ELDRIDGE ESTATE B gins N Era The vineyard now known as Eldridge Estate was planted in1984 with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and some Pinot Noir aswell as quite a bit of Chardonnay.
In 1995 David and Wendy Lloyd purchased the property as part of a long held and shareddream to produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of excellence.
Immediately the Lloyds began a program of change in thevineyard.
The main aim was to improve the type and scale of plantings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay although a second aimwas to add Gamay, a personal favourite of the Lloyds.
Over the next 19 years David and Wendy turned their shared dream into reality as their wines gained both local andinternational recognition.
Along the way they turned their 8 hectares of land into their own private refuge, a piece ofheaven.
Sadly Wendy died on February the 18th after a two year struggle with breast cancer.
David remains to run the estate and is as passionate as ever about producing wines ofexcellence, just that now he is doing it alone.
Many people loved meeting Wendy at cellar door where her love of Chardonnay became so well known that the nickname Queen of Chardonnay was bestowed upon her.
The Lloyds small piece of heaven remains intact but thepresence of Wendy is just in memories and photographs.
The most immediate change that visitors to cellar door will notice isthat a number of the Lloyds friends as well as a few locals arerunning cellar door.
In the not too distant future it is hoped to produce a special cuvee of Chardonnay to provide a permanenttribute to our Queen of Chardonnay.
In an ironic twist, nature has stepped in with very cold and wetweather at the time the vines flowered so that the 2014 harvest is tiny, as low as 10 of the normal yield in some patches of Pinot Noir and a total of just 25 of normal for Chardonnay.
The quality at this early stage appears to be very high but thequantity of the first batch of the special cuvee of Chardonnaywill be just one barrel, less than 22 dozen bottles.
At this stage David is not sure of what to call this cuvee as varioussuggestions have been made eg QoC and Cuvee Wendy.
If you see David at cellar door feel free to add your own thoughts.
In the meantime the vineyard cycle of life keeps rolling on, so drop in to toast the Queen of Chardonnay and try someexcellent Pinot Noir whilst there.
Impressive Single vineyard, estate grown and made Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay M-F 12-4pm, S-S 11am- 5pm ph - 0414 758 960 eldridge-estate.com.au cellar door and mailing list 120 Arthurs Seat Rd, Red Hill, Victoria Melway 190 K4 GPS Lat 38 22 16 Long 44 1 11 82 Peninsula Visitor .
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