LERIDA Estate’s 2006 Lake George Pinot has been awarded a silver medal in the San Francisco International Wine Competition. 
The wine topped its class at the 2007 Canberra Regional Wine Show.
The US competition attracted 3500 entries, nearly 200 of these being pinot noir wines. 
Judges compared pinot noirs from seven countries in a series of masked tastings.
Jim Lumbers, of Lerida Estate, said: “We have always thought that Lake George had great potential for pinot noir, so it is welcome vindication to see international judges ranking us up with the world’s best.
“It is particularly pleasing that the result was achieved with the 2006 vintage. This was a very challenging vintage for the Canberra District because it was much warmer and much dryer than usual. We trucked water in for three months before the grapes were harvested, which many thought was an economically insane decision.
“Also, the Lerida Estate vines which were planted in 1997 are only just starting to reach full maturity in terms of fruit flavours. We are expecting even better results from the 2007 and 2008 vintages, especially 2008, which has been one of the coolest in recent years.
“In fact, the unreleased 2007 Pinot Noir, bottled only five months ago, has already won silver in its first show. Our wines always take a long time to settle after bottling, so this should really be a wine to watch.”