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Graeme Leith, Passing Clouds, Bendigo, Victoria [©VisitVineyards.com]

Passing Clouds, Bendigo, Victoria [©VisitVineyards.com]

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Passing Clouds has recently moved winery operations from Kingower to their Daylesford vineyard. The cellar door is open daily 11am-5pm

It's not a case of all good things coming to an end, it's more a case of looking forward to the next 35 years of Passing Clouds, in a location where the clouds do a little less passing. They'll always make the Bendigo reds although Graeme and Cameron are now concentrating on the cool climate range. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit from the Daylesford vineyard is fantastic and they look forward to producing increasingly stunning cool/cold climate wines

The symbiosis between grapegrowing and winemaking ensures that Passing Clouds always produces exciting, balanced, beautiful wines.

The story begins in 1973 when Graeme Leith and Sue Mackinnon great friends and partners decided that they wanted even more challenges in life than were possible for them in their careers as electrical contractor and journalist; Graeme was the electrical contractor. They wanted to brave the elements, face the challenges of the land, and like so many before them pursue the holy grail of ‘the best wine in the world'.

They didn't want it to be dependent on pesticides or insecticides so they chose a site in a dry area north west of Bendigo on old gold diggings, where the soil had been dug over a hundred and twenty years before by goldminers. There they planted their vines, initially Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon to make a classic Aussie blend.

They were successful, and the first wine they showed at the Melbourne Wine Show, the 1982 Shiraz Cabernet won gold. Since then the vineyards produce has won numerous medals for magnificent wines, presently including not only the predominant Graeme's Blend Shiraz Cabernet, but The Angel, a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cab Franc and some spectacular Shiraz.

Passing Clouds is famous for its reds, reds of great character, individuality and superb quality. As one wine writer said ‘ have a lot of sample bottles on my table at the end of the day, but whenever there's Passing Clouds, it's the one we drink with dinner.'

Retail and wholesale wine orders are available online via cellarmail or contacting direct by phone or email. Or by visiting us at the Cellar Door (5 minutes from Daylesford) open every day 11am-5pm.

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