In 2005, Lerida Estate was awarded the ACT Chief Minister's Export Award for Agribusiness.
Our wines have won numerous medals/awards including at Southern NSW Wine Show 2006, Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show 2006, 2003, Cowra Wine Show 2006, 2003, Australian Small Winemakers Show 2006, 2005, NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, National Cool Climate Wine Show, Murrumbateman Cool Climate Wine Show 2005, James Halliday 2007 Companion and Canberra Times (Fergus McGhie 2006).

Wine tasting

We invite you to drop by, taste a wine or two, have a look around, have a chat and enjoy the wonderful view of Lake George (with or without water!) from our courtyard.

Three Vineyards Walk

Experience the beauty of Lake George and get some exercise at the same time. Walk from Lerida Estate, above Lake George Wines and over to Madews – or the other way around. Or do the round trip of 1.5 km.

Walkers can do the walk any time during the opening hours of the wineries. Opening hours are different for the different wineries. Lerida Estate is open 7 days a week from 10 – 5. Madews is open Wednesday – Sunday, and Public Holidays, from 10 – 5. The full walk will therefore only be available from Wednesday to Sunday and Public Holidays 10-5.

It is essential to wear walking shoes. These can be runners – but the shoes should have good gripping soles because some of the terrain can be a bit steep. If you want to see the great views of Lake George, you need to go up the hill a bit.

The walk will be signposted, so just follow the arrows. Also, pick up a map from either Lerida or Madews which shows you the route to take.

Café Lerida

If you are doing the walk on the weekend or a public holiday, why don't you plan to have lunch at Café Lerida (for details of the café and the menu, see Café Lerida under 'Restaurants/Food - Cafe' on the Holidayz site or click on the 'website' link at the top of this page).

Functions

Lerida also offers a range of other facilities/services to its customers. We host a number of functions from formal dinners to gourmet BBQ's to social club outings. Lerida is also a magnificant venue for wedding receptions.

Conference facilities are available for small groups and we are able to host cocktail parties and product launches.

Lerida Events and Activities

The following illustrates the range of events that we are able to host at Lerida: catered functions; seminars; concerts; BBQ and salads prepared by the hosts of the lunch or Lerida; a feast transported from Sydney.

Why not have your next function at Lerida - accompanied by Lerida's fine wines!

(i) 'Sense of Place' Pinot Noir Dinner
Anise Restaurant, 20 West Row, Canberra City
Thursday 9 August 2007, 7 pm

This dinner explored the complexities of Pinot Noir wines from Burgundy, New Zealand, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Canberra District.

(ii) Lerida Estate and Jones the Grocer
Cheese/Wine Master Class
Sunday 22 July 2007, 11 am - 12:30 pm at Lerida Estate Winery

Jones the Grocer in Manuka has the best selection of Australian and foreign cheeses in the ACT. Lerida Estate makes some of the best wines in the Canberra District. Lerida Estate was pleased to host the first cheese/wine master class in the barrel room at their winery at Lake George. Six wines were matched with an Australian or imported cheese.

(iii) Wine Dinner at flavours restaurant.
Friday, 18 May 2007, 7 pm

'flavours – The Culinary Centre' is the creation of Jan Gundlach, a distinguished and highly decorated German chef. He has an extraordinary ability to match food with wine - in this case - Lerida Estate wines. Jan was present not only to prepare the dishes, but also to explain what determined his choice of dishes to go with specific wines.

(iv) Wine Harvest Festival 2007 - a range of activities
Friday 30 March 2007 (Lerida only event)
Saturday 31 March 2007
Sunday 1 April 2007

Friday 30 March Lecture: Good Wine, Good Health?
Professor Eugenie Lumbers
Followed by a tasting of Lerida Estate wines
6:00 pm Common Room, University House, ANU Campus
Saturday 31 March
6:30 am Balloon Ride over Lake George followed by Breakfast and Champers at Lerida Estate
11 - 12 pm Malcolm Burdett, Lerida's Winemaker, assisted by Julien Montagne, our assistant winemaker from France, explained how to make red and white wine and demonstrated the various steps.
12 - 3 pm Festival lunch
12 - 3 pm Saturday As Famous As The Moon
12 - 3 pm Sunday Mike Bukovsky Quartet

(v) A BLUES WEEKEND AT LERIDA ESTATE!
3-4 February 2007
Lerida Estate hosted some well known Blues musicians as part of the mini Blues Festival held in the lead up to the Australian Blues Music Festival in Goulburn this weekend.

