| | | | | Click the map for an enlargement | What do you do if you are a viticulturist and director of a renowned vineyard and the vineyard you manage is taken over by a major corporation? Andrew Nugent’s answer was as straightforward and direct as he is. Along with his brother Justin, he began an intensive search throughout South Australia’s premier wine growing districts to find a dream vineyard that could belong to him and his family. His search ended in the Adelaide Hills with the family’s purchase of a 55 acre producing but underdeveloped vineyard. The vineyard sits above what was the largest and most plentiful gold mine in the region, commonly know as the Bird in Hand mine and hence the Bird in Hand Vineyard was born. The vineyard has a perfect completely north facing aspect. Its soil is deep red earth, rich with minerals - as one would expect from the area around a gold mine. Although a relatively young vineyard, James Halliday, the renowned wine critic, classes Bird in Hand as a vineyard that “consistently produces high quality wine” and has scored its wine from 87 to 94 points out of a perfect 100. We have selected two wines to represent the Bird in Hand range: their 2002 Merlot and their 2002 Sauvignon Blanc. While neither has been formally rated as yet, we are confident that these two wines will set new standards for Bird in Hand. The cellar door price of the 2002 Merlot is AS$32 (around £13.75) and less then 300 cases will be available in the UK. The Sauvignon Blanc sells in Australia for AS$23 (£9.75), with less than 200 cases becoming available in the UK. Every few years a growth is truly memorable and warrants production of a truly premium offering. The 2002 Merlot crop was such a year and crop at Bird in Hand. When this happy event takes place, the Bird in Hand vineyard releases a premium wine called Nest Egg - named after the richest gold mine shaft in the area. Only 3,575 individually numbered bottles of 2002 Nest Egg Merlot were produced, and we are particularly pleased that nearly 700 of these bottles will be sold in the UK. The 2002 Nest Egg Merlot sells at the cellar door in Australia for AS$55 or around £23.50, at current exchange rates.
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