Vineyard

The 30 acre vineyard is situated on the Swan River flood plain. The soil is a rich clay loam with some patches more sandy. Earthworms are abundant in this rich soil. 
White varieties planted include Verdelho, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon, while Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Sangiovese and Zinfandel are represented in red varieties.
The Swan Valley Climate is warm to hot with a mean January temperature of 23C.  Average annual rainfall is 869mm, and average relative humidity in January is 40%.  Whilst hot in summer, the cooling effects of coastal sea breezes reduce the risk of vine stress. 

The vineyard is trellised with a vertical shoot positioned canopy and is suitable for night time mechanical harvesting. This method is also best for effective use of sunlight by the vines ensuring optimal ripening of fruit.  In addition to this, the open canopy combined with the low humidity and absence of summer rain, ensures there are very low disease risks in the vineyard.

The viticultural policy in the vineyard is as near as possible 'organic', free from the use of pesticides, fungicides and other such chemicals. Legumes are planted as a winter cover crop between the vines.

Bud burst occurs in mid September, flowering in mid to late October and fruit set in mid to late November. Vintage generally starts in the last week of January with Verdelho and continues through to late March and early April with the harvest of red varieties and fruit for fortified styles. This dry, rain free period ensures that there is little risk of disease or fruit damage.

Almost all of our estate grown fruit is machine harvested, except for that which is used to make sparkling wine.  This allows for harvesting to occur early in the morning with crushing and pressing finished by 10:00AM in most cases, thus reducing the risk of oxidation due to exposure to heat.