Brad Hutchings is an agronomist by profession, but directing processes for others was never going to be the endgame, with he and his wife buying a mature vineyard in 2012. “I had been telling farmers how to grow better crops for years,” he says. “It was time I took my own advice and got my hands back into the soil… So, taking over an existing, unloved vineyard in a truly beautiful setting with plenty of water and good soils, planted with some interesting, emerging wine grape varieties… did not, at first, look like a daunting task.”
That site is at around 850 metres in Queensland’s Granite Belt, about 30 kilometres north of the border with New South Wales. The original plantings date back to the 1960s, some of the region’s first, planted by the Savina family, who migrated from Italy after WWII. Those old shiraz vines make the flagship estate wine, but they’re also joined by fiano, gros manseng, montepulciano, graciano, tempranillo and a recently planted block of viognier.
“The Granite Belt is one of the best kept secrets in the Australian wine industry. I call our climate harsh – my wife calls it challenging. Winters well below zero, as low as minus 9°C. Severe frosts that can occur right into the early days of summer. Heavy summer rainfall can cause flooding during harvest or early autumn frosts might arrive, bringing vintage to an abrupt ending. Yes, it can be challenging, but I believe the challenges result in a special elegance to our wines, with nuances long and complex.”
That mix of less-common grapes is somewhat of a feature of the region, says Hutchings, who notes there are over 60 in the ground alongside the usual suspects. Many of those varieties are finding the conditions to their liking, too, thriving in the unique subtropical highland climate. It’s a climate that comes with its fair share of challenges, including snowfall in winter, being Queensland’s coldest area and well away from the heat and humidity.
“The Granite Belt is one of the best kept secrets in the Australian wine industry,” says Hutchings. “I call our climate harsh – my wife calls it challenging. Winters well below zero, as low as minus 9°C. Severe frosts that can occur right into the early days of summer. Heavy summer rainfall can cause flooding during harvest or early autumn frosts might arrive, bringing vintage to an abrupt ending. Yes, it can be challenging, but I believe the challenges result in a special elegance to our wines, with nuances long and complex.”
Unsurprisingly, the soils are granitic, but the degraded granite is younger than the more typical geology of the area. That makes for a distinct terroir, says Hutchings, with the added advantage of being free draining, making them perfect for growing vines.
“Most of the Granite Belt’s vineyards are planted on degraded Stanthorpe Granite – about 250 million years old – Early Triassic. Savina Lane, however, is planted on the degraded granitic soils of a small outcrop of Ruby Creek Granite, which is Late Triassic – 50 million years younger. This offers a slightly different soil structure, containing traces of minerals and types of feldspars not found in Stanthorpe Granite. Ruby Creek Granite is very hard and seems to produce a distinctive mineral character into our wines.”
The condition of the vineyard was another matter, with a period of neglect resulting in unbalanced vines and “weeds as high as the cordon”. Hutchings says that it took time to turn things around, with a program to boost the organic nutrients and balance the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and sulphur, along with key trace elements. They also employ a bespoke organic fertiliser that Hutchings developed with an agronomist colleague specifically for their soils.
“Our goal was to give our winemaker the best possible fruit, so the wines produced expressed the true characteristics of the varieties, with minimal intervention. Innovation has been our byword. We are continually trialling new ideas, new efficient equipment, new organic products for use in the vineyard. Our philosophy is that whatever you put on the vines or in the soil comes out eventually in the wine. We do our utmost to produce perfect, premium fruit. Every vintage.”
Many of the climatic challenges of the region have driven Hutchings to adapt, employing a mobile frost fan and installing a “state-of-the-art” weather station to better direct the irrigation program. Hutchings is also working with the manufacturer, Wildeye, to fine-tune a disease-monitoring capacity to combat botrytis and downy mildew. He has also designed and built a sprayer modelled around a narrow-bodied truck. That rig uses spray heads that can reduce usage by half, and the “flotation tires” minimise soil compaction. Solar energy powers the irrigation pump as well as the vineyard vehicle that is used for most operations.
“This is a hands-on vineyard,” says Hutchings. “We do virtually everything by hand, using technology to assist, rather than replace the human element. Easy to do when you only have eight acres. In the scheme of Australia’s industrial-scale viticultural industry, we are infinitesimally small… We have a holistic approach to vineyard management. The vines are encouraged to find their own balance each season. This flows through into the wine, celebrating the differences of each vintage. We don’t want wines that taste the same each year.”
Like much of the Granite Belt, the property was originally developed as an orchard. That was in 1927, which saw the land cleared with a resultant loss of biodiversity. Since purchasing the property, Hutchings says they have instituted a comprehensive tree-planting program to reforest the non-vineyard land, and with only about 15 per cent of the 21-hectare property under vine, the native vegetation will eventually dwarf the vineyard.
“Most of the Granite Belt’s vineyards are planted on degraded Stanthorpe Granite – about 250 million years old – Early Triassic. Savina Lane, however, is planted on the degraded granitic soils of a small outcrop of Ruby Creek Granite, which is Late Triassic – 50 million years younger. This offers a slightly different soil structure, containing traces of minerals and types of feldspars not found in Stanthorpe Granite. Ruby Creek Granite is very hard and seems to produce a distinctive mineral character into our wines.”
“Our policy is to do no harm. We encourage the diversity of native wildlife, from kangaroos that relax in the shade of the vines to quolls that hunt in the vineyard at night. There are echidnas that wander through and long-necked turtles in the dam and the creek. A family of eastern water dragons enjoys a permanent home in the small stream that runs through the place. It is very beautiful and some days, while working in the vines, I take time out just to look around and absorb the beauty. …Sometimes a wedge-tailed eagle circles overhead on a thermal, or a crimson rosella and its mate take up positions at the end of a row…”
Hutchings notes that three years into their “organic revolution” the vines found their natural balance. “We have had no rampant vegetative growth producing less fruit than we would have liked,” he says. “Yield has risen slowly a point where we now, after 11 years, soil test only to tweak nutrient application rates, pH and magnesium levels and often drop fruit to harvest only the best. With only an annual dose of organic fertiliser, we’ve proved the vines will thrive on these degraded granite soils.”
That transformation is clearly a matter of pride for Hutchings, and it’s a project that he sees as ongoing, along with a push to be ever more sustainable and work towards carbon neutrality. That’s driven by a desire to leave the property – and the larger environment – in an enhanced state for the next generation to take on, seeing their roles as custodians. For now, though, Hutchings describes the satisfaction of drinking a glass of their own wine on the terrace while taking in the beauty of the property as something he wouldn’t trade for anything.
“My favourite story is about the origin of our life here at Savina Lane. When I decided I wanted to get back on the land, I suggested several horticultural options to my wife. Her response was always, ‘Absolutely no way!’ When I proposed we buy a vineyard, the response was different. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘the idea doesn’t make me want to vomit!’ Ten years on, her response when asked is, ‘There is nowhere else I’d rather be!’ Like my wife, there is nothing else I would rather be doing and nowhere else I would rather be right now.”
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