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Beelgara Estate Winery is located in the village of Beelbangera, just outside the town of Griffith in the heartland of the Riverina district in New South Wales
The Beelgara name means native companion in Australia's Aboriginal indigenous language. While Beelgara Estate has a rich resource in quality fruit from the Riverina, it also sources parcels of cool climate wines from the Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra and Yarra Valley to build a truly comprehensive Australian range of wines. Beelgara brings the warmth and generosity of Australia's wines to every corner of the world. Beelgara's strengths lie with the quality of it's wines and the commitment shown by the stakeholders. Quality and value is the key. The goal is to be approachable, affordable and accessible. Beelgara know that as soon as a person samples their wines, that they are completely won over.
Beelgara Estate was originally built in 1926 by the migrant the Rossetto family. In 2001 the Tooheys purchased the operation and renamed it Beelgara Estate after the estate vineyard. John Toohey and Peter Toohey have a serious commitment to premium winemaking. Significant investment has been made in the technology and Beelgara is now ranked as Australia's 20th largest winemaker.
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The Riverina's long dry summers are highly suitable for grape growing. Rainfall occurs in winter and spring and during the summer growing system water is supplemented in the vineyards using high technology drip irrigation. Climatic conditions support reliable grape growing with moderate to high yields and minimal disease load.
The region's humid autumn conditions favour the development of the fungus Botrytis cinerea. Selected blocks of Semillon grapes are left on the vine post maturity for the noble rot to shrivel the grapes, evaporating the water content and concentrating the sugar and acid levels, thereby creating the luscious Sauternes style dessert wine, for which the region is internationally reknowned.
Beelgara Estate crushed 12,000 tonne of premium grapes in vintage 2008. The wineworks boast modern chilled stainless steel tanks that preserve the fruit characters of all varietal wines. The estate cellar door is arguably one of Australia's finest. State-of-the-art design and a modern layout ensures a memorable experience for tourists and wine enthusiasts visiting the historical Beelbangera winery.
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Capital investment have included the installation of a Bucher Xpert 450 Air Bag Press which can batch process a hundred tonnes of grapes every four to six hours, a Must Chiller allowing 10 degrees C of heat to be removed from must (which significantly improves quality) and the installation of a Micro Oxidation Unit, Flotation unit and new prebottling hall, all of which were installed prior to the 2008 vintage. In anticipation of further bumper vintages, new grape receival bins were also installed. The fruit of the labour is already coming to light. After a massive investment, Beelgara are beginning to amass a swag of medals, including 2 silvers in the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition in London.
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The winemaking team is well known in the industry and has amassed major awards, previously holding senior positions at Penfolds, Charles Sturt University, Goundrey, and Hardys. Never far from Beelgara's heart is appreciation for the role that the estate's suppliers and distributors, retailers and consumers play in the ultimate goal, to develop a long lasting relationships based on trust, loyalty and quality.
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