THIS year is shaping up to be one of the biggest yet for the Delatite Winery, with the reimagined venue on the receiving end of numerous awards, nominations and accolades, as the venue is lauded for its winemaking skills, its service, its ambience and its architecture.
“We’re absolutely delighted that in the 2024 edition of the James Halliday Australian Wine Companion, three of our wines received 95 points,” said Delatite Winery managing director David Ritchie.
The Halliday Wine Companion Awards recognise the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists, and wineries, with David attributing their recent success to the natural hands-off approach that the Delatite practices in the vineyard and to Andy Browning’s winemaking.
“Just as thrilling is that our totally-natural 2022 Petnat received 93 points, as did the 2021 vintage,” said David.
“It's the second year running that our PetNat has received equal top points in this up-and-coming wine style category.”
Petnat is short for 'pétillant naturel', translating from French as 'naturally sparkling', with the wine made with as little intervention as possible which suits the Delatite’s preferred wine-making style.
Nothing is added during the process, and nothing is filtered out at the end, with the wine simply taken from the tank and bottled while it's undergoing fermentation, which creates the bubbles.
On top of strong endorsement from the Halliday , it’s also been quite a month for architectural awards, with the Delatite Winery shortlisted in more than its fair share of state, national and global awards.
“These include being shortlisted in the Australian Institute of Architects 2023 Commercial Architecture Awards, the World Architecture Festival in the WAF Completed Buildings: Hotel and Leisure category and also the prestigious 2023 Designers Australia Awards,” said David.
The cellar door which opened in June 2021 was designed by Lucy Clemenger Architects and takes advantage of the stunning views over Mt Buller and the Alpine Range.
“These nominations are a testament to the architects who have designed a truly beautiful building,” said David.
“They took inspiration from the environment around us.
“The colour of the bricks is designed to blend into the summer grass, the greens used in the interiors are taken from walking along the Howqua River and the use of timber was inspired from local fishing and cattleman's huts.
“And although the design was a collaboration between us and the architects, they delivered above and beyond our brief.”
And the slew of accolades also extends to service, with the winery recently notified that their dining room was named a finalist in the Winery Restaurant category for the 2024 Victorian/Tasmanian Restaurant and Caterer’s Association Awards for Excellence.
“This is a real credit to Tiff Henwood our hospitality manager, Alwyn Ong our head chef, and all our amazing staff,” said David.