Fowles Wine, a boutique winery in the Strathbogie Ranges, is putting Victoria’s wines on the world stage being named in influential Wine Spectator magazine’s Top 100 list for 2020.

Its Ladies who Shoot their Lunch Wild Ferment (2018 vintage) was the only Victorian vineyard to get a guernsey on the US magazine’s annual list of ‘wines that generate excitement and wineries to watch in the future’ and one of only three Australian wines to make the grade.

Fowles Wine chief executive officer Matt Fowles said he and the vineyard and winery teams are thrilled to be selected for the prestigious list which was announced this week and will be published in the 31 December 2020 issue of Wine Spectator.

“The US is the largest fine wine market in the world and Wine Spectator – a leading lifestyle publication that focuses on wine and wine culture – reviews thousands and thousands of wines each year to compile its Top 100,” he explained.

“It is an extraordinarily hard list to crack, but we have been fortunate to make it twice – we were also named in 2014.

“We feel incredibly proud to be showcasing Victoria’s spectacular wines to the rest of the world alongside Penfolds (South Australia) and Western Australia-based Vasse Felix who also made the 2020 Top 100 list.

“Achieving such success this year feels especially sweet given how challenging 2020 has been for our country’s winemakers, with drought, bushfires and COVID-19 restrictions impacting yield, production and winery visitation, as well as the tariffs imposed by China on Australian wine.”

Matt explained that the Ladies who Shoot their Lunch name is a nod to his passion for sustainable hunting and gathering, with the wines crafted to complement the textures and flavours of wild food.

“Since our first release of the Ladies who Shoot their Lunch Shiraz in 2008 it has been consistently awarded, most notably winning the Trophy for Australia’s Best Shiraz in the 2010 Great Australian Shiraz Challenge and now the incredible honour of the Top 100 with Wine Spectator.

“Equally important, it has won the hearts and palates of wine-drinkers and enthusiasts across Australia and overseas.”

The 2018 Shiraz is described as: deep youth vibrant purple in colour; lifted blue and dark berry, pepper spice and spicy oak on the nose; and a sophisticated combination of rich berries, dark chocolate and oak spice with silky tannins and great balance, length and intensity on the palate.

Bottles of Ladies who Shoot their Lunch Shiraz can be purchased via Fowles Wine’s website (fowleswine.com), in-person at its cellar door, and from good retailers for $35.

Fowles Wine is located in the foothills of the Strathbogie Ranges; an area blessed with the perfect combination of granitic soil and a cool climate – the ideal conditions for producing wine with character and elegance.

Matt and his team, with chief winemaker Lindsay Brown, create four distinct ranges of wine, all of which can be tasted at the vineyard’s cellar door.

The Fowles Wine cellar door and restaurant is open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm.

Fowles Wine is located on the corner of Hume Freeway and Lambing Gully Rd, Avenel, about 90 minutes’ drive northeast of Melbourne.