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Page 1 of 2 Regular mail does not receive all notifications to dinners, tastings and special releases. Also if you have changed your email address and do not wish to miss out, please forward your updated email address to
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and we will keep you in the Picardy loop. To be invited to the following Picardy tastings please contact the winery direct.
_ _______________________________ Picardy Tasting InvitationThe Pannell Family would like to invite you to attend the pre-release tasting of the Picardy 2007 Pinot Noir, Picardy 2007 Shiraz and Picardy 2007 Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc. The Picardy 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Picardy 2007 Chardonnay and Pannell Family 2006 Merlot Cabernet will also be available for tasting. A highlight of the ‘Autumn 2009 Tasting’ will be the opening of five vintages of the Picardy Shiraz for your appraisal. Due to their growing popularity, Picardy will now hold two tastings, one in Applecross and the other in Dalkeith for mid May 2009. ____________________________________________________________________ 
An Era of Pinot
Bill Pannell feels that the current Picardy Pinots are the sum of all of his wine experiences.
From his beginnings of being an avid wine drinker in the 60’s, meeting and being inspired by some of the Australian wine greats such as Max Lake and Jack Mann. Leading to the establishment of Moss Wood in 1970; the second vineyard/winery to be established in the Margaret River wine region after the late Tom Cullity’s Vasse Felix. Bill is one of the oldest living exponents of pinot in Australia, having planted the variety at Moss Wood in 1974. Bill would explore further afield to visit France almost annually, especially Burgundy in the 1970’s. This in turn inspired him to start on his pioneering journey of making Pinot Noir. Eventually he and Sandra purchased a share in the prestigious Volnay Domaine De La Pousse D’or, in 1985. This involvement opened doors that usually remain closed to “étrangers”. Intimate knowledge of Burgundian production techniques and clonal selection trials was the result. In 1989, it was agreed that Burgundian vignerons Gerard Potel and Michel Juillot, would (in conjunction with a group of Australian Partners) develop a vineyard in the Smithbrook region close to Pemberton. Bill supervised the early development of that vineyard. This allowed him to be involved in Pinot production back in his home land of Western Australia once again. While visiting Burgundy and in partnership in Pousse D’or, Bill and Sandra spent an extensive amount of time with (and were inspired by) many Burgundian winemakers; Frederic Mugnier, Denis Bachelet and Phillipe Engel to name but a few. This includes the top research oenologist responsible for making the wines from the clonal selection trials at the University of Dijon. This proved to be an invaluable insight into the best clones to make a world class Pinot. Bill found, after extensive research, that Pemberton has many of the climate attributes of Burgundy during the growing season. He then went on to find a high altitude well drained gravelly ridge in the Eastbrook area north of Pemberton. All his efforts were focused on the importation of these new clones (Pinot noir 114, 115 and 777 together with chardonnay clones 76, 95, 96 and 277) for establishing the Picardy vineyard. Recent visits to Burgundy have uncovered more recent selection trials involving pinot noir. Negotiations are under way with a view to importing this marvelous material. Bill mentions that, “Although the 2005 Picardy Pinots are the best wines produced so far. The 2008 Picardy Pinots have a substantial percentage of clone 777 and is proving to be very exciting, even in its youth.” But as always the Picardy team strives for perfection and believes that, “Picardy will continue to improve, with more vine age and a little more complexity with the final 2 clones, who knows, it may prove to exceed all expectations.”  For lovers of great wine!
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