Clare Valley Archives - Young Gun of Wine

Grosset – Springvale Vineyard, Clare Valley

The Grosset Springvale Vineyard is a 6.12-hectare riesling site within the larger 17-hectare Watervale vineyard in the Clare Valley’s Watervale subregion – chosen purely on the basis of geology, altitude, elevation and aspect, and dedicated entirely to riesling across three clones and five blocks. What makes Springvale distinct, even within the Watervale subregion, is an unusual geological layering: red-brown clay over limestone over friable gradational clay loam, with blue slate lying approximately 3 metres below the surface – a formation unique to this site, and one that was not fully understood until after the vines were in the ground. Planted between 2000 and 2003 at 450 to 470 metres elevation – among the highest sites in Watervale – and certified organic (2014) and biodynamic (2019) by Australian Certified Organics, the vineyard is managed by Matthew O’Rourke, who has worked the site since 2011. The Grosset Springvale Riesling sells out annually and is among the most collected wines in Australia.

Skillogalee Estate, Clare Valley

Skillogalee Estate, planted in the 1970s in Clare Valley’s Skilly Valley subregion, spans 50 hectares of vines averaging 47 years, with some hitting 50. Riesling, shiraz, and cabernet sauvignon lead, joined by gewurztraminer, malbec, and grenache – all dry-grown on ancient dolomite soils. Kerri Thompson and Brendan Pudney drive a hands-on, sustainable approach, hand-pruning and hand-picking across contoured, east-facing slopes, ditching herbicides since 2021 for native grasses and composted marc. The terroir ripens fruit later than Clare’s norm, shaping wines with elegance, fine tannins, and piercing acidity. Thompson’s winemaking keeps it pure, yielding delicate, structured reds and vibrant whites. Skillogalee blends heritage vines with a biodiversity push – it’s Clare classicism meets ecological edge, balancing soil health and fruit intensity for a future-proofed patch of dirt.

Mount Horrocks Watervale Vineyard, Clare Valley

Perched at 480 meters in the Clare Valley subregion it shares a name with, Mount Horrocks’ Watervale Vineyard spans 5.8 hectares of red loam and limestone. Its vines – planted between 2001 and 2020 – average 18 years of age, and are tense to by Clare Valley icon Stephanie Toole. Riesling, semillon, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and nero d’Avola yield a tight lineup of estate-grown wines. In a region of 80-plus wineries famed for the flinty snap of their bone-dry rieslings, this high-altitude oasis – ACO-certified organic and biodynamic – chases finesse over force, a green island in a sea of conventionally managed vineyards.

Castine-Morella Vineyard, Clare Valley

In Clare Valley’s subregion of Watervale, the Castine’s began planting grapevines in 1996 on their property which they had farmed for four generations. 37-hectares of vines are now spread across two distinct blocks on the vineyard, consisting of riesling, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, and grenache. Today, the site is managed by Ben Castine and his wife Jess Smythe-Castine, with a firm focus on land ecology and fruit quality. An impressive lineup of top labels are benefactors of the Castine-Morella Vineyard fruit, such as Wines by KT, Vickery, O’Leary Walker, Tim Gramp, Dorien Estate Winery, Taylors, and Kenny Wines.

Artwine – Springfarm Vineyard, Clare Valley

Artwine’s Springfarm Vineyard in the Clare Valley is home to eight different varieties, with a distinct lean to emerging ones that have been chosen for their suitability to the changing climate. Owned for over two decades by Glen and Judy Kelly, the site complements their cooler Adelaide Hills vineyard, where their cellar door is situated. The Clare site contributes traditional varieties like grenache to the range, along with Mediterranean ones, like fiano, tempranillo, graciano and sangiovese, with new plantings yet to come online.

Grosset – Watervale, Clare Valley

Jeffrey Grosset started in the wine game young, with a bottle of riesling tasted at the family dinner table propelling him to study agriculture and oenology at the age of 16, graduating by the time he was 21. Establishing Grosset Wines in 1981, he has become one of Australia’s most lauded winemakers – with riesling a notable specialty – but the heart of the Grosset operation has always been in evolving the work in the vineyard to make vital, pure wine that is intensely expressive of site. His Watervale Vineyard is comprised of two sections planted to quite different soils, with both underpinned by certified biodynamic farming overseen by vineyard manager Matthew O’Rourke.

Adelina Vineyard, Clare Valley

The Adelina vineyard, in the Clare Valley, is an old one. The first shiraz vines were planted in the early 1900s and were supplemented with grenache sometime in the ’40s. When Col McBryde and Jennie Gardner took over the management of the site in 2002, their work was cut out for them. With rampant wild olive trees and weeds aplenty, they set about regenerating the landscape, working with organic methods for many years before finally seeking and achieving certification in 2020. Today, those old vines are in fine health, while further plantings have increased the vineyard size a little to now occupy six hectares.

Grosset – Springvale Vineyard, Clare Valley Jeffrey Grosset & Matthew O’Rourke