Blue Pyrenees Estate, located in Avoca (a town in the Central Highlands of Victoria, 71 kms north-west of Ballarat) was established in 1963 and was one of  modern Australian wine industry’s first ventures into cool climate viticulture.

“Blue Pyrenees – then called Chateau Remy – was established in Western Victoria in 1963 by Remy Martin. French eccentricity was the hallmark of the Estate and the brand’s creation. In 2002 the Estate was purchased by a group of Australian wine-passionate businessmen. Eccentricity, with a New World twist, is guaranteed to continue with a new, innovative management and winemaking team at Blue Pyrenees Estate.”

Blue Pyrenees Estate

The winemakers Andrew Koerner and Chris Smales work at the 5 Star James Halliday rated winery to create a great range of wines including the award-winning 2012 Blue Pyrenees Shiraz and the Blue Pyrenees Midnight Cuvee (a wine where the grapes are picked at night to optimize the fruit condition and temperature to create a crisp, clean wine).

Thankfully, many Blue Pyrenees wines can be found at liquor stores and bottle shops around Australia. There are however a range of Cellar Door Series that are not. We picked up a bottle of the 2010 Botrytis Riesling, a delicious dessert wine with “concentrated honey and pineapple flavours [that] are clearly enhanced by sweetness, they are also balanced by refreshing acidity, a phenomenon of botrytis concentration”. If you’re a little far away, the Cellar Door Series is available online on the Blue Pyrenees Estate website.

Aside from a visit to the cellar door, there is an adjoining café called Café Blue where you can enjoy a light lunch or sweet treat. On New Year’s Day, we enjoyed a delicious Grazier’s Platter with a glass of the 2008 Cuvee Riche sparkling wine- a great way to start a new year.

Visit www.bluepyrenees.com.au for more information about Blue Pyrenees wines, to buy Blue Pyrenees wines online, and other special events.