Recently appointed Sirromet Wines director of vineyard and winery operations, Mike Hayes has been awarded Queensland Winemaker of the year at the 35th Annual Queensland Wine Awards.
Sirromet also brought home a Gold medal in Innovative Wine Styles for their Sirromet Amphorae Chardonnay, Silver for the 2013 Le Sauvage Chardonnay and Bronze medals for the 2016 Late Harvest Pinot Gris and NV Sunwine.
Based at the wineries Granite Belt vineyards, Mike Hayes joins Sirromet with 39 years professional wine industry experience across 16 wine regions, four states and two countries and joins current chief winemaker, Adam Chapman, to further develop vineyard management strategies to continue to produce Granite Belt wines recognised on the world stage.
“I am incredibly proud to have received this award, a recognition of my achievements and commitment to my craft,” Hayes said.
“Both Adam and I share a passion for wine education, winemaking and the pursuit of excellence in our fields.
“I am very excited about being part of a company leading, innovation and style within the industry and am thrilled to already add to the impressive 900+ medal tally Sirromet holds.”
Hand-picked, crushed and wild fermented on skins in clay amphorae utilising ancient techniques, Champan’s Amphorae Chardonnay is a labour of love and expression of Chardonnay.
Utilising fruit from block 7 of Sirromet’s Seven Scenes Granite belt vineyard, the egg-shaped amphorae allows low convection or movement of lees producing an exceptional wine with layers of white peach, nectarine skin, almonds, ripe red apple and citrus acidity with a waxy creamy finish.
“The concept for this wine began in 2011 and was inspired by techniques used in Northern Italy,” Chapman said.
“After several smaller trials, I am incredibly proud with the end result. Limited stock remains as one of our Japanese clients purchased majority of this vintage exclusively for their fine dining restaurant in Tokyo. I am now working on subsequent vintages for release soon.”
Sirromet said both Hayes and Chapman look forward to working together, experimenting with emerging varietals, along with precision viticulture technique to ultimately produce a broader range of premium wines for everyone to enjoy.
*Feature photo: (Left) Mike Hayes, with Adam Chapman
