Cricket Pitch White
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2026
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh oysters, grilled white fish, goat cheese salad
✨ Technical Specifications
The story of Brokenwood's Cricket Pitch White is inextricably linked to the winery's playful and community-minded origins. In 1970, the founders cleared a portion of their newly acquired Hunter Valley property to plant vines, but famously spared a flat, grassy tract to establish a cricket pitch. This pitch became the site of legendary social matches against rival wineries and visiting teams. The Cricket Pitch White was created to capture this spirited, social energy. Traditionally crafted as a vibrant blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon sourced from premium vineyards across South Eastern Australia, this wine undergoes cool fermentation in stainless steel to preserve its bright, aromatic profile. It represents a classic Australian style, marrying the tropical punch and herbaceous lift of Sauvignon Blanc with the crisp, citrusy structure and refreshing acidity of Semillon.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1970 by Sydney solicitors James Halliday, John Beeston, and Tony Albert, Brokenwood Wines began on a ten-acre Pokolbin parcel initially intended as a cricket ground. Situated in the lower Hunter Valley against the Brokenback Mountain Range, the estate operates on alluvial loams and heavy clay soils, shaped by a warm, humid subtropical climate with cooling maritime breezes. While historically anchored by its renowned Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, Brokenwood established equivalent global renown for its pure, cellar-worthy white wines. The estate practices certified viticulture under Sustainable Winegrowing Australia standards, supervised in cellar operations by Chief Winemaker Stuart Hordern following Iain Riggs's transformative tenure. Renowned benchmark expressions include the single-vineyard and aged ILR Reserve Semillon—celebrated for low-alcohol tension, racy citrus acidity, and nuanced toast developments without oak maturation—alongside single-site iterations like Stanleigh Park Vineyard Semillon and cool-climate chardonnays from Beechworth and Orange.
🍇 Grapes
Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon