Passing Clouds
Award-winning wines and cellar door in the heart of Daylesford, VIC
What is Passing Clouds all about?
Passing Clouds has been making wine for the people who drink it since 1974. Our wines are elegant and pure, with the focus on allowing them to express a sense of place and time.
Awards & Accolades
96 Points - GOLD
Campbell Mattinson Published in August 2019 James Halliday Wine Companion.
“100% cabernet sauvignon from the Serpentine Vineyard. 40% of the wine went through extended post-ferment maceration. No new oak. Texture like satin, inbuilt complexity, X-factor and more. Everything here is modest and reserved and yet it speaks so clearly of quality. It's just so pure, so seamless, so lengthy. Blackcurrant, plum, choc-mint and clove characters are the main conduits but the edges buzz with activity. It's a beautiful red wine.”
The Graeme's Shiraz Cabernet 2020
The Graeme’s is the foundational wine of Passing Clouds. First made in 1980, this wine perfectly captures Bendigo as a region as well as speaking to Passing Clouds’ almost 50 year stewardship of the region.
Our People
Cameron Leith
WINEMAKER & OWNER
At the young age of 23 he put on the Head Winemaker hat for Passing Clouds and embarked on his first vintage for the winery in that role. As his thirst for knowledge in this area grew and knowing that that there was a lot more to know about wine making, viticulture and terroir; Cameron graduated in 2011 from his Masters of Wine Technology and Viticulture course from Melbourne University.
Awards & Accolades
“100% cabernet sauvignon from the Serpentine Vineyard. 40% of the wine went through extended post-ferment maceration. No new oak. Texture like satin, inbuilt complexity, X-factor and more. Everything here is modest and reserved and yet it speaks so clearly of quality. It's just so pure, so seamless, so lengthy. Blackcurrant, plum, choc-mint and clove characters are the main conduits but the edges buzz with activity. It's a beautiful red wine.”
96 Points - GOLD - Campbell Mattinson Published 01 August 2019 James Halliday Wine Companion 2020.
Our Vineyards
Musk - Estate Vineyard - Our estate vineyard, together with the winery and cellar door, is located at Musk five minutes from the town of Daylesford in the Macedon Ranges.
Kilmore - Quarry Ridge Vineyard - From the 2014 vintage, we have been lucky enough to have access to fruit from the Quarry Ridge vineyard, near Kilmore.
Bendigo - Our viticultural (and all other for that matter) roots are in Bendigo, and always will be.
Axedale Vineyard - The Axedale vineyard is situated between the townships of Bendigo and Heathcote, 20km east of Bendigo.
Serpentine Vineyard - A relatively recent addition for Passing Clouds, we have been purchasing fruit from the Serpentine vineyard since 2011.
Rheola | Zonnebeke Vineyard - Graeme convinced Phil and Ann Adam to plant a vineyard at their Zonnebeke property in 1994.
Our Community
Passing Clouds was the name co-founders Graeme Leith and Sue Mackinnon gave to their small family owned winery when in 1974 having tirelessly hand planted their central Victorian Bendigo vineyard, were hoping for rain. Rain clouds would come, threaten and pass, and on old gold diggings and a deserted creek bed, they planted Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
