THE LAND
The 34ha Nocton Vineyard was planted in 1999 on gentle, north-east facing slopes of dolerite-based soils over a free-draining calcerous and Triassic sandstone subsoil. As in Burgundy, home to the great pinot and chardonnay vineyards of France, limestone runs through the valley and was mined in the early days. It is the combination of these soils and substrata that we belive imparts the g
reat depth of colour and much of the character and texture typically displayed in our wines. THE CLIMATE
The Valley lies in a rain-shadow of the Mount Wellington Range to the west. Rainfall is moderate and the vineyard has drip-feed irrigation from our own 360 megalitre dam for use in drier periods. More importantly, the rainfall pattern is ideal, allowing for uninterrupted Spring flowering and fruit set while the long, warm and dry Indian summer and autumn ripening days develop colour and flavour with cool to cold night temperatures fixing grape acids and building structure. THE VINES
Our vineyard is planted to selected Burgundy clones of pinto noir plus chardonnay, merlot, sauvignon and small quantities of riesling and semillon. The mature vines are carefully hand-pruned to ensure balanced yields and then left to do what they do best - provide fruit and wines that are exceptional individual expressions of their birthplace.
