Travellers between Canberra and Sydney will no doubt have the Cherry Tree Wine logo tucked away at the back of their mind.
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Located between the Illawarra and Old Hume Highway exits, Cherry Tree has been operating in the Southern Highlands for the past two decades.
That innings finally paid off in November when five of their pinot noirs took home medals at the Australian Highlands Wine Show.
Most notably, the 2019 Hayden Reserve was awarded Top Gold alongside the four other pinots whilst their riesling, sparking and sauvignon blanc took out Bronze in their respective categories.
For owner Dave Lorentz, it was vindication for all the work he'd put in crafting the blend.
"It was great to get recognition for all the hard work, I'll tell you that much," he told the Southern Highland News.
"We've been focusing on pinot and trying to make a top pinot for a little while now, it wasn't one of the first grapes we planted.
"I grafted some pinot about five years ago and we're planting a lot more this year so it will be one of our major focuses. It's good to have a trophy for best cool climate pinot in Australia, that's for sure."
Blends may not be highly sought after in the world of whisky, but as Lorentz explained, what allowed the Hayden Reserve shine was its many faces.
"It's a really balanced wine, we have five different kinds of pinot and I'm planting a sixth one," he revealed.
"We look at them all separately and quite often it will be a blend of all of them that's the best wine. For the Reserve pinot we make sure all the best barrels of all the best wines go into the blend.
"It's not a big pinot, the style I like to make is more delicate, subtle and floral."
With 44 of 88 medalists coming from the Southern Highlands, Lorentz said the young region had come a long way but still had plenty of room to grow.
"Most of the vineyards in the Southern Highlands are of a similar age to us," he said.
"It's still growing as a recognised area from a consumer point of view but we're proving that we are one of the top cool climate regions in Australia."
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