Taemas Wines

Taemas is situated 15km southwest of Murrumbateman and roughly 10km north of the ACT, in a topographical area of the same name bestowed by Hume and Hovell when they passed through the district in the early 1820s; it is believed to be an old variation of the word Thames. Owners Peter McPherson and Peter Wheeler began planting the vineyard in 1997, and over eight years established 1ha each of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon, adding 0.6ha each of merlot, pinot noir (clone MV6) and shiraz in '99 and 2000, finishing with 0.1ha each of viognier and pinot noir (clone 777), the last planted in '05. Interestingly, the 150 vines of viognier were sourced from Yarra Yering, a different clone from that of Yalumba. No red wines were made in 2010 or '11 due to adverse vintage conditions. -JAMES HALLIDAY