“We are fortunate that our vineyards are in that right spot,” says McNally. “Central to the region of Heathcote, slightly elevated from the township, which was built along the creek line, protected in part from the ridge running up to Mt Ida on the east and the remnants of another ridge line to the west. Each of these ridges runs north to south …both are fault lines. Dating back to the Cambrian era when volcanoes laid down rock, which after millions of years of weathering is now our top and subsoils, rich in minerals and rather deep in areas, making it ideal for our hero of the region, shiraz.”
Georgia’s Paddock fruit is destined for Jasper Hill’s iconic shiraz, riesling and nebbiolo under that vineyard designate, along with providing fiano for the Lo Stesso label (which Emily McNally makes with her friend Georgia Roberts). That fiano makes up 0.9 of a hectare and was grafted onto viognier. Riesling makes up 2.1 hectares and nebbiolo a tick under a hectare, but it’s shiraz that takes the lead with almost 9 hectares planted.
“We are fortunate that our vineyards are in that right spot. Central to the region of Heathcote, slightly elevated from the township, which was built along the creek line, protected in part from the ridge running up to Mt Ida on the east and the remnants of another ridge line to the west. Each of these ridges runs north to south …both are fault lines. Dating back to the Cambrian era when volcanoes laid down rock, which after millions of years of weathering is now our top and subsoils, rich in minerals and rather deep in areas, making it ideal for our hero of the region, shiraz.”
Aside from the grafted fiano, all the vines are on own roots, with the riesling and older shiraz planted in 1975 as foundation blocks. More shiraz was added in 1987, and the nebbiolo was planted in 1991. Although Heathcote is certainly an arid region, those vines have been dry grown their whole lives and no synthetic chemicals have ever been used on the site.
Biodynamic practices were long a feature of the farming at Jasper Hill, but the focus now is on organics, but more importantly it is on farming methods that have been honed over the decades. “Our farming practices are an evolution of what has been learnt over 40 plus years,” McNally says. “In the beginning, there was Ron, Elva, Emily, Georgia, a few dogs, chickens and a goat. The climate was somewhat stable, with the ebbs and flows of floods and droughts typical for Australia. …There was an understanding that the soil had to remain healthy. So, no synthetic herbicides were used. Mulch and compost were collected, made and applied by hand.”
It’s a simple reflection, an unassuming one perhaps, but that’s very much how McNally views the management of the 100 or so hectares of land and 20-odd hectares of vines. With all that has been learnt, their education about the land is an ongoing one, and though seemingly long, that 40-year survey is a blip in the history of wine growing. He is also wary about throwing around words that might put “a green halo on things”.
“Greenwashing is a problem, which we are strongly opposing,” says McNally. “As our industry practises come into question, we to have to be honest with how we operate. We are keen at looking into new ideas for our farm to lower the impact. We have solar power, and I drive to work in an electric car. I’m waiting for an electric tractor to become affordable and available, just as I will replace the forklift one day soon with electric. We only use tank water for the winery, our vineyards are unirrigated. To scare birds, we replaced gas guns and vineyard laps in vehicles with drones and lasers. …We’re also in talks with the glass producer to make the same shaped bottle we use in a lighter version… More will happen in the future… the list goes on.”
The non-vineyard land is also gradually being restored, with trees being replanted as time allows and livestock no longer run across the property. It has been a decade now without grazing, with nature being allowed to retake the land. “Trees are growing, waterways are flowing; it’s such a small area but the impact is heart-warming,” says McNally.
With Ron and Elva Laughton now officially retired, the property is now run by the next generation, with a small contract team for pruning, shoot thinning and picking. “Jasper Hill at present is Emily and I and one casual employee,” says McNally. “We grow the grapes, make the wine, and meet the customers. We practice maximum intervention viticulture. Twelve months of mostly hard work, rewarded by the fruit that’s produced. Hand-picked, hand sorted, 100% de-stemmed into spotlessly clean stainless-steel tanks for a natural ferment. If we haven’t intervened 100 plus times before this stage, then we haven’t done our job. As Tim Rogers sang, ‘And there’s nothing romantic about the hours I keep…’”
The vineyard was initially established to be cane pruned, but now the century-old Poussard Method is being employed to mitigate trunk disease and increase general vine health. That came about via viticulture consultant Tim Brown who was engaged to “bring in a new set of eyes,” says McNally.
“This has paid off as we recover from the last drought event and feel more prepared for the inevitable dry seasons ahead. Shifting our view that a vineyard should fill the paddock and focus on sites that clearly survive best has been favourable to our time management. Removing unhealthy and poor yielding parts of the vineyard has been a blessing. We know where our best fruit is, years of driving around tasting grapes, looking at canopies, digging into the soil, there’s no better place to learn than in the vineyards.”
“It is a vineyard full of vines that I describe as my motley crew, but I love them, and the fruit flavours and natural acidity are fabulous. It is planted on soil older than dinosaurs, and we are doing our best to mitigate the changing climate. The soil and vineyard are first and foremost the most important factor behind a great wine. Tending to these vineyards is above all a passion, and it’s addictive. The heartache and hard work needed is wearing and fulfilling.”
Being organic, copper and sulphur are permitted for disease control, but they are used minimally, with seaweed preparations and compost employed to boost soil and vine health. Nitrogen-fixing cover crops are planted between the mid-rows, which are cultivated alternately, while weeds are mechanically removed from the under-vine area. Tractor use is kept to a minimum to avoid soil compaction.
Given the dry-grown nature of the vineyard, planning for the upcoming season is critical to success, with bud numbers determined by the predictions for the weather. As the year progresses, shoot thinning is determined by how that season plays out. This quest for balanced vines is true of all vineyards, but with currently no recourse to irrigation (that may change as the climate warms, but only as a mechanism for survival of the vines), careful observation and ongoing fine tuning is critical, and the results speak for themselves.
“It is a vineyard full of vines that I describe as my motley crew, but I love them, and the fruit flavours and natural acidity are fabulous,” says McNally. “It is planted on soil older than dinosaurs, and we are doing our best to mitigate the changing climate. The soil and vineyard are first and foremost the most important factor behind a great wine. Tending to these vineyards is above all a passion, and it’s addictive. The heartache and hard work needed is wearing and fulfilling.”
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