Our 2024 Triolet awarded White Blend of the Year, White Wine of the Year, and Wine of the Year at the 2027 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
For nearly forty years, Triolet has been the quiet achiever of our estate wines, admired by those who know it well, but rarely the one to command the spotlight. This year, that’s changed. We’re delighted to share that our 2024 Triolet has been named Halliday’s White Blend of the Year, White Wine of the Year, and Wine of the Year. Our ‘baby’ Triolet, born in 1988 has grown up!
For those unfamiliar with our white ‘Bordeaux Blend’ it is comprised of Sauvignon blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle and first appeared in 1988 as ‘Sauvignon’. John Middleton thought that this name might be confusing consumers into thinking only one variety was present and so the 1992 vintage, released in 1993 was named ‘Triolet’, a French term for three notes played in unison that Marli Middleton came up with. Marli was a student of the French language and even compiled ‘A Little Dictionary for Wine Makers and Viticulturists’ at one time.
Whilst Triolet’s inspiration once came from the white wines of Graves, we do believe it’s now outgrown that reference point. It’s become something shaped entirely by our site, our winemaking philosophy and our own preferences at the table, rather than by any external benchmark.
On the blend, Sam explains, each variety plays its own role, Sauvignon blanc for concentration and intensity, Semillon for acid drive and freshness, and Muscadelle for its floral top note. Getting that balance right each year takes patience, not a formula. In recent years, our renewed focus on soil health across the vineyard has lifted natural nitrogen levels, softening the reductive character that has always given Triolet its complexity and longevity, and letting the fruit itself shine a little more brightly.
The Triolet Story is told in some detail in our 2015 Newsletter and John wrote quite a lot about the three grapes and the evolution of this blend in the newsletters from 1988 through to 1994 inclusive. Apologies for those, like me, with compromised vision, but the 1994 newsletter was published in such tiny font size and quite a strain to read! Of course in the online version you are able to enlarge the print to legible proportions.
Triolet remains a small part of our production yet it’s always been held in equal regard by our family, friends and the wine professionals we respect. From a growing and winemaking perspective, we consider it the most consistent wine we produce, these varieties simply seem suited to our site, performing reliably year after year regardless of the season’s challenges.
We couldn’t be happier to receive this recognition of our Triolet, it’s a source of real pride for all of us. We raise a glass with all of you to a wine four decades in the making, and to the three notes that, once again, have proven very much worth listening to.
