Bidgeebong Wines

A supplier of wines to Tumbafest, Bidgeebong Wines come from the south-west slopes of NSW ­ an area beginning to emerge as the source of some of Australia's most interesting and exciting premium and super-premium wines.

The 'Bidgeebong Triangle' encompasses Tumbarumba in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains , the Hilltops district centred on Young and the Murrumbidgee plain around Gundagai, on the Hume Highway, about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.

The name Bidgeebong is a combination of Murrumbidgee and Billabong. The Murrumbidgee River is the lifeline of the region. Billabongs, meaning 'places of still water' in the Wiradjuri language, were the gathering or meeting places of the original owners of the area, the Wiradjuri tribe. The Wiradjuri occupied this land from time immemorial until Irish farmers established and named the first stations here in the 1800's.

The three regions provide Bidgeebong winemaker, Andrew Birks, with a range of options that will ensure consistency of both style and quality in wines released under the Bidgeebong label.

Each year, Birks will have available to him grapes grown in the cool-to-cold alpine climate of Tumbarumba, the mild-to-cool climate of Hilltops/Young and in the mild-to-warm Gundagai climate. Consistent styles will be developed by blending components from the three regions in different proportions, depending on vintage conditions.

Vineyards are under the management of Simon Robertson, the area's leading viticulturist, whose family developed the Barwang property at Young, now owned by McWilliams.

Visit www.bidgeebong.com.au.