Lachlan Valley Region

Location
Zone - Big Rivers
State - New South Wales


Map Reference
Latitude 32 degrees and 23 minutes South
Longitude 148 degrees and 02 minutes East


Elevation
250 - 400 metres above sea level

Subregions
Nil

Introduction
The Region dates back over a century with a continuous history of winemaking. The creators and the custodians of the industry were French and nowhere else in Australia has France played a lead role in viticultural history as it did here.

Joseph Bernard Reymond and Auguste Nicolas in 1866 took possession of a 320-acre parcel. It was named Champsaur after Reymond's native valley in France, and the same year a large wooden cellar was built.

The next French vigneron was Cassimir Gaymard, who arrived from France around 1900 and established the Sunnyside Vineyard and Winery.

The third French association came via Lucien Georges Bourcier who arrived in 1918 and by 1930 he had 16 acres of wine grapes in production.

Another Frenchman, Jacques Noel Genet (born in Nice in 1925) acquired Sandhills, which he and his wife ran until 1989.

Primary Grape Varieties

White
Chardonnay 65 ha
Other 5 ha
Total White 70 ha

Red
Merlot 40 ha
Shiraz 35 ha
Cabernet Sauvignon 20 ha
Total Red 95 ha

Primary Wine Styles

Chardonnay
Grown on the lighter soils, and produces a wine with peach flavour and soft acid.

Merlot
A surprise leader in the red grape plantings for that region, making a soft red wine.

Shiraz
The red brown earth clays combine with the climate to produce Shiraz with weight and body and would emerge as a red variety most suited to this region.