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ABOUT HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION AWARDS 

We are beyond thrilled to have been awarded ‘Best Other White Wine or Blend’ at the 2024 Halliday Wine Awards dinner in Melbourne on 2nd August for our newly released 2018 John Kosovich Bottle Aged Chenin Blanc.

In such a strong line up of contenders, we are simply blown away. The wine achieved an incredible score of 98 points in this years #HallidayWineCompanion

This wine is a culmination of years of hard work beginning with the legacy of Ivan who purchased the property in the Swan Valley in 1922, planting the first vines and building our underground cellar. It was John in the 1950’s who took over and realised that table wines were the way of the future rather than sherry and claret styles. The Chenin Blanc vines were amongst the first replantings in 1962 along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.

2018 was a great year in the Swan Valley and the Chenin fruit for this wine was hand harvested in February, gently pressed and cold fremented before being left on fine lees in stainless steel for 6 months prior to bottling. The wine was then put away to develop the lovely toasty lime and honesuckle characters that this variey is renowned for. We waited patiently for five years prior to releasing the wine in July 2023.

ABOUT HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION AWARDS 

Every year, the Halliday Wine Companion Tasting Team pinpoint the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries from a pool of several thousand featured in the annual Halliday Wine Companion guide. Founder James Halliday, together with Campbell Mattinson, Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Mike Bennie, Ned Goodwin MW, Philip Rich and Shanteh Wale, cherry-pick the high performers from a range of criteria to offer a true representation of Australia’s greatest names in wine. The Awards are one of the most anticipated events on the Australian drinks calendar. 

Are you planning a self-catering wedding? Are you looking for premium wines to serve your guests? We’d love to help make your day special.

You will have a private tasting at the cellar door to choose your wines, our winemaker can even peruse your menu and suggest the best wines to match. We can deliver your wines to any address in the Perth metro area and liaise with your wedding co-ordinator if you prefer.

If you would like more information or to book a tasting, please get in touch through our contact page Contact – John Kosovich Wines

The recent Swan Valley twilight wedding expo saw us attending the beautiful Barrett Lane in Herne Hill with wine tastings for couples planning their upcoming weddings. The venue was decorated with style and wedding vendors attended to give ideas and advice on wedding options.

A new string to our bow is offering wine for self-catering weddings or other functions. We offer a private tasting at the cellar door of our wines with the opportunity for our winemaker to look over your menu and offer suggestions of which wines will suit each course of your meal. This presents a great opportunity for a real food and wine matched dinner which your guests will no doubt enjoy with free delivery within the Perth metro area.

If you would like to have a chat about serving our wines at your upcoming event, please contact Paula Kosovich at johnkosovichwines@westnet.com.au of on 0419 869 616.

In our centenary year, how could we not release a centenary wine!

Naturally, Chenin Blanc was chosen, as something we could both harvest, bottle, and release in the same year as our 100 year anniversary. These Chenin vines were planted by John in 1962, and are very special to us.

The grapes were hand harvested and bunch sorted in the second week of February this year, with the family all involved in the harvest. The wine was given all the usual love and craft in the winery, with some portion also transferred into French Oak for added depth and complexity, and finally bottled in October… again with the family all involved.

The wine itself is a fine style of Chenin, showing purity of fruit, slatey and minerally, with notes of floral, ripe apple, lemon zest, gentle oak integration, and an all around complete wine with presence, clarity, and energy.

We are so proud of this winery, and this wine. Available now.

This wine was crafted as a tribute to our mother Mary Kosovich recognising her contribution to the Kosovich winemaking history over six decades.

Mary was born in 1938, and at birth her mother informed the midwives that the baby’s name would be Mara, a name of Croatian origin. It was not uncommon in those days for the midwives to anglicise a newborns name, and so the child was officially recorded as Mary.

Whilst her parents always referred to her as Mara, Mary would always be referred to by her official name outside of the family.

Mary has been omni present in the background at John Kosovich Wines, running the Cellar Door and Finances as well as looking after all things family.

The fruit for this wine was hand harvested from our oldest Chenin Blanc vines planed in 1962. All fruit hand harvested and bunch sorted before a gentle pressing.

A fine, tightly structured wine showing floral, spicey notes and lovely fresh vibrant fruit with length and purity. Cellaring potential for many years.

60 years ago our namesake John Kosovich planted the first Chenin Blanc vines on our home block in the Swan Valley. Even though he had only been the senior winemaker for around nine years, he knew that Perth’s mediterranean climate and local soils were perfectly suited to this varietal.

In the early days, and to some extent even today, the average wine buying public may be reluctant to try Chenin. It is often a wine they’re unfamiliar with. We, however, have persisted for the last 60 years in making this wine. Initially sold as a young white wine, the family has always enjoyed it as an aged wine. It was third generation senior winemaker Arch Kosovich who decided it was time we allowed others to enjoy what we had been sharing around the kitchen table for many years.

Arch began to hold back small quantities of each vintage to be released around six years after bottling and he is beginning to gain a reputation of producing some of the finest wines in Western Australia. When tasting the wine many people perceive it to have been aged in oak, however the characteristics of this wine all come from considered winemaking using well cared for vines and ageing in the bottle.

The current 2015 vintage received the accolade of being named ‘Best Chenin Blanc in Australia’ at the inaugural 2020 Australian Chenin Blanc Challenge along with Best Chenin Blanc and Best Swan Valley Table Wine of Show at the 2020 Swan Valley Wine Show. The 2022 James Halliday Wine Companion rates this wine 97points with Erin Larkin writing this wine is “…an ever-evolving wine of depth and intensity…”

If this is a vareity you have been reluctant to try, we recommend you call by the cellar door for a tasting. We’re sure you won’t be disappointed.

Award Winning 2015 Bottle Aged Chenin has now been released and is available at the cellar door and on line. A lovely expression of Chenin showing slight apple crunch and subtle spicy tones. Wonderful complex flavours on the palate and great texture gives this wine plenty. Tight, green apple acid structure balances up the wine and ensures fantastic cellaring potential. Look for 10 years plus cellaring to develop toasty, lemony bottle aged characters that this variety is renowned for. Great to pair with cheeses or richer seafoods.

2020 Swan Valley Wine Show – Gold Medal, Best Chenin Blanc and Best Swan Valley Table Wine of show.

2020 Inaugural Australian Chenin Challenge – Gold Medal and Best Chenin Blanc of Australia