Location

Overview

Our tiny vineyard – 2.25 hectares – is situated in the Forest Grove locality of Margaret River, 17 kilometres south of the Margaret River township.

The initial planting of 0.5 hectares of Chardonnay was done in 2004, the year after the property was purchased. The remainder was planted in 2009. The vineyard is now 1/3 Chardonnay, and 2/3 Cabernet Sauvignon, the two varieties Margaret River is world renowned for. The reason for planting in this part of Margaret River, was the ability for this slightly more southern area to produce Chardonnay wines of purity, restraint and poise, and also Cabernet Sauvignon of finesse, perfume, structure and varietal signature.

All hands on work is carried out by ourselves (except the hand picking). Most machinery work is outsourced to a contractor we have been using for 16 years in this and other vineyards.

 

 

We are a small vineyard in Forest Grove, a locality in Margaret River, Western Australia.

 

 

 

Technical Information

We rely on our own hands-on experience, observations and judgement rather than adopting a named viticultural practice.

The vineyard is planted on the gravelly ridge of a hill, with a view to the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge.

The soil is consistent lateritic gravel, with the occasional granite outcrop.

The row plantings are north/south, at spacing of 1.2 metres between vines and 3 metres between rows. Small levels of supplementary irrigation are used as they are required, which can’t be much, because we don’t have much water anyway.

Crops are restricted to 4 tonne per hectare maximum (26 hectolitres per hectare).

Vineyard operation revolves around retaining high levels of organic matter in the soil, minimal synthetic chemical usage, and above all, retaining and fostering good vine balance. We do not adopt any named viticultural practice, we just rely on our own observations, judgements, and experience.