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2012
Mongrel Vineyard
571 Spring Flat Road, Mudgee, NSW 2850 Region Mudgee T (02) 6372 2681 F (02) 6372 2681 mongrelwine.com.au Open W’ends &public hols 10– 4, or by appt Winemaker Michael Slater, Jacob Stein, David Lowe Est. 1998 Dozens 700 Vyds 3.2 ha In 1986 Sue and David Fairlie-Cuninghame purchased a 50-ha property on Spring Flat, 6 km east of the Mudgee township. It was a weekend retreat, and the main occupation was (and remains) fattening steers. But wine was in their blood: both were founding members of The Rothbury Estate, and Sue was Executive Editor Food & Wine at Vogue Entertaining for over 10 years, adding ‘I was influenced by many leading winemakers from all over the world, but not one of them ever told me what bloody back-breaking work it is, the discipline required and how dodgy the returns.’ So it was in 1998 that they planted a shiraz vineyard on their property, using six of the principal clones. The name was chosen because of the uncontrollable vigour of the vines, itself a legacy of the time that a sheepyard had existed where the vines were planted, providing the soil with an inexhaustible supply of nitrogen1
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