Media Release January 8, 2010

For immediate release

Top Bellarine grapes win over Brown Brothers

Brown Brothers, a major force in the Australian wine industry, has signed a contract to purchase chardonnay grapes from Bellarine Peninsula vineyard, Leura Park Estate with a view to using them for its flagship ‘Patricia’ range of wines.  The contract is the culmination of an extensive 12 month search for top quality cool climate Chardonnay grapes to complement fruit sourced from Brown Brothers’ renowned high altitude vineyard at Whitlands.

‘Patricia’ is Milawa-based Brown Brothers’ highest end, premium range of wines.  Named after the company’s matriarch, the Patricia range retails between $40 and $60 per bottle and is found only in exclusive restaurants and cellars throughout Australia.  The range comprises a Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Noble Riesling.

Brown Brothers Viticulturalist, Mick Griffith said Brown Brothers had researched a number of identified premium vineyard regions in Victoria looking for extra cool climate chardonnay grapes and was won over by the Bellarine.

“We target vineyard sites with natural vigour restriction, inherently low cropping levels and very well balanced vine growth,” Mr Griffith said.

 “We were very impressed with the Leura Park Estate vineyard and the operation as a whole - the site has excellent potential for our Patricia range.”

Director of Leura Park Estate, David Sharp said the Brown Brothers contract was an honour and gratifying for both the vineyard and the Bellarine.

“The Bellarine has always been renowned for the quality of its chardonnay and to be selected for consideration in the Patricia Range is serious confirmation that when it comes to fruit and wine quality, this region is up there with the best in Australia,” he said.

Mr Sharp said the Brown Brothers’ contract was a credit to Leura Park Estate’s Vineyard Manager, Andrew Mahoney.

“The vineyard is extremely well maintained in all aspects - soil, water consumption and grape integrity is monitored on a daily basis to ensure optimum vintage results.”

Mr Sharp also said that when it came to highlighting to Brown Brothers the potential of locally grown fruit, Leura Park Estate had the runs on the board with its BLOCK 1 hand picked Reserve Chardonnay which boasts an ever increasing number of awards under its belt.

“A major advantage in winning the contract was that the Brown Brothers’ team could see what could be achieved with grapes grown on the Bellarine Peninsula.”

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For further information, please contact:

David Sharp

Leura Park Estate

0411 029 400

Released by:

Lyndsay Sharp

Leura Park Estate

0438 54 1169