Jim Lumbers and Anne Caine established Lerida Estate in 1997, starting with a degraded pasture carefully selected for its viticultural and tourism potential. They are committed to building Lerida Estate into a substantial wine business targeting the “luxury goods” segment of the market with exceptional wines.

Lerida Estate has already won numerous medals and awards, including the ACT Chief Ministers’ Export Award, and most recently a Commendation in the 2007 Canberra and Region Tourism Awards. The wines are carried in many of Australia’s top restaurants. They sell in the super premium and icon price ranges at up to $60 a bottle. The quality of the wine being produced by this very young business is testament to the potential for viticulture of the soil and climate (terroir) of the eastern slopes of the Lake George Range.

Both Jim and Anne have successful professional careers and currently operate their own strategy consulting and commercial legal businesses respectively.

Jim is a business strategy consultant to some of Australia, New Zealand and Asia’s largest companies. He has worked for CSIRO and the Boston Consulting Group and now heads Lumbers Consulting. This business was originally created to allow Jim to work part-time on developing the wine business. However, it has been so successful that it now leaves him with little time for the winery business. Recent clients include Windlab Systems, Mirvac, Boral and a number of energy utilities in Australia and the nearby region.

Anne, who was a partner in Corrs Chambers Westgarth, left the firm in 2005 in order to take over the management of Lerida Estate.

Her legal expertise is still highly valued and she regularly consults to the Defence Material Organisation.

Anne is also President for the Canberra District Wine Industry Association, an Executive Committee Member of the NSW Wine Industry Association, and operates a highly successful Café on weekends and public holidays.

Lerida Estate is the manifestation of Jim’s long-held passion to make an outstanding pinot noir. The selection of Lerida as the site for his dream was influenced by the work of Dr. Edgar Riek at next-door Lake George Wines. With wild yeast and a strong focus on naturally ripened bunch tannins, Edgar had succeeded in making some of the best New World Pinots we have seen.

Drawing on Edgar's experience, the objective is a pinot made from low-yielding vines with elegant, secondary flavours using wild yeast and minimal intervention. In other words, Australian quality fruit with an overtone of French-style elegance and complexity.

A significant step in the latter direction occurred in 2003 with the employment of a young French winemaker, Yoann Malandain. This built on the tremendous groundwork put in by Angus Campbell, the founding winemaker. The first vintage was literally made under the stars.

Lerida Estate has continued the 'French connection' by employing a french winemaker each subsequent vintage.

In addition to grapes grown on the estate, Lerida Estate often purchases grapes from other growers in the Canberra District. These are seen as complementing those available from the estate. While originally we purchased grapes from a range of areas (Mudgee, Cowra), our policy now is to source all additional fruit only from the Canberra District to maintain the regional character of the wines we make.

The winery

The Lerida Estate winery was designed by Australia’s leading architect, Glenn Murcutt. Glenn's design philosophy is one that not only incorporates environmental sensitivity, but also evokes the distinctive features of the landscape. The Lerida winery is the first winery Glenn has designed. It is a wonderful building - in a beautiful landscape - and the home of some wonderful wines. A visit to Lerida will, therefore, provide an opportunity to see some very innovative architecture, as well as to taste excellent wines.

Lerida Estate also offers a range of other facilities/services to its customers. We host a number of functions from formal dinners and gourmet BBQ's to social club outings and team building days. Lerida Estate is also a magnificant venue for wedding receptions.

Conference facilities are available for small groups and we are able to host cocktail parties and product launches. If interested, please ask us for a copy of our functions pack.

What's in a name?

What is the significance of the Lerida name?

The Lerida name is not the creation of someone’s fertile imagination, but a reflection of the history of the region. Lerida is the name of the parish in which the vineyard is situated. This was gazetted by the NSW Government some 150 years ago, as was a settlement with the same name, though the settlement never eventuated. By taking on the parish name, Lerida has something in common with the Rothbury Estate in the Hunter valley.

The best way to understand what we are trying to achieve is to come and visit us. We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to drop by and have a chat, taste a wine or two and have a look around - and enjoy the wonderful view of Lake George (with or without water!) from our courtyard.