About River Park Vineyard

River Park Vineyard, situated on the banks of the Lachlan River on the outskirts of Cowra, is owned and operated by Bill and Chris Murphy. It is planted to Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon vines, the first being the Chardonnay in 1994 and the Cabernet Sauvignon in 1996. Their first vintage was in 1999.

They sell most of their wine to Orlando and Rosemount and keep a little back to make their own labelled wine: the River Park Cowra Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. But recent demand has helped them to decide to increase their own local production.

The Cowra Chardonnay 200 is a delightful wine that is fresh, crisp and has fruit-driven style. It displays light fruity overtones derived from fermentation and short-term maturation in French oak barrels. It can be drunk now, but will cellar well.

For the fermentation of their Cabernet Sauvignon they used a mixture of new and older style American oak barriques. The result is a wine that displays deep crimson colours, with strong berry and Cassie aromas and has a rich palate, with a hint of sweet oak. This wine, too, will cellar well.

The guiding principles at River Park Vineyard are to produce the highest possible quality in their wines and to give their loyal customers the best of service. It is a simple, yet very effective philosophy and one they most assuredly live up to. The thought that goes into making this vineyard a happy one is very much down to Bill and Chris, whose mutual aim is to involve local people in local products, thus giving back to their community employment and the satisfaction of mutual help.

This community feeling is reciprocated by support from many of the area’s hotels, motels, clubs wine outlets in Cowra, Young, Bathurst and Orange. There are also many restaurants, too, who stock their wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are available at their Cellar Door.