Kalari Wines

The name Kalari was that given by the Wiradjuri people for the nearby Lachlan River before white settlement. The family-owned vineyard saw chardonnay, verdelho and shiraz planted in 1995, followed by cabernet sauvignon, merlot and semillon in ?97. Now owned by Valto and Pamelo Heikkinen, the vineyard has been slimmed down to 1ha each of chardonnay, verdelho and shiraz. Unusually, Kalari produces four different styles of wine from verdelho: a light, dry wine; a semi-sweet table wine; Fortelho, the first fortified wine from the region; and, most recently, a dessert wine (Semillon/Verdelho). -JAMES HALLIDAY