All of the vines we grow have their origins in the Rhone Valley, France. This is because we believe that there are parallels between the soils and seasons of each part of the world.
The Vineyard
Our vineyard is on an east sloping site, with granite soils and sweeping views of Mount Alexander. We have also purchased the neighbouring paddock which has an old cottage and some vines which were planted in 2000. Over the last decade, we have planted new white wine varieties, built a home and commenced wine production.
Our Shiraz vines are made up of four clones 1654, R6WV28, EVO and Bests Old Block. Each has subtle differences in growth habit, bunch size and flavour which give us opportunities for blending before our wine is bottled.
Marsanne is a robust variety with a vigorous canopy and large bunches so crop management and bunch thinning to achieve ideal vine balance are very important. In the Autumn after the grapes have been exposed to the sun they take on a golden hue before harvest takes place usually in late March.
Viognier is an old and once obscure variety sourced from the district of Condrieu in the north of the Rhone Valley. A fragrant and low yielding variety it can provide aromas of ginger, spice and apricot and is a traditional component of a blend of dry white wine in that area.
Roussanne is another traditional Rhone variety with its own personality. The grapes have a delicate perfume of flowers and hints of pear.
The Soils
Harcourt is part of a Devonian granite massif (Harcourt Granodiorite) which was intruded into the surrounding metasediments over 360 million years ago.
These are some of the oldest soils in Victoria. The highly reflective granitic sands provide a substrate that has near perfect texture but limited fertility, making it ideal for grapevine production. It’s all part of a granite belt which runs from Ravenswood in the west to Elphinstone in the east, with Mount Alexander forming a commanding central feature.
