HUNTER VALLEY’S ONLY DARK HORSE WINERY,
5 STARS!

Ballabourneen Wine Co. has recently been awarded the only Dark Horse winery in the Hunter Valley. Dark Horse Winery status is an annual award featured in the James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2012 edition. It is awarded to 1 of 10 Australian wineries and are a group of wineries that have produced a particularly impressive series of wines for this edition. Eight regions are (indirectly) featured, the ubiquitous Margaret River twice, and the far from ubiquitous Swan Valley also twice. This selection was made from a field of 15, all with compelling claims for inclusion.Out of the 10 Ballabourneen wines submitted to the Australian Wine Companion 5 wines achieved 94 points and Ballabourneen also achieved the famed status of a 5 star winery.

Ballabourneen was started by husband and wife team Alex and Di Stuart in 1994 and has in recent years formed a partnership with winemaker Daniel Binet. Daniel has been twice nominated for The Wine Society Young Winemaker of The Year and Hunter Valley Rising Star, great achievements for a relatively young winemaker. Daniel has had extensive judging experience regionally, nationally and internationally.

On the 4,5,6th of September Daniel will be judging alongside Ian Riggs Chief Winemaker and Managing Director of Brokenwood wines in the Shanghai International Wine Challenge 2011.

This year has proved to be a very successful one for the team at Ballabourneen Wine Co.

About: Ballabourneen Wine Co.
Like most young winemakers worth their salt, Dan Binet craved the opportunity to make his very own wines. Blessed with good training, a great mentor, and ‘buckets' of ambition, that dream is now a reality. Alex Stuart, a retired builder, started Ballabourneen when he and his wife Di moved from Sydney to Lovedale in 1994 and established a small vineyard at the end of Talga Road. A few years later he began having white wines made for him by the late Alasdair Sutherland at Capercaillie, and reds by Andrew Thomas.

Alex put the brand on hold and most of his wine stocks into storage when he sold the vineyard in 2006, but maintained his interest in the local wine and tourism industries as a board member and now President of Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism. A couple of years ago a chat with Dan Binet rekindled his desire to get back into the industry at an operational level. In 2011 Ballabourneen has now achieved the accolade of the only Dark Horse winery in the Hunter Valley and recognized as a 5 star winery.

Ballabourneen’s cellar door is situated in the former Evans Family site in Broke Road, right in the very heart of Pokolbin.