MEDIA RELEASE
Qantas
selects Freycinet Wine for its International Guests
Freycinet Vineyard is
delighted to announce that Qantas has recently selected two of its wines - the
2008 Freycinet Pinot Noir and the
2009 Freycinet Chardonnay - for
inclusion in its International wine portfolio.
The Qantas Wine Panel reviews all wines to be served on
board its flights. Meeting several times a year, the Panel assesses thousands of
wines under strict wine show conditions to select the outstanding examples that
make up the core of the Qantas Wine Program.
The Panel currently comprises Vanya Cullen, Steve Pannell and Tom
Carson, three of Australia's most widely respected winemakers and wine show
judges.
The
2008 Freycinet Pinot Noir will be
served on selected flights in Qantas International First Class from June until
August this year. The 2009 Freycinet Chardonnay will be served on selected flights in
Qantas International Business Class flights toward the end of 2011.
Peter Bourne, the highly
respected wine critic and writer prepared the attached Tasting Note for Qantas
passengers:
“ Freycinet produces superlative pinots year-in and
year-out. Self-effacing Claudio
Radenti is the man behind the vats, his ‘08 (Pinot Noir) a fine savoury style,
its intense raspberry and strawberry flavours mingle with a deep truffle-like
complexity and fine poised finish.”
Freycinet’s winemaker
Claudio Radenti commented: “This
is a real coup for Freycinet Vineyard and for Tasmanian wine. Qantas has a long
history and thoroughly deserved reputation for providing the best in flight wine
program amongst the airlines. We are thrilled that our 2008 Freycinet Pinot
Noir was selected for the prestigious Qantas First Class wine portfolio. And the
2009 Freycinet Chardonnay for International Business customers. Qantas is a
great supporter and promoter of premium Australian wine and we are grateful for
this opportunity to present our wine to the world.”
Background
Freycinet Pinot Noir
is our flagship wine for lovers of fine red
Burgundies and reflects the unique terroir
(soil and true cool climate) of the single vineyard amphitheatre site on the
East Coast of Tasmania between the towns of Bicheno and Swansea overlooking the
renowned Freycinet Peninsula near Coles Bay.
In September 2010 Langton’s, the respected Australian fine wine auction house,
released its fifth classification list of 100 or so Australian “grand marque”
wines – updated every 5 years or so
since 1990 - and included Freycinet Pinot Noir in this list. In November 2010
James Halliday, Australia’s pre-eminent wine judge, included the 2008
Freycinet Pinot Noir wine in his 2010 Top 100. In January 2011 the 2008
Freycinet Pinot Noir was awarded
Gold
in the 3-year-old Pinot class at the 2011 Tasmanian Wine Society Show. The
moderate yield in vintage 2008 benefited from a glorious autumn, enabling
harvesting of the fruit at optimum health and ripeness. The 2008 Freycinet
Pinot Noir was released in July 2010.
The 2009 Freycinet Chardonnay was
produced from a season characterised by drought conditions albeit with a
typically fine East Coast Tasmania Autumn - cool nights/sunny days - enabling
marvellous intensity of flavours to develop. Using traditional techniques
adopted from the Burgundy homeland the wine was matured for 10 months in highest
quality French oak casks (20% new).The 2009 Freycinet Chardonnay was
awarded
Gold at the 2011 Tasmanian Wine Show with acclaimed wine judges
James Halliday, Huon Hooke and Peter Bosworth.