DEFINE WINE

Windowrie’s The Mill range, best of NSW

Windowrie has continued its very successful 150th year celebrations with a tranche of awards from Australia’s most respected wine magazine, Winestate.

The winery has recently received the following awards, positioning it as one of NSW’s best winemakers.  The awards comprise:

‘Best New Release’               

  • 2011 Windowrie The Mill Cabernet Merlot

This ranking is given to the best ‘New Release’ wines from Australian and New Zealand that were tasted by a range of winemakers and wine judges as part of the monthly Winestate Magazine tastings during 2011.  There were approximately 5,000 wines tasted.

‘Best of State (NSW)’             

  • 2011 Windowrie The Mill Cabernet Merlot
  • 2010 Pig in the House Shiraz (5 Stars)

The wines that are included in this band comprised only 5% of the total 10,000 wines tasted by Winestate during the year. 

“This is capping off a fantastic year for Windowrie,” said family member and owner Jason O’Dea.  “Since Anthony D’Onise came on board as our winemaker, and broadened our sourcing of grapes to include Orange and Hilltops, as well as our Cowra fruit, we have attracted some exciting awards and wine show results.”

“2011 is also the 150th anniversary of The Mill, where we have our cellar door tasting room, so it is giving the locals and visitors to the region an extra reason to drop in.”

“One of the most pleasing thing about these results is that they are across the whole range, not just for a single wine.”

These results include:

 NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show 2011

  • ‘Trophy for Best Bordeaux Blend’ – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Cabernet Merlot    
  • Gold Medal – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Cabernet Merlot
  • Top Gold Medal – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Shiraz

 Cowra Wine Show 2011

  • Trophy for the Best Local Red Wine – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Shiraz
  • Gold Medal – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

 Cairns Wine Show 2011

  • Gold Medal – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Chardonnay

James Halliday’s 1001 Wines Under $20, 2012 Edition

  • 90 Points – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Merlot
  • 91 Points – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Cabernet Merlot 

Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2011 

  • Gold Medal – 2010 Windowrie The Mill Cabernet Merlot 

Although the wine industry continues to experience an oversupply, NSW wines are growing in sales within NSW.  “NSW wine drinkers are choosing to consuming more NSW wines which is driving this growth.  This is particularly evident with the premium NSW wines, which are seeing good growth, reflecting that consumer are happy to pay for quality.”

All the Windowrie wines are available for tasting and sales at the Windowrie cellar door in Cowra, as well as online via www.windowrie.com.au.  Summer opening hours are Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm 

For further information, images or samples please contact: 

Jason O’Dea at Windowrie Estate: 02 6344 3264 or jason@windowrie.com.au
David Cumming at Define Wine:  0414 736 342 or david@definewine.com.au


WINDOWRIE ESTATE is one of the Cowra region’s founding winemakers. Established by the O’Dea family in 1988, the business experienced considerable success, allowing them to build a 6000 tonne winery in 1999. The Windowrie range now comprises the ‘Family Reserve’, ‘The Mill and ‘Deep River’ range. A feature of Windowrie is The Mill cellar door and function centre located in the heart of Cowra. The old, rundown 1859 flour mill was painstakingly restored by the family in the 1990s and is now a key attribute of the town.