Denmark’s Castelli Estate awarded top trophy for their Chardonnay at the international wine awards

Denmark’s Castelli Estate winery has put their town on the map once again after its chardonnay won a major trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Awards. The local wine producer’s Il Liris Chardonnay won a trophy in the dry white wine category of the annual awards for the second year running. The international competition was founded by oenologist Anton Massel in 1969 and this year attracted thousands of entries from the top wineries in more than 90 countries. Owner Sam Castelli said it was an honour to be recognised on the world stage for a second consecutive year. The winners were announced in London late last month where judges praised Castelli Estate’s chardonnay as “such a precise and focused wine”. “Crisp and crunchy with perfect stone fruit, hazelnuts and a touch of reduction,” the judges said. “Clean and fresh with some real complexity.” Chief winemaker Andrew Vesey said he was both “shocked and excited” by the news. “You wouldn’t think that it’s possible with the amount of wine entered from around the world that you could win it once, let alone two years running,” he said, “These wines come from highly regarded grape-growing regions and also some little-known regions like Denmark, which is now on the global stage again.” The Il Liris Chardonnay was one of seven Australian wines to win trophies and two from WA. Mr Vesey said he believed it was the care Castelli Estate put into their vineyards that set them apart. “We’ve got the Southern Ocean sitting right next door to us and we have also got altitude,” he said. “The long seasons, the cool weather and the long crops all contribute to flavour and fruit profile.” In January, the Castelli family homestead was destroyed in a fire that reduced the Mt Shadforth Road property to ruins. Fire crews rushed to battle the blaze but the old Tudor-style building could not be saved. “It was a sad day, it was the only hot day that we had in the grape growing season,” Mr Vessey said. “It was the one day that Denmark got above 40C and it was a sad day to see the family’s homestead go down.” Mr Castelli said they were rebuilding the home and looking forward to hosting the Days of Summer concert next year.