On Our Menu – Local Collector Wines

Alex McKay started Collector Wines in 2005 with just a handful of cool climate shiraz and a determination to make elegant, long-lived wines. Fast forward to 2022, and the winery is known for wines that sing with a purity of regional expression and varietal definition. Collector manages several vineyards dotted around the Canberra District and works with select growers from around the region, while the cellar door is in the heart of country Collector, just outside Canberra.

Flagship wines include the Tiger Tiger Chardonnay and Reserve Shiraz, but the winery is rapidly becoming known for its strong complement of Italian and alternate varieties. Of Alex, James Halliday has said, “He is not known to speak much… so you have to remain alert to appreciate his unparalleled sense of humour. No such attention is needed for his wines, which are consistently excellent, their elegance appropriate for their maker.”

Collector Wines feature on the Mona Farm menu.

Collector Wines matched an exquisite selection of their wines to the fire-inspired 5-course menu at the Mona Farm x Firedoor event in November. Accompanying the lightly-smoked first course with the newly released ‘Summer Swarm’ Fiano 2021 to the second with the long-finishing 'Tiger Tiger’ Chardonnay 2021, a lively ‘Landfall’ Pinot Meunier 2022 to match the mackerel on the third and the Reserve Shiraz 2018 chaperoning the fourth - an 150 day dry aged David Blackmore wagyu. A crisp ‘Shoreline' Sangiovese Rosé 2022 complemented a bouquet-flavoured dessert and concluded this noteworthy culinary collaboration.