News – Page 3 – Thompson Estate

Margaret River experiences an exceptional 2020 vintage

The consensus among local winemakers and vignerons is that the 2020 vintage is going to be one of the best yet.  Thompson Estate’s winemaker, Paul Dixon said “With the lack of any heat waves during the critical ripening period for the whites, the fruit will be of the highest quality. The handpicked fruit from the ‘Specialist’ selected section of the Chardonnay block is by far the best I have ever seen.”

In addition to the exceptional quality, Paul said “Warm, dry conditions in November and December have resulted in the earliest vintage I have experienced.  With 27 vintages under my belt in the Margaret River region, the next earliest vintage was in 2007 which started on 6 February.

The hand picking of the Pinot Noir for the Four Chambers Rosé and Chardonnay for the Specialist occurred in the last week of January which is about four weeks earlier than last year."

Owner, Peter Thompson reported “Yields are low this year but the fruit quality is excellent with the grapes showing great flavour concentration and a good acid backbone.  We are also seeing prolific marri blossom flowering which is helping to keep the birds out of the vineyard.”

Margaret River’s maritime climate usually provides a high winter rainfall and an even temperature during the growing season.  These factors combine to produce wines with outstanding flavour as well as structure and balanced acidity. The 2019-20 growing season was relatively dry.  Apart from plentiful rainfall during June, other months had significantly lower rainfall than average (see chart courtesy Bureau of Meteorology), explaining the low yields but encouraging intensity of flavour for the 2020 vintage.

 

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Peter attends Australia Day Tasting in London

Peter Thompson recently flew to London to showcase Thompson Estate wines at the Australia Trade Tasting in London. Thompson Estate was one of 200 producers at the one-day tasting pouring a selection of more than 1000 wines to interested importers, buyers, sommeliers, media, bloggers and wine educators. 

Around 1000 people braved the wintery conditions to experience the exciting range of Australian wines on offer in the UK at the moment. 

Peter said "New contacts with the trade helped to extend our footprint in the UK with valuable sales leads for our English importer Thomas Peatling Fine Winesand Scottish importer Villeneuve Wines."

Running for over 30 years, the Australia Trade Tasting organised by Wine Australia is the biggest and most diverse display of Australian wine in Europe.  The UK and Europe are key markets for Australian wine and exports continue to grow.  Thompson Estate’s  current European exports include  UK, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, and Denmark.

Contact Nicholas Corke sales@thospeatling.co.uk / http://www.thospeatling.com) and Kenneth Vannan  wines@villeneuvewines.com / http://www.villeneuvewines.com/

 

 

 

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GOLD 2 YEARS RUNNING!

Last week the Annual Langtons Margaret River Wine Show was held.  For the second year running we received a gold medal for Four Chambers Pinot Noir Rose.

We also were in the nominations for Best Single Vineyard White Finalist.

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The Queensland Market

The Queensland Market

Our market in Queensland is expanding rapidly since the appointment of a new distributor, Select Wines.  Peter and Jane met their representatives and key clients in the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. A highlight of the visit was a boisterous and enjoyable Wine Press Club lunch at Le Petit Truffle, one of the top restaurants on the Gold Coast.

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Great Wine Launched in a small world report submitted by Annemette Thomsen

“A couple of weeks ago my Danish friend Karin called and asked – with a smile on her face - if I had purchased a winery in Margaret River (note my surname). I told her “no – not yet” and she explained that her mum had been to an amazing launch of Thompson Estate’s wines in Denmark arranged by the importer Vesterstroem Vine. She loved the story and the wines and purchased several cases from both The Estate range and The Specialist range. I told my friend that I had actually played a role in bringing the beautiful wines of Thompson Estate to Denmark in the sense that I had introduced Henrik Vesterstroem – owner of Vesterstroem vine – to Jane & Peter Thompson during Henrik’s last trip to WA in February 2019.

Like so many of us, Henrik instantly fell in love with both the wines as well as The Thompsons’ and he decided to become the first importer of Thompson Estate’s wines into Denmark. As such, it was with great pride that Vesterstroem Vine on Thursday 29th August 2019 launched Thompson Estate wines at a remarkable event were tapas and wine were served at La Banca restaurant in Hellerup north of Copenhagen. 64 guests and wine lovers welcomed Thompson Estate wines where one of them coincidentally happened to be my friend’s mum. Based on the initial interest, the market potential looks very promising – and who knows if one day Australian born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will get the opportunity to taste the amazing wines of Thompson Estate.”

 Annemette Thomsen

 

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