Circulus Wine – Coatsworth Vineyard, Geelong
Coatsworth Vineyard is an 8.3-hectare property on the Bellarine Peninsula, acquired in 2021 by John White – a former corporate financier turned passionate viticulturist – and home to the Circulus Wine label. Planted from 1997 and progressively reworked since White’s arrival, the site grows chardonnay, pinot noir, shiraz, cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc and, most recently, chenin blanc, on a geologically distinctive mix of sandy loam, clay-basalt and exposed limestone that sets it apart from much of the wider Bellarine. Surrounded by the cooling influence of Corio Bay, Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait, the maritime amphitheatre produces grapes of natural freshness and saline, oyster-shell minerality – characters that have long made the site’s fruit sought after by neighbouring producers including Provenance Wines, Mulline and Bellbrae Estate. As White steadily expands the Circulus range – chardonnay, pinot noir, shiraz, cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc fumé and rosé, all at $35–$49 – the fruit he sells to others bears witness to the same philosophy underpinning his own wines: elegant, cool-climate expressions with texture, restraint and a clear sense of place, grown under a rigorous regenerative farming approach that has transformed the property from a run-down farm into one of the Bellarine’s most progressive viticultural operations.
