Chirping Bird
This is our new brand which incorporates our exciting new range of pink Moscato and our exclusive hand picked Shiraz as well as the finest cool climate fortified Muscat. But the brand also encompasses a luxury sailing yacht for charter in the Whitsundays.
The Wines
In early 2008 the Chirping Bird wine brand will be launched. 
There are five wines in the Brand, Cool Climate Shiraz, High Nonn Chardonnay, Summer Moscato, Early Bird Moscato, and fortified Muscat; with the fortified being set for release in 2010 or 2011. 
The criteria for the label was that it had to respresent fun and honesty in the wine. Chirping Bird does just that. It says fun and lets the wine do it own talking
Australian Shiraz can be broadly divided into two groups- either warm or cool climate Shiraz. The former generally offers big ripe fruit driven styles with overt American oak, while their cool climate counterparts offer finesse with spicy complexity, fine grained tannins and natural acid balance. The cool maritime climate of the Mornington Peninsula results in a long growing season which extends flavour ripening whilst maintaining natural acid balance. The first Chirping Bird Shiraz is full bodied with lots of ripe berries and savory oak. A massive wall of supple tannins means that, whilst balanced and drinkable young, this wine can age up to 10 years. The Chirping Bird Shiraz had a fantastic predesessor in the Mim's Shiraz winning 1 Gold and 4 Bronze medals in its short history.
Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains is likely to be the oldest known grape variety, having been established in Southern France by the Romans or possibly even earlier by the Greeks. Today it is most widely planted in the North Western Piedmont region and is made into the highly fragrant, slightly fizzy and sweet Moscato style. The Mornington Peninsula is a cooler region and therefore produces even more fragrant Moscatos. Also known as Brown Muscat in the fortified region of Rutherglen in northern Victoria it produces a luscious dessert wine high in alcohol and flavour ( liquid raisins would be the best way to describe it) We make both fortified Muscat and Moscato although the fortified wine is still in barrel and probably won't be released for some years to come - well good things really do take time. The pink hue in our Moscato reflects the pink colour of the grapes at harvest. Intense white peach and pear aromas with a hint of musk. A fruity, luscious palate with a gentle spritz and great flavour persistence. The sweetness on the palate is balanced by fine acidity which gives the wine a crisp finish. The Moscato was the instigator of the Chirping Bird concept. Moscato is Summer in a bottle and the Chirping Bird reflects that as well as the anticipated fun that the Chirping Bird image congers up.
Australian Chardonnay is synonymous on the Mornington Peninsula with some of Australia'a and indeed the worlds best Chardonnays eminating from the region. Despite the onslaught of Sauvignon Blanc in recent years it is still the most popular white wine grape in the world today. Styles vary greatly from the fruit driven and steely qualities of the "chablis" style to the fuller bodied barrel matured oak driven buttery style of the "White Burgundy". The High Noon Chardonnay seeks out the best qualities in the two extremes and combines them to include the wonderful fruit characters along with the revered butteryness of the older style Chardonnay. We achieve this by essentially making two wines; one in Stainless steel without oak and one matured in French oak barrels, then it is carefully blended to gives the High Noon Chardonnay its distinctive flavour and pallette. A silver medal in its first showing vindicates the wine making choice.
The Boat
Our boat is a luxury Beneteau 43' sailing yacht equipped to cater for up to 10 people but 2-3 couples would be ideal or it can be sailed easily with just 2 people. Equipped with all the mod-cons including GPS chart plotter, DVD & CD system, extra fridge space for the Chirping Bird wines and most importantly the BBQ. 
One of the best things about this boat is its outdoor living area. The cockpit is huge and the dual wheels give straight through access from cabin to the stern swimming platform. Docked "stern in" in the marina it is step on and off without having to clamber over safety lines