The Australian Blues Music Festival is held on the second weekend of February every year – in 2007 from 8 - 11 February. Goulburn publicans George and Maryanne Lipman and Richard Simmer of the Tattersalls Hotel founded the Australian Blues Music Festival in 1997. The Festival's reputation as the National Festival of Australian Blues Music has attracted the widespread support of the Australian blues music industry.
3 February, Jack Derwin
4 February, Pete and the Pelicans
4 February, Dutch Tilders
New Orleans-themed Lunch - to complement the blues music, Café Lerida presented a Cajun and Creole influenced menu prepared by Frances Bardi from Frangipani Catering in Bungendore.

(vi) Birthday Party - Saturday, 6 January 2007

A family group of 20 (including 8 children) arrived at about 11:30am and enjoyed a very pleasant BBQ birthday lunch in the courtyard at Lerida. The family brought their own food but purchased wine at the cellar to accompany the lunch. The kids had a great time playing boules on the boules court, playing cards at the tables in the cellar door area and playing with Mel and Pinot (our two Jack Russells) while the adults chatted and sipped wine. A very cheerful group packed up around 4:30pm.

What a great way to spend a summer afternoon!

(vii) Wine Tasting - Saturday, 30 December 2006
A group of 45 people arrived from Sydney in a bus at 11:30am for a Lerida wine tasting. This had been prearranged of course so we had set up tables, chairs, glasses of wine, tasting notes, and cheese and biscuits to nibble on.

When the group arrived, Jim took them through the winery explaining the winemaking process and then settled the group in the barrel room for the tutored tasting. The group tasted 6 wines. The wine tasting was followed by lunch, and the group then headed off to Canberra to visit the National Gallery.

The Winery Building

The winery building, has been designed by leading Australian architect, Glenn Murcutt, to be totally functional with respect to all aspects from bringing in the vintage, crushing, pressing, fermentation, maturation, and bottling to entertaining visitors, tastings, and sales. It incorporates ideas from Australian, French and Italian wineries we have visited.

The wine making process flows through the building with grapes arriving at the Northern end, and progressing through fermentation and barrel maturation to end up one or two years later as bottled wine to be enjoyed and purchased from the tasting room at the Southern end.

Even the height of the building was determined by the requirements of the wine making process. The 6 metre roof allows us to use a French technique, pigeage, essential for the production of the finest Pinot Noir wines.

A row of large rainwater tanks guard the eastern face of the building, moderating the temperature, and providing the large quantities of water needed for the constant washing and cleaning in the wine making process.

The Tasting Room and Barrel Room

The tasting room and adjoining courtyard enjoy superb views over Lake George, and can also be used for small corporate functions such as board meetings and product launches. It can be combined with the barrel room to cater for larger events such as weddings.

The Winemaker

Malcolm Burdett has been the full time winemaker at Lerida Estate since June 2005. Originally from Norfolk in England, Malcolm came to Australia in 1985. Malcolm initially worked in the restaurant and hotel industry in both England and Australia. He commenced studying part time for his Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine Science) at Charles Sturt University in 1990 while working at Moorfield Vintners in North Melbourne. Over the next 7 years Malcolm gained extensive winemaking experience in Australia and New Zealand.

Malcolm graduated in 1997, and in the same year, moved to the Canberra district as Winemaker at Doonkuna Estate, Murrumbateman. During his 8 years at Doonkuna he introduced Sparkling Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Late Harvest Riesling and Rose styles to their range, and enjoyed considerable show success.

Malcolm is very excited by the potential he sees in the Lerida Estate vineyard. Most of the vines are now approximately 7 years old which should see wines of greater intensity being produced. Malcolm aims to produce rich, full-bodied wines using a combination of modern Australian and traditional French techniques.

The French Connection

In 2002, we experimented with an arrangement that worked so well that we have decided to continue it every year. A young French masters' graduate from Montpellier (one of the world's great wine making academies) worked at Lerida under the supervision of our sometime consultant, Greg Gallagher, then Chief Winemaker at Charles Sturt University.

Julien Montagne is our assistant winemaker for the 2007 vintage. Julien comes from Maury in France and is also a graduate in viticulture and oenology from the University of Montpelier. He arrived in Canberra in February 2007 and will live in a cottage in Collector. He has experience in making Rosé wines - which is useful because Lerida is aiming to make the best Rosé in Australia!

Lerida's Location and The Lake George "Terroir"

Lerida is situated at the base of the escarpment of the Lake George Range that runs along the western side of Lake George. Lake George is some 45km NE of Canberra and on the route of the Federal Highway, which goes to Goulburn and ultimately to Sydney.

The Lake George Range rises steeply from the Western shores of the Lake. The alluvial fans at the foot of the range form a perfect location for viticulture. The soils are relatively infertile and drain freely. These conditions encourage deep-rooted, healthy vines and provide enough stress to favour the production of grapes with thick skins and excellent fruit flavours and high levels of anti-ageing polyphenols.

The slopes face East allowing the rising sun to dry out any dew, and so reduce the impact of moulds and mildews. Their steepness also contributes to vine health by promoting good air drainage and reducing the risk of frost damage during the growing season.

In addition, as with the rest of the district, Lake George has the ideal ripening conditions for super-premium wines. The bright sunny days of March and April combine with cold nights to prolong maturation and retain the delicate aromatic compounds essential for the expression of varietal flavours.

Cellar Door Range

To read tasting notes for each wine, or the 2006 Vintage Report, go to our website by clicking the link ('web site') under contact details at the top of this page. An order form can also be printed from our website.

2004 Cleanskin ($7.00/bottle; $75.60/dozen)

2004 Shiraz Pinot ($10.00/bottle; $108.00/dozen)

2004 Shiraz ($12.00/bottle; $129.60/dozen)

Fruity Chardonnay ($14.00/bottle; $151.20/dozen)

2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot ($15.00/bottle; $162.00/dozen)

SUPER PREMIUM RANGE

White Wine

2006 Unwooded Chardonnay ($18.00/bottle; $194.40/dozen)

2006 Late Harvest Pinot Gris ($19.50/bottle; $210.60/dozen)

2006 Pinot Gris ($28.00/bottle; $302.40/dozen)

2006 Chardonnay ($32.00/bottle; $345.60/dozen)

Sparkling Wine

2005 Blanc de Noir ($30.00/bottle; $324.00/dozen)

Rose

2006 Rosé ($18.00/bottle; $144.70/dozen)

Red Wine

2006 Pinot Noir ($22.00/bottle; $237.60/dozen)

2004 Merlot ($24.00/bottle; $259.20/dozen)

PROPRIETOR'S SELECTION

2004 Canberra District Pinot Noir ($39.50/bottle; $426.60/dozen)

2005 Chardonnay (unfiltered)($49.50/bottle; $534.60/dozen)

2005 Lake George Shiraz ($49.50/bottle; $534.60/dozen)

2005 Lake George Merlot ($49.50/bottle (in gift box); $534.60/dozen)

Wines can be ordered by going to our website (click on 'website' link at the top of this page).

Our aim at Lerida Estate

Lerida Estate is a relatively recent addition to the Canberra region’s wine sector, but has achieved quite a lot in a short period of time. The owners are Anne Caine and Jim Lumbers and Lerida is the manifestation of Jim’s long-held passion to make an outstanding pinot noir. However, a winery based solely on a one grape variety is not a realistic proposition in Australia, so Jim and Anne produce a range of white and red wines both 'easy drinking' wines, as well as premium wines. After pinot, the main varieties are chardonnay, pinot gris and merlot, with small quantities of Shiraz, Cabernet Franc and Viognier.

Lerida also purchases grapes from other growers, but only those in the Canberra District so as to maintain the regional character of the wines we make.

Price: free

Cards accepted: visa, master card