They produce little, but what they produce is delicious. About forty kilometers northwest of Bendigo Dominic and Krystina Morris started their own winery in 1997. By that time they gained a lot of experience in Barossa, France and Portugal. The connection with Portugal remained: Dominic now flies a few times a year to the northern hemisphere to oversee the production of red wine at Quinta do Crasto in the Douro Valley.

In the sleepy village of Bridgewater-on-Loddon you will find the Pondalowie cellar door. A modest, well-decorated room, which was part of the former Bridgewater Family Hotel in 1871. Today we find Dominics amiable father behind the bar. Together with his wife, he owns a number of Pondalowie vineyards along the Loddon River.

Immersive wines
Dad Morris pours in the glasses. The glittering, salmon-colored Tempranillo Rose 2009: berries, fresh, smooth, but with a slightly spicy aftertaste. Then twice the 2008 Tempranillo. The 'normal' has dark fruit and something licorice and is mostly very smooth, while the non oaked 'MT' has a lot more expressiveness and a fruity taste.
The tasting does not stop. The 2006 Shiraz-Viognier is dark, smells and tastes like violets concentrated and firm. The 2005 Special Release Cabernet-Malbec is earthy, dark, smooth and sultry.

Each are concentrated, overwhelming wines which only seem better because of their great designed, colorful labels. And oh, the recurring sketch is not barbed wire, but a freehanded sketch by Dominic of the family dog, a kelpie. ‘Let us be happy he is not an artist now,’ joked his father.

Cellar Door Open: Saturday & Sunday, December – till 17 hours

This article was made ​​in May 2010 by Trouw Journalist Remke de Lange. For more wine articles: http://www.remkedelange/. This article is copyrighted