Our 21 Ha block is in the municipality of Lymington, which is just a few km south of the charming coastal town of Cygnet, nested in the estuary of the Huon River.
Initial plantings of one hectare of vines are a myriad of nine Pinot noir and five Chardonnay clones. These have been planted in specific quantities to allow us to make separate batches so that we can individually assess their quality and suitability to our site. This also gives us future options for selective wine releases by clone.
Pinot Noir clones are mainly 777, 115, 667, Abel and D4V2 (also known as “Pommard”) and 114, with the remainder being clones that were historically first planted in local vineyards such as 8048, 8104 and D5V12 (2051).
Chardonnay clones are 76, 95, 96, 277 along with clone P57 (known around here as “Penfolds”).
While we wait for our vineyard to fully establish, we are very fortunate to have access to vineyards in the region. Two are just on the other side of the Cygnet township and the others are on the right and left banks of the Huon River and this is about a hill away from here.
It is precious to us the knowledge we gain from working with a selection of vineyards from around here. To be able to apply it to our vineyards, but also as an insight in the history of grape growing in this region, the growers and winemakers.
The smaller vineyard we worked with is on the outskirts of Franklin and has some elevation from the river that results in maturity of grapes occurring slightly later, which is perfect for making our Pet Nat wine.
An older vineyard nearby Franklin but closer to the Huon River provides warmer and supple while perfumed Pinot Noir characters, due to the mild influence of the riverside.
On the other side of the Huon River (and closer to us) is another mature vineyard that produces Pinot Noir with slightly more dense mid-palate and brighter notes. This will have to do with the slight elevation from the river but also due to the different clones which impart their specific characteristics.
The grapes for our Chardonnay come from a glorious mature vineyard on the other side of Cygnet. Skilfully tended, it has three clones in small sections and the main one is with the Penfolds clone. This adds such purity of flavour and character that set is apart for great longevity Chardonnay wines.
