Attwoods – Mon Climat Vineyard, Ballarat Troy Walsh & Luke Poulson

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  • Attwoods – Mon Climat Vineyard, Ballarat

    Tucked in at 500 meters elevation in Ballarat, Victoria, the Mon Climat Vineyard crams one hectare of pinot noir into quartz-strewn Ordovician soil, a 2015 planting now nine years young under Troy Walsh and Luke Poulson. Its debut wine, the 2023 Attwoods Mon Climat Pinot Noir ($120), landed last year – a remarkable single-site flex from a region of 20-plus wineries making a name for themselves in Australia’s cool-climate wine scene. It’s a site designed to make wines with a tight, vibrant thread, born from a high-density setup – 1.2m by 0.85m spacing – that chases elegance over volume by betting on competition between a sprawl of vines. Ballarat’s warm days and frigid nights stretch out the growing season – and Walsh and Poulson are here for it, chasing elegance in a place most wouldn’t dare.

  • Alkoomi Vineyard, Frankland River

    Set high in the Frankland River subregion of WA’s Great Southern, Alkoomi has been a quietly influential presence since 1971. Spread across 102 hectares and now stewarded by viticulturist Tim Penniment, the vineyard is one of the region’s largest and most diverse, supplying fruit to a host of makers while anchoring a legacy label in its own right. Its old vines, expansive varietal palette and proactive approach to soil health and sustainability have helped define the modern face of Frankland River – one built on freshness, balance and regional fidelity.

  • Scarborough Wine Co. – Hermitage Road Vineyard, Hunter Valley

    The Scarborough Wine Co. has five vineyard sites in the Hunter Valley, with the Hermitage Road Vineyard acquired in 2007. The vineyard has been lovingly revitalised from the impacts of former owners’ conventional viticultural approaches by partners in life and vines Liz Riley and Jerome Scarborough.. Sustainability is the central pillar of the operation, with a push to close the loop on waste and increase biodiversity in and around the vineyard blocks. In the 18 years under their stewardship, the improvement in soil health and structure and the increase in fruit quality has been palpable. The vineyard supplies fruit for both the Scarborough Wine Co. and its Offshoots range, for which Jerome serves as the winemaker, as well as to some other producers.

  • Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard

    Viticulturist Michael Lane is perhaps best known for his work at McLaren Vale’s Yangarra Vineyard, but he is having an equally important impact on the 67 hectares of vines in the Hickinbotham Vineyard, which sits in the Vale’s Clarendon subzone. That vineyard was first planted by Alan David Hickinbotham over 50 years ago, and has been a significant source of high-quality fruit to iconic wineries—although it was not until California’s Jackson Family bought the site that estate wines were released just over a decade ago. Those wines all sit in the premium category, from a shiraz though three blends based on traditional Bordeaux varieties and a flagship wine, ‘The Peake’, an homage to the Australian blend of cabernet and shiraz. The vineyard is organic, biodynamic, and Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certified.

  • Vasse Felix – Tom’s Vineyard, Margaret River

    Planted in 1967, Tom’s Vineyard was the first commercial vineyard in Margaret River. Vasse Felix now farm over 330 hectares at four sites across the region, including a vineyard in Karridale mostly earmarked for sister sparkling wine label Idée Fixe, but it is the original Tom’s Vineyard parcel within their broader Home Vineyard in Wilyabrup on Caves Road that is reserved for their most prestigious bottlings, producing the Premier and Icon ranges, including the flagship red from the oldest vines – own-rooted cabernet sauvignon and malbec – named after the estate’s founder, Tom Cullity. Bart Molony manages the viticultural operations for Vasse Felix across all four of their sites with an eye towards pragmatic sustainability.

  • Pooley – Cooinda Vale, Coal River Valley

    When it was first planted in 1985, Pooley Wines’ Cooinda Vale Vineyard in the Coal River Valley added less than a hectare to the state’s meagre 47 hectares of grapevines. Fast forward, and today Pooley contribute around 20 hectares across their two sites to the 2,000 plus planted on the Apple Isle, and a whole lot more to the reputation of the island state’s wine industry. The site, managed by Steve Ferguson, producers Pooley’s most revered single-site wines made from riesling, chardonnay and pinot noir.

  • Keith Tulloch Wine – Field of Mars Vineyard, Hunter Valley

    Field of Mars is the Keith Tulloch Wine home vineyard. Planted mostly to 40- to 50-year-old vines on alluvial soils in Pokolbin, it rubs shoulders with some of the Hunter’s most revered semillon sites. Sustainability is a key driver of the estate, from the farming to re-establishing native scrub to using only recycled packaging for their wine. The site is run by Alisdair Tulloch, operations manager and sustainability manager for Keith Tulloch Wines, who guides the growing of fruit for premium single block varietal wines from chardonnay, shiraz, viognier and semillon in the Field of Mars range.

  • Orbis Vineyard, McLaren Vale

    The Orbis wine label was founded by Brad Moyes and Kendall Grey in 2018 when they purchased an established vineyard in McLaren Vale. The Orbis name references the idea of a self-sufficient system, and the pair anchor everything they do in sustainability, from farming to bottling. Mowing between the rows is largely performed by a flock of babydoll sheep that have been given permanent residence between the vines, with chickens and ducks to join them once a fox-proof fence trial is completed. The fruit goes to the Orbis wines made by Verity and Jamie Cowley at the onsite winery, from a pétillant rosé and a piquette to trousseau and an old vine shiraz, with a pair of rosés and a few Mediterranean varietal wines and non-traditional blends filling out the roster. Contract grapes are also sold to make premium products for Ministry of Clouds and Samson Tall, alongside more established brands such as Penfolds and Wirra Wirra. The vineyard is managed regeneratively by Verity Cowley and owner Brad Moyes, with viticultural guidance by GT Growers, and the aim to achieve organic and biodynamic certification within the next three years.

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Orbis Vineyard, McLaren Vale

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