Victorian wine regions in the late 1800s, and following economic pressures in the 1920s, Craiglee vineyard ceased production.
Half a century later, following a chance encounter between a young Pat Carmody and John Brown Senior of Brown Brothers, and a tasting of one of Johnston’s ‘Hermitage’ wines from 1872, the site was replanted. Recognising both its geographical advantages and historical significance, Pat and his wife Dianne undertook the careful work of restoring the vineyard to its former glory.
Set at the apex of the Jackson Creek Valley, the site benefits from cooling night air and steady winds, extending the growing season and allowing for slow, even ripening. The site is farmed sustainably, with forward-thinking approaches to solar power, wastewater and soil health. The result is wines of structure and elegance, with Craiglee Shiraz in particular marked by its signature peppery edge.
At Cumulus Inc., we’re proud to share this lineage through a series of considered tasting flights. Any day of the week, our sommeliers will guide you through the vineyard’s rich history alongside flights spanning Craiglee Chardonnay, Shiraz and Shiraz Viognier, or through comparative horizontal tastings that explore expressions of site. We’re also fortunate to have access to a small, exclusive selection of back-vintage Craiglee Shiraz, available for purchase by the bottle.
Tastings are available between 12pm and 5.30pm. Reservations essential.
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