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A Vintage Year for Two RiversWelcome to the latest edition of Off the Vine. It's been an action packed year here at Two Rivers with the new Cellar Door adding a whole new dimension to what we do.
The vineyard has seen the classic Australian weather extremes of droughts and flooding rains and our wines have continued to receive some wonderful accolades. Here are some of the highlights of the year: 2006 Stones Throw Semillon
2005 Reserve Semillon 4 star rating - Winestate Magazine 2005 Reserve Chardonnay (sold out) Blue Gold - 2007 Sydney International Wine Show Top Gold Medal - 2006 Hunter Valley Wine Show 4 ½ star rating - Winestate Magazine 2006 Wildfire Unwooded Chardonnay 4 star rating - Winestate Magazine 2006 Hidden Hive Verdelho Gold Medal - 2007 Hunter Valley Wine Show (only gold medal awarded) |
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Peter FennellOne of the great things about our new Cellar Door is that it gives us the chance to show off the artistic talents of a great old friend of ours, Peter Fennell.
Peter has strong links with Denman and agreed to do a series of paintings focusing on some of our local landmarks. The Denman main street has so much character and genuine country charm so it was the perfect place for Peter to start. Our aim is to have an exhibition of his local works but they keep getting snapped up by eager buyers as fast as he paints them! Pete has painted all over the world and has galleries in Sydney and Melbourne (and now Denman). His painting in recent years has taken him to Europe with extensive works in Tuscany, Venice, Morocco and a sell out exhibition in Paris. |
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ABC Radio's Country Hour comes to Two RiversThe Two Rivers Cellar Door was the venue for a recent "outside broadcast" of the ABC's NSW Country Hour. The program is broadcast on ABC's regional network and covers the entire state so it was a thrill to know that it was all happening in our new Cellar Door!
The show is hosted by Michael Condin who was assisted by our local ABC radio personality, Mike Pritchard. Brett opened the show with a discussion on the wine industry, where he managed to get in more than a few shameless plugs for Two Rivers! Other speakers included the Mayor of Muswellbrook, John Colvin, and several representatives from the local thoroughbred industry to discuss the equine influenza outbreak. This disease has been the most topical issue in this area since it occurred and the impact of the outbreak has been felt right across our community. It was a great experience and an honour to host the Country Hour and our thanks go to Mike Pritchard and Michael Condin for choosing Two Rivers as the venue. |
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Steve Shaves for Kids with CancerSteve Kendall has been an integral part of Two Rivers since we started in 1988. Steve is also a member of our local Fire Brigade and as part of "Bluey's Day" he agreed to shave his head to raise money for kids with cancer.
Ever since we have known Steve, none of us (including his wife) have seen him without his trademark moustache, so we made it clear to Steve that if he was really going to raise some money…..the MO must GO! Showing his dedication to the cause, Steve got it all shaved off! Well done Steve for such a worthy cause! |
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Wedding Bells!Two Rivers was proud to host the recent wedding of Toby Smith and Renee Thatche. This delightful couple were married at our viewing area on the top of our hill, on a beautiful spring afternoon with the vineyard looking its very best.
The reception was held at the Cellar Door where 75 guests celebrated in style and partied well into the night. The Cellar Door proved to be a great wedding venue, right down to the finer details. After a spectacular sunset, as if on cue, a full moon rose in the east to provide a stunning backdrop for the evening. This one was definitely meant to be! |
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Rock'n at the RiversThe June floods were not all good news for the Denman community. Our local Children's Centre was completely flooded and had to be shut down for four months, causing a huge disruption to the many local families who use this great facility.
Stella Raleigh, our Administration Manager is President of the Children's Centre and along with her hard working committee, organised a fantastic fundraising event at the newest venue in town, the Two Rivers Cellar Door. Over 500 people enjoyed the perfect weather and a great day of family fun. Local band "Riverside" kept the adults entertained while the kids had a ball with jumping castles, giant slides, face painting and fairy floss. The Two Rivers wines were flowing well and even managed to loosen a few wallets for the charity auction! The day was a huge success and helped to raise some much needed funds to get the Children's Centre back on its feet. |
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Two Rivers TrucksYou may have seen a bright new truck emblazoned with Two Rivers pass you by recently. We are very excited to have had commissioned two new truck curtains with our local trucking company Sowter Transport of Denman. These trucks travel daily to Sydney and Brisbane, which provides us with great exposure for our wines.
Sowter Transport has been a family owned and operated trucking company since it was established back in 1972 by Bro and John Sowter. Bro is one of Denman's long standing community members; he and his wife Betty raised all 10 of their children in Denman and they have certainly been an asset for the district in more ways than one, adding significantly to Denman's population. John, Bro and Betty's eldest son and his wife Leanne now own and operate the business from their Denman premises. Sowter Transport for many years has carried out our grape transport to our winery in Pokolbin. We now look forward to having all of our packaged wine and any other transport requirements being carted by Sowter's. At Two Rivers we really value the support of our local businesses and see the relationship between ourselves and Sowter Transport only growing stronger. Hopefully in the future there will be a whole fleet of Sowter's trucks adorned with the Two Rivers logo passing you by! |
